Best free online games on the browser

Online games are easy to fire up on almost any device, making them great for filling chunks of time when you can’t be playing a triple-A epic

Playing video games is not exactly a cheap hobby as both the needed hardware and software command prices that rise ever higher. Fortunately, online browser games are still available for free – and not just the ones from the days of your childhood either. The classics have been joined by whole host of new creative online titles you can sink your time into.

Sure, they’re often very limited in scope, but that leads developers to extract the most fun out of simple concepts. Here are some of the best online games you can enjoy in your browser or on the go.

However, if you're looking for a free way to spice up a game you've already bought, then you should have a look at the best Minecraft mods.

Browserquest

Browserquest

Another charming browser-based MMO, Browserquest throws you into a large world with other players and lots of different enemies. You can make lucky loot discoveries or earn better gear through sweat, blood, and tears. With nice pixelart visuals, this is a fantastic RPG if you need to kill a bit of time.

Catan Universe

Catan, previously called Settlers of Catan, is a classic board game originating in Germany, which later gained popularity all over the world and has sold over 30 million copies in 40 languages. As fun as board game nights are, it’s difficult to do them alone. Luckily, you can now play Catan over pretty much any device you want, connecting to friends, family, or strangers all over the world. The game itself is as you know it: It’s a friendly competition for resources and building space until things get serious and friendships end, because your fool of a childhood buddy doesn’t want to trade you any wood for ore.

Gartic Phone

This digital adaptation of the board game Telestrations took Twitch by storm not so long ago, and it’s easy to see why. The different game modes expand on the original concept of trying to interpret your friends’ awful drawings, which always brings big laughs from any group you play with. Unless you're all professional artists, of course.

Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup

DCSS Devteam

Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup is perfect to scratch your itch for some roguelike gameplay. Featuring an extensive pixel-art world filled with monsters, gods, and legendary items, you'll need to find a path all the way to the bottom. You could sink hundreds of hours into this game and still not have seen everything it has to offer thanks to its procedurally generated dungeons and various playstyles.

Motherload

This classic broswer game will see you go mining into the depths of Earth. With limited fuel and health, you need to mine up resources and sell them for a profit, which will in turn let you dig further into the ground. The balancing act of resource management and profit gathering will constantly be pushing you to go a little further and makes every mad dash back to refuel the tensest thing you could imagine.

GeoGuessr

If you want a concept that just about anyone can understand and enjoy, then GeoGuessr is perfect. The game drops you at a random place in the world using Google Street View, you can then explore the area and try to work out where you are. It works as a solo puzzle or a group activity as you try to spot subtle clues about your location, and it genuinely teaches you things about the world as you play.

Alternatively, you can even find variations of it online that task you to find locations in games like Fortnite, which is useful for getting to know the battle royale title's map, or Elden Ring.

Pokémon Showdown

The highly active competitive Pokémon community got together in 2011 and created an online simulator where you can battle Pokémon to your heart’s content. You have full customization over your team, their stats, movesets, items, and more. After you're done fine-tuning your roster, you can compete in loads of different formats. Whether you’re seriously trying to create a competitive team, or just messing around, there’s a place for you on Showdown.

Game of Bombs

Bomberman is one of the simplest yet most enjoyable multiplayer concepts of all time, making it one of the best strategy games. In a simple grid with a few obstacles, you have to place bombs to try and kill your opponents. It sounds almost dull, but you’ll have so many close calls that your heart will be pounding by the end. This browser version turns the concept into an MMO where one big game is constantly going on and you’ll need to attack and defend from every angle. It’s absolute chaos that you’ll never want to stop playing.

No One Has to Die

This is a small puzzle game where your choices have more impact than in most Telltale games. The premise is simple: There is a fire spreading throughout an office and you have to control the building’s systems to save people. However, each puzzle has multiple solutions that affect who you end up saving. The story and puzzles play out wildly different depending on who you save and going back to view the alternate routes is as easy as clicking a button.

Quick, Draw!

This game is similar to Gartic Phone or Skribl.io. You have to draw something so that others can guess what it is. However, the twist in Quick, Draw! is that you’re trying to make an AI guess what you’re drawing in less than 20 seconds. It’s a very quick puzzle where you have to work out what key features of an object the AI will recognize. Once you’re done, you can see what other people did, which can lead to some hilarious moments of insight.

Isleward

Isleward is a lovely low-res roguelike MMORPG you can play on pretty much anything. You can choose a character and are then thrown into a strange world full of monsters and treasure that you can explore. Teaming up with other players is very useful, since mixed parties are much better suited to battle all the dangers the world has to offer. This is perfect for satisfying your hunger for adventure on the go.

10 More Bullets

This game should come with a warning because it is ludicrously addictive. You control a railgun that shoots straight up into the sky as lots of hostile ships fly by. You need to take out as many as possible with just ten bullets. What makes this so addicting is that when you hit a ship, bullets will explode out of that ship and hit other ships flying past creating chain reactions. It makes you carefully consider every shot and it's extremely satisfying when you get a long-lasting cascade of bullets to hit.

Transformice

This game’s primary version is now free on Steam, but a browser version still exists if you prefer. You’ll be spawned into a map with loads of other mice and all you have to do is grab the cheese and get to the exit. Naturally, with so many mice in one map, things will be getting chaotic, especially as most maps involve physics-based puzzles like see-saws. If you’ve ever wanted an example of how bad strangers on the internet are at working together, then Transformice will do the trick.

This is the Only Level

In this game, you steer an elephant through a very simple level. You just have to hit a button and exit the level without touching the spikes. However, each time you complete the level you’ll need to start it again with a new twist added. Maybe the controls will be inverted, maybe the deadly spikes are bouncy now, or maybe none of your controls will respond until you refresh the webpage. There are loads of fun little twists that will leave you scratching your head and giggling with glee when you discover the solution. Just put anything you can throw at the screen out of range.

For a more refined gaming experience you should try the best multiplayer games, jump into the best co-op games, or conquer the world in the best strategy games.