Can someone recommend me some good browser games?

[Bug MuIdoon]

'ello all.

I'm going to be away from home for a couple of weeks shortly, so I won't have my usual wife, gaming rig or consoles to entertain me. I figured it would be an ideal opportunity to play some browser based games, something that, bar 2-3, I haven't really done since I was in school. I guess that there's probably some very solid, well made games out by now.

I'd say, generally, I'm more the type of person who looks for a good/interesting story or concept in a game, though gameplay is of course essential too. The reason I'm choosing to play some browser based games, believe it or not, is because I genuinely liked The Slaying of Sandy Hook Elementary, though not for the game play but more the discussions it caused and the reflection on my beliefs around the gun control debate. (I also ask you, kindly, to leave your opinions of the game, my liking of it, or the gun control debate out of this thread, thanks.) It also made me realise I'd ignored a medium of gaming that I probably shouldn't, especially as a good 65% of my gaming purchases over the past year or two have been 'indie' games.

The few that I've played and enjoyed are: A game someone posted on here a while back about saving people in a burning office building by closing off security doors, and it had a nice time travel twist story in there - that was fairly decent, though forgive me for forgetting the title. I like my Point 'n' Clicks and have fell in love with some browser games in the past, like Samorost. The Last Door is pretty cool too so far and I also really enjoyed The Company of Myself and it's prequel, Fixation.

Before I wait for some replies, I thought I'd give a list of things that I'm not looking for. Firstly I am looking for a game with some depth to it, something you genuinely think is a good game, not something that will just 'waste a few hours' or is good to play sneakily at work. I'm not looking for a game to kill time, but rather a game to enjoy. I don't really like Tower Defense games, or Resource Management games. I'm looking for something that can be completed, and has an end, of sorts, to it's story. I do like RPGs in terms of gameplay, but stories about wizards and magic and warriors are not for me. Also, please no MMO's or RPGs that take weeks to finish. Just something that lasts somewhere from 1 minute to 2 hours.
Finally, I like puzzles very much, but please, no Tetris/Angry Birds/Mahjong/Hunt the Pixel/Runners/Escape the room/Bejeweled/Typical iOS game clones.
I feel like I've said way too much stuff, for something that should be fairly simple but there you go. So, Can anyone recommend me some good Browser based games?

 

[Frezzato]

Wow, that's pretty specific. I'm assuming that since you mentioned Samorost, you've played Samorost 2 and the rest of the games by Amanita Design. They're unusual in that, while they may play in browsers, you still have to download a file (not the first Samorost though). Botanicula is probably my favorite, although Machinarium is cool too.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed the series The Last Stand, a zombie survival side-scroller series. They've made three so far, and the game play is different in each one. I also appreciate the save functions, although they do disappear once in a while.

The Last Stand [http://armorgames.com/play/269/]
The Last Stand 2 [http://armorgames.com/play/1443/the-last-stand-2]
The Last Stand 3 (Union City) [http://armorgames.com/play/12009/] *Updated link*

I just recently found Ripple Dot Zero [http://www.rippledotzero.com/], a platformer. I haven't finished it, but I really liked the music loop, and it just looks like a quality game.

For quick laughs, I would check out Major Bueno [http://majorbueno.tumblr.com/]. Love these guys' games, especially Brawlin' Sailor and Moon Waltz, which have alternate endings. If you play Moon Waltz, try and scare the cat.

Another quick distraction would be Flyguy [http://www.trevorvanmeter.com/flyguy/], which I still enjoy.

To brush up on my typing skills, I go to Type Racer [http://play.typeracer.com/], on which you can just practice without having to log in or compete against others (you still get to see the leaderboards after each round).

The Great Language Game [http://greatlanguagegame.com/] is a cool concept, although it's not very long.

There's also full versions of old console games that can run in your browser via Java. You can find it by Googling Javascript MESS.

And I shouldn't end on this one, but there's a game about fonts believe it or not. Kerntype - a kerning game [http://type.method.ac/].

 

[happyrk]

Although I'm off your genre but maybe you will like it too,
Marketglory is a browser financial strategy real world simulation game. You start as civilian in country based by your ip. Not much to do in the beginning except working for local companies and fighting your trainer. As you build up your character you can buy gold on financial market and exchange it for euro or invest in stocks for example. Once you gather at least two units of gold you could open your own company.
Unique feature of that game is the possibility of converting in game currency to real life currency and vice versa.
Here is my reference link - http://www.marketglory.com/strategygame/happy-rk for the game.

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Wow, that's pretty specific. I'm assuming that since you mentioned Samorost, you've played Samorost 2 and the rest of the games by Amanita Design. Botanicula is probably my favorite, although Machinarium is cool too.

Yup, I know of Amanita Design, already own their games and looking forward to Samorost 3, even though it's not due 'til 2015...

And I shouldn't end on this one, but there's a game about fonts believe it or not. Kerntype - a kerning game [http://type.method.ac/].

Oddly enough I have one on Steam too, though it's a typography-platformer called Type:Rider http://store.steampowered.com/app/258890/


I just checked out Fly Guy, and really enjoyed it. I'll check out the rest of your links when I'm away. Thanks!

 

[BaronVH]

While it might be outside your criteria, I like Card Hunter quite a lot, especially with its zit-faced, teenaged dungeon master.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Frog Fractions is a game that everybody needs to play. It's one of those games where you can't really say much about it without ruining it, but I will say that any impression you get of what the game is within the first three minutes is very, very wrong.

 

[TehCookie]

Well ignoring the depth comment, Don't Shit your Pants [http://www.kongregate.com/games/rete/dont-shit-your-pants] is a hilarious and fun text adventure.

There's always the classic QWOP [http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html] which you can play for 1 min or 2 hours.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

After Ctrl-F'ing, I have noticed this thread has a distinct lack of [i/]Motherload[/i].

That is an absolute crime.

Doesn't take all that long to complete, but do it anyway. It's pretty easy but the story is just about the most glorious thing I've seen.

If you want pure gameplay, dig through Nitrome. They make some of the best flash games available.

NotDoppler has some very well made puzzle games.

If you want artsy stuff, check out the various "Games You Might Not Have Tried" videos that Extra Credits did. They usually have a flash game section at the end.

Sonny and Sonny 2 are good choices for a bit of story and some turn based RPG action.

One of my personal favorites is Mastermind: World Conqueror. If you ever player Evil Genius, it's like that but super simply. Fun little game, funny, not too hard.

I know you said "No Angry Birds" but you should at least take a LOOK at the Crush The Castle series. It's FAR better than anything Angry Birds ever did.

The Pretentious Game 1 and 2 are neat little things if you get at all sick of the endless parade of artsy flash games.

The main hub I use for everything browser games is Armor Games. So far, it's been the best collection of quality stuff I've found.

Good Hunting.

 

[Ghaleon640]

Frog Fractions is a game that everybody needs to play. It's one of those games where you can't really say much about it without ruining it, but I will say that any impression you get of what the game is within the first three minutes is very, very wrong.

That... was simply too good. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Frezzato]

snip

Just in case you never played this free one, here's the game Amanita designed for The Polyphonic Spree, called The Quest for the Rest [http://amanita-design.net/thequestfortherest/]. It was how I first found out about them. Eh, I might as well add Questionaut [http://amanita-design.net/games/questionaut.html] as well.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

You know, I just got an email for Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances.
http://www.tiberiumalliances.com/home

I haven't personally played it, but it seems like hot off the presses news to me. I hope it helps.

 

[Reyold]

Fear Less is a really good game on Kongregate. You play as a little girl trying to escape the shadowy wolf version of Death that haunts her nightmares. Collect coins on the way to power yourself up and reach the other side of the forest, thus defeating the nightmare once and for all.

 

[bluepotatosack]

In six days, every living cell on earth will be dead.

You have one chance. [http://www.awkwardsilence.co.uk/OneChance.html]

 

[Frission]

Frog Fractions is a game that everybody needs to play. It's one of those games where you can't really say much about it without ruining it, but I will say that any impression you get of what the game is within the first three minutes is very, very wrong.

That was great. I'm stuck at the text adventure part though. Did anyone figure out a way to get through that?

I found Amorphous+ to be very enjoyable for some odd reason. I liked the challenge of it and the achievements descriptions were funny.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/innocuousGames/amorphous?acomplete=amorp

The republia times is also very interesting. It's from the same creator of "Papers, please".
http://dukope.com/play.php?g=trt

 

[Aeshi]

A game someone posted on here a while back about saving people in a burning office building by closing off security doors, and it had a nice time travel twist story in there - that was fairly decent, though forgive me for forgetting the title.

You're thinking of "No One Has to Die"

As for some good Flash Games:

Road of the Dead 1 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/550714] and 2 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/624102]: A pair of pretty cool driving games where you have to escape a zombie-infested city

Sinjid [http://armorgames.com/play/13549/sinjid]: An RPG/Platformer Hybrid

Infectonator 2 [http://armorgames.com/play/13150/infectonator-2]: A semi-RTS where you try to destroy the world with a horde of zombies

Triachnid [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/347467]: Honestly, a mere description can't really do this one justice, you'll just have to play it for yourself.

Sonny 1 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/417513] and 2 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/492477]: A pair of old (but gold) RPG games.

Amorphous+ [http://armorgames.com/play/2044/amorphous-plus]: A top-down beat-em-up-type game where you kill various Slime monsters.

Soom [http://armorgames.com/play/15728/soom]: A fairly interesting Platformer based around folding the level (although if I'm going to be brutally honest it does suffer from "Totally deep and meaningful you guys!" syndrome to a small extent)

Most of the things Nitrome [http://www.nitrome.com/all-games/] makes: Nitrome's made quite a lot of games (mostly platformers built around a single gimmick), and most of them are fairly original, and worth at least a try if nothing else. I'd recommend starting with "Faultline" and "Chisel 1 & 2", because they're my favorites.

Time Fcuk [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/511754]: Should really need no introduction.

[REVIVE] [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/611230]: A little Puzzle platformer

Dino Run [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/443828]: I know you said no Runners, but I think Dino Run is interesting enough to earn a mention here anyway.

Madness: Project Nexus [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/592473]: A fairly fun action game, though I admit it does have it's failings, especially towards the end. (protip if you decide to play this: The big armoured dudes have to have their helmets knocked off by meleeing them enough before you can kill them, the game never actually tells you this)

The "Henry Stickman" series (it doesn't have an official name) part 1 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/533001], part 2 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/574241] & part 3 [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/618518]: A series of point & click adventure games, they're fairly easy, but they're also pretty funny nonetheless.

The Reincarnation Series [http://lilg.newgrounds.com/games/] (just linking to the Authors profile because there's about 10 of these): Another series of (this time more traditional) Point-and-Click adventure games. Most of them can be done in a few minutes unless you get stuck, but the sheer amount of them means their joint play time will probably be quite big.

And that's all I can think of for now.

 

[lechat]

yeah kongregate has some decent games in its top ranking or check my profile for some of my favs
http://www.kongregate.com/accounts/lechat/favorites

i particularly recommend:
http://www.kongregate.com/games/2DArray/the-company-of-myself
http://www.kongregate.com/games/epace/pigs-will-fly
http://www.kongregate.com/games/Scarybug/chronotron

since you seem to like time travel and puzzles which just happens to be my favorite genre (if there is such a thing)

you also want to check out
http://www.kongregate.com/games/EvgenyKarataev/wake-up-the-box
and all of its 5 or 6 odd sequals

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

wow! Thank you all very much for your replies. You'll make my boring work trip a much more enjoyable experience.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

That game you mentioned about a burning office building, I believe it's called no-one has to die [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/615863]. I liked it, but I urge anyone who decides to check it out (and wants to give the game a chance to surprise them with its narrative) to choose who to save in the order of left to right. Of course, any which way you decide to proceed is valid, but having played the game from right to left I feel like I fast forwarded through The Sixth Sense to the end, then watched the film proper after having spoiled it for myself.

I don't really have much of a catalog of browser games off the top of my head, but one that come to mind immediately would be an artsy platformer called Coma [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/541124].

There's also Escape from Crystal Lake [http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/458180], which is probably one of the most unintentionally hilarious games I've ever played. Not necessarily thought provoking or gameplay intensive, but the unintentional part comes completely out of left field and is worth a chuckle at least.

Edit: There was another artsy platformer I was going to recommend, but for the life of me I can't remember its name. What I do remember is that it is a 2D platformer based around getting from point A to point B, all the while exploring your surroundings to fill out the map. No enemies, bottomless pits, or fall damage, just exploration. The more you explore, the more the map zooms out and the wider perspective you gain of the area (unexplored area is just dark spots on the game world). I remember a big thing with the game was subverting your initial expectations of the game world by comparing the small space you start out at (often innocuous and innocent enough) to the filled out area you end with (which will often take a darker tone). Examples include:

Spoiler

A winter wonderland that turns out to be hiding a missile silo; a stone ruins area with waterfalls that turns out to be the runoff grounds of factories dumping toxic waste amidst a city suffering from urban sprawl and decay; a cave like area that turns out to the an asteroid field or the remaining debris of planet blown to bits

Edit 2: Reread OP and got rid of a few options accordingly.

 

[Don Pedro]

I know one:
http://torn.osc.pl
I play this for years, its really an awesome game