None of these are ours. They are four free-to-play browser games made by other studios, picked because each one asks for a different sort of attention: the shared map that invented the genre, deep space with company in it, a picture to search, and a wall to knock down.
All four open in the browser you are reading this in. No installer, no launcher, nothing to keep patched. Each entry says what the game is, how long a normal sitting lasts and what it actually costs.
Most lists of browser games run to fifty entries and leave you no wiser. Four is enough to choose from and few enough that someone opened each one. The bar was:
Roman, Gaul or Teuton villages on a map everyone shares, where troops march in real hours and the diplomacy matters more than the sword. The grandparent of the genre.
Deep space, three companies and a great deal of ore. Fly out, fill the hold, upgrade the ship, and find out who else wanted that sector.
Hidden-object scenes that pay for a Victorian factory empire. Two unrelated games welded together, and the join holds better than it has any right to.
A stronghold, a siege engine and somebody else's wall. Straightforward where the other strategy games are sprawling, and all the better for knowing it.
The third column is the one to read first. These differ far more in how often they want you back than in what they are about.
| Game | Genre | A typical sitting | Device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travian | Empire Strategy | Short daily check-ins | Desktop, laptop and tablet. |
| DarkOrbit | Space MMO | 20 to 40 minutes | Desktop and laptop. |
| Uptasia | Build & Hidden-Object | 15 to 30 minutes | Desktop, laptop and tablet. |
| Combat Siege | Siege Strategy | 15 to 25 minutes | Desktop and laptop. |
All four are free to open and free to carry on with. All four also sell something: a premium account, a faster timer, a currency. That is how they are funded, and stopping at the word "free" would leave out the part you need.
What we checked is whether the game survives if you never spend. In all four it does; what money buys is mostly waiting time back. If you do spend, settle the amount before you open the shop.
A browser game is the only kind you can start on one machine at lunch and carry on at home without moving a file. The convenience has a price:
Uptasia. It asks nothing of you beyond looking carefully, and the factories give the looking a point. If you would rather be shot at, DarkOrbit will take the whole evening.
No. All four are played in the browser. A couple have optional desktop clients you can safely ignore.
They load on one, but they expect a mouse and room to see. Phone for a quick look, laptop for an evening.
Most will, because the game keeps your progress between sessions. That account is theirs, not ours.
Free to start and free to keep playing. Each sells optional extras, which is how it pays for itself. None of them locks the interesting part behind a purchase.
None beyond the people who wrote it. These four belong to other studios and are listed because they are worth an evening.
Four free-to-play browser games, written up by the people who run this site. None of the four are ours.