Browser game

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Browser games are electronic games that are played online via the Internet. They are distinct from normal video and computer games in that they do not require any client side software to be installed. There are games that rely solely on client-side technologies such as a web browser and a common plugin such as Java or Flash or built in technologies like Ajax and the canvas object, whereas other also employ server-side scripting. The latter case are typically (massive) multiplayer games, whereas the client-side games are typically single-player games. A game played in a browser is often called a browser-based game.

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[edit] Plugin-based games

Plugin-based browser games require a form of web browser plugin to function. Some of these may include Java, Shockwave and Flash, with some of these plugins easily available through most modern browsers.

[edit] DHTML/Javascript games

With the development of Document Object Model Level 2 technologies in the late 1990s, it became possible to produce games that would run within a browser without the need of 3rd party plugins. These games were written in DHTML (Dynamic HTML), which is a combination of CSS and Javascript. Normally used for drop down menus and simple image rollovers,: DHTML can be used to produce the animation effects required for sprite based action games. Ajax programming techniques can also be used to create games.

[edit] Server-side games

A growing number of games are being created using server-side scripting, in a language such as PHP, ASP, Ruby, Perl, Python and Java. Games such as this store all code server side and only send the user's browser HTML markup language for interpretation. Some include JavaScript or Ajax to allow the user to see immediate responses to their online actions and make the games more visually appealing.

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