Spending your spare time playing video games may not sound especially productive, but they provide so much more than mindless entertainment.
Browser games offer the chance to build new skills, express yourself creatively, form new bonds, and have fun in the process. Some of the games listed below are wholly original, others are reboots of old favourites, but every single one of them is a fun and valuable way to spend your time.
Here are just a few of the best games to play online.
Online casinos
For those able to gamble responsibly, online casinos offer players the chance to sharpen their memories, their analytical skills, basic mathematics, patience, and powers of observation. The fact that it’s fun and you can make some money is just icing on the cake.
If you’re concerned about how safe new online casinos can be, comparison websites like fruityslots.com will help you find the securest sites with the best value for money.
Adventure Quest
Adventure Quest is a classic single player fantasy roleplaying game where you can live out your Tolkien-inspired dreams.
Create your character, pick your class (depending on your tastes and personality, you can be a wizard, ninja, paladin, fighter, or rogue, to name a few), and fight against hordes of monsters. Your character grows stronger as you progress through a world stuffed full of magic, treasures, and fantastical enemies.
RuneScape
RuneScape is a classic point-and-click MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) that has been growing since its creation in 2001.
Set in the vast medieval fantasy land of Gielinor, you take part in over 200 quests as you explore a diverse world filled with different races, and specialise in whichever skill you want: Combat, Artisan, Gathering, Support, or Elite.
Pokémon Showdown
There’s a reason Pokémon is the biggest media franchise in the world. It’s the mixture of impressive, diverse monster design and surprisingly deep battle mechanics.
If you’ve ever wanted to take part in Pokémon battles without having to catch and raise your team – simply pick the creatures you like and go – then Pokémon Showdown is the game for you.
Build a team of six and battle against players from across the world.
GeoGuessr
With GeoGuessr, you can make taking a trip to far-flung corners of the world into a game.
This geographic browser game drops you in a semi-random location in street view, and based on what you can see around you, you must guess where in the world you are. When you make a guess, you can get anywhere from zero to 5000 points, the maximum being if you guess within 150 metres of your location.
Slither.io
Snake was one of the earliest and most famous mobile games, where players had to grow their snake by making it eat fruit without running into their own tail.
Slither.io is the modern version of this classic set up, only this time you’re playing with hundreds of other players, and the way to make your snake grow is to get them to run into you.
It’s addictive and chaotic, and if you get the longest snake of the day you get to leave a message for other players to see.
Neopets
Neopets has been going strong since 1999, and it’s not hard to see why.
Owning and caring for your own virtual pet is rewarding, especially with the rich customization, and supportive online community.
Everybody Edits
What if you were playing a platform game like Mario or Sonic, but the levels you had to overcome were created by fellow players? That is the premise of Everybody Edits, the real-time, multiplayer platform game where the creations of other players affect your chances of completing a course.
You can either play the game, or play with the game.