Remember when browser games were all the rage? Remember Cool Math Games? Miniclip? And probably the best one of all, Newgrounds?
I remember that magical point in life, when getting on the computer after school meant sifting through Flash game after Flash game (rest in peace), searching for something to entertain myself. It was a simpler time, one I miss greatly. Newgrounds in particular was a pioneer in the space, and a haven for hosting the browser games of the old internet, allowing anybody to make a little game and post it online.
Sure, you had all kinds of edgy shit on there, but it was the incubator for many, many games. Super Meat Boy, Binding of Isaac, Castle Crashers, Battleblock Theater all came out of this era. All of these titles got their start from Newgrounds, with the latter two coming from the creator of Newgrounds Tom Fulp’s very own game studio, The Behemoth. Hell, even one of the games on the list below got its start from Newgrounds, and remains available on the platform with any new content being added there first.
So there’s my point. Don’t you want to go back for a moment to when times were much simpler? Don’t you want to abandon humanity and revert to monkey? Luckily Newgrounds is still alive and kicking, but itch.io is a bit wider of a platform, and they’ve got heaps of very good browser games that were made in the past few years. These games have the vibe of playing a game on Newgrounds as a kid or teen, mixed with the polish that today’s technology can provide. I’m a fiend for these kinds of things, so I’ve handpicked a few games for you to try that can be played in your browser.
Update (21/02/23): This article has been updated to add 3 more games to the list – Stick to the Plan, Over My Dead Body, and Pit of Lazarus.
Friday Night Funkin’
I know, I know. Friday Night Funkin’ has been one of the top games on Itch.io for a million years. But it’s for good reason. Friday Night Funkin’ is a Dance Dance Revolution-esque rhythm game by ninjamuffin99, and harkens back to the Newgrounds-era Flash Player style of game. It rocks. The music is fun and the enemies are cool as hell. There’s a good reason why it has remained so successful.
NextDoor
This is a weird technicality, as while NextDoor is technically a game you can play in your browser, I’d highly recommend downloading it to get the full experience. Considering this, NextDoor is a short pixel-horror game made by Broelbrak and is inspired by the work of Jung Ito. The character design I feel like perfectly hits this mark, and the unnerving tone throughout the short experience is just fantastic.
Welcome Googoo
This is the game to play if you are sad and want to quickly feel love and happiness. Welcome Googoo is a simple game where you must write invitations to villagers for Googoo’s welcome home party, and you must write the invitations individually to cater to each villager’s personality. It is so silly and cute and the froggy chair is there too. A nice game. And isn’t it nice for things to be nice every once in a while?
Tanuki Sunset
I’ve always believed that what Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was missing for all these years was the ability to skateboard as a raccoon. Tanuki Sunset is a third-person (third-racoon?) skating game made by Rewind Games, and it is not easy. You may fall a lot, but it makes it all the more rewarding when you don’t fall. It’s a super fun skating game where the levels are procedurally generated and the vibes are immaculate.
goodbye, doggy
This is probably the shortest game out of all of them, and yet it punched me in the gut the most. You can probably guess from the name, but goodbye, doggy is quite sad. You play as the ghost of a family dog, and you must partake in some light haunting to help your family get their lives back on track after losing you. Despite being sad, it’s also very sweet.
Cat-A-Combs!
The only thing I don’t like about this game is that I wish there was more of it. Such a great concept. Cat-A-Combs! is a puzzle platform made by Audrey Vasconcelos, Fernando Silveira, JP Durigan, and Lia Godoy. You play a cat with multiple lives, and you must use this to your advantage. Every time you die, your body becomes a platform that you can use to block blocks and lasers, or help you up a level. Novel concept, I want more.
Soul Void
Soul Void is a 1-2 hour Game Boy-esque game made by Kadabura. It’s creepy and cool, and the pixel art is sometimes simple and sometimes unnervingly detailed. It’s one of the most enthralling games I’ve played from itch.io in terms of story and art style. The only issue I’d say is the lack of SFX or music, but in a way this adds to the creepiness of it all. My recommendation for background music is the Closer To Grey album by Chromatics.
The Ratchelor
I live for this stuff. Gimmicky dating sims are like crack to me, and The Ratchelor is being pumped directly into my veins. The Ratchelor is a take on The Bachelor, except instead of how the show is normally, you are a rat and your love interests are all rats. The art style is somehow ugly AND beautiful, every rat that you date has their own distinct personality, and the bland responses you give to the rats mean a lot more than you think.
Morbius: The Game
I have said enough about Morbius: The Game.
Stick to the Plan
Stick to the Plan by Dead Pixel Games is the perfect time waster. You are a little dog that has stumbled upon a big stick, and you are a very good boy for it. It is your job as a good boy to take the stick to the goal, and you must twist and turn to get there. It’s a simple concept executed in a lovely little way, and it makes me giggle every time the doggy tries to turn and hits a tree with the stick.
Over My Dead Body
Who would’ve thought that your very own corpse could be a useful tool in platforming? Over My Dead Body by FeatureKreep is a puzzle platformer where you are a clone that must complete tests like in Portal, but the catch is that you have to die over and over in order to progress. The pixel art is very cute, and it’s definitely a good bit of fun.
Pit of Lazarus
In my personal opinion, there is no such thing as too many games with a Wario feel, and Pit of Lazarus by LittleBeardMan is a perfect example of just that. In it, you are a bearded treasure hunter that must descend into a cursed temple and emerge with some treasure. The colour scheme is gorgeous, and I am truly obsessed with the large horrible face that follows you back up the temple.
These are just a few choice picks of mine from Itch.io’s browser game library, but there are so so many. Do you have any browser games from Itch.io that you love? Or maybe even browser games from a different website? OR maybe even a browser game from your childhood that had a wicked strong hold on you? Let us know!
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