You may have played a game without knowing it was in JavaScript. The list of games written in JavaScript is quite large and ranges from simple to complex games. So, to help you, we have selected the best JavaScript games that prove coding can be fun!
Like other art forms, video games have undergone changes and evolutions, both in technical and creative matters, over time. This has made developers challenge the idea that games should be more fun, betting on games with more different or daring proposals. Not every game necessarily needs to be fun in the traditional sense of the term, but it should be engaging in some way, making the whole experience quite enveloping and fun in a unique way. This is especially true for Javascript games, which tend to be more interactive, like Cookie Clicker, and engaging games like A Dark Room and Battle of Wesnoth.
What Makes JavaScript Games Special
JavaScript is one of the most powerful languages for those working in development. With it, you can create interactive features for all types of HTML documents. As a result, you can confidently and creatively enhance websites, sales pages, and games, ensuring they deliver exceptional performance. Using JavaScript to create web games gives your routine and project flexibility since web page resources can be integrated easily.
Updating elements is simpler and more practical. As the user does not need to install anything, new phases or resources are distributed quickly. In other words, you always have the best game version available. Moreover, JavaScript readily allows interactions with other extensions and engines, simplifying the creation of immersive game environments, captivating soundscapes, and realistic physics. This is made even more convenient by the availability of libraries that are prepped and ready for use.
Finally, JavaScript games are cheaper to create and distribute. A simple web page can be made to deliver content across the planet. All this with the certainty that you will only need a modern web browser to access the game. (Oh, and be sure to take a look at our selection of the best browser games as well!)
Apart from that, many classic games have already been recreated in JavaScript. As copyright became free, developers worldwide created adaptations for web platforms. This eliminated the need for old games (or emulators) to remember how a classic from the 2000s, 1990s, and 1980s worked.
Since JavaScript is one of the most popular languages, with hundreds of game engines and millions of gaming options, it’s hard to pick a game. To make things easy, check our list of best JavaScript games:
Cookie Clicker
On August 10, 2013, the young French teenager with the nickname Orteli launched the first version of the browser-based game Cookie Clicker, which immediately became popular. It’s a game about… cookies. Just that! You start by clicking on a giant cookie in the middle of the screen. You click until you have lots of cookies, and then you build things to make more cookies, collecting more and more cookies!
2048
2048 is a puzzle coded by Gabriele Cirulli that involves manipulating and merging tiles on a grid to attain the elusive 2048 tile. While the game’s design may appear straightforward, beneath its surface lies profound complexity that keeps you engaged, making it a true gem of casual gaming.
Flappy Bird Clone
Flappy Bird Clone is based on the iconic Flappy Bird game, which involves guiding an adorable bird through different obstacles in the form of pipes. The gameplay is endless unless you touch pipes, and the difficulty increases as you reach a higher score. You have to tap the screen to achieve the highest score continuously!
A Dark Room
A Dark Room is an innovative single-player text-based role-playing game. Players start a fire and then take it from there. At first, there aren’t many options. However, patience provides a fairly fun game. You are slowly building shelters, traps, and other things to survive. The game’s mechanics are an excellent combination of minimalist design and a compelling narrative.
Curvytron
Curvytron is a dynamic and strategic multiplayer game developed by Theo Le Du Fuentes. Within this digital arena, players engage in exhilarating battles of wits and reflexes as they navigate their curves to outsmart adversaries.
Bossgard
Developed by Sand Sailor Studio, Bossgard is a local and online multiplayer game that pits you and four friends against a player who takes command of a furious and vengeful final boss. The game seamlessly blends action, strategy, and teamwork. With the proper power balance of the Viking-to-chief relationship and organized controls, this game is a hidden gem of local co-op goodness.
➡️ Check it out on Steam.
Candy Box 2
Candy Box 2 is a typescript-based game that wants you to become the king of sweets. It is a sequel to Candy Box, a simple RPG game written in ASCII code. At the beginning of the game, Candy Box gives you one candy per second. The determining factor in getting more bullets in less time lies in the items you acquire and the tasks you must complete.
At a certain point, a merchant will appear in the game and offer you more candies, lollipops, and chocolate bars.
Helicopter Game Clone
Based on the classic Helicopter Game of the early 2000s, the Helicopter Game Clone is a simple yet addictive challenge. The game’s timeless appeal continues to entertain players with its straightforward premise: guide a helicopter through a dangerous landscape, testing your reflexes and endurance.
Battle for Wesnoth
Battle for Wesnoth is an open-source turn-based strategy game with a long history of development and is translated into multiple languages. The game takes place in a fantasy universe and focuses on the tactical and strategic deployment of units across a map with varied terrain. The battle for Wesnoth takes place in a fantastic virtual world where a player or players control a series of characters. Each player with his unique characteristics has to fight until the objective of the stage is reached or the enemy is defeated.
Online Mahjong
Online Mahjong offers a digital version of the timeless Chinese tile-matching game written in JavaScript. The game remains faithful to the traditional game of Mahjong, allowing players to play using different layouts and tilesets and to test their skills and strategy.
T-Rex Runner
The T-Rex Runner takes inspiration from the not-so-hidden game found in Google Chrome’s offline mode. While not completely faithful to the original game. It recreates the thrill of guiding a monster through clouds, testing players’ reflexes and determination.
Everyone’s Sky
If you enjoy playing arcade games, especially those with a retro touch, you’ll love Everyone’s Sky. The game will remind you of games like Space Invaders. However, the developer has added a modern touch to it as well.
Not only will you be zooming around the emptiness of space, blasting asteroids that block your path, but you’ll also have to look for civilizations. These civilizations can aid you in allocating resources, or they could be the not-so-peaceful kind and try to take you down instead.
How you choose to navigate space and its inhabitants will be completely up to you. Just be warned – this game is really addictive, despite its rudimentary setup!
Offline Paradise
Offline Paradise is a wonderful browser game and has some of the most aesthetically pleasing minimalist pixelart backgrounds that I’ve seen in any title. The retro design will bring you to the days of old, when you were playing Mario games on your Nintendo 64!
Nonetheless, there are some decent changes to this game. Not only does it run silky smooth, but it also features some extra features that increase its sense of novelty. Of course, you don’t have to install the game to play it. Just check out the website and start playing on your browser!
Additionally, the game has some excellent pixelart and retro-based music. You’ll get lost in navigating the different levels as you tune out to the pleasing songs playing in the background. If nothing else, this is a game that’s meant to be played if you want to relax!
Wrapping Up
Not only is it possible to program games in JavaScript, but as we have shown, many games are, and the best part is everything is stored in the cloud. So, if you don’t have an elaborate gaming setup, you can pick a JavaScript game and have fun.
Next, make sure to take a look at our list of the best games you can code in Python. Don’t worry – you don’t need a massive amount of coding knowledge for these!
