A Brief History of Browser Games

The Flash Era (1996-2020)

The golden age of browser games began with Adobe Flash. Sites like Miniclip, Newgrounds, and Armor Games hosted millions of players. Flash made it easy to create rich animations and interactive content, and an entire generation grew up playing Flash games in their web browsers.

The End of Flash

Security vulnerabilities, lack of mobile support, and performance issues led to Flash's gradual decline. Steve Jobs' famous 2010 open letter, "Thoughts on Flash," explained Apple's decision not to support Flash on mobile devices. Adobe officially ended Flash support in December 2020.

The HTML5 Revolution

Technologies like HTML5 Canvas, WebGL, and the Web Audio API filled the void left by Flash. High-performance games can now run directly in the browser without any plugins. This shift also meant games could work seamlessly across desktops, tablets, and phones.

Browser Games Today

Modern browser games rival the quality of desktop applications. With WebAssembly, even C++ game engines can run in the browser. Thanks to PWA (Progressive Web App) support, browser games can now be installed on your phone just like native apps -- complete with offline support and home screen icons.

We continue this tradition by bringing classic puzzle games to life with modern web technologies, completely free to play.