With a whole world of shiney high spec PC’s and consoles practically being able to do everything except the washing up, it’s easy to forget the simple gaming pleasures the internet can bring; and I don’t just mean flash games that amuse you for a day when your avoiding essays or work, I mean the ones you build into part of your daily online routine.

If you’re anything like me, you have a little net routine, you might not realise it, but you probably do. You come home from work or school or whatever; check your emails, move onto Facebook, eBay and so on and then you log in to your browser based game, check your character, or civilisation depending on your what playing, take care of the business with that and then you’ll probably go to a forum which relates to that game, if you’re in a clan or group, check what’s new there and then maybe you’ll leave the PC for a cup of tea, or a shower.
It’s that simple.

So why don’t more people do it?

From what I can gather from my gaming friends, browser based games usually don’t interest them because they usually can’t find something that would hold their interest, or because it’s not a proper game or because of IP restrictions, which is the biggest kill-joy.
Usually browser based games allow only a certain number of accounts from any one IP, so if your at work or school or even sharing the net at home with a few others, you can be penalised just for sharing an interest in what they do (a problem I’m currently facing). Some bbg’s are great as long as you email them, explain it and usually promise that you wont aid or team up with the other players on the same IP, but is it worth going to all that trouble for just an extra thing to do on the net? Well in all honesty, yes.

There are some fantastic bbg’s out there; I’ve played Bootleggers, Cybernation’s & Urban Dead. Unfortunately, I speak in the past tense because after having played a few browser based games over the last few years I’ve found that I either get bored, forget, or someone, somewhere pick’s on me until I’m either dead or destroyed (much like any online game to be fair); however there is light at the end of the tunnel…

Bbg’s are one of those things ANYONE with the internet can get involved in, and there are ALWAYS new things to try. They are also a great platform for new developers to get a name for themselves, and I’ve noticed one or two bbg’s at the moment with some fantastic potential to be made into full game titles.
So I urge you all to go out and find one if you don’t have one already, get greedy, have more than one, have three, it’s not like they cost you anything (oh, didn’t I mention that? Bonus isn’t it)