Beginner Guides
A Beginner's Guide to Browser Cat Games
A browser game is a web page that happens to be a game. You open a link, it loads like any other page, and you play. There is nothing to install, no account to make and nothing to update. This guide covers what that actually means in practice, what to expect, and how to tell a browser game site worth your time from one that is not.
What happens when you open a browser game
Three things arrive when the page loads: the HTML that describes the page, the CSS that styles it, and the JavaScript that runs the game. On a small game like the ones here, all three together are a few hundred kilobytes - less than a single photograph. That is why a well-built browser game starts in a second or two.
Once the JavaScript is running, the game draws itself onto a Canvas element - a rectangle the browser hands over to the game to paint pixels into, sixty times a second. Nothing further is downloaded while you play. That is worth knowing: if your connection drops mid-run, the game keeps working.
What you do and do not need
| You need | You do not need |
|---|---|
| A reasonably current browser | Any download or installer |
| JavaScript enabled | A plugin - Flash and Java applets are gone |
| A working keyboard or touch screen | An account, email address or password |
| A connection to load the page once | A fast connection while playing |
| Nothing else | A powerful computer or phone |
If a site asks you to install something to play a browser game, close it. The whole point of the format is that installation is unnecessary, and a request to install is one of the clearest warning signs on the web.
Controls, and why they differ between games
There is no standard browser game control scheme, because there is no browser game console. Each game chooses its own, and good games tell you what they chose before you start.
- Keyboard
- Arrow keys or WASD for movement, Space for the main action. This is close to universal, and every game on this site accepts both arrow keys and WASD so you do not have to think about it.
- Mouse
- Usually for menus and puzzle games rather than for action games. A mouse is precise but slow to move across a screen, which suits a card game more than a runner.
- Touch
- Taps, holds, swipes or on-screen buttons. Well-built games pick the one that suits the game rather than sticking a generic virtual gamepad on the screen, which is almost always worse than a purpose-built control.
The differences between these are covered properly in controls for desktop and mobile.
Where your scores go
Most browser games save your high score in localStorage - a small amount of storage inside your own browser, attached to that website. Three consequences follow, and they surprise people.
- Your score is on that device only. Play on your phone and your laptop and you have two separate high scores, because there is no account tying them together.
- Clearing your browsing data deletes it. If you clear site data, cookies and storage for a site, the scores go with it and there is no way to get them back.
- Private or incognito windows discard it. Storage in a private window is thrown away when you close it, so a score set there will not survive.
That is a fair trade for not having to create an account, but it is worth knowing before you spend an hour on a run you want to keep. There is more detail in how high scores are saved in browser games.
How to tell a good browser game site from a bad one
This genre has a great many low-quality sites, and they share recognisable traits. These are the things worth checking in the first thirty seconds.
- Does the game start quickly?A small browser game should be playable within a couple of seconds. A long loading bar on a simple game usually means advertising scripts loading ahead of the game itself.
- Are the ads separated from the controls?An advertisement placed next to or over a game button is placed there on purpose. It is the clearest single sign that a site is built for clicks rather than for players.
- Does anything pop up before you play?Interstitial adverts before a game, or a popup demanding notification permission, tell you what the site is for.
- Are the games actually there?Many sites list hundreds of games; a good share of them are dead embeds that load nothing. If a card leads nowhere, assume the rest are the same.
- Does the site say anything about its games?A site that can explain how a game works has probably built it. A site that pads its pages with the same three sentences about every game has not.
- Is there a real privacy policy?Not a legal necessity for you as a player, but a site that has thought about what it stores has usually thought about other things too.
What to expect from the games themselves
Browser games are small by nature. A game that runs in a page, loads in a second and needs no installation is not going to be a sixty-hour adventure, and trying to judge it as one misses the point. What the format does well is short, complete experiences.
A good browser game is understandable in seconds, playable in minutes, and ends cleanly. Our longest game is a ten-minute platformer level; our shortest is a sixty-second collection round. Both are complete things rather than fragments of something larger.
Getting started here
- Open a game pageTry Cat Hop - one button, nothing to read.
- Read the two lines above the canvasEvery game page on this site states the controls in plain text above and below the play area.
- Press StartOr press Space, which starts most of the games here.
- Play three rounds before judgingAlmost every arcade game is confusing on the first attempt and clear by the third. One run is not enough information.
- Try a different type nextIf a runner is not for you, a puzzle game may be. They are genuinely different - see the guide to game types.
Key Takeaways
- A browser game is a web page; nothing installs and nothing runs after you close the tab.
- Once loaded, the game runs locally - a dropped connection will not interrupt your run.
- Scores live in your browser, per device, and disappear if you clear site data or play in a private window.
- Ads next to game controls, popups before play, and dead game links are the three clearest signs of a site to avoid.
- Judge a browser game after three attempts, not one. Almost all of them are opaque on the first try.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are browser games safe?
Playing one is about as risky as reading any other web page - the game runs in the browser's sandbox and cannot reach your files. The risk on low-quality game sites is advertising and downloads, not the games themselves. Never install anything a browser game site offers you.
Do browser games work offline?
Once the page has loaded, most small games keep running without a connection because nothing further is downloaded. Reloading the page needs a connection unless the site provides an offline mode.
Why is a game slow on my computer?
Usually something else competing for the browser's main thread - many open tabs, a heavy extension, or a background process. Closing other tabs fixes it more often than anything else.
Can I play browser games on a tablet?
Yes, and tablets suit them well - the larger screen makes on-screen controls comfortable in a way phones sometimes do not.
Do I need to make an account?
Not on this site, and you should be suspicious of any simple browser game that insists on one. There is nothing about a high score that requires an account.
Why do some browser games have adverts inside the game?
Because that is how many sites are funded. It is acceptable in principle; what is not acceptable is placing an advert where it can be mistaken for a game control, which is the thing to watch for.
