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Online games refer to video games that are played over some form of network, most commonly the Internet. The expansion of online gaming has reflected the overall expansion of the Internet. Online games can range from simple text based games to games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously. Many different styles of play are available online. Many Online games have associated online communities, making online games a form of social activity beyond single player games.
Early Online Games
Online games started in the 1980s with MUDs. These text based games were often played via BBS via a modem. These games were frequently based on fantasy settings, using rules similar to those in the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Other styles of games were also available via BBS, such as chess, Scrabble clones, and many others. Continuous connectivity was often expensive as access was frequently charged on a per-minute basis, making play-by-email games another popular form of online game.
First Person Shooters
During the 1990s, online games started to move from a wide variety of LAN protocols (such as IPX) and onto the Internet using the TCP/IP protocol. Doom popularized the concept of deathmatch where multiple players battle each other head-to-head as a new form of online game. Since Doom, most first-person shooter games contain online component to allow deathmatch/arena style play.
Browser Games
With the development of web based graphics technologies such as Flash and Java, browser games also known by their related technology as 'Flash games' or Java Games became increasingly popular. Many retro games such as Pac-Man and Frogger were converted to browser games which could be played over the Internet. Most browser games have limited multiplayer involvement, often being just single player games, at most sharing a high score list. For an example of browser games programmed on Java go to http://www.Javgames.tk - Free Java Games
Massively Multiplayer Online Games
With the growth of broadband Internet access in many developed countries, the types of online games playable over the Internet exploded. Massively multiplayer online games were made possible with expanding Internet access, using the Internet to allow hundreds of thousands of players to play the same game together. Many different styles of massively multiplayer games are available:
- MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game)
- MMORTS (Massively Multiplayer Online Real-Time Strategy)
- MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter)