Besides Polycraft, these are all very standard, flash type games. As WebGL continues to expand, we'll see more and more impressive games in the browser. We've spent almost 2 years building a full MMORPG using nothing but HTML5 canvas and node.js in an isometric world: http://casinorpg.com.
My fave this year is definitely Atomic Brawl: http://atomicbrawl.com/ -- it's a collectible card game played on a game-board, so it's kind of a cross between chess and Magic The Gathering.
I spend way too much time playing it :) Hit me up for a game if you want to try it.
Seriously one of the best online webgame communities [1] I have ever been a part of. Full of mods [2] and sporting it's own competitive league [3], tagpro is in active development and is close to being fully open source [4].
It's capture the flag in it's essence, with deep strategy enhanced by individual skill. Once you "get it," you'll be hooked.
A nitpick - addictive is the adjective you're searching for.
If the word "addicting" exists at all, which is debatable, it would be a transitive verb - eg. the pimp's strategy is addicting girls to heroin, then exploiting them
Absolutely amazing (the client). They released the client last year and its pretty cool what they can do with the technology, I am pretty certain that they are one of the few games that was fully ported that wasn't an indie game. Not only did they make the new client in HTML5, but it actually offers more features than the original java client (at least from what I heard, haven't played in years) If any HTML5 game of 2013 should get the award, it honestly should be this.
Funny they mention Zynga... Remember Words With Friends? If you found a particular URL, going through x.facebook.com to play it, you got access to a HTML5 touch enabled version of it, with full cross platform play. I was using that to play it against my girlfriend at the time, on my Nokia N9(!) in 2011. It was all done with divs and funky JavaScript, and was amazingly solid.
Also, I'm really looking forward to Day[9]'s WebGL real time strategy game, I forget the name of it, but the technology is mind blowing. The difference between web code and native graphics is shrinking rapidly.
> The game is desktop-only, and it probably could have been done with Flash, but the web was the main reason this game had success. It feels very much like a website, because it is… it’s able to have solid integration of various user interface elements in a website format rather than a typical game menu. More importantly, because of the nature of the web and links, this game spread like hot cakes through social media and news outlets.
What does that even mean? Is this non-nonsensical to others, or am I missing something? And it is a bomberman clone?
It's a massively multiplayer bombmerman, so a clone with a lot of cool stuff added to it. My writing tends to have a lot of fluff, so sorry for the extra bulk :)
The point I was trying to make is Bombermine is somewhat of a mix between a website and a game, and it works well for it.
I wish there was a better way to switch between pencil marks and writing final answers. I put up with multiple clicks on my phone because I only have one finger, but I have a keyboard and a mouse with two buttons -- maybe holding spacebar would toggle, or right-clicking or something.
That's a fair critique. I wasn't sure to allow additional controls because that would involve overriding browser actions, which may bother others and be inconsistent, and also is unintuitive. Definitely a more involved HTML5 game would require it, but I anticipated a casual level of players who only a few would be long term repeats.
Thanks. I admit it makes a poor mobile experience because of the design focus for the mouse. In addition the layout practically revolves around the ad block (chosen because it looks the cleanest and purportedly has the highest click rate).
If the site gains momentum then I'll build a mobile version. Right now I think 11% visitors are mobile, and some tablet players do complete games.
Bombermine is one of the best games I've played in 2013 on any platform. Well made, fun gameplay, the monetization strategy isn't great, but it's not terrible either.
