Examples of good Javascript/HTML5 based games

In the interest of exploring just how far you can take the newest crop of browsers, I and some colleagues cross-compiled the open-source Java port of Quake II to Safari/Chrome (it ought to work on Firefox at some point as well, though it didn't initially, largely for performance reasons). The project is here: http://code.google.com/p/quake2-gwt-port/

It still requires some care and feeding to get it up and running (e.g., WebGL still isn't enabled by default in any shipping browser), but we uploaded a video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhMN0wlITLk (sorry it's so dark -- gamma issues remain) and you can see our Google I/O talk here: http://code.google.com/intl/fr-FR/events/io/2010/sessions/gwt-html5.html

I don't know how long it's going to be before we can realistically depend on all these new browser features (WebGL, WebSocket, audio/video, local storage, et al), but if it all comes together it could make a huge difference in the ability to ship games directly on the web. But there are still a lot of hurdles that remain (e.g., don't hold your breath for Microsoft to implement WebGL in IE10).

Coincidentally, there was a question on Slashdot today about html5/javascript gaming:

http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/07/14/0632238/JavaScriptHTML-5-Gaming

It mentions specifically Galactic Plunder, a side-scrolling space shooter:

http://dougx.net/plunder/plunder.html

Have a look at these websites:

• http://html5games.com/
• http://web.appstorm.net/roundups/browsers/10-html5-games-paving-the-way/

There is a lot of hype around HTML5 but to say that Flash is largely being replaced by it is an overstatement. While video and audio tags may gain traction, gaming will be one area that holds out for a long time, not just because of better tooling and performance, but also because there is a business infrastructure built around distributing Swf files, that wouldn't easily adapt to HTML and js. The html5 games I have seen using canvas are roughly where flash was 7 years ago, and by the time ie9 is widely distributed enough that canvas is a viable option, Flash will have already introduced it's planned 3d and possibly hardware acceleration features.

EA's Lord of Ultima is probably the most visually impressive Javascript/HTML based game I've seen.

Note: It a strategy game and not an action title so while it has a nice smooth scrolling map, there isn't anything beyond clicking on buttons as far as direct interactivity goes.

"I'm curious what's possible and what the limitations are."

The limitations are browser-based. If you're using something hot like the Webkit nightlies, there's basically nothing that flash can do that the browser can't do natively, such as:

• 2d Graphics (via canvas) with rotation, scaling, opacity, etc.
• 3d (via canvas and WebGL)
• Audio (via the audio tag, though it currently sucks even in browsers that support it)
• HTTP (via XMLHTTPRequest)
• Local Storage (via the localStorage API)
• Sockets (via Web Sockets)
• SVG
• Video (via the video tag)

AFAIK that's all possible in Google Chrome as well (and if it's not, it will be soon). Sounds like a complete gaming environment to me :)

(I included links to all this stuff in my first draft but StackExchange wouldn't let me post them since I'm new; sorry!)

Even though controls are screwed up/need work, I am fond of Akihabara - http://www.kesiev.com/akihabara/

Google Pacman has to be one of the more impressive JS/HTML games I've seen (granted, it's the only one I've seen, but it's still really impressive :)

Source Code locations

There are excellent tutorials for the Akihabara Libraries put together by Darius Kazemi and Darren Torpey at: Akihabara Tutorials

FreeCIV: http://www.freeciv.net/

Plus: They are doing HTML advocacy.