Like a lot of people, my gaming youth was marked mostly by console games, whether they were handheld or home consoles. However, long before I built my first gaming PC, there was a very formative time I had playing games on a computer that required nothing but an internet connection.

Browser games were a huge part of my life in my early high school days, with games like Happy Wheels being the funniest thing on the planet, to my friends and I at 13. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then.

Browser games have gotten better, and while Happy Wheels still gets a nostalgic chuckle from me, I'm much more aware of the breadth that can exist with browser games now, which is why this list has been designed to show you eight free browser games you should check out for free.

8 Vampire Survivors

No vampires included.

Yes, the BAFTA game of the year for 2023, Vampire Survivors can be played in your browser, for free, from developer poncle. In fairness, it is marked as a "demo web version," with the full game still being available on pretty much any platform you'd want. So it's not the whole game. But it shouldn't be a surprise that the excellent bullet-hell game that pretty much took over the world in 2022 still slaps, even in demo form.

You can still easily lose hours of time on the browser version, and experience all the same weapons and upgrades from the game's launch version. With just the original four characters, there's still so much fun to be had here.

• Vampire Survivors (Play in your browser at itch.io)

7 Celeste Classic

Just breathe, Madeline.

For how good of a platformer Celeste is, it's incredible that there's a version of it playable just in your browser. Celeste Classic is a PICO-8, early version of the full game that would later launch for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox consoles. It still has the tight, mechanical gameplay those familiar with Celeste love in the full game.

And if you're not familiar with the full game, but love platformers, then this is a great option for giving Celeste a try. The art, story, and mechanics of the full game are, as expected, much more fleshed out. The bones of what makes Celeste so amazing, though, are present in Celeste Classic. That's why it's still a wonderful platformer to play, whether you've played the full game or not.

• Celeste Classic (Play in your browser at itch.io)

6 POOM

Blast demon's in your browser.

If it can run on a Microsoft Word document, an LED Holocube, and a Nintendo Alarmo (to name just a few devices), then you can be sure you can run DOOM in your browser. I quite like this PICO-8 version of the classic shooter, POOM, and not just because I can simply play some DOOM on a new tab whenever I like.

I might be dating myself here with my love for blocky pixels, but I love how POOM looks. I think because in my mind, POOM feels like the GameBoy version of DOOM I never got to play, but would have loved, if it existed in that format at the time. At least I have it to play now. Thanks, Paranoid Cactus.

• POOM (Play in your browser at itch.io)

5 Dinosaur Game

Sometimes, simple is enough.

Dinosaur Game stands out on this list as probably being one of the simplest games here. Just jump over each cactus and duck under each bird. Forever, or for as long as you can. It's a very simple game, with a simple art style. It can still eat up far too much of my time.

Maybe it's my love for platformers, or maybe it's because I also spent a lot of my youth playing games like Jetpack Joyride and The Impossible Game. Whatever the reason, all I can tell you is that I think the idea of a small T. rex running across a desert is both cute and funny, and it's fun to make him jump and duck for as long as I can.

• Dinosaur Game (Play in your browser)

4 Joe Danger Infinity

The world's most determined stuntman.

You probably recognize Hello Games as the studio behind No Man's Sky, the team who took its abysmal launch on the chin, and turned the game into a massive success years later. But if you, like me, were looking for anything fun and new on the PlayStation Store in 2010, then, like me, you probably found Joe Danger, also developed by Hello Games, years before No Man's Sky was even announced.

The original two games were ported to a number of platforms since, but Hello Games even went a step further to develop a version you can play on your web browser, Joe Danger Infinity. It's the same great side-scroller, just as bright and as fun as it was back in 2010. If you've never played the originals, then I highly recommend giving it a try here.

• Joe Danger Infinity (Play in your browser)

3 Mole

One button is all you need.

Mole is one of those games made by an artist looking to make something with a simple limitation. As the creator Matt explains on the game's page, "I wanted to try to make a game with only one button for controls," a limitation he took on because Matt's nephew struggled with games that have multiple inputs.

The result? A platformer that's a wonderful cross between Downwell and Super Meat Boy, that uses momentum in a funny and interesting way.

• Mole (Play in your browser at itch.io)

2 Slither.io

Be the biggest snake.

An iteration of a PC gaming classic, Slither.io takes the Snake game we all know and love, and turns it into a bright and colorful multiplayer joyride. Eat bright orbs to grow bigger, try and get bigger snakes (other players) to mess up and crash into you, then eat their orb-remains. Move your snake with your mouse, and loads of fun can be had.

There's a wide variety of colors and patterns you can apply to your snake while you gobble up the competition, and there's even a look that turns you into a giant, lanky snail.

• Slither.io (Play in your browser)

1 Six Cats Under

Morbid, funny, and cute, the perfect mix.

Six Cats Under is an adorable game that starts with you dying. You step into the ghostly shoes of an old woman who lived alone with her many cats, until her bookshelf collapsed on top of her. With her own life over, she immediately fears for her cats, who are now stuck in her apartment.

It's a point-and-click puzzle game, where you have to use the household items you can still manipulate as a ghost to get your cats to, through their own cat high jinks, open the door, so everyone can escape. From developers Miles Äijälä, Robin Swift, Tomas Beržinskas and Alex Martin, Six Cats Under is more short and sweet fun that's always just a tab away.

• Six Cats Under (Play in your browser at itch.io)

Your browser is more capable than you might think.

Even as someone who grew up playing browser-based games, the scale and scope of modern games today make it easy to forget what else is out there. It's amazing, really, when you think about the experiences available to you, even just within your web browser. Each of these eight games is just a small reminder, and taste, of what's out there.