You all know it, you buy an expensive device that you really needed or at least wanted and then it hardly gets used. MeinMMO author Dariusz Müller feels similarly. He bought a gaming PC for 2,000 euros and now plays browser games on it.
Unnecessary kitchen gadgets, discounted games, or replacement hardware for the office. Everyone probably has something lying around at home that was bought and has since never or extremely rarely been used.
My gaming PC is a bit similar, except that it’s actually used a lot – just rarely for activities that fully utilize its performance.
What do I use the PC for? Besides doing my work, the PC is suitable for playing most new games at the highest settings. After all, I switched from the PS4 to PC only in December 2020. But what the PC is suitable for is still far from what it actually does.
In addition to generally less technically demanding games like Valorant, Valheim, and Among Us, I have increasingly played browser games with friends in recent months while chatting about all kinds of things on Discord.
A Twitch stream or a series is usually running on the second monitor. My PC has had to handle demanding AAA titles rather infrequently in recent months.
No expensive game is needed to have a good time with friends.
Why do I play browser games? Besides the almost embarrassing fact that an expensive gaming PC wouldn’t have been necessary if I only played browser games, I have mainly learned one thing: It’s not always an expensive game that costs millions to produce in order to have a good time with friends in multiplayer.
We especially enjoy party games that we can easily play alongside each other, where lively conversations are not a disadvantage. In contrast, titles like Valorant or Rainbow Six Siege require us to minimize conversations, giving callouts and tactical instructions while listening for footsteps.
What browser games do I play? Among the mentioned browser games popular in our friend circle are especially those that gained fame through Twitch or YouTube. The strongest representative on this list is GeoGuessr, or Geotastic. But we also had a lot of fun with Scribble and Gartic Phone.
Next, I would like to briefly introduce you to my three favorite browser games:
Explore the world playfully with GeoGuessr
This is GeoGuessr: GeoGuessr is a browser game that – don’t be alarmed, it actually does – deals with geography. There are different modes based on recognizing different places around the world. GeoGuessr can be played alone, in teams against other teams, or everyone against everyone.
You receive a picture or ideally a “Google Street View” snippet and can move around in the shown area. There, you look for clues that lead you to the location. Helpful clues can be growing plants, the endings of email addresses, or signs.
If you have an idea of where you might be, you mark the place on a world map. The closer you are to the actual location, the more points you receive. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.
This is the alternative to GeoGuessr: GeoGuessr is not completely free. Many modes or maps are tied to a subscription service. An alternative to the well-known game is Geotastic.
Geotastic works largely the same as GeoGuessr and is also playable in the browser, but completely free. Only an email registration is necessary, and you can optionally support the developers with a donation. However, you are not obligated to spend anything.
Geotastic comes from a member of the Community of RocketBeans.TV, where GeoGuessr is a frequently and popularly played game.
Fictional alternatives to GeoGuessr: If real geography is too boring for you, you can also access various fictional worlds and test your knowledge on the respective map. For example, WoW-GeoGuessr is perfect for any WoW fan.
We at MeinMMO present you a small list of further GeoGuessr alternatives in fictional worlds from video games:
- Genshin Impact GeoGuessr via GeoGuessr.com
- GTA V GeoGuessr via GeoGuessr.com
- GTA V GeoGuessr via gta-geoguesser.com
- WoW-GeoGuessr via kruithne.net
Get creatively artistic in Gartic Phone and Scribble
This is Gartic Phone: Gartic Phone became a small hit on Twitch in 2021 and is still played in groups of streamers in 2022. The browser game has various modes where players can express themselves artistically.
There are deviations of the game principle in the respective modes of Gartic Phone, but basically, you always have to write a sentence, draw a picture, and then recognize what a picture is supposed to represent.
This is Scribble: Similar to Gartic Phone, you also have to become artistically active in Scribble. In each round, one player draws while the others have to guess what it is.
But unlike in Gartic Phone, all players see at the same time what the painter is scribbling on the canvas. The faster you can guess what the picture is supposed to represent, the more points you receive. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.
Another difference from Gartic Phone is that instead of a whole sentence or a short story, only a term needs to be drawn.
What do you think about me spending so much money on a PC and now playing browser games on it? Do you say I’ve wasted money or do you think the expense is still justified because I could also play AAA games on it?
Another fun activity that is not a browser game but still quite interesting can be found in an AI. This artificial intelligence can do precisely what your task in Gartic Phone is: It draws a picture from a written text.
AI takes Twitter by storm – Also creates art for you from words
