Agar.io

Even with so many games trying to follow its success, Agar.io is still the king of .io games. The fact that it inspired so many mimics is a testament to its design.

Gaining size sacrifices speed, allowing weaker blobs to escape from your grasp. This is a fantastic move, adding an element of skill and strategic depth to the pursuit. The split mechanic is another great element, allowing you to temporarily gain great momentum for potentially great reward -- but also at a higher risk of exposing yourself.

Finally, the spiked mines littering the arena ensure that even the mightiest players are not fully safe. A savvy player can launch one to explode a giant blob and reap huge rewards. And the best part? The speed mechanic ensures that the larger the player is, the harder it is for them to avoid it.

You can check out Agar.io on its official website, and peruse our Agar.io guides to get a few tips for playing.

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What are your favorite .io games to play? Let us know in the comments!

Deeeep.io

A relatively new addition to the .io crowd, Deeeep.io (4 e's) puts you in an ocean environment where you play as one of many animal varieties. Similar to Diep.io, there's an upgrade tree, as gaining enough points allows you to play stronger animals. Different animal types have special abilities that makes each one somewhat unique to play, increasing the game's replay value.

In another interesting move, the small pellets you can collect to increase your EXP are grouped differently in separate parts of the arena -- meaning you can go to an area with larger ones, but doing so risks running into stronger animals who had the same idea.

Check out Deeeep.io on its official website.

Slither.io

Generally, when it comes to .io games, simpler is better. Slither.io has you playing as a snake, trying to increase your length as much as possible. This is accomplished by picking up glowing dots, the largest of which are created from killing another player's snake.

The ingenuity of Slither.io comes from this interaction -- the only way to kill another snake is to get it to run into your side, and the only tool assisting you is a boost ability you can use at the cost of some length. Pulling off the maneuver is far easier said than done, and getting good at the mind games involved is a large part of the game's appeal.

The best part is that if you luck out, there's nothing stopping you from killing a snake much larger than you are.

Check out Slither.io on its official website, and take a look at our Slither.io guides for help getting started. 

Diep.io

One of the more action-packed options, the defining characteristic of Diep.io is tanks. Rather than using your physical body to attack (although it is an option), your main source of offense is a hail of bullets.

The other thing that makes this game stand out is that there are some RPG elements to the upgrade system, in that you can choose different stats to invest in. This element really shines at levels in intervals of 15, when you choose a new major upgrade for your tank, like twin shot or a machine gun.

On the downside, one element this game is missing is the ability to take down much larger opponents. If you're vastly outleveled by an enemy, your only real option is to run and hope they haven't invested heavily in their speed. Or that they decide not to bother with you.

You can check out Diep.io on its official website. Just be sure to take a look at our Diep.io guides so that you can get a little ahead of the game.

If you're looking to play a game that pits you in a competition against dozens of other online players at the drop of a hat, there are few options better than .io games.

The best examples of .io games are a fast-paced struggle for survival, as climbing on the leaderboard makes you more powerful -- but also more of a target. These games are able to squeeze a surprising amount of strategic depth out of a simple-seeming concept, and are a blast to play.

But ever since the massive success of games like Slither.io, there's been an explosion of .io games to choose from -- with new ones popping up nearly all the time. Which ones are actually worth your time? We're here to tell you! These four .io games are the best ones for you to play while you stay inside this summer.

Survival games seem to be the focus of most .io game developers right now. In the last few months, we have seen the release of Moomoo.io, Starve.io, Glor.io, and now Zombs.io. Plus, I know a few developers that are still working on their survival .io games.

But why could Zombs.io be the best of them all?

Growth of Zombs.io

First off, let's look at how the game is being promoted. Like most .io games, the developers have been promoting the game through various .io game aggregation sites. This serves as the launching platform for the game and is usually sufficient enough to keep the ball rolling and get noticed by various YouTubers.

Once YouTubers start producing content about a game, that game sees a sizable burst in traffic. Zombs.io has taken this one step further: the developer is working directly with Curse. And Curse is pulling out all the stops, presumably because their ad network is paving the way for Zombs.io's success.

Curse's ad network is sizeable and spread across many popular sites like Minecraftforums.net and Gamepedia.com, pushing large amounts of traffic over to Zombs.io. Just turn off your adblocker and check out those sites, you will see ads for Zombs.io popping up all over the place.

Zombs.io Gameplay

When you first start playing Zombs.io, you could be forgiven for thinking you were playing Moomoo.io. The graphics and feel of the game are eerily similar. Even the basic concept of collecting resources to build a base is the same. And then, you place your gold chest and everything changes.

The goal of the game is to gain as much gold as possible and live as long as possible. By placing your gold chest, you enter into the next step of the game -- survival, where you must gain gold by creating gold mines.

The gold chest attracts zombies hell bent on destroying it. Your mission is now to protect the chest at all costs. Hopefully, you have been collecting wood and stone by hitting trees and rocks. You can now use those resources to build a fort around your gold chest, thus protecting it. Well, that is until the zombies break down the walls.

Not to worry, though: you can also build defensive towers like cannon towers, ballista towers, bomb towers, and magic towers. These structures launch projectiles at the zombies, (hopefully) killing them. And so, you live to see another day.

You don't just face the same boring zombies over and over, either. The game is played in waves. Survive one wave and the next will be harder. Each wave comes with the night, meaning you have time to rebuild and strengthen your base and defenses. Structures call also be upgraded to better your base.

As you can see, the game incorporates the survival aspects of Moomoo.io and couples them with the massively popular gameplay of the tower defense genre.

Final Thoughts

Even though the game is heavily based on Moomoo.io, Zombs.io does its own thing, and it does it very well. The game is fun to play and like most tower defense games, it's crazy addictive. 

The fact that Curse is helping drive traffic to the site will only help carry this game to the top. More traffic will mean more media coverage -- and everything will start to snowball.

Zombs.io seems set to gobble up the competition. 

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Sources: http://iogames.land

The impact that P.T. had on the industry is remarkable when you really think about it. What was initially put out as a guerilla marketing tactic for the now cancelled Silent Hill sequel managed to spark up a new interest in the once niche FPS horror sub-genre, paving the way for titles like Layers of Fear and Resident Evil VII.

Konami’s loss is truly everyone else’s gain as the concept has been ripe for the taking for all different kinds of developers, especially within the indie game community — which brings us to the I’m Still Here, a first-person thriller from the people of Cozy Game Pals.

The premise of I’m Still Here is far from groundbreaking, as the story starts with you moving into what seemingly plays out to be a haunted apartment, but there’s a subtle commentary that’s tucked away that speaks volumes on both the F2P horror genre and the utter sadness of living alone in a cramped studio-sized home.

The message in I’m Still Here is a pretty loud one when you stop to think about it. How we all live in an age where the entire world is connected to each other through an invisible network that nearly anyone can access, yet somehow, people continue to grow further apart with each passing day. Browsing through the search results of the game’s proxy search engine, “Wahoo,” only manages to convey that terrifying sadness that anyone can relate to, and it’s a part of the human condition that we don’t see too often in these types of games.

So often you’ll see scary software focus on jump scares or disturbing imagery to strike fear into the gamers that enjoy the thrill that fear brings. But I’m Still Here elicits an entirely different sense of dread — and I never really stopped to think just how deafening the coldness of solitude could really be. At the end of my harrowing experience with the game, I couldn’t help but ask myself that anxious question that we all find ourselves asking at some point in our lives — what’s next?

I know that may sound silly, but just think about it; as frightening as other contemporary scare-fests like Amnesia or Among the Sleep may be, they all possess a sense of finality, something that you can reach the end of, no matter how chilling your time with the title was or could be. I’m Still Here's experimental take on the formula from Cozy Game Pals didn’t give me that impression though; where I should have felt some form of accomplishment, the game instead left me with me with an existential crisis.

The twist in the game’s conclusion is a shock that imitates life in such a timorously accurate way for just about anyone. We may never find ourselves in danger of getting chainsawed in half, but the day we need to furnish a living room space that will rarely see any visitors is a sobering reality that’s just around the corner for a lot of us.

I’m Still Here is free to anyone who thinks they’re brave enough to enter the eerie living space, just don’t say I didn’t warn you, because you won’t be the same again if you do.

The hit mobile game Paper.io took advantage of Splix.io's failure to create a compelling mobile version. And now Paper.io can boast 20 million downloads from its Apple App and Google Play App, that feels like a pretty big market that Splix.io missed out on.

Well, it seems that the Paper.io community's hunger goes well beyond the mobile app and now a private developer has cashed in on Voodoo's lacking desktop version.

Queue the desktop version. Yep, a private developer has cloned Paper.io. And it seems as though the community has either not noticed they are playing a clone, or they just don't care. With an audience of over 3 million monthly players this obvious clone is doing very well.

The game is pretty addictive so it is easy to see why both the mobile version and the desktop clone are commanding large audiences. But for those that have not played either game, or the game that started it all -- Splix.io, here is a quick breakdown of what all the fuss is about.

What is Paper.io?

You play as a small piece of paper roaming around and world littered with other players. You can freely move around leaving a trail behind you. Once you circle around and connect to the solid color at your starting point, all the land you have encircled is then claimed by you. Of course, there is more to it and a few nice game mechanics to really keep players interested. 

When another player is growing their area, you can ram their trail, thus killing them and their claimed land. This frees up that land to be claimed and grants you points for killing that player. They can return the favour and kill you in the same way, once they respawn and find you.

via GIPHY

Players can also claim areas that have been claimed by another player.

The game has a massive following and now you can play it on your mobile and also on desktop -- albeit through a cloned version.

Your Thoughts

As a clone of a very popular mobile app, do you think this new desktop version is as good as the mobile app?

Should Voodoo have made their own desktop version? Let us know in the comments below!

Do You Remember Playing Snake on a Nokia? It was during days long past when Snake ruled supreme on Nokia phones. It was the game that everyone loved because it provided hours of mindless play without getting bored. It's the game that never stops giving.

Unfortunately, the days of sturdy Nokia phones are over and Snake seems to be a thing of the past. Or is it?

The 3 .io games below seem to have a lot in common with Snake, although each of them are slightly different. They're PC games, in this case that means "browser games," so they can be played on all operating systems. Which means you can get your Snake fix while going about your day.

Who wouldn't want that?

So, here you are: The 3 Best .io Games You Can Only Play on PC (rated from most challenging to least)!

3. Cursors.io

First on our list is Cursors.io, and you won't be sorry. Cursors.io is the game on this list that seems to pose the biggest challenge. The goal of the game seems to be to get to the green box. But watch out, some of the levels are cooperative, so you'll want to make sure you have a buddy. Otherwise, you'll be waiting on some levels FOR-EV-ER!

Each level poses a new challenge, and while it's not exactly like Snake, it does have Snake like qualities. In the end, it's all fun with cursors.

2. Limax.io

Limax.io is a different story from Cursors.io. It's more challenging than our number one contender, but less than our number three. With Limax.io the goal of the game is to eat the bigger blobs by spewing out some type of goo. The longer you can make your "slug," the better off you'll be.

GROSS!

But, Limax.io is Snake-like because of the form that the blob takes, and because you're trying to make it longer. The game becomes challenging because while making your "slug" longer you are also supposed to be destroying your opponents by consuming them.

1. Slither.io

Slither.io is probably the most similar to Snake and the least challenging. You have the same goals that you do in Snake, the only difference between the two games being that Slither.io is in 3D and does not require the player to follow a block-like path.

Instead, you get to roam around all over the screen. Unlike Limax.io, Slither.io does not have any type of extra stuff, unless you count the ability to move fast.

That being said, Slither.io is the easiest of these three .io game. But keep in mind that being the easiest does not mean that the game itself is a piece of cake. It still takes some ingenuity to avoid running into the other snakes.

What Do You Think?

Snake was a classic game during its time, and it's beloved by many. But do you think that it's time to move classic Snake to the trash bin and focus on these new versions?

I know what my opinion is, but I'll let you form your own.

Last week I created a post about a great new .io game called Moomoo.io. A pretty unique survival/strategy style game with graphics that are reminiscent of Diep.io. Well, it would seem that it caught the attention of gamers and developers alike. With one developer adding a new game to the every growing list of .io games, called Starve.io.

You can play the game Starve.io here.

Starve.io Overview

You start as a cute little character in a world of very simple graphics, surrounded by stylised trees, rocks, bushes, rabbits, evil fox-like creatures and of course other players. You have nothing to your name, except for Minecraft style fists that seemingly have the ability to punch the wood right off a tree. Good thing too, because you need to collect some wood to make a campfire and some basic wooden tools like a wooden pickaxe.

In the bottom left you will find a health bar, hunger bar and heat (cold) bar. You have to make sure none of them run too low. If they do, you die.

The easiest bar to keep full is your health. Just avoid fighting of any kind -- that includes fighting players and foxes. Foxes are pretty easy to avoid, but sometimes they do follow you, so stay alert. Of course, players will sometimes attack you for no reason and there is not much you can do early on in the game except run away.

via GIPHY

Keeping your hunger bar full is a little tricky when you first start the game. You need to find a berry bush -- hit it a few times and you will get some berries in your inventory. You can click on them to eat them. This will satisfy your hunger.

Staying warm can be simple, you just need to find a campfire. Finding players with a fire is usually easiest when you first play the game. After a few plays, you will figure out that a campfire can easily be made, as long as you collect enough wood.

via GIPHY

There you go, those are the bare bone basics of the game. Collecting anything beyond wood and berries requires you to create additional tools. For example, collecting stone requires a pick axe. You can craft a wooden pickaxe when you have collected enough wood.

The game has many items you can craft and the developer has deliberately left the player to explore the crafting, so I won't spoil it for you and list off all the items.

My Feelings on Starve.io

Generally, I like the game. Moomoo.io style item collecting is very nice, and it would suggest to me that we will see many more survival style .io games. I also like the simplicity of the crafting system. It only took me a few plays to figure everything out.

I'm not the biggest fan of the graphics, they are a little too stylised for my tastes, but that is just me.

It will be interesting to see where the .io gaming community places this game. The initial response seems to be extremely positive. What do you think?

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Sources and Credit

Details about this post came from Starve.io

Full video credit goes to Arena Closer

From the creator of Doblons.io, Vertix.io and Karnage.io comes another .io game, Moomoo.io.

What is Moomoo.io?

Besides being a game with an odd name, Moomoo.io is the latest in a long line of new games to be added to the growing .io games list.

In this latest addition, you play as a settler in a world littered with other settlers. All of whom are looking to collect the same resources and inevitably fight for survival. To become the best you must reach the number one slot on the leaderboard. A pretty standard io game idea, but the execution is anything but standard.

You run around a virtual world that is covered in trees, bushes and rocks. All you have to do is collect; wood, food and rocks. Once you collect enough, you can start to build barriers that can be used to prevent players from passing through. Making them perfect for building up a fort and protecting resources, allowing you to harvest in peace. Well, relative peace. Players will try to attack your barriers, which can be destroyed if they are hit enough. You have to scare them away by defending your base.

Once you feel your base is strong enough and you have enough resources, you can build a windmill. Windmills generate points over time and you need points to gain position on the leaderboard. So there is a reason to build them.

Of course, players can also earn points by killing other players. So make sure you are either really good at running away or really good at defending your fort.

No matter your preferred style of play, this game is really fun and it feels like it has a potentially very wide scope. Future updates could add more characters, weapons, types of barriers, different resources to gather and with each new addition, the game will gain a new mechanic and reason for people to play.

Will it be the Next Big IO Game?

As I said, it feels like the game could grow, although it would depend on how the game is received. Players seem to love Mope.io and Moomoo.io includes aspects of that. Diep.io was a big hit and Moomoo.io does employ a similar system, albeit to a lesser degree -- could a mix of these two well received .io games do well?

Play the game and let me know what you think. Will it be a big hit or a massive flop?

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Sources

Details about for this post came from Moomoo.io

Full video credit goes to Arena Closer

From the creator of Doblons.io, Vertix.io and Karnage.io comes another .io game, Moomoo.io.

What is Moomoo.io?

Besides being a game with an odd name, Moomoo.io is the latest in a long line of new games to be added to the growing .io games list.

In this latest addition, you play as a settler in a world littered with other settlers. All of whom are looking to collect the same resources and inevitably fight for survival. To become the best you must reach the number one slot on the leaderboard. A pretty standard io game idea, but the execution is anything but standard.

You run around a virtual world that is covered in trees, bushes and rocks. All you have to do is collect; wood, food and rocks. Once you collect enough, you can start to build barriers that can be used to prevent players from passing through. Making them perfect for building up a fort and protecting resources, allowing you to harvest in peace. Well, relative peace. Players will try to attack your barriers, which can be destroyed if they are hit enough. You have to scare them away by defending your base.

Once you feel your base is strong enough and you have enough resources, you can build a windmill. Windmills generate points over time and you need points to gain position on the leaderboard. So there is a reason to build them.

Of course, players can also earn points by killing other players. So make sure you are either really good at running away or really good at defending your fort.

No matter your preferred style of play, this game is really fun and it feels like it has a potentially very wide scope. Future updates could add more characters, weapons, types of barriers, different resources to gather and with each new addition, the game will gain a new mechanic and reason for people to play.

Will it be the Next Big IO Game?

As I said, it feels like the game could grow, although it would depend on how the game is received. Players seem to love Mope.io and Moomoo.io includes aspects of that. Diep.io was a big hit and Moomoo.io does employ a similar system, albeit to a lesser degree -- could a mix of these two well received .io games do well?

Play the game and let me know what you think. Will it be a big hit or a massive flop?

--

Sources

Details about for this post came from Moomoo.io

Full video credit goes to Arena Closer

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game for whatever reason, Diep.io is one of the older io games. You play as a tank and work your way around the map destroying various shapes and other players to gain XP. Once you have acquired enough XP you level up. This gives you attribute points to spend on various stats such as bullet speed, penetration, max hp and much more.

Up until quite recently, the Diep.io community has been somewhat skeptical about the game's future. Mostly due to the lack of updates/interest in the game from the original developer. However, a new developer is bringing a ray of hope in the form of much-needed updates!

New Diep Game Mode: Survival mode

Survival mode is the latest addition to hit Diep.io. It is an extremely hardcore game mode in which you are granted just one life per game. When you die you are out of that match and you will not respawn until the next game.

I have a feeling this new game mode might lead to a few epic rage sessions.

If that wasn't enough, there is also a new game mechanic. As the game progresses the floor starts to darken, and with each player's death, the area in which shapes spawn gets smaller. Effectively shrinking the playing field, bringing players closer together and speeding things up.

The 1 life policy increases the pace further, and shortens lives more and you’ll never spawn into a level 200 powerhouse that’s been playing for a few hours before you arrived.

Survival is live for everyone, you can play it for yourself by simply selecting the green ‘Survival’ button at the top of your screen upon arriving at the website.

That’s pretty much everything, for now, hopefully, you’ll give survival a go for yourself. If you do, good luck. It is pretty intense, but lots of fun.

There's really no overstating how popular .io games have gotten over the past year and a half. Agar.io started the trend and Slither.io solidified it as a real quasi-genre that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Even if you proclaim yourself as someone who breathes .io games -- eats them for breakfast perhaps -- there's no way to keep up with all of the new ones. It's simply not possible. You choose what you like the most and pretty much stick with them until you like something else, and that's okay. There are far too many to bother trying to play them all.

As with any other genre, some .io games are simply better than others. Whether it's because their gameplay and premise are unique and fun, or because they offer a bunch of modes and features, some really just come out ahead of the pack. And that's what we're going to be looking at here.

If you're wandering in trying to see if Agar.io is on the list, go ahead and back out now. The game has gotten so bloated this past year that I can't recommend it anymore, especially with worthy and faster clones like Gota.io floating around these days. Agar's time in the spotlight has been fading for a while.

So what are the .io games that are above and beyond now in early 2017? Let's get it started with an obvious one.

5. Slither.io

How could this one not be on this list? It's been about a year and Slither.io is going just as strong as it was in its first few months, if not more so. There's a reason for that.

This is by far the easiest .io game to play, have fun with, and do well in. Literally anyone can pick up Slither and figure out how to play in a matter of seconds, and it doesn't take a pro gamer to feast on other players. Only a little care and patience.

The game has also kept to its roots well. It doesn't shove a bunch of ads in your face (at least in the browser version) and doesn't ask you to pay money for skins, either.  

Some might say this should be higher on the list because it's tried and true, but it does get boring just playing a PvP version of Snake after a while. Slither.io is one of the best, but it lacks the oomph of the other options on this list.

(Game link)

4. Opka.io

This little gem gets ignored a little too often for my tastes. All of the games listed here are unique from one another, but Opka.io is probably the furthest from the rest.

Opka.io pits you against nine other players in its own hectic version of Pong. Before a round starts you choose your passive skill, active skill, and color and then you throw down. The last three standing are awarded medals that can be seen by other players as long as they do multiple rounds that play session.

This is one of the more constrained .io game options but is also one of the most competitive. You're dealing with surviving against countless other players in most other .io games but in Opka.io you're only dealing with nine. Your active and passive skills matter just as much as your own personal skill, and a win feels rewarding.

This is one of the more skill-based options both on this list -- and among the genre in general --and it certainly has a place among the best. All it needs is stat tracking, and a larger playerbase is sure to follow.

(Game link)

3. Diep.io

I'm sure a lot of people would expect this one to be in the first or second spot, but Diep.io is certainly not an .io game everyone can enjoy. That said, it is one of the most fleshed-out and varied of them all. and were it not for number 1's exponential growth and development, this would certainly be in second place.

Diep.io is a sort of multiplayer shoot' em up borderlining on bullet hell that asks players not only to get good, but to play the way they want to via a flexible class and stat system. The game's tank classes and stat builds alone make it one of the most versatile .io games out there.

On top of classes and stats are a number of game modes -- ranging from the straightforward free-for-all to tag, domination, and maze. To say there are a ton of ways to play Diep.io would be a serious understatement.

The above all sounds great, but this is by far one of the most rage-inducing .io options. It takes a lot of practice and class/stat testing before you really find your own in a mode. It's one of the highest quality ones you're going to find, but it's very possible you may hate how hard it is.

(Game link)

2. Bonk.io

This one seems to have come out of nowhere, and is not as big as some of the other games on this list. But it's definitely climbing in popularity, and there's good reason for that.

Bonk.io is a physics-based .io game pitting you and up to eight other players against one another in the struggle to stay on the map. You start off bouncing, and if you're not lucky you're going to bounce right off.

Bouncing, balancing, and controlling your weight is fun enough, but a huge part of the draw of Bonk.io is its map editor. The community has come up with a nearly endless array of maps to play on, and it's easy to make your own. Part of the fun really lies in the map editor.

The game itself is as simple as it gets, but it does take practice to learn to control yourself -- and with so many maps on rotation there's rarely a dull moment. Matches are fast and you find yourself going from one to the next without even thinking about it.

Bonk.io is one of the more original .io games to get popular over the past few months, and it's easy to see why.

1. Mope.io

All this writing to lead up to Mope.io. Am I for real? Yeah, I'm for real. Mope.io is not only one of the fastest growing .io games these days, it's also one of the most frequently updated and most unique.

Like Diep.io, this one features a class system, but there are no tanks here -- you're evolving an animal based on how much you've eaten and where you are when you're evolving to the next level. I hope you like eating berries and chomping on other players' tails!

Anyone who has been playing Mope.io for a while knows just how in-depth this game is when compared to its .io game brethren. Every animal has its own movement speed, its own types of animals it can eat (or be eaten by), and some have their own special abilities. 

As it's essentially a game of survival of the fittest, this is one of the longer options. A single play session can last a while, and if you like the game it's an enjoyable while. You're not just duking it out to hit the top of the leaderboard; you're playing through multiple animal species with their own varying abilities. If you end up being able to reach the top of the food chain you're a king of the beasts, and you're a force to be reckoned with.

(Game link)

Mope.io may not have all the features of the other games in this list, but it deserves its place in the number 1 spot. It's simple enough for anyone to get into and enjoy, in-depth enough to engage gamers from casual to core, and updated often enough not to get stale. That's why it's the top .io game on this list -- and if you're an .io player who hasn't checked it out yet, you should do that sooner rather than later. 

As the .io games genre grows in size and strength, it is attracting the attention of indie developers and established software houses alike.

We all know that Agar.io was a massive success, but you might know that Agar.io was bought by Miniclip, one of the biggest gaming portals.

A few months ago, the game portal added a new section specifically for .io games. Since then a number of games have joined the site under the new category, games like Slither.io, Diep.io and Wings.io. It seems Miniclip has seen the potential for the genre, even in its infancy. And they aren't the only people, hundreds of io game list sites are starting to pop up.

One of the newest games to fall into the Miniclip fold is Space1.io and people seem to be loving it.

Space1.io, A Simple Space Arcade Throwback

Space1.io, is a well-built space arcade game, in which you start with a fleet of three ships and your mission is to dominate the galaxy by killing all the other players.

Of course, there is a little more to the game than that. You can increase your fleet size by shooting at glowing objects that spawn throughout the galaxy. But beware, the bigger your fleet grows, the slower it moves. Which in all honesty is a great game mechanic. It allows smaller players to zip around, dodging attacks with greater ease. This enables new players a margin for error and a grace period in which they can learn without being obliterated instantly.

One key factor is the way you kill and get killed. If a ship in your fleet is shot, it dies. But only that ship dies. This means, all but one ship can be killed and you can escape into the darkness of space, replenish your numbers and return to exact your revenge.

Something I really like about the game is that you can jump in, and after a few quick shots of your laser, you have a nice sizable fleet. Then it's a case of trying to dodge lasers from other players, and kill as many people as possible before you are killed. This can take as long as you like, given you have the skills to survive long enough -- or, if you are me, games last about two minutes before you are killed.

If, like me, you grew up playing classic arcade games, then with its extremely simple graphics, Space1.io is very reminiscent of those much-loved pixel graphics. And the game feels familiar as your triangular ships fly around shooting lasers, well, coloured lines.

Final Words

If the mantra of .io games is to be simple, accessible and fun to play, Space1.io fulfils all the criteria. Only time will tell if this game breaks into the top .io games of all time. But Miniclip is backing the game and that certainly helps to boost its user base and reputation.

The only addition I can think of that might make this game a perfect nostalgic space 2D shooter, is more customization for your fleet and perhaps the odd boss to kill. Nevertheless, Space1.io is a nice game and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I do.

See you in there (I'll be the guy running away).

A new update has recently hit Deeeep.io, bringing access to the deep sea as an addition to the regular map -- on beta servers -- via the blobfish or worm. And it brings a whole new mechanic and feeling of exploration to the game.

So What is The Deep Sea?

This update adds a lower depth to the ocean, which gives access to new terrain, new food, and of course, new creatures. These new creatures include the blobfish, an anglerfish, and even a manta.

The anglerfish, along with a few other creatures, are the only ones who can survive in the deep ocean, but will take damage upon leaving the area. Fear not, though, because if you evolve into a deep sea creature whilst in a different environment, you’ll be protected from damage until you arrive there.

This does not mean that you’ll be able to safely eat whilst being immune from attacks. As well as not being able to take/deal damage, you won’t be able to eat any food from any area other than the deep sea.

Just remember at the time of writing this article the deep sea is in beta testing and features are likely to change.

What else is new?

The biggest additions to the game come in the form of two new starting creatures: the blobfish and the worm. There area tone of other additions, but these are the most important. 

The blobfish is an ugly looking fish that thrives in the deepest depths of the ocean, and as such will struggle to survive the higher levels (much like the anglerfish).

The worm adds a brand new mechanic to the game which was previously unexplored -- the ability to burrow into the ground. Doing so will make the previously solid ground appear transparent as you venture through it. While you are in the soil, outside fish will not be able to see you unless you type in chat (a big white text box appears).

Another nice touch is the addition of schools of fish in the upper levels of the ocean. Giving the ocean a more realistic feeling.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, Deeeep.io is essentially the ocean version of Mope.io. It isn’t exactly the same,  so don’t be too upset if some things are different.

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Sources and Credit

Game details: http://iogames.land

Full video credit goes to Draegast

A new update has recently hit Deeeep.io, bringing access to the deep sea as an addition to the regular map -- on beta servers -- via the blobfish or worm. And it brings a whole new mechanic and feeling of exploration to the game.

So What is The Deep Sea?

This update adds a lower depth to the ocean, which gives access to new terrain, new food, and of course, new creatures. These new creatures include the blobfish, an anglerfish, and even a manta.

The anglerfish, along with a few other creatures, are the only ones who can survive in the deep ocean, but will take damage upon leaving the area. Fear not, though, because if you evolve into a deep sea creature whilst in a different environment, you’ll be protected from damage until you arrive there.

This does not mean that you’ll be able to safely eat whilst being immune from attacks. As well as not being able to take/deal damage, you won’t be able to eat any food from any area other than the deep sea.

Just remember at the time of writing this article the deep sea is in beta testing and features are likely to change.

What else is new?

The biggest additions to the game come in the form of two new starting creatures: the blobfish and the worm. There area tone of other additions, but these are the most important. 

The blobfish is an ugly looking fish that thrives in the deepest depths of the ocean, and as such will struggle to survive the higher levels (much like the anglerfish).

The worm adds a brand new mechanic to the game which was previously unexplored -- the ability to burrow into the ground. Doing so will make the previously solid ground appear transparent as you venture through it. While you are in the soil, outside fish will not be able to see you unless you type in chat (a big white text box appears).

Another nice touch is the addition of schools of fish in the upper levels of the ocean. Giving the ocean a more realistic feeling.

For those who are unfamiliar with it, Deeeep.io is essentially the ocean version of Mope.io. It isn’t exactly the same,  so don’t be too upset if some things are different.

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Sources and Credit

Game details: http://iogames.land

Full video credit goes to Draegast

In the event that you have been living under a virtual rock for the past two years, you would have missed the birthing and evolution of a completely new gaming genre: .io games.

But before we dive into what makes this new genre so universally loved, let us take a look at its origins.

Where Did .io Games Come From?

By now, you will probably have seen some news about Agar.io and or Slither.io. They are the most infamous games in the budding genre.

You have also probably heard about Agar.io's seemingly explosive rise to popularity, from the darkest, obscure corners of the internet. And there is a good reason that its growth is newsworthy.

Nowadays, the mobile gaming market is saturated and any new game seems to be lost to the murky depths of the ubiquitous app store. Unless of course, the publishing company has a monstrously huge PR budget and is willing to throw endless bundles of cash at Youtubers and on ads. The same seems to apply to the browser-based gaming industry. However, against all odds Agar.io took the whole gaming industry by storm. There was no big PR budget and no promotional stunts.

A nineteen-year-old student by the name of Matheus Valadares simply posted a link to his game on the site 4chan in 2015. The user base exploded and soon Agar.io was all over the internet.

The success of Agar.io naturally caught the attention of other game developers. Most notably Steve Howse, creator of Slither.io. A game that closely followed and dominated the gaming industry. It was even reported that Slither.io was making $100,000 per day. Naturally, the gaming industry could not ignore this new gaming evolution.

What Makes Agar.io and Slither.io So Popular?

Matheus Valadares' game is simple. You are a cell. Your mission is to eat smaller cells and food, with the goal of growing bigger and avoiding larger cells that might eat you. Sounds like a simple game, right? It is. And the graphics are equally as simple. So if the game is so simple why did it become so popular?

Agar.io's, key to success was its simplicity and resulting accessibility. It is a game that you can pick up and play instantly. There is no need to download anything and there are no complicated tutorials. If you have a few minutes to spare, you can jump into the game and start eating other players and dominating the virtual world. This really appealed to the modern gaming community and the user count grew to millions in a very short period of time.

Slither.io mirrors the same simplicity that propelled Agar.io into the limelight. But has two additional tricks up its sleeve. First, it has more visually appealing graphics. Second, Slither.io has a feeling of nostalgia, with game mechanics and visuals that echo those heady days of the classic arcade game, snake.

The nostalgic feeling of Slither.io and simple gameplay, coupled with the beautiful graphics, resulted in the game quickly dwarfing Agar.io and becoming the most downloaded mobile app. A position held for many months.

What About Other IO Games?

Since Agar.io and Slither.io, there have been a plethora of new .io games. Not all of them have been a huge success. So let us examine a few games and see what makes them work or why they failed.

Diep.io

This game was a big success and is still considered one of the more popular .io games, or "Big 5" game, as some people are calling them.

Diep.io, in essence, is very basic. You are a tank and your goal is to shoot other tanks and objects, with the objective of collecting experience points to spend on upgrades. A notion that most gamers are familiar with and requires very little in the way of in-game experience to understand.

The game graphics are no more complicated than geometric shapes. Making it seem like child's play.

Combining all these features created a game that is very easy to pick up and play, easy to look at and once you become addicted to the game (and you will), you find the game can be different every time, by virtue of the upgrades you buy.

Pirca.io

Sadly this game really did not make it off the starting blocks.

If seems to follow the rules of simplicity with its graphics and general gameplay. But after playing the game for a few minutes, you start to become frustrated with the difficulty of shooting other players and bots.

Mope.io

Relatively new to the .io game scene, Mope.io started off slowly but has recently exploded.

Mope.io is a virtual ecosystem with a fully functioning food chain, comprised of players controlling the various animals, trying to eat food that spawns, and other animals. This is a genius idea for a game, as we have all been taught about the food chain as children and so we start playing with a basic understanding. However, when Mope.io was first released, the graphics didn't clearly represent the animals, and this created confusion among some players.

Later on, the graphics were tweaked and now the rabbit looks like a rabbit. This small change resulted in the game going viral and today commands a user base of over 5 million players a month and a very active community.

Blockor.io

Blockor.io, follows the same game mechanics as Agar.io. Your goal is to grow bigger by collecting various objects or food, in a bid to become bigger than your opponents, allowing you to kill them.

The graphics and gameplay are both simple and everything seems to add up, but somehow Blockor.io never went truly viral.

Plagued by lag and the missing X factor, the game saw a brief spell of popularity before sinking into obscurity.

Putting It All Together

Building any game is difficult, but creating a game that goes viral can be a near-impossible task. Right now, the .io game genre is commanding a massive audience and game developers are trying to get a piece of that and it seems simplicity is the key.

Agar.io pioneered the genre with basic gameplay and graphics, closely followed by Slither.io. A game that sets the industry standard, by combining easy, intuitive gameplay, with a touch of nostalgia and beautiful graphics.

More recent games like Mope.io, continued to build on these foundations and have seen great success.

In short, if you want to create a viral .io game, keep everything simple, recognizable, visually appealing, intuitive, and if you can add some nostalgia into that mix, then you will probably succeed. And do not forget to make sure everything runs smoothly and without lag.

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Sources and Credit

You can find a more detailed history of Agar.io and Slither.io here, more details on the other listed games, as well as more about Steve House:

• Agar.io 
• Slither.io
• IO Games List
• Interview with Steve Howse on WSJ

As I write this article, the world of Mope.io is a disorganized mess of oceans, forests and arctic biomes. All randomly created in no particular order, but that is changing soon.

New Biomes and Animals

As one of the leading .io games, Mope.io has to keep updates rolling out. As such, the developer has opted to fine tune the game's geographical organization. Plus, the community is always asking for new types of land and creatures. So to cater to the desires of gamers, Mope will be getting a host of new biomes and creatures.

The massive map update will see a more structured and logical ecosystem. Instead of arctic regions being right next to deserts, there will be areas like the north and south pole sandwiching a central land mass. The basic world map will look similar to the image below.

As you can see by all the different colors on the map, there are a number of separate biomes. In this post, we are going to look closer at the jungle biome. Future posts will examine the other areas of the map.

Jungle Biome Structures

in the image above, the jungles are the dark green areas found on the central green land mass.

The official Mope reddit wiki states that the jungle is expected to have:

• No hills
• Puddles the size of lily pads
• New light green trees, wider than lily pads, but smaller than hills
• Randomly generates ponds
• A new flower food source, symbolised by pink dots. They will be worth three experience points
• A flower bush. Mostly this will be where the flowers spawn
• The usual assortment of hiding holes
• Berries and berry bushes
• Brown and red mushrooms

Mope.io Jungle Animals 

Of course, with the new lands we expect to see new animals. And lots of them. Each new biome is expected to see the release of 14 new animals. One new animal to represent the biome equivalent of the original animals found in Mope.

You can see the list of new animals below, which will make sense to Mope.io players. But for readers that have never played the game, references to one animal being like another are simply a comparison to the game's original animals.

Final Words

Wow, those are a lot of new creatures and game structures. Remember, the same amount of new animals and game elements are being added to each new biome, so there is going to be a lot to look forward to in the coming months, which will undoubtedly help to lengthen the lifespan (and engagement factor) of Mope.

Kids (and us adults, too) will undoubtedly be spending hours battling each other to reach the top of the food chain, exploring new biomes and generally enjoying the world of Mope.io for months to come. 

Have fun guys. See you there! 

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Sources and Credit

Full video credit goes to iStealth

Details for this post came from the Mope.io wiki

How many .io games are there now? I have no idea, and you probably don't either. The amount I know of at this point can't be counted on just two hands, let's put it that way.

There are so many of these games floating around, and as always I want to point out the ones that are probably better than most of the others out there. This time around it's the oft-overlooked Kartwars.io, which has been on the scene since September of last year. Now that this baby is out on mobile it's time for it to shine.

So what's special about Kartswar.io? Well first: its awesome '80s aesthetic, complete with scanlines!

The game has a really appealing neon '80s look that's hard to ignore. Graphics only go so far, though; luckily the game itself is quite fun and it keeps stats across all of your played games.

Like every real .io game out there (singleplayer with bots aren't real .io games), Kartwars.io pits you against other players in a score competition. This time around you drive a nifty neon car and pick up power ups to shoot down other players.

The power ups are the real stars of the show here and are what makes it so fun -- I mean, driving around and picking up little yellow dots is kind of fun, but picking up a forward-shooting shockwave or homing missiles is way better and is the basis for the game. No power ups? You're not going to kill anybody.

Here are the power ups you can use:

Grants you a shield that makes you immune to damage and can destroy other players if you run into them. All-around a great pick up, even if it doesn't have the pizzazz of other power ups.

Gives a homing missile that will roam and chase other players. If you have one of these chasing you, use your turbo boost to stay out of its range until it explodes. You can get a 3-in-1 version of this.

Gives a landmine you drop on the ground for other players to hopefully run into. Tip: Place these on top of power up icons on the ground. Also comes in 3-in-1.

Shoots a large bullet in a straight line. Not as good as the homing missile, for obvious reasons. You may also get 3-in-1s of this one too.

Places an immediate landmine that detonates over a wide area a couple seconds after it's placed. Definitely different from the rest, but hard to use.

Makes nearby hexacoins and power ups near you come right to you. Useful pretty much all the time, but if you have to choose it's probably better to pick another power up.

Makes you (mostly) invisible on use. This one is sort of useful but, much like the magnet, you may be better of grabbing a different power up if you have to choose.

Shoots a shockwave forward that spreads out the further it gets. This power up is absolutely decimating if used properly, which is probably why you can only get one at a time.

If you want to let a bunch of shots loose in quick succession, this is a great power up to grab. This one lets you shoot as much as you want as long as you have it, which only lasts a few seconds.

All of these make for a powerful arsenal, and each one has its uses. Along with these is the ability to turbo boost, which makes you drop hexacoins but allows you to move quickly and safely.

The overall premise of Kartwars.io is very simple, but that simplicity is its strength. With the game finally now out on iTunes and Google Play, it's time for it to shine.

Would I bet on this one being one of the most popular .io games of 2017? Between the neon '80s aesthetic, simple gameplay, and stat tracking I'm going to say yes. We'll see where Kartswars.io is in another six months, but for now give it a go and see why this is my current recommended .io game.

You know what's a pretty great .io game on browser? Splix.io, that's what. You know what's a mediocre .io game on mobile? Also Splix.io. Which is one of the bigger reasons its lesser clone Paper.io has come to be so popular.

The basic premise behind both Splix.io and Paper.io is pretty simple: You start with a color square and have to branch out, surround blank squares or other peoples' territory, and return to your color to take over more territory for yourself. If someone cuts into your ribbon, you're dead. As simple as that.

Splix.io found its way on the internet sometime last year and was an original game... and here comes developer Voodoo with Paper.io a few months later, claiming the game is "a new and fun experience inspired by io type games" when in fact it is a direct copy of Jester the End's Splix. Way to be original, guys.

So original.

Now, no one is saying Splix looks better than Paper. Truth is, much of Paper.io's growing popularity on mobile is because it looks better. It's bright and, well... looks like paper. That's great and all, but did you know you are not playing against real people?

Yessiree, the other "players" in Paper.io are all bots. Sure is great not being able to compete against other people's territory advancement strategies. Also loads of fun ads are thrown at you with no warning after you die, and you will be dealing with a ton of lag for no reason. It's not even an online game, there is no excuse for the lag.

This all sounds terrible but it's honestly a better alternative to the Splix.io app, which is not only more laggy than Paper but it has a plethora of server issues that not only lag in-game but make it so some players can't connect at all.

Your best bet for this type of game is to play Splix.io on your computer's browser, but on the go you really can't win. If Jasper the End would put more effort into the mobile version it would knock Paper.io out of the park, but as it stands his (original) game has floundered on mobile devices and that's not about to change. There is no worthwhile way to play this game on mobile, except by playing Paper. Shame.

The free mobile and browser game market has always flourished with simple, yet addictive games. And while Flash games may be a thing of the past, high schoolers and procrastinators everywhere are getting their quick game fix through .io games.

.io games are browser and mobile games that are generally hosted on websites ending with the domain extension .io. Out of the hundreds of games out there, most of them see short bursts of popularity and then fade into obscurity. However, a few stand high above the rest and can catch millions of daily players.

Games like Agar.io and Slither.io have spawned hundreds of clones and similar styled games over the past two years. To avoid getting caught in the cycle of playing clones and rip-offs, here are 4 .io games to look out for this year.

Narwhale.io

Narwhale.io is not an original idea by any means. Borrowing heavily from Starwhals, the game is a battle royal arena game where players control narwhals. Each player floats around the arena and must use their tusks to slice their opponents in half for points. The entire game can be played using just the mouse by moving the direction of the narwhals and clicking in order to sprint into enemies.

The game is exhilarating and claiming the top of the leaderboard is as satisfying as any other .io game. As you slice and dice your opponents, you gain stat boosts such as speed, stamina, and a stronger horn. However, if you are sliced yourself, it’s back to square one. Similar to many .io games, Narwhale.io offers players a myriad of skins with which to customize their narwhals.

Unlike Starwhals, Narwhale.io matches can hold more than 20 players. The browser game also offers an additional mode called Narwhale Ball. In the spirit of Rocket League, Narwhale Ball loosely mixes soccer rules with the same frantic gameplay offered in Narwhale.io.

Eatme.io

As mentioned above, there are hundreds of Agar.io clones in the market. If you’re going to play one, though, it should be Eatme.io. Instead of cells, players take control of fish and literally poop on their enemies to slow them down. The basics of the game, such as splitting up and eating to increase your size, are essentially the same as Agar.io. What actually sets the game apart is the level of depth.

Eatme.io is for those gamers who love to grind and level up their characters in RPG games. The game has tons of unlockable sea creatures with their own unique stats and abilities. Each of these creatures can level up and many have evolutions as well.

Available on both mobile app stores and on browsers, Eatme.io keeps track of players' stats and has tournaments in which they can compete. The game's numbers are already looking big, and if they keep it up, it could surpass Agar.io this year.

Krew.io

Fulfilling all of our pirate fantasies is no easy feat. Sid Meier's Pirates and Assassins Creed 4 both scratched the itch landlubbers everywhere had by combining all sorts of different elements that make a good pirate adventure. Krew.io strips everything down to the most basic, important element -- cannonball fights.

Krew.io pits players against each other out on an open sea in all out war. Players take control of cannons on small ships and control the ships based on the position of their cannon. Loot and supplies can be collected while voyaging in order to upgrade your ship. The controls and movements may seem a little awkward at first, but after a couple of rounds, you’ll be sinking ships in no time.

Crew members can team up and combine into one giant ship where a captain leads his crew. The ships can either attack other players or work together to defeat enemy AI ships out at sea. The hectic warfare is exciting and oddly unique to the .io space. Similar to other .io games, there is a leaderboard constantly updating with the best pirate in the ocean.

Bellum.io

Bellum.io is a real-time strategy game in the browser space. Players take control of armies and protect their territories while expanding throughout the map. Armies can team up and control an area or go to war with each other. The games resources are called Military Power, which increases every second based on how many soldiers, airfields, and tanks are on the field.

Each player begins with one tile and must strategically conquer territories around them. Certain tiles are better than others and players can upgrade their already existing territories as well. The level of territories determines if another player can conquer it or not. The rules seem simple enough, but require a lot of thought in order to make the right decisions.

The developers of Bellum.io are in constant communication with their fan base. The game is still in its early phases of development and is constantly being updated. In fact, the game recently went through a graphical overhaul but reverted back after players gave their feedback. So expect Bellum.io to go through many changes in 2017.

The .io game's world is consistently growing and flooded with new games every day. Most of them are clones or blatant rip-offs of the top games in the current market, however, through the rubble, there will always be gems.

Which .io games are on your radar for 2017? Will Agar.io and Slither.io remain at the top of the food chain this year? Sound off in the comments below!

It seems .io games just sort of come and go, doesn't it? Aside from the big boys like Slither.io, Agar.io, and Diep.io most see a small popularity blip then disappear into the sunset to be forgotten by all.

I've had my fair share of .io game addictions -- all three of the ones above, as well as the lesser-known Opka.io, have taken up much more time than I like to admit, and I've dipped my feet into some outliers like Wormax.io, Mope.io, and several others. I just like .io games, I guess. 

So in early 2016, I correctly predicted Slither.io was going to beat out Agar.io in terms of popularity. Now, on the cusp of 2017, I'm going out on a limb and saying Eatme.io is going to be the new up-and-comer to look out for.

If you primarily play these games on PC via a browser, you may have missed Eatme.io completely. But if you play on mobile, you may have already given its fish-hunting action a shot. If you haven't, you definitely should.

"Give Me the Gist of Eatme.io!"

Think Agar.io but better.

I guess that's not detailed enough.

Imagine the "huge hunting the small" action of Agar.io, but instead of cells you play as fish. And instead of just splitting apart or shooting out mass, you can poop on your enemies to slow them down, split apart to more easily maneuver across the gamespace, and evolve into bigger, more effective killing machines. That's pretty much Eatme.io in a nutshell.

Instead of infinite rounds, you enter a 2-minute match with other players and compete to eat the most fish in the allotted time. If you've unlocked evolutions, you can evolve into fish that both maneuver better and have special abilities. At the end of each round, you get some gold to spend, some very nice stats at which to gawk, and maybe even a fish bowl to get new sea creature and evolution pieces.

Progression is Key!

This is one of the few .io games that has a persistent sense of progression, in this case, that progression lies in getting new fish and their evolutions, not to mention leveling them up individually to increase their abilities.

Each fish/sea creature you can unlock and use in Eatme.io has its own ability. For example, the default fish evolves into a piranha, which unlike the default fish can who can only shoot one poo behind it can shoot several poos in one skill use. Alternatively, the octopus and its evolutions can all shoot ink to blind enemies, though each one spews ink differently.

Just me playing poorly.

The differences between each type of fish are a bit more like Diep.io, though you can't choose your animal type and evolution while in a match. Instead you choose your animal before you play and evolve it as you get larger in a match, provided you have the evolution unlocked.

Oh, and unlocking new sea creatures and evolutions is another thing entirely, which can take a lot of time without spending real money. That said, the arena-style gameplay is fun enough not to care too much about the time investment needed to progress.

Stats, Leaderboards, and Tournaments -- Yes, Please

This is the thing I really love about Eatme.io: it keeps a lot of stats, and you can compare your ranking both with friends and against global players.

Past stats and leaderboards, which are huge ego strokers, are easily found, while the game also has tournaments for skilled players to duke it out. Though those are something you shouldn't get into until you've been playing for quite some time.

Stats are one thing I've always wanted in my favorite .io games, and the fact that Eatme.io has so many and even keeps stats for individual sea creatures is just a joy. So many stats to look at! So many to improve!

The Actual Gameplay

Gameplay in Eatme.io is very similar to Agar.io. You get larger as you eat and have to protect yourself from larger creatures. It's almost as simple as that.

Movement in the game is initially fairly slow when compared to some other .io games, but as you improve your fish you get faster, gain increased maneuverability, and respawn more quickly on death.

You evolve by eating enough fish food or other fish to fill your XP bar, after which you'll automatically evolve into the next more-powerful fish in your evolution chain. You'll be a bigger and more powerful killing machine, and that is nothing to scoff at.

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This article doesn't mention a number of facets about Eatme.io, and I urge you to give the game a try yourself and learn them as you go. For what's essentially an Agar.io clone, it brings enough newness to the table that it doesn't necessarily feel like an Agar.io clone.

If this all sounds good to you, you can grab Eatme.io up on iTunes and Google Play. If you've been looking for a new .io game, this may be it. There's no doubt this new entry to the genre is going to climb through the ranks through 2017. You can quote me on it come next December.

There are so many different .io games out there and so many that are the same, so it’s always nice and refreshing to find something that is nothing like the others. Yes, we know a lot of .io games claim that, but some do genuinely offer a little more game play and less identikit gaming.

Welcome to Hide.io -- the game that takes the simple games of hide and seek and spot the difference and brings them into the 21^st century with an app based twist and does it very, very well.

What makes Hide.io unique?

The unique aspect of Hide.io is that everybody knows the rules of Hide and Seek and spot the difference, so anyone can play, there’s no pre-prepared rules, just a bit of strategic thinking. This game is also played out in real time. And not only that, there is a MMO aspect, as players are either team hider, or team seeker.

Gameplay

Hide.io is an online multiplayer with games played within a themed arena (an office, construction site) where players take on the role of either a Hider or a Seeker.

Hiders play a variety of objects that fit within the current level, with the intention of blending into the background and hiding away in a logical place in the level’s surroundings, while the Seekers, try and track down the other hidden items!

Hiders have 60 seconds to hide away in a suitable spot. Whilst hiders are hiding, Seekers cannot see the movement, but they can navigate the 3D map, to memorise how the landscape looked before the arrival of the hiders -- they should know where items have randomly turned up.

Basically, for seekers, it is spot the difference. Once the seekers are released into the game, they have 200 seconds to find all the hiders.

Hiding and seeking

When a player has found a hidden player, they remove them from the game by tapping on them. Get it wrong and seekers lose one of five lives. Providing hidden players remain in the most logical of places, looking like they have been there all along, they will be fine.

If players manage to stay hidden for 5 minutes, they win. If players find all the hidden objects, they win. So, players need to concentrate upon their talent for disguise, running across various locations to find the best place to hide. Use imagination, creative thinking and the power of observation in order to look for the hidden objects.

The world is more interactive and less static than say Mope.io which adds a greater level of game play for pre-empting movement as either hider or seeker.

Overall, Hide.io is a game that is taking traditional games and giving them a brand new and modern twist. This is great; we love when such simple ideas become a great and different gaming experience. I had so much fun playing it and is recommended, it gives a real sense of achievement for the team and individually too.

The game is available for Android and iOS and is free.