Browser games with no download
A browser game with no download is one that starts in the tab you are already looking at. There is no installer, no launcher account and nothing left on your disk when you close it. Below is what that really means in practice, and what you can play here without downloading anything.
What no download actually means
It means nothing is written to your machine that you have to manage or remove later. The game itself is still transferred to your computer, because that is how the web works, but it arrives as an ordinary page and your browser clears it up the same way it clears up any other page.
What you should watch for is the softer version of the same promise: sites that call themselves no download and then require an account before anything starts, or hand you an installer once you click play. Those are different things wearing the same label.
Why browser games stopped being bad
For a long time a game in a tab meant a plugin, and when the plugins were retired most of those games died with them. What replaced them runs directly in the browser, with hardware-accelerated graphics and compiled code that executes at close to native speed.
The practical result is that the gap between a tab and an installed build is now mostly about file size and loading time rather than about what the game is able to do.
Micromachee: a shelf that opens in a tab
Micromachee is a fantasy console that runs in the browser, with a shelf of small games drawn inside the console itself. Each game is a single Lua file of a few kilobytes, so they start almost immediately.
The screen is 240 by 160 and it draws in eight colours, with six palette themes to switch between. People can submit their own games to the shelf, so what is on it changes over time.
Dreadwager in the browser
Pixiel: Dreadwager plays in a browser as well as on the desktop. Every run puts you in the cursed forest of Limbo with a new mystery to work out, so the game is built around starting again rather than around a save file you must protect.
It is a paid game rather than a free one. Windows and macOS builds exist for anyone who would rather install it, and the browser version is there so you can see what it is before deciding.
What makes a browser game run badly
Three things account for most of it. A background tab is deliberately throttled by every modern browser, so leaving the game and coming back can stall it. An integrated graphics chip with hardware acceleration switched off will fall back to software rendering, which is slow enough to notice immediately. And a very large first load on a weak connection looks exactly like a broken game.
If something plays poorly, checking that hardware acceleration is enabled in your browser settings fixes it more often than anything else.
Keeping progress without installing
Progress in a browser game is normally kept in the browser itself, which means it is tied to that browser on that device. Clearing site data clears the save with it, and a different computer starts fresh.
A free Pixygon account changes that: saves are stored against the account instead, so the same progress is there when you sign in somewhere else. Signing in is optional, and games still run without it.
Questions people ask
Can I play browser games with no download?
Yes. A browser game loads as a web page and starts in the tab. Nothing is installed, and nothing stays on your disk once you close it.
Are browser games free?
Some are and some are not. The games on the Micromachee shelf are free to play in the browser. Pixiel: Dreadwager plays in a browser too, but it is a paid game.
Do browser games save my progress?
By default a save lives in the browser you played in, so it does not follow you to another device and it disappears if you clear site data. Signing in to a free Pixygon account stores the save against the account instead.
What browser do I need?
Any current version of Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari. The one setting worth checking is hardware acceleration, which should be on; with it off, games fall back to software rendering and feel sluggish.
Do browser games work on a phone?
Micromachee is built to be played on a phone, with its controls beside the screen on a wide display and below it on a narrow one. Games designed for a keyboard are a poorer fit on a touchscreen.
Do I need an account to play?
No. Games start without signing in. An account only matters if you want saves to follow you between devices, or if you are buying a paid game.