Casual, multiplayer, short online games?
November 10, 2011 8:12 AM Subscribe
What are some good multiplayer online games that allow for a quick "pickup" game that can be played start to finish in a few minutes? (Mainly thinking games played via laptop/desktop computer, as opposed to iPhone/iPad/Android.)
There are plenty of single-player casual games online. And there are plenty of multiplayer games online, but they tend to be heavy, long-term MMOs (Warcraft and such). But in the middle of a workday, if you want to play a multiplayer game for a few minutes, what's it going to be?
Decent examples I've found so far:
- Altitude is probably the best example I can think of. Easy-to-learn game, and you can pop in and out of pickup games easily, so that it can always fit in the space of a coffee break.
- StarCraft 2 has an excellent assignment system, finding players at your skill level... however, one game can last far longer than a coffee break (20 minutes or more), so it's not exactly what I'm after. Really looking for a casual pickup game, not too heavy.
- Classics like chess and various card games can be played on a number of sites, though they tend to have fairly cheesy or spammy implementations. (Let me know if you know of an exception.)
- Previously - good list of two-player games. (These are helpful but I'd like games with more than 2, so that if you have to drop out quickly it doesn't end the game for everyone.)
Other than the above, I'm drawing a blank. Any help? Bonus if it's something new and not simply a transfer of an existing board game onto the Web.
There are plenty of single-player casual games online. And there are plenty of multiplayer games online, but they tend to be heavy, long-term MMOs (Warcraft and such). But in the middle of a workday, if you want to play a multiplayer game for a few minutes, what's it going to be?
Decent examples I've found so far:
- Altitude is probably the best example I can think of. Easy-to-learn game, and you can pop in and out of pickup games easily, so that it can always fit in the space of a coffee break.
- StarCraft 2 has an excellent assignment system, finding players at your skill level... however, one game can last far longer than a coffee break (20 minutes or more), so it's not exactly what I'm after. Really looking for a casual pickup game, not too heavy.
- Classics like chess and various card games can be played on a number of sites, though they tend to have fairly cheesy or spammy implementations. (Let me know if you know of an exception.)
- Previously - good list of two-player games. (These are helpful but I'd like games with more than 2, so that if you have to drop out quickly it doesn't end the game for everyone.)
Other than the above, I'm drawing a blank. Any help? Bonus if it's something new and not simply a transfer of an existing board game onto the Web.
My friends and I have found multiplayer crosswords to be surprising entertaining and exciting. Try teamcrossword.com
posted by estlin at 8:17 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by estlin at 8:17 AM on November 10, 2011
Best answer: Team Fortress 2 has plenty of servers and roudns usually last less than 20 minutes. You can pick up a game, play for 20 minutes, and if you drop out, nobody is going to hunt you down.
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:39 AM on November 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:39 AM on November 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Quake Live - the average game lasts 10-15 minutes, anywhere from 2 to lots of players, various modes. There's a good tutorial included, it's free, and relatively low requirements, certainly lower than Starcraft 2.
DEFCON - heavily addictive nuclear apocalypse sim. Play against AI or humans. The AI is hard. Some of the humans are a lot worse. Prepare to experience defeat, repeatedly. Or maybe I just suck at it.
posted by fearnothing at 8:39 AM on November 10, 2011
DEFCON - heavily addictive nuclear apocalypse sim. Play against AI or humans. The AI is hard. Some of the humans are a lot worse. Prepare to experience defeat, repeatedly. Or maybe I just suck at it.
posted by fearnothing at 8:39 AM on November 10, 2011
Was coming in to say Quake Live. Not good if you get any of that fps motion sickness, but my husband enjoys it.
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:07 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by tchemgrrl at 9:07 AM on November 10, 2011
I've been playing a lot of Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 (yes, I can't believe how long that title is either). It's reasonably quick, I love the strategy, and you can play it without sound if you want to avoid pew-pew in the workplace. There's a free demo available on Steam.
posted by EKStickland at 9:18 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by EKStickland at 9:18 AM on November 10, 2011
Best answer: KDice is a transfer of Risk to the Web, but it's much more immediate and casual – be warned though, it's hard to play just one game!
posted by nicwolff at 9:25 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by nicwolff at 9:25 AM on November 10, 2011
Urban Terror? It's a free multi-player FPS. Games are usually 5-10 minutes long, and you can bail out anytime.
posted by Simon Barclay at 10:25 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by Simon Barclay at 10:25 AM on November 10, 2011
League of Legends, depending on the mode you play on can last from 15 minutes to an hour but it is free to play and has tons of stuff to unlock. For shorter games under 20 minutes check out the dominion map/mode. Cant really drop out of this one but they are short.
Going to second Magic the gathering (also on steam) up to 4 players?
Pick up games of Counter Strike Source also on steam is played in rounds of 2-3 minutes and has hundreds if not thousands of maps to play. Probably the most flexible as far as drop in/drop out and number of players you can hope for.
posted by Mardigan at 11:24 AM on November 10, 2011
Going to second Magic the gathering (also on steam) up to 4 players?
Pick up games of Counter Strike Source also on steam is played in rounds of 2-3 minutes and has hundreds if not thousands of maps to play. Probably the most flexible as far as drop in/drop out and number of players you can hope for.
posted by Mardigan at 11:24 AM on November 10, 2011
Best answer: re:Starcraft, it's pretty easy to have short games all the time, if you want, especially at the lower leagues. Just do all-in builds like 6 pools every game. You can have ever game done in < 10 minutes.
posted by empath at 11:43 AM on November 10, 2011
posted by empath at 11:43 AM on November 10, 2011
Seconding TF2
posted by Slackermagee at 1:54 PM on November 10, 2011
posted by Slackermagee at 1:54 PM on November 10, 2011
Best answer: GalCon (Classic|Fusion)
posted by LogicalDash at 2:34 PM on November 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by LogicalDash at 2:34 PM on November 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
I've only played tutorials so far, but Memoir '44 seems like a well-designed low-commitment multiplayer game.
posted by ignignokt at 6:33 PM on November 10, 2011
posted by ignignokt at 6:33 PM on November 10, 2011
There's a game called Wild West Online that features one-on-one gunfighter duels with either bots or real people. There is a bit of a learning curve as a beginner, but most people figure out pretty quickly whether they like the game or not. The duels rarely last longer than five minutes or so and are perfect for a quick hit of action/adrenalin during the day.
posted by jeremias at 10:36 AM on November 11, 2011
posted by jeremias at 10:36 AM on November 11, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. Not sure if I'd be allowed to mark all of these as "best answer" but they're all helpful. Plenty to try out now!
(Separately, I wonder why there are so few multiplayer online games outside the first-person shooting genre. 25 years ago one could play Atari Football or Intellivision Baseball or Intellivision Sea Battle, multiplayer, on one's couch... where are the descendants of those games online? I mean with great game play, not just expensive graphics one gets in modern sport video games.)
posted by mark7570 at 8:31 PM on November 13, 2011
(Separately, I wonder why there are so few multiplayer online games outside the first-person shooting genre. 25 years ago one could play Atari Football or Intellivision Baseball or Intellivision Sea Battle, multiplayer, on one's couch... where are the descendants of those games online? I mean with great game play, not just expensive graphics one gets in modern sport video games.)
posted by mark7570 at 8:31 PM on November 13, 2011
The modern sports video games you refer to are apparently quite refined in terms of gameplay. From your examples, it seems like you want something less simulationist. Backyard Sports?
posted by LogicalDash at 12:49 PM on November 14, 2011
posted by LogicalDash at 12:49 PM on November 14, 2011
« Older Laptop got wet. Now the screen is really bright. | How to find out if stock options in a job offer... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by griphus at 8:14 AM on November 10, 2011 [1 favorite]