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The captain's night-watch shelf

Eight browser games for the chart room
while the airships ride at anchor

Once the last airship is tied off and the beacon turns on its own, Captain Wystan settles in the chart room with a laptop and eight free browser games that keep running between visits. There is a star empire on one shared map, a medieval realm of siege engines, a modern world war, a farm of fields and sheds, a monster-hunting hero, an ancient city, a basketball side and a football club. Every one of them opens in an ordinary tab with nothing to download.

8games on the chart-room shelf
7also with an official app
5different kinds of game
Astro Empires key art
The captain's telescope

Astro Empires

Star-empire strategy on a single shared map · Space & sci-fi

An airship captain cannot resist a bigger sky, so this is the tab Captain Wystan opens first. Bases dot the planets and moons of one enormous map that every player sails; you widen the empire, lay down fleets, then sign with a guild and fight player-versus-player battles in wars plotted together.

Good for
Commanders who like a crowded galaxy and allies to split it with.
Length of a watch
Short visits to queue builds, longer ones for war nights
Plays from
Desktop browser
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Grow your first base properly before spreading to a second world.
  2. Build a modest fleet for defence before any attack.
  3. Find an active guild and learn its war plans early.
Play Astro Empires freeOpens astroempires.com in a new tab

Seven more charts pinned above the plotting table

Imperia Online key artStrategy & war

Imperia Online

Medieval empire in real time

A village becomes a medieval empire, one upgrade at a time. You raise economic, military and university buildings in real time, then roll catapults and trebuchets up to rival walls, and a beaten neighbour may end up as your vassal.

  • Several brief look-ins between mooring rounds
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Strategists who want conquest that carries consequences.

Your first session
  1. Push the economic buildings ahead of the barracks.
  2. Use the university early; research pays back for a long time.
  3. Scout a neighbour before you send any siege engines.
Play Imperia Online freeOpens imperiaonline.org
Conflict of Nations key artStrategy & war

Conflict of Nations

Modern grand strategy on a world map

A present-day war rolls on around the clock over a map of every continent. You raise forces, bargain your way into coalitions and think a few turns past your rivals, since the orders you leave keep marching long after the tab is closed.

  • Orders checked at intervals through the day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Map-gazers who treat a treaty as seriously as a tank column.

Your first session
  1. Secure your home territory before reaching outward.
  2. Talk to neighbours early; a coalition beats a lone army.
  3. Give units orders that still make sense hours later.
Play Conflict of Nations freeOpens conflictnations.com
My Free Farm 2 key artFarm, town & zoo

My Free Farm 2

Farming and processing sim

Crops and animals feed a row of processing sheds, and raw harvest leaves them as goods worth selling. Growth timers run down beside a pile of standing orders as the farm keeps pushing its hedges outward, and a neat loop from seed to finished product is its own reward.

  • A few minutes to harvest and replant
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Sim players who enjoy tuning a production loop.

Your first session
  1. Plant crops whose timers match how often you visit.
  2. Add a processing shed once raw produce piles up.
  3. Accept standing orders you can fill steadily.
Play My Free Farm 2 freeOpens myfreefarm2.upjers.com/en
Fallen Sword key artRole-play & adventure

Fallen Sword

Classic levelling RPG

A hero climbs the levels by hunting monsters through zones stretching from frozen summits down to volcanic plains. Blacksmithing and alchemy add crafting, duels pit you against other players, and an auction house plus a buff market keep everyone bargaining.

  • One or two monster hunts a visit
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Hunters who enjoy a plain levelling grind with layers beneath it.

Your first session
  1. Hunt in zones that match your level before pushing on.
  2. Settle on a single profession and give it time.
  3. Study auction-house prices before you sell a thing.
Play Fallen Sword freeOpens fallensword.com
Rise of Cultures key artFarm, town & zoo

Rise of Cultures

City-builder through ancient cultures

One settlement walks the long road of antiquity, setting out in Classic Greece and Egypt before reaching the courts of China and Rome. Districts need planning, production lines need feeding, and every new era brings a strategic battle to settle first.

  • Short visits to collect and plan
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Builders who enjoy watching one town become a civilisation.

Your first session
  1. Leave space for each district to grow.
  2. Feed each production chain fully before you start a new one.
  3. Prepare troops before stepping into a new era.
Play Rise of Cultures freeOpens riseofcultures.com
BuzzerBeater key artSport & management

BuzzerBeater

Basketball general manager

Your seat is the general manager's office rather than the bench. You order the depth chart, pick the attacking and defending sets, then work the draft, the trade calls and the practice court, and each fixture unfolds in a live viewer so you can see your calls land or miss.

  • Minutes on most days, a longer sit on match days
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Basketball fans who want a GM's desk rather than a jersey.

Your first session
  1. Sort the depth chart before touching formations.
  2. Train a few players hard rather than everyone a little.
  3. Watch a live match to see how your formations hold.
Play BuzzerBeater freeOpens buzzerbeater.com
Online Soccer Manager key artSport & management

Online Soccer Manager

Football manager with real clubs

Real licensed clubs fill this football manager, and a season can kick off within minutes. You pick a formation and match-day tactics, haggle on the transfer market, send scouts after promising youngsters and take on leagues of human managers.

  • A quick look before every fixture
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and how to start

Good for: Managers who want to be in the dugout within minutes.

Your first session
  1. Choose a club whose players fit the shape you like to field.
  2. Set tactics for each match rather than leaving defaults.
  3. Scout before spending big on transfers.
Play Online Soccer Manager freeOpens en.onlinesoccermanager.com

All eight on one chart-room plotting board

Game in the chart roomChart-room genreHow fast it sailsCrewmatesLength of a watchPlays from
Astro EmpiresStar-empire strategy on a single shared mapSteady, fleet by fleetGuild wars planned togetherShort visits to queue builds, longer ones for war nightsDesktop browser
Imperia OnlineA real-time medieval realmReal time, building by buildingSieges, rivals and vassal lordsSeveral brief look-ins between mooring roundsDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Conflict of NationsModern grand strategy on a world mapReal time, several moves aheadPlayer coalitionsOrders checked at intervals through the dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
My Free Farm 2Fields, sheds and processingRelaxed, timer by timerA wider world of farmersA few minutes to harvest and replantDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Fallen SwordOld-school levelling role-playSteady grind with plenty of depthDuelling, bidding and buff tradingOne or two monster hunts a visitDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Rise of CulturesBuilding a city across ancient erasSlow and steady through the agesA shared world of buildersShort visits to collect and planDesktop browser; mobile app also available
BuzzerBeaterRunning a basketball front officeOne fixture at a time, all seasonLeague play and national cupsMinutes on most days, a longer sit on match daysDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Online Soccer ManagerFootball manager with real clubsPick up and play, season by seasonLeagues crewed by human managersA quick look before every fixtureDesktop browser; mobile app also available

Price, for all eight: free to play, with optional in-game purchases.

01

No fee at the chart-room door

The star empire, the medieval realm, the world war, the farm, the hero, the ancient city and both clubs all open in full on the first day, and you could keep a whole season of night watches going without spending anything.

Each studio keeps an optional shop for speed-ups and decorations, and leaving it shut is perfectly normal. On a shared family computer, spending limits can usually be set in the account settings.

02

Your first watch in a new game

A game's button opens a new tab on the makers' own website. Sign up there using your email and, within a few minutes, a base, a village, a farm, a hero or a club stands waiting under the name you chose.

Every game greets newcomers with a short tutorial. Finish it, because menus and systems arrive one at a time, much as a new deckhand learns the mooring lines before taking the helm.

03

Short looks and long watches

None of the eight stops when you leave: fleets cross the map, sieges grind on, crops ripen and fixtures are played. A glance at breakfast and another in the evening keeps each one on course.

Use the short looks for collecting, queueing and answering allies. Save a long, quiet watch for the big calls, such as a second base, a coalition, a new era or a deadline-day transfer.

04

Keep your sign-in under lock

Each studio holds the keys to its own game, so enter your details only at the address that studio publishes. Much as the captain keeps a separate key for each hatch, let every game have a different password, and accept any second login step a studio offers.

Real studio crews never want to hear your password. A stranger promising heaps of premium currency in return for those details wants the whole account, so say nothing and press report.

Why these eight earned a berth in the chart room

  • Every one boards straight from an ordinary computer browser, so a sleepy watch becomes a campaign before the kettle on the chart-room stove has boiled.
  • None of the eight asks for money at sign-up, and each stays whole and playable for anybody who leaves its shop well alone.
  • Fleets fly, fields ripen and fixtures are settled while the laptop lid is down, so a minute between mooring rounds still nudges each one along.
  • The spread runs from starships and siege towers to sheep pens, a basketball depth chart and a football transfer list.

No. An ordinary computer browser opens the whole shelf, and seven of the eight also come as an official phone and tablet app.

No. Every one of these eight lets you register free, and the whole game is playable without spending; its shop stays entirely optional.

No. Independent studios built every game on this shelf and still run them; each button takes you to that studio's own official website.

No. Different studios look after them, so each game needs its own free registration.

Imperia Online, Conflict of Nations, My Free Farm 2, Fallen Sword, Rise of Cultures, BuzzerBeater and Online Soccer Manager each have an official app besides the browser game. Astro Empires is listed here as a browser game, so a computer suits it best.

Online Soccer Manager, since setting up a fixture takes a handful of minutes, or My Free Farm 2, where one harvest and replant fills a tea break. Astro Empires, Conflict of Nations and Imperia Online reward longer planning sessions.

Yes. Astro Empires has guilds, Conflict of Nations has coalitions, Imperia Online has rivals and vassals, Fallen Sword offers duels and bargaining at its auction house, and the basketball and football games both set you against human managers.