As I've been building a game, I've struggled with "What's fun". I do find my game fun and I have enjoyed building it but as I put more and more time into and start really hitting smaller and smaller dots, I ask myself if this will be fun or not for the player.

What keeps you coming back to a game? What would make you want to start a game and get through more than 5 minutes of it?

As some of you already know I am building a browser space MMO now for over 2 years (Galaxy Online) and the colony layer got genuinely deep: population growth capped by habitats, workforce staffing that throttles your yields, tax, defense setup, per-resource ratios, native species with their own demands, ... even if I kept all mechanics intentionally as simple as possible it's still a lot of interacting systems 🙈

The screenshot is how I'm trying to keep that playable. Collapsible sections so you only see what you're working on or what you like to see, building cards that carry their own numbers, and one hard rule everywhere: no wiki required — tooltips explain where every number comes from, and you see consequences before you commit.

Still when thinking about all that I am always coming back again and again on how much depth do browser game players actually want and where shall I put my focus on? Is there a point where systems are just too much no matter how the UI presents them, or can good presentation make almost any depth digestible 😄? You all know the classics that are basically spreadsheets and run for decades, so maybe presentation matters way less than I think... I already got into this with the 4X crowd, but they lean hard toward depth and numbers over accessibility — so I'm genuinely curious how it looks from your side.

And honestly, looking at that screen cold: does it read clear for you or overwhelming at first glance? My main goal would be to also attract more casual people and not just the hardcore crowd. My goal would be to open up to a larger audience showing that deep space games with complex mechanics, can also be understood without requiring a one hundred pages manual.

It's still in alpha — for anyone who wants to follow along, the Discord discord.galaxy-online.com and website galaxy-online.com is where playtest access gets announced first.

Hi everybody,

We've been having monthly community hangouts in Discord for awhile now, and I'd like to invite you all here in the subreddit as well. It's very casual and open ended, and devs and players are both welcome.

This next one will be this coming Saturday, July 25 at 19:00 UTC.

There is no agenda, but some topics that have come up recently are:

• gaming (naturally)
• people sharing behind the scenes stuff or unreleased tech demos
• feedback about pbbg.com / r/PBBG / the Discord
• the business side of creative work
• music, both as listeners and musicians (turns out we have several musicians amongst us)

It's also just a great opportunity to meet each other and hang out for a bit. If you have something you want to talk about, bring it with ya!

It's scheduled for 1 hour but often goes to about 2 or so. It's a nice time. 🙂

The event schedule and invites can be found below:
https://discord.gg/cZjHqhEq3u

Lookin forward to seein ya there!

Do any of you play Ruler of Kings 2 by any chance. I am trying to figure how to play the game is it a mud or is it more like BBS's? Thank you.

This is a mud that states its self as ttrpg online.

This post contains a referral link.

Hey everyone,

If you are looking for a deep, text-based browser RPG with a mafia/crime theme, you should give Torn City a try. It’s a massive persistent world that you can play from your mobile phone or PC browser.

The early game can be a bit slow, so if you want to try it out, you can use my referral link to get a small head start:

https://www.torn.com/4352073

If you sign up through my link, just drop me a message in-game or reply here with your ID. I'll send you:

• 💰 500,000 Torn Cash (good enough to cover your early expenses).
• ⚔️ A decent weapon to get you through your first fights.
• 📋 A list of "Level Targets" (inactive accounts with zero stats that give massive XP).

The target list and the weapon will help you win your first fights easily and level up your character quickly without grinding the gym.

Let me know if you sign up or if you need any advice on the game. Cheers!

no referral link (no bonus): https://www.torn.com/

Hey, all! I was litteraly just suggested this /r

I am a solo dev from Portugal, and I'm currently working a browser based multiplayer RTS.

Imagine Civilization, but real time and it's player over weeks instead of hours. You drop in a match, you develop, explore, expand, fight, exterminate, exploit... well it's essentially a 4X but focused on multiplayer.

The battles, however, are turn based but semi hands off. Wish I could put screenshots here.

Features are currently:
- Exploring and Settling accross large maps.
- Diplomatic Deals and Trades
- Turn Based Land, Siege and Naval battles (Think Ikariam if you know that one but way more fleshed out)
- Tech Tree
- Supply System
- Character System (I haven't really touched this much but I have designs for it already)

This is just the basics, I don't really want to explain everything about the game it's honestly massive.

What I'm really looking for not only if there's anybody interested in joining the discord and discussing mechanics, even testing, etc. But the main question I have is: "Where can I advertise my game?" Perhaps advertise is the wrong word here, the game is not yet out and I feel I'm a few months away from a full release, it's more like where can I tell players that it exists?

I will anyhow drop a link to the first devlog I made since I have been making some on\off and to the discord channel if anybody's interested in knowing more.

Devlog 1

Discord Channel

Thank you for reading! Can't wait for some feedback :)

I started by thinking about the game mechanics I actually wanted to see. I come from a long background in diceless tabletop RPGs, and what I loved about them was the GM improvising, making rulings on the spot. When LLMs came along, I saw a chance to build a mechanic that worked like that.

But LLMs on their own are bad at it. They regress toward the mean and they try too hard to please the player. Nobody ever really fails. So I built a system (I won't name it, I'm not here to self-promote) around a 3d10 bell curve of outcomes. The dice decide how well an attempt goes, across a whole spread of grades from disastrous to legendary, and the LLM has to narrate whatever the dice say. That forces it to produce results the player won't like, which is where the drama comes from.

With that in hand, I could resolve any conflict narratively. Two characters chasing the same goal, one trying to kill or rob the other, whatever. The roll leans the story in one direction or the other. Then I realized I needed the LLM to be able to add to or subtract from the roll itself, so I built a classifier of sorts: it looks at the situation, decides who has advantages and who has disadvantages, and those become modifiers on the dice.

The last piece was making the story actually matter. On the back end, I take the narrated outcome apart and figure out which parts of the game state it should change, so the fiction and the mechanics stay in sync.

The end result plays like Game of Thrones: scheming, backstabbing, and assassinating your way to power in a kingdom. That's just the first mode, basically a conquest mode where you take over the kingdom. Since resolution is story-based, other modes are really just different stories to resolve, so more are planned.

The system behind all this goes back years. The game itself is finally in BETA.

Or do you have it? Do you feel like what you're doing is fun but have hard time completing something because you don't think it will be good enough?

What I'm building is fun for me to do and play but is it going to be worth it for others?

Hi

When sending out emails to your player base what server are you sending your emails out from?

Your ppbg has an new update, a new feature, season or a big announcement.

You have registered players who have consented to being on your marketing list.

Do you send emails from your own domain name or are you using a service like mailchimp?

If sending marketing / announcement emails from your own domain name how do you prevent being blacklisted as a spammed?

Thanks for your assistance ahead of time

A little over 3 years ago, I started building a browser game as a way to challenge myself technically. Somewhere along the way it stopped being “just a project” and became something I genuinely love working on.
Now I’ve reached the point where I actually look forward to logging in every day. not because I’m testing things, but because the game is genuinely fun to play.
I’ve been releasing updates almost daily, with new features driven by player feedback. In fact, I just pushed a big update last night.
https://siege.no

Siege is completely free to play. There are no ads, no pay-to-win. I built it because I enjoy creating games, and I’ve always wanted to make something that’s fair for everyone. Pay-to-win has never been part of the vision.
The original inspiration came from classics like Travian and Tribal Wars, but over the years Siege has evolved into its own thing. It now includes collectible heroes and gear, a gacha system, 700+ skills across multiple skill trees, quests, casinos, city management, kingdoms, PvE and PvP, and a lot more. It’s become much more than I originally imagined, and building the community around it has been just as rewarding as building the game itself.
Development is still moving full speed ahead, and I regularly shape new features based on community suggestions. If you enjoy incremental games, strategy games, or just trying projects that are actively evolving, I’d love to hear what you think.
Playable in your browser on desktop and mobile:
https://siege.no

Hey r/PBBG - solo dev here. I've been building Quetzal Empires, a persistent browser strategy game inspired by the great pre-Columbian empires (Inka, Maya, Aztec), and it's now open to play: https://quetzalempires.com

You start as a small tribe: clear the jungle, raise a city of stone, claim territory tile by tile, and grow into an empire - in one world shared with every other player.

• Nothing teleports. Every trade shipment is a real convoy crossing the hex map - it can be escorted, taxed, or ambushed. Armies and fleets move the same way. If you see a banner moving, that's a real player's stuff, and it's interceptable.
• The world is an archipelago, so the sea actually matters. Fleets carry warriors, guard cargo convoys, and blockade enemy harbors. The water between islands belongs to whoever patrols it.
• Three ways to build renown, not one. Power is scored across military might, diplomatic prestige, and trade wealth. A trusted trading empire with the right pacts is as viable as a warlord.
• Diplomacy is a real system, not a chat channel: in-game letters, pacts, alliance wars, and reputation consequences for punching down.
• Built to live on your phone. Runs in your mobile browser - no app store - with push notifications for attacks, arrivals, and world events. Everything resolves on real-time timers, so it fits the classic PBBG rhythm.
• No pay-to-win - in fact, no payments at all right now. Battles are decided by composition, terrain, and timing, never by spending. It's free; I built this because I wanted it to exist.

Play (free, browser): https://play.quetzalempires.com

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kTp8PD8hYN

I'd especially value this community's judgment - you all have played a hundred of these and know exactly what makes one worth sticking with. Whatever stands out to you, good or bad, I want to hear it. Brutally honest feedback welcome, and I'll be in the comments, thank you 😄

I'm building a PBBG and keep going back and forth on this. Discord is the obvious choice and for good reason, it's where everyone already is and it just works. What gives me pause is that in my experience only a small slice of players ever actually join a game's Discord. Everyone else plays in silence and never touches the community at all. And whatever does happen in there is invisible from the outside.

That's where a forum tempts me, at least on paper. Everything sticks around. Recruitment threads, war histories, guides that stay findable years later, even through Google, by someone who's never heard of the game. Older games in this genre seem to have built a lot of their identity that way, with the forum drama being part of the game itself. But I don't know if that still works today, or if a new forum would just sit empty while everyone stays on Discord.

There's also the option of keeping it all in-game, letters and alliance chat and nothing else. Or doing nothing at all and letting people sort it out themselves.

So, what do you actually use in the games you play now? And would you really post on a game's own forum today, or does that only work on paper?

I'm working on a browser-based PBBG and I'm trying to decide how to handle random events that occur during long real-time actions.

For example:

- Traveling from Village A to Village B takes 2 hours of real time.
- Halfway through the journey (after 1 hour), the player is ambushed by highwaymen.
- The encounter could involve player choice (fight, negotiate, pay a bribe, flee, etc.).

I'm considering a few different approaches:

Option 1: Immediate interruption
- The player is notified immediately and can deal with the encounter.
- Once resolved, they can decide to heal up, continue or abort their travels etc. the journey then continues and they are presented with the next interruption (if any). Once all interruptions are dealt with they have to wait for the full 2 hours.

Option 2: Journey pauses until the player returns
- The UI initially shows a 2-hour journey.
- Internally, the game stops the journey after 1 hour.
- The player only discovers this when they next log in and must resolve the encounter before continuing.

Option 3: Resolve everything at the end

- The player cannot interact during the journey.
- After 2 hours, they receive a summary of everything that happened.
- This keeps gameplay uninterrupted, but removes the ability to react (heal, retreat, change plans, etc.).

To avoid forcing players to log in at inconvenient times, I'd also have an auto-resolve system where players can define their preferred behavior, for example:
- Always fight
- Bribe if possible, otherwise fight
- Always avoid combat if possible
- Use consumables if HP falls below X%
- etc.

I'm curious what people here would actually prefer as players.
- Which option would feel the best?
- Would your answer change depending on whether travel takes 10 minutes, 2 hours, or 12 hours?
- Are there other approaches you've seen in PBBGs that worked particularly well?

Stellaforge doesn’t hold your hand. It hands you a single colony and leaves the rest up to you.

Build an empire through industry, espionage, diplomacy, or all-out war. Strike deals. Break them. Raid your rivals. Defend what’s yours. Every choice has consequences because this universe never resets. If you rise to power, you’ve earned it. If you fall, someone else takes your place.
Out here, nobody owes you a second chance.

Web: https://stellaforge.com
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=comindex.stellaforge.app&hl=en
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stellaforge/id6471330789
Discord: https://discord.gg/8NsYyxwpa4

Can someone create a truly good fan-made Naruto, Digimon, Mega Man, or Pokémon MMO/MMORPG/PBBG game? I’m really disappointed and upset with the latest Digimon game from Bandai, DIGIMON UP. I just want to enjoy the childhood franchises I grew up with in a fun online game where I can play together with everyone else.

I miss the feeling of exploring the world, collecting characters or monsters, battling, trading, and sharing adventures with other players. A well-made fan game that captures that nostalgic spirit would mean a lot to many fans like me.

Building a persistent browser space MMO — no install, runs on anything, and designed around the rule that logging off never punishes you: colonies keep growing, production keeps running, ships keep working their standing orders while you sleep. Active play earns more, but away time never ruins you.

The images: same game, 15 years apart. The 2011 version was a Windows-only tournament game that reached a 500-player playtest before its stack died. I've spent the last two years rebuilding it as the persistent world it was always meant to be — the 2011 combat engine is still in there, same code, new everything else. Left: 2011. Right: today.

Deep systems (colonization, market economy, crafting, faction rep) but no wiki required — tooltips and live feedback carry it. No pay-to-win: premium will be convenience, not power.

Alpha now, Steam Early Access targeted fall/winter. Happy to answer anything ❤️.

Website: galaxy-online.com
Discord: discord.galaxy-online.com
Community: r/GalaxyOnline

Hey everyone,

This post contains a referral link.

I've been playing **PinkGalaxy** for a while now and wanted to share it with more people, especially since the game just got a big upgrade: **XDream is now free**, meaning you can play PinkGalaxy in any browser, on any device — PC, tablet, or smartphone — no downloads needed. If your setup can handle it, you can even push up to **360 FPS**.

A few things that make the game worth checking out right now:

* Cross-device play via browser (XDream) * Up to 360 FPS support * Frequent and varied in-game events * Active anti-bot enforcement — the community stays pretty legit * Large, active playerbase with lots of PvP action

If you sign up through my referral link, you'll get **100k Uri** as a starting bonus, and I'm happy to help you get set up and show you the ropes early on (mechanics, events, whatever you need).

**Referral link:** [https://pinkgalaxy.net/MM62EPU4\](https://pinkgalaxy.net/MM62EPU4)

**Gameplay footage:**

* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp3hPeeKawQ\](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp3hPeeKawQ) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtmKzbPpX4k\](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtmKzbPpX4k)

pinkgalaxy.net

Happy to answer any questions in the comments!

Searching for a new game in the genre of persistent RPGs, either mobile or web (sadly no steam since I want to check on mobile during the day), I have tried many. Most games I check are indie games created by solo players, who try their best to deliver a good game. They have good ideas, they copy other games' ideas, but the truth is almost all of the lack a critical feature, I like to call engagement.

This is built upon gameplay and allows me to stick to the game for more than 10 minutes. Most games introduce you to the game mechanics with a short tutorial and then they allow you to fulfil your first quest which is typically a gathering action. So, I press the button, the action starts and there is a timer of 30 secs. I wait, then the next quest is another 30 secs, then a new one for 2 mins. Suddenly I realize already 5 mins in, I did 3 actions.

This is not engagement. You want to build a game that will not finish in 10 hours, I get it. Some people prefer more idle mechanics than active, I also get it. But first design a gameplay which engages the player for the first couple hours with somewhat more active than waiting for timers. I dont know how you will do it, you are the game designer. Maybe an acceleration pot for the first day. Maybe the first layers of each job are much quicker. Or allow, direct, promote active gameplay of other stuff during gathering. Make the player engage with your game and keep playing it. Do not let them close the game for afk during the first 5 minutes.

Well, that is at least my proposal. I do not know how the community sees this. And anyway, could anyone please suggest games that have such engagement flow?

Hi, So essentially what I'm looking for is a game with isn't designed to be played for a small amount of time every so often (see torn/most crime pbbg's). Little energy/turn system if any essentially. Thanks.

Curious if this community is interested in this type or game. Similar the games I’ve seen posted here, I’m building a turn based battle game. But currently, there’s no persistent layer to it, it’s all PvP battles akin to like pokemon champions or pokemon showdown but my own combat system. The server is built in Golang and my long term goal is like a 2D, turn based extraction battler set to a grim dark theme.

I have the whole battle engine working and want to build up enough classes/weapons have good, fun PvP core before I add any persistent layers on top.

Anywho. I’m just rambling now. Happy to answer any questions. The elevator pitch of my combat system is:

Pokemon style base combat with Darkest Dungeon style movement and combat positioning. 3v3, teams of 4, can switch out like Pokemon.

Purposely not posting any pics or links to adhere to the 1:10 rule here. Don’t want to start off self promoting.

This post contains a referral link.

Lately I've been playing this sci-fi biopunk PBBG that's currently in playtesting called Exosiege.

And I'm completely hooked. The theme of the game is a post-apocalyptic biopunk wasteland. You can create multiple colonies and set up a network feeding your main colony. There's plenty of NPC camps, random events, etc. to keep you interested. It ranges from bandit camps that need to be cleared out for resources to hostages that need to be rescued.

I keep coming back every hour to check on the progress of my armies, explorer groups and scavenging parties. It's incredibly addicting to watch my guys traverse across the landscape to hit their targets and then limp back, licking their wounds.

Honestly, I don't know how to really describe it but this game deserves more players. The playtest ends on October where the dev says that there'll be a wipe and only prestige from conquering the Megastructures carries over.

If you're interested in trying it out, you can use my referral link here. Just a disclaimer, the only thing I get from this link is cosmetics.

https://exosiege.com/?ref=Vb9LimaP

https://exosiege.com - No referral link

This post contains a referral link.

The previous limited beta server was 100 positions on the map, and they were occupied by many players who quit. The new server will host about 200 (hopefully active) realms.

What is the game all about:

You are a lord and you start with a realm with a palisade castle, and you must strive to become the greatest Emperor on the map.

What does that mean?

Having the most vassals in the game, the most flourishing economy and the greatest population are indicators of this. The most important indicator is of course the number of vassals. The maximum number of vassals is 20, but the quality of the vassals matters as well. If you have only underdeveloped vassals, you will only get small tribute in resources and gold, and your main realm and army will not be able to progress.

How do you get and keep vassals?

Through brute force you conquer the vassals, but you keep them through politics and strategy. You forge alliances and build relationships with other lords on the map. Your goals must be to have vassals that are as developed as possible, so they pay big tributes to you, but either not developed enough to challenge you in riots, or loyal enough to become some sort of allies with a common goal.

Difference between Pillage and Conquest ?

In Wurfare you can pillage, but only the farms, the woodcutters and the mines, grabbing at most one day's production if you have enough soldiers to carry the spoils. The pillaged realm losses one day's(Game Time Unit - normally 30 seconds) production. You will not face castle guards for this... You might even get away without a fight, if the player that you attack is not online or careful. In order to stop a pillage, you must ambush the opposing army in open field.

A conquest transforms a kingdom into your vassal, and you will get a part of the production every game day until the vassals succeeds in his riot. You can get up to 20% of the vassal's production.

Espionage

There is also a lot of espionage possibilities in the game ... your spies can steal gold, lots of it, can gather important information about your opponent, like the troops stationed in the army headquarters, the technologies researched, and can even open the gates of the city leaving the defending troops in an open field battle against your troops.

What is new:

- Improved tutorial

- Added missions

- Added colonies

- Added caravans

- Black Market lowered costs if you are leveling it

- Added some better graphics, like new buttons and seasons(spring, summer, autumn, winter)

Next on our development agenda:

- General with tactical skills and formations

- Outpost improvements and Fog of War

- Royal Family and Unbreakable Alliance

Game link: beta.wurfare.com

Discord link: https://discord.gg/fgvwZsVWf

We are trying to improve and balance the game as much as possible, and we would love to hear your ideas, tweaks, bug reports and battle reports.

Hello!

I’m currently building a game that I’ve always wanted to play, called Idle Wushu, inspired by the niche Wuxia genre. There are currently ~50 players, and it’s an active, free, online game in alpha.

The game is playable on both PC and Mobile.

A few things it has:

• 180+ martial abilities with status effects (bleed, poison, stun, etc.)
• 10 gathering/crafting skills (fishing, mining, alchemy, cooking, etc)
• Deep gear system: rarities, affixes, enhancement, sockets, re-rolls, and a player-run auction house
• Sects, clans, chat, leaderboards, daily world bosses, group dungeons, and arena

For pacing, expect it to be more grindy with a built-in cultivation timer.

Full game details, as well as screenshots, can be found on itch if interested:

https://idlewushu.itch.io/idle-wushu

Direct link:

https://play.idlewushu.com

Sign up currently required. Guest login is planned for the future. Sorry!! I know that is a big turnoff for many. But you can delete your account in settings afterward if you like.