What are io games?
As you already know, there are many funny and addictive games for players like agario, slitherio, … These games after launching just a few months have attracted thousands of people who like playing games all over the world. Immediately, after the success of these two games, a series of new games with the domain name “.io” was released and created an io game list. So what are the io games?
It is very simple! All MMO games which can be played on the web and have io tag are called “io games”. They are flash games and very easy to play. There are many people who can play together in one game, they compete against each other to win the game. The name – io games may be a bit strange, but the fact that they are also normal games like the other. The different is Instead of using .com or .net domains as other games, these games use a different domain name – “.io” – a generic top-level domain (gTLD).
However, these games did not become popular by their strange name or their domain. And I sure you that it was not an accident that the phrase “io games” has become so popular. So which things make io games become so popular in the world? Let’s learn about the history and the features of io games to know why are these game so successful.
The history of io games
.io is Country code top-level domain, it has existed since 1997. The first .io domain was registered in 1998 by Levi Strauss & CO.
Agar.io is the first io game which was released in 2015. Just a few months after its debut, agario attracted thousands of players around the world by its so unique logic and playability. And that was a big turning point of io games – After that, hundreds of new io games have released.
The agar.io domain was suggested by a user in 4chan, simply because all the relevant domain names such as cell.com and cell.io have been used. At that time, the names of .io domains were relatively new and the prices were very high, so there were many dictionary term domain names which were still available. That is why the domain name agar.io was released.
After that, as the same reason as agar.io, slither.io took advantage of the availability of the .io TLD.
After the great success of agario and slitherio, a series of other .io games have released. They wanted to have a piece of their predecessor’s success and popularity. So they too adopted a .io domain.
Today, there are more than one hundred of io games were released, and it is going to have more and more new io games in the near future.
The features make io games became very popular in the world.
As I mentioned above, it is not an accident to become so popular and attractive games in the world. In fact, most of io games – especially agario and slitherio both have some special features to get the great success like that.
1/ The first and the best important thing to make the great success of io games like agar.io or slither.io that they are super, super easy to learn but super, super difficult to master. In fact, it only takes you 5-10 minutes to learn how to play the game but it takes you a long time to master and win the game. When you start an io game, it is very easy for you to know the rule of the game and how to play on it. You will feel wow! what an easy game! However, I am sure that you will feel that is a hard and challenging game a week after that. There are so many people all around the world who play io games for a long time but they can’t be the winner in these games because they are the global game.
2/ The second, they always try to keep the game mechanics very simple, matched by the basic graphics. They try to optimize the game’s usability and accessibility. Most io games can be played on the web, players can play in full screen without having to download the games. Moreover, io games are very lightweight and the players do not have to wait too long time to download the games. You don’t need to wonder when you play the games, may your computer have some virus too? because all the games are free and you don’t have to download anything. All you need to be able to play io games is a PC that is connected to the internet.
3/ The third feature that makes io games became so popular is “real time”. Most io games are designed in the real-time and this makes them become harder and more attractive to the players. Moreover, with the real-time strategy, you can invite your friends into the game to solo together or set a team to fight the other opponents. It is brilliant! You can fight like real warriors; using your intelligence to create the great combat strategies.
4/ The fourth feature is “the sharing”. Almost io games have this feature. Io games allow the player to share their score with their friends through the third parties like Facebook, Twitter, Google, …So when you get the high score, you can share it with your friend to let them know how well you have done.
5/ Finally, the competition is also the important feature which makes io games become so popular in the world. As you know, almost io games have many players, they will take part in a room or a map and play together. They will compete together to become the winner or get on the top 1 of the game. People who get on top 1 of the game will be admired by all (sometimes may be an attacking target of someone). And this is one of the most attractive of the io games.
