Back to Rivermist Islands
Cabin tabs after dark

Eight browser games for the cabin
once the Belle is tied up and the lamp is lit

When the last passengers have stepped off at the keep landing, Captain Rushwick hangs his white cap on its peg, lights the cabin lamp and opens the laptop he keeps under the chart table. Eight free browser games wait in his tabs: a riverbank city in ancient Egypt, a comic hero on timed quests, a stick-figure kingdom full of jokes, a Roman arena, a farm with sheds of its own, a frontier camp, a player-run space economy and a slow galaxy of planets and alliances.

8games in the cabin tabs
3also offered as an official phone app
0charged to open a player profile
Anocris key art
A river captain's pick

Anocris

City-building on the banks of the Nile · Strategy & war

A captain who spends his days on a river was always going to pick the one about the Nile. Anocris hands you a stretch of riverbank in ancient Egypt: lay out a city, grow its economy, prepare your forces and widen your borders step by careful step. Nothing here rewards a rush, which suits someone used to reading slow water.

Good for
Methodical builders and planners.
Typical session
Short building checks, longer planning evenings
Where it runs
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Lay out farms and workshops before soldiers.
  2. Grow the economy before you expand.
  3. Plan each expansion a step ahead.
Play Anocris freeOpens int59.anocris.com in a new tab

Seven more tabs under the chart table

Shakes & Fidget key artRole-play & adventure

Shakes & Fidget

Comic fantasy hero, played against the clock

Shakes & Fidget sends a hero off on timed quests that finish on their own clock, and its dozen classes each play differently: the shape-shifting Druid takes animal forms, while the Berserker strikes again and again within a single turn. Arena bouts and guilds fill the waiting time.

  • Quick quest check-ins through the day
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

Good for: Players who want humour with their character sheet.

Your first session
  1. Try a few classes before settling on one.
  2. Send the hero on a quest before stepping away.
  3. Join a guild once you feel at home.
Play Shakes & Fidget freeOpens sfgame.net
Kingdom of Loathing key artRole-play & adventure

Kingdom of Loathing

Stick-figure comedy role-play

Kingdom of Loathing is drawn entirely in stick figures and offers six deliberately silly classes; the Accordion Thief is a real option. Under the jokes lie turn-by-turn battles, a mountain of ridiculous items and mechanics so rich that fans keep writing guides about them. The captain reads its item notes aloud to the gulls.

  • A handful of turns or a long evening of them
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

Best for: people who would rather laugh than be dazzled.

Your first session
  1. Pick the class whose joke makes you laugh.
  2. Read every item description.
  3. Spend turns slowly while you learn the map.
Play Kingdom of Loathing freeOpens kingdomofloathing.com
Gladiatus key artRole-play & adventure

Gladiatus

Roman arena role-play

Gladiatus puts a fighter in a Roman arena and sends them on expeditions that count down in real time before returning with gear and gold. Duels with other players settle themselves automatically, and the dungeons keep their better finds for fighters who return each day.

  • Short visits, a few times daily
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

Good for: Players who want short daily check-ins, not sessions.

Your first session
  1. Send out an expedition before anything else.
  2. Equip new gear as soon as it arrives.
  3. Try the arena once your fighter has some weight.
Play Gladiatus freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/gladiatus
My Free Farm 2 key artFarm, town & zoo

My Free Farm 2

Fields, livestock and processing sheds

My Free Farm 2 is all fields, animals and the sheds that turn raw produce into goods for selling. Crop timers and standing orders keep you juggling as the land under your name gradually grows. The cottages out on the pink islands grow their own beans, so the captain calls this research.

  • Short harvest rounds between longer planning
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

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

Your first session
  1. Plant before you leave so fields grow while you are away.
  2. Fill standing orders first.
  3. Add a processing shed once the fields are steady.
Open My Free Farm 2 for nothingOpens myfreefarm2.upjers.com/en
WildGuns key artStrategy & war

WildGuns

Frontier land-grab strategy

WildGuns is frontier strategy: side with one of three rival nations, each strong in its own way, set up camp, haul in raw materials, then build, barter and launch raids over land that rival players also covet. It is the one tab where the captain trades his white cap for a dusty brim, at least in spirit.

  • Short camp checks, longer raiding evenings
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

Best for: strategy fans who like a frontier backdrop.

Your first session
  1. Learn about all three nations before you pick a side.
  2. Build up raw materials before raiding.
  3. Trade with neighbours you would rather not fight.
Play WildGuns freeOpens gameforge.com/en-US/play/wildguns
Prosperous Universe key artBusiness & tycoon

Prosperous Universe

Player-run space economy

Prosperous Universe is a space economy where nothing exists on the market unless some real player made it. Production lines, cargo runs and contracts feed an exchange on which only players decide the prices. The captain, who knows exactly what it costs to move a crate upriver, finds it oddly soothing.

  • Daily production checks, longer trading sittings
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

Best for: anyone after an economy the players really run.

Your first session
  1. Start with a single production chain.
  2. Watch exchange prices before selling.
  3. Take small contracts while you learn the routes.
Play Prosperous Universe freeOpens prosperousuniverse.com
Hyperiums Reborn key artSpace & sci-fi

Hyperiums Reborn

Long-round space empire strategy

Hyperiums Reborn rebuilds a space strategy veteran whose first rounds date from 2001. Planets are nursed along, trade-offs between wealth and defence are made, and alliances bargain with each other through rounds lasting months. It moves at the pace of a long, wide river, which is rather the point.

  • Daily orders across a long round
  • Desktop browser
Who it suits, and the captain’s opening move

Best for: fans of slow empire-building with plenty of politics.

Your first session
  1. Grow one planet well before reaching for more.
  2. Balance defence with economy from the start.
  3. Talk to alliances early.
Play Hyperiums Reborn freeOpens reborn.hyperiums.com

All eight cabin tabs side by side

On the chart tableKind of voyageRate of knotsFellow passengersA sitting in the cabinOpens on
AnocrisCity-building on the banks of the NileGradual and methodicalAt your own measured paceShort building checks, longer planning eveningsDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Shakes & FidgetComic fantasy hero, played against the clockTimed quests you check back onArena bouts and guildsQuick quest check-ins through the dayDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Kingdom of LoathingStick-figure comedy role-playTurn-based, at your own speedA long-standing cult followingA handful of turns or a long evening of themDesktop browser
GladiatusRoman arena role-playShort timed expeditionsDuels in the arena plus a market run by playersShort visits, a few times dailyDesktop browser
My Free Farm 2Fields, livestock and processing shedsCalm loops of planting and ordersMostly your own patch of countryShort harvest rounds between longer planningDesktop browser; mobile app also available
WildGunsFrontier land-grab strategySteady camp building, sudden raidsThree nations fighting over the same groundShort camp checks, longer raiding eveningsDesktop browser
Prosperous UniversePlayer-run space economySlow, careful and spreadsheet-friendlyAn exchange priced entirely by playersDaily production checks, longer trading sittingsDesktop browser
Hyperiums RebornLong-round space empire strategyRounds that run for monthsDiplomacy between alliancesDaily orders across a long roundDesktop browser

The fare for all eight: free to play, each with optional in-game purchases.

01

Free to board, every one

Every title here is free to join, and months can pass in any of them without a cent going out; cities, farms, heroes and empires all arrive complete.

Each studio also keeps a small shop of shortcuts and cosmetic extras. Many veterans have never set foot in it. On a computer the whole household shares, capping spending in the account settings is one more sensible knot to tie.

02

Casting off into the first tab

Press a button here and the studio's official home appears in a fresh tab, leaving this list moored where it was. Sign up over there with an email address and your city, hero or camp appears within moments.

Each game walks newcomers through an opening tutorial. Let it finish: it unpacks the menus and how resources move in small steps, the way the captain shows a new deckhand where every rope is coiled.

03

Short looks and long evenings

Nothing waits for you to come back: fields grow, expeditions return, quests finish and fleets keep moving. A look before the first run of the day and another after the last usually covers it.

Use the short visits to collect, queue the next job and answer allies. Save a long evening in the cabin for the big decisions: a new production chain, a pact between alliances or a careful push across the map.

04

A separate key for every hatch

A login is held by whichever studio publishes that title, and it should be typed into nothing except that studio's real website. Hand every title a password of its own, the way the Belle carries a separate key for every hatch, and switch on a sign-in code wherever a game offers one.

A real studio employee never needs your password. If a stranger offers extra gold or rare gear for your login, walk away and flag them with the report button inside that game.

How eight tabs won a spot by the chart table

  • Not one of them wants more than a browser on the cabin laptop, so the lamp has hardly warmed up before the first game has loaded.
  • Joining costs nothing on all eight, and a player can travel a long way in each one without spending anything in its shop.
  • Shut the laptop and the cities, farms, camps and empires carry on regardless, so even a glance between two boat runs moves things along.
  • Every title comes from a studio that keeps it running and updated, and each has settled players used to showing a newcomer the ropes.

No. An ordinary computer browser tab runs every title here. Shakes & Fidget, My Free Farm 2 and Anocris also offer an official mobile app.

Nothing. Signing up and playing are free on all eight, and anything extra inside a game is entirely your own choice.

No. The captain only steers boats. Eight unrelated studios make and look after these titles, and each button on this list leads to the right one.

No. These are eight separate studios keeping eight separate player lists, so you sign up free at each game you want to try.

Shakes & Fidget, My Free Farm 2 and Anocris also come as an official phone app. Prosperous Universe, Kingdom of Loathing, Hyperiums Reborn, Gladiatus and WildGuns are played in a computer browser.

Gladiatus and Shakes & Fidget: send out the expedition or the quest, close the tab and let its timer do the rest. Hyperiums Reborn, Prosperous Universe and Anocris reward longer sittings.

In most of them, yes. Prosperous Universe runs on a player-priced exchange, Hyperiums Reborn on alliance diplomacy, Gladiatus and Shakes & Fidget on arena bouts, and WildGuns on three rival nations sharing contested ground. Kingdom of Loathing, Anocris and My Free Farm 2 can be played largely at your own pace.