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Short Run Arcade

The floor

Every cabinet, in score order

Twelve reviews, each one written after playing the game on a laptop and on a phone, with the facts we could verify and the snags we ran into. Scores are the average of five marks.

Compare the factsAnswer three questions instead
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a grid of numbered sliding tiles8.8
Platform · 2–5 minutesRuns of three to eight minutes

2048

Slide the tiles, merge the matching numbers, keep the board from filling up. The original site has no adverts, no account and remembers your board.

No accountWorks offline
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a pixel maze of ice blocks and fruit8.2
The ride · 10–20 minutesFive to fifteen minutes of levels

Bad Ice Cream 3

A pixel maze where you grow and smash walls of ice to corner the fruit. Local co-op on one keyboard, no sign-up, and levels short enough to stop after any one.

No accountSurvives a wobble
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a running track and a tumbling figure8.2
Platform · 2–5 minutesRuns of ten seconds to a minute

QWOP

Bennett Foddy's ragdoll sprint: two keys for the thighs, two for the calves, and a stadium full of people watching you fall over.

No accountWorks offline
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a map divided into coloured territories8.2
The ride · 10–20 minutesMatches of three to ten minutes

Territorial.io

Claim territory, watch your balance, and pick the moment to push. Whole matches fit in ten minutes, and nobody ever asks you to sign up.

No accountNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing an archery target and an arrow in flight8.0
The ride · 10–20 minutesRounds of six to ten minutes

Narrow One

A browser archery shooter with proper arrow drop, capture-the-flag on castle maps, and a shop stocked entirely with things you can earn.

Account optionalNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a stack of coloured blocks on a grid7.9
Platform · 2–5 minutesA 40-line sprint takes one to three minutes

Jstris

Sprint, cheese race, survival and live rooms, running on modern guideline rules. Guest play works, there are no adverts, and every run is timed.

Account optionalSurvives a wobble
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a round tank and geometric shapes on a grid7.7
The ride · 10–20 minutesEight to twenty minutes per tank

Diep.io

Farm the polygons, climb an upgrade tree of thirty-odd tank classes, and try not to be the one who gets flanked. No account, no chat, straight into the arena.

No accountNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing layered ocean depths and sea creatures7.6
The ride · 10–20 minutesTen to twenty minutes per life

Deeeep.io

An underwater food chain with eighty-plus creatures to evolve through. Free, no sign-up to start, and the skins cost coins you earn rather than money.

Account optionalNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a speech bubble with a scribbled drawing7.3
The ride · 10–20 minutesA full game runs ten to twenty minutes

Gartic Phone

The drawing telephone: a sentence becomes a picture becomes a sentence. Free, anonymous, and far better in a private room with people you know.

No accountNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a starfield with a ship and asteroids7.2
The long line · 30 minutes and upServers run to an endgame about half an hour in

Starblast.io

A space arena with real progression: gems from asteroids buy ship tiers, and every server builds towards an endgame where respawning stops.

Account optionalNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a block-built airship with lit portholes6.2
The long line · 30 minutes and upOpen-ended; an hour disappears quickly

Drednot.io

Build an airship out of blocks, crew it with whoever turns up, and fight other crews. Free, endlessly social, and firmly a desktop game.

Account optionalNeeds a steady line
Illustration of an arcade cabinet showing a password field with rules ticking off6.1
The long line · 30 minutes and upTwenty minutes, or the rest of your evening

The Password Game

A free browser puzzle that adds a new password rule every time you satisfy the last one, until the whole thing collapses under its own absurdity.

No accountNeeds a steady line