Develop on GamesByEmail

GamesByEmail.com is an excellent venue for anyone wanting to develop and playtest a game.

The games are written entirely in JavaScript. They are some of the finest examples of JavaScript, DHTML, AJAX, and client-side architecture anywhere on the 'net. The chess game was 100% AJAX back in 1998, back when Microsoft Outlook rendered HTML emails with JavaScript, without any warnings, even in the preview pane (the 'net was a more innocent place then).

That said, it is relatively easy to create a game on GamesByEmail's foundation.

Here is what is available:

An extensive and comprehensive Game Programmer's Tutorial. This tutorial starts from scratch and takes you step by step through the process of creating a Tic-Tac-Toe game that is completely compatible with the GamesByEmail system.

As the games are written in JavaScript, no special development tools or applications are required. You will only need a text editor. You can develop in Notepad if you like.

You can develop and play a game completely off line, on your own machine, even from a USB keychain if you like. No applications, servers or programs are required to play in development mode, just a browser. When your game is complete, the code can be loaded (without modification) onto GamesByEmail's server, and played by anyone in the world.

The game code is object oriented. If you are a programmer, you know this is good.

The foundation is designed with multi-lingual support in mind. Your game can support Kanji, Mandarin, French, Spanish, and whatever language packs you want to provide.

The foundation is very generic. You can shape the game however needed in terms of players, teams, nested teams, cards, dice, board, whatever.

The boards can be whatever you want. GamesByEmail has some with squares, hexagons, world maps, dynamic boards, different boards for different players, you name it.

The games can easily be played in development, testing and release environments.

Versioning support, with easy update, release, and rollback.

Excellent cross-browser support.

Rules support.

Game log support.

Player preferences support.

Problem reporting already handled.

Chat already handled.

You can zip up your game and send it to anyone and they can test it without installing any applications.

Random numbers generated by Random.org, handled automatically.

Numerous tools for helping to create maps with highlights, polygons definitions and the like.

More stuff. Like example code, etc. The list could go on.

The foundation code is very robust. You can create a simple game like Tic-Tac-Toe, or an extremely complex game like W.W.II.

GamesByEmail.com is a low-key site. There is no registration required, and you can be playing any game in just two clicks. There are no limits and is its free. The games are bare bones, no overly flashy interface, and have no noises (read: easier to goof off at work). It is very simple looking and simple to use. No components or installations are required.

If you have any interest in programming correspondence games, this is a great place to start. Take a look at the tutorial, or drop a note.

Thanks for playing!

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RISK, Axis & Allies, Diplomacy, Acquire, Stratego, Panzer Blitz, Luftwaffe, Connect 4, Battleship, Othello, Monopoly, Scrabble and the titles of a ton of other great games are all registered trademarks of Hasbro Inc. GamesByEmail.com is not associated with Hasbro in any way. Not that I would mind...