[sensitive topic mentions] browser games are fun and i miss them: part 1!

growing up as a socially inept child, the internet- and specifically online games, were one of the big ways i connected with the outside world. it was so fun getting to customize my own character, roaming around a digital space made for people my age, and playing minigames/doing tasks for rewards !  my favorite was definitely animal jam (though i did dabble in a bit of club penguin, and i think ourworld? my memories of that second one are fuzzy; i didnt go on it nearly as much as the other two..)

no matter how hard some people will try to push the idea, i really dont think having a space specifically for kids attracts pedophiles more then any other place that is kid-specific; this is my specific experience and wont apply to everyone, but before i was around 12 any/all brushes i had with creepy adults were all irl, and any adults i met in online spaces were very polite !! (thats very likely just me getting lucky, though, esp since i had more bad experiences with online weirdos in middle school )

now that im an adult and have watched the once thriving browser game scene die before my eyes, ive gotten really nostalgic for them, in recent times....  but luckily, ive managed to find a small handful of browser games that are functional and rather new ! at least 2 of them are still actively worked on, and the last one has a bit of code rotting, but is still completely playable  join me as i infodump about each for fun in a little series, teehee

the first of these that i got into is WrigglerSim/LOHAE ! these two are related to homestuck, but i think you could still have fun with it, even if you dont know anything about that  

this screen gives you some base info. on your game progress- i have 10/12 castes done at the time of this post.. very proud of myself

WrigglerSim is a game about growing/caring for grubs (the babies of trolls, the species of the grey thing above.) you buy eggs from the "adopt" screen, wait 30 minutes of irl time for them to hatch in the "grubs" screen, and then give them toys to boost/lower certain traits on the "play" screen !

 

there are 12 eggs to choose from, each from a different caste... the cheapest caste is burgundy, and the most expensive is fuchsia !

these two randomly generated bundles of joy belong to the violet/aquarius caste, the second most expensive caste. generally speaking, higher/better stats means higher value

 
after an hour of irl time as a free-range baby, your babies will be able to spin a cocoon on the "grubs" screen. each grub has different stats upon being born, and giving them toys (that you buy in the "shop" screen) that effect these stats can drastically change things when they grow up  

but what do these stats effect, exactly? your babies' classpect ! without going too much into the lore of homestuck, each troll is assigned to a caste (the symbols of which are the 12 star signs and a corresponding color.) depending on their moon (purple is derse, yellow is prospit) and aspect (theres 12 different aspects,) they can become 1 of 24 possible classpects in a caste! there are 288 signs in total under the "alumni: signs" screen, and getting them all can take a long, long time.. but, there are a couple ways to help the process along !

my "alumni: signs" screen, showing off all the potential signs your trolls can have ! as you can see, ive been slowly working my way down the castes..

the biggest determining factor of speed is gonna be your empress- every new save starts with a default empress (found on the "empress"screen,) which you can replace by growing fuschia/pisces eggs (theyre the only class that can do this !) depending on the babies' stats when you release it from its cocoon and it gets randomly chosen as your new ruler, your empress can have a smaller/larger total grub count, or the ability to change their names/appearance !  

the default empress- the most important stats for completing the castes are "time to fund," "fund amount," and "max grubs"

aside from the stats shown here, another important factor your empress effects is the ability to interact with another game: Land of Horticulture and Essence, aka LOHAE. LOHAE is much simpler- you just buy/collect seeds on the "shop" screen, grow plants on the "grow" screen, and then go back to the shop to sell what youve grown ! if your empress allows you to take funds from LOHAE, its a very quick way to get a LOT more money- though it can take some trial and error to find good seeds.....  

the connection between WrigglerSim and LOHAE; please note that LOHAE isn't 100% functional due to code rot ! the core elements still work fine, dont worry

 

LOHAE's "grow" screen- my trees are flowering, and will soon grow! growing fruit only takes a few minutes

thats all the core mechanics of WrigglerSim/LOHAE explained ! there are a few other optional aspects, but i already spent a LONG time going over just the basics, so ill save that for another day... fun fact, i was originally gonna talk about all of my favorite modern browser games here  that wouldve been a bit too long to proofread/type out, even for me !! no matter, theres always another day to talk about it. ill leave you on this screenshot of my sweepbook profile, which is related to one of those optional aspects i mentioned, teehee. see yall next timeeee 

my sweepbook profile, featuring my trollsonas typing quirk ! each troll in homestuck has a unique method of speaking, and some of them get real weird