Action games you can play in the browser
The action games here are about reading danger quickly and moving before it reaches you. Most are short-run games: one life, a score, and a restart that takes a single tap, so a bad run costs seconds rather than minutes. Swarm Dodge gives you no weapon at all, only a growing crowd of monsters to slip past while you collect motes. Nightrun is a three-lane runner where coins sit beside the obstacles and close calls pay extra. Siege Shot swaps reflexes for aim: fling rocks at a stronghold and knock towers down from the base before the ballista on the walls wrecks your catapult. Critter Care is action of a gentler kind, a race to tap the right critter before its patience ring runs out. For longer sessions, Nightfall: Survivors is a survivors-style roguelite where your spells aim themselves and three bosses stand between you and a win, and Run and Gun is a top-down shooter fought room by room, with scrap banked between runs for permanent unlocks. Hop Tower and Hold the Gate are newer arrivals. The games described here play with a keyboard or mouse on a computer and with touch controls on a phone, and nothing needs installing.
Survivors ArenaTwenty minutes. One arena. Everything wants you.
Lane DefenseHold the lanes. Leak nothing.
Snake ArenaGrow long. Don't bump heads.
Hold the GateTap a lane.
Hop TowerTap to jump. Climb before the spikes catch up.
Siege ShotAim and let go.
Critter CareTap the right one.
NightrunThree lanes. Change lane. That is all.
Swarm DodgeYou move. That is the only thing you can do.
Nightfall: SurvivorsSurvive the haunted clearing until dawn.
Run and GunClear the room. Shoot the door open. Take what was behind it.
Questions
Do these action games work on a phone?
Yes. Each one described here has touch controls: drag to move in Swarm Dodge, tap either half of the screen in Nightrun, pull back and let go in Siege Shot, and an on-screen stick with buttons in Nightfall: Survivors and Run and Gun.
Which of them keep progress between runs?
The short arcade-style games keep your best score in the browser. Run and Gun also banks scrap, unlocked guns and upgrades. Nightfall: Survivors starts every run from scratch.
How long does a game take?
Swarm Dodge and Nightrun runs often end inside a minute, and Siege Shot or Critter Care runs last a minute or two. A Nightfall: Survivors win takes at least 3 minutes 40, and Run and Gun runs usually last 3 to 10 minutes.