Back to Orangery After Dark
Hesper's boiler-room shelf

Eight browser games to fill the gap
between one lamp round and the next

Between lamp rounds Hesper sits by the copper boiler with an old laptop on her knees and keeps eight free browser games ticking over while the pipes warm the orange tubs. Her shelf holds tank duels, a war over a frozen kingdom, a racing team, a trader among the stars, a frontier town, a multi-sport club, a busy hospital and a Stone Age tribe, and every one of them opens on the same battered laptop she keeps by the kettle.

8games on the shelf
3with an official app as well
Freeto join, every one
Stonies key art
The night-keeper's favourite

Stonies

Stone Age settlement building · Farm, town & zoo

A Stone Age tribe huddled round its first fire, and you decide who gathers, who crafts and who researches the next idea. The camp widens as they learn, survival chores fill each day, and the climb up the technology ladder is slow and satisfying, rather like coaxing an orange tree from a pip to its first fruit.

Good for
Builders who enjoy a survival flavour and a camp that grows a little every visit.
Typical session
A few minutes of handing out tasks, longer when planning research
Where it runs
Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Cost
Free to play; optional in-game purchases.
Your first session
  1. Give every member of the tribe a gathering job first.
  2. Put early research into crafting that saves daily chores.
  3. Widen the camp only once its stores stay full.
Play Stonies freeOpens stonies-game.upjers.com/en in a new tab

Seven more beside the boiler-room kettle

Tanki Online key artArcade & action play

Tanki Online

Tank combat online

Real tank combat straight from a browser tab. You build a machine by matching swappable hulls to turrets in the garage, then roll out into deathmatch or capture battles and spend what you earn on upgrades. Rank tiers unlock heavier gear as your record grows.

  • One or two battles of a few minutes each
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Players who want quick, noisy battles in short bursts.

Your first session
  1. Try a few hull and turret pairings before upgrading one.
  2. Learn a single map well before moving on.
  3. Stay close to teammates in capture modes.
Play Tanki Online freeOpens tankionline.com/en
Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming key artTactics & warfare

Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming

Licensed real-time strategy

Officially licensed real-time strategy in a famous frozen fantasy realm. Build up your castle, sign on commanders and push through a story campaign, while player alliances battle over the larger map and winter creeps across every border.

  • Short visits to queue builds and marches
  • Desktop browser
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Strategy players who like a famous world to fight across.

Your first session
  1. Keep the castle upgrading before you recruit widely.
  2. Follow the campaign to learn how commanders work.
  3. Join an active alliance before the map heats up.
Play Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming freeOpens got.gtarcade.com
iGP Manager key artSporting management

iGP Manager

Motorsport team management

A racing team run from the pit wall rather than the cockpit. Car development, race strategy and every pit call are yours, and the drivers carry them out in 3D races against rival managers in live leagues.

  • A sitting for each race, plus quick set-up visits
  • Desktop browser; mobile app also available
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Managers who prefer engines and tyres to a ball.

Your first session
  1. Spend early on car parts that suit most circuits.
  2. Plan tyre stops before the race starts.
  3. Join a league that races at hours you can attend.
Play iGP Manager freeOpens igpmanager.com
Pardus key artSpace & science fiction

Pardus

Space trading online

A veteran of the stars where each move costs action points, which keeps a player with only a spare half-hour in the running. You mine, manufacture and run trade routes, or turn smuggler or bounty hunter, across linked sectors of a galaxy.

  • A short daily sitting spending your points
  • Desktop browser
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Players with short evenings who still like to compete.

Your first session
  1. Plan each route before spending action points.
  2. Begin with simple trade runs between nearby sectors.
  3. Join an alliance for advice and protection.
Play Pardus freeOpens pardus.at
The West key artRole-play & questing

The West

Frontier role-playing

A frontier role-playing game of jobs, duels and long, patient character growth. Settle on a class, take on work around the territory to earn skill points, fit out your cowboy with sturdier kit and throw in your lot with a frontier fort battling for land.

  • Short visits to start jobs, longer for fort battles
  • Desktop browser
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Role-players who like slow and steady character growth.

Your first session
  1. Choose the class that suits your temper.
  2. Take jobs that raise the skills that class relies on.
  3. Join a fort once you can hold your own in a duel.
Play The West freeOpens the-west.net
PowerPlay Manager key artSporting management

PowerPlay Manager

Multi-sport club management

Hockey, football, handball and basketball, all managed from one shared login. Hesper sets out her line-ups and tactics against human rivals, writes a practice routine for every player in the squad and adds to the arena and its facilities as each season ends.

  • Brief daily visits that stretch on match days
  • Desktop browser
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Managers who would rather run several sports than one.

Your first session
  1. Begin with the sport you follow most.
  2. Give each player a practice plan that fits his position.
  3. Put early money into facilities that last.
Play PowerPlay Manager freeOpens ppm.powerplaymanager.com/en
Kapi Hospital key artCommerce & tycoon

Kapi Hospital

Cheerful hospital management

Patients arrive with all sorts of comic complaints, and you treat them, hire staff, buy equipment and open new wards. Research adds treatments to your list as the caseload grows, while the hospital grows wing after wing, much as a glasshouse gains new bays.

  • Quick shifts treating patients
  • Desktop browser
Best for & opening moves

Good for: Players who want a light-hearted management game with no fighting.

Your first session
  1. See to every waiting patient before building more rooms.
  2. Research the treatments your wards need most often.
  3. Hire staff in step with each ward you open.
Play Kapi Hospital freeOpens us.kapihospital.com

All eight at a glance, chalked on the boiler-room slate

Browser titleStyleSpeed of the gameOthers under the glassA normal sittingRuns where
StoniesStone Age settlement buildingUnhurried, grown over many visitsOne shared online worldA few minutes of handing out tasks, longer when planning researchDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Tanki OnlineTank combat onlineFast rounds in real timeTeam fights with other playersOne or two battles of a few minutes eachDesktop browser; mobile app also available
Game of Thrones: Winter is ComingOfficially licensed real-time strategyReal-time, counted in hoursAlliances fighting over the mapShort visits to queue builds and marchesDesktop browser
iGP ManagerRunning a racing team in motorsportLive races on a timetableLive leagues with many playersA sitting for each race, plus quick set-up visitsDesktop browser; mobile app also available
PardusSpace trading onlinePaced by action pointsAlliances spread over the sectorsA short daily sitting spending your pointsDesktop browser
The WestFrontier role-playingSteady, built on timed jobsForts battling for landShort visits to start jobs, longer for fort battlesDesktop browser
PowerPlay ManagerClub management over many sportsRegular fixtures and practice plansLeagues run by human managersBrief daily visits that stretch on match daysDesktop browser
Kapi HospitalCheerful hospital managementRelaxedOne shared online worldQuick shifts treating patientsDesktop browser

Joining any of the eight costs nothing; each has optional purchases inside.

01

No fee at the orangery door

Hesper paid nothing to sign up for a single game on her shelf, and months of night shifts have gone by without her spending; the tanks, the tribe, the racing team and the wards all arrive complete.

Each studio keeps a shop of shortcuts and extras to one side. Many seasoned players never so much as peek inside, and a family sharing a single computer will often find a spending cap tucked into the account settings.

02

Lighting the first lamp

Every button on Hesper's shelf opens the studio's own site in a second tab. Make your account there using an email address, and before the next lamp round a camp, a garage, a castle or a club stands ready for you, chalked with your chosen name.

Every game has a guided opening for newcomers. Stay with it to its final step: those lessons cover the menus and the in-game money, much as Hesper learnt the orangery valves one pipe at a time.

03

Quick checks and long evenings

All eight keep going with the tab closed: jobs finish, patients queue, races are scheduled and trade routes wait for orders. A look before supper and another before bed keeps everything in hand.

Hesper uses her quick checks to collect, queue builds and reply to allies or rival managers. Keep a long, quiet evening for the weighty choices: a new ward, a pact with an alliance or a dear car upgrade.

04

Locking the potting-shed door

Each studio looks after its own sign-ins, so Hesper only ever types hers into that studio's genuine address. She keeps a different password for every game, just as she carries a separate key for every door on the estate, and turns on any second sign-in check a game offers; do the same.

Nobody employed on these games has any need of your password. A stranger offering a heap of premium currency in exchange is out to grab the account for good, so Hesper's advice is to say nothing and report them.

Why these eight earned a place by the copper boiler

  • Hesper's laptop runs all eight straight in its browser, so the first move comes long before the boiler-room kettle can boil.
  • None of them asks for a fee to join, and a thrifty player can go a very long way while their shop stays locked.
  • Tribes, clubs, wards and trade routes keep moving while the tab is shut, so a glance between two lamp rounds still gets things done.
  • The studios behind them have kept them running for years, so the old hands you meet know every valve and are usually glad of a newcomer.

No. Hesper plays every one of them in a computer browser, and Tanki Online, iGP Manager and Stonies offer an official mobile app too.

No. Every one takes new players free of charge and can be played without paying; whether you ever buy an in-game extra is entirely your choice.

No, and Orangery After Dark did not either. Separate independent studios make and look after every title on Hesper's shelf, and each button on the shelf carries you off to the website of the studio that runs that game.

No. Each studio holds its own register of players, so Hesper has eight separate logins, every one of them free.

Tanki Online, iGP Manager and Stonies come with official apps beside their browser editions. Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming, Pardus, The West, PowerPlay Manager and Kapi Hospital live in the browser alone and feel most comfortable on a laptop or desktop.

Tanki Online or Kapi Hospital, where a few minutes gets something done. PowerPlay Manager, iGP Manager and Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming reward longer sittings.

Yes. Tanki Online puts you in team battles, iGP Manager and PowerPlay Manager run leagues of real managers, The West has its forts, and alliances shape life among the Pardus sectors and across the map of Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming.