From Flash Casinos to JS Experiments: How Gambling Games Are Evolving

Once upon a time, online casino games were pixilated pop-up windows powered by Adobe Flash, the developer of Photoshop. Flash was part of the golden age of gambling games, allowing developers to create slots with flashing reels and digital blackjack tables.

However, Flash started to lose its hold in the industry as web browsers became more developed and mobile gaming increased in popularity. And so most developers turned their efforts to JavaScript (JS). JavaScript games can be found across most online casinos, with many sites similar to Bovada offering JS games that are high-speed, secure, visually pleasing, and incredibly entertaining. These games still retain their old-school charm, but work with the latest technologies.

Today, casino game developers are not just rebuilding classic casino games using JS, but also challenging themselves to create games with constraints, under the js13k competition, where games must be under 13 kilobytes in size.

A History Of Flash Gambling Games

Before the internet, slot machines were initially clunky mechanical devices that were operated by a lever. Next came the electrical machines that worked by pressing a button. And finally, slots and other casino games became digital as PC games, and then online. Early online casinos were similar to physical establishments, offering classic games like roulette, poker, blackjack, and slots.

Adobe Flash quickly became a preferred development software for these games because of its animation capabilities and cross-platform support. Between 2000 and 2012, Flash-built games were found all over the web. The games were simple enough to run on most browsers and flexible enough for a variety of graphics styles and interactive controls. This allowed developers to create casino experiences online.

Players could click and drag chips onto the roulette table, spin reels with the click of a button, and hear coins hitting the tray. Flash games were on free-to-play platforms, social casinos, and entertainment sites.

However, as mobile browsing became more mainstream, Flash’s vulnerabilities became slightly notorious, and browsers started phasing out these games. By the end of 2020, Flash was no longer the main software for games.

JavaScript’s Dominance

With Flash no longer in use, JS became increasingly popular. Although it had been used for minor page interactivity for a few years, modern JS offered exactly what game developers needed to build complex casino games. JS also ran natively on modern browsers, without the need for plugins.

Casino game developers used JavaScript as it offered many benefits:

• Mobile compatibility: JS games can scale across various devices, including PCs, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
• Real-time games: JS can handle asynchronous data, WebSockets, and animation, making it perfect for live dealer games.
• Secure: JS is constantly updated and does not have the same security vulnerabilities as Flash.
• Ecosystem support: Developers have access to a wide range of options, including lightweight engines like Phaser and Kaboom and tools like Three.js.
• Personalization: JS made it possible for casinos to provide personal gaming experiences, for example, suggesting games based on gambling history.

As a result of these benefits, many online casinos and game developers either migrated to JS games or rebuilt their Flash titles in JS.

Rebuilding A Flash Game With JS

Rebuilding an old Flash slot or blackjack game using JavaScript is a challenge that some developers have undertaken. But, how is it done?

Let’s consider a slot machine. The device includes a spinning mechanism (three or five reels), a symbol randomizer (or random number generator), a payline checker, and animations or visual feedback. Flash developers used timeline animations and ActionScript to create these games. The same logic can be achieved in JS with arrays, match functions, and HTML5 canvas rendering.

For blackjack, deck handling can be done by using an array of card objects with suits and values, and a shuffling algorithm. Gameplay can be implemented by writing turn-based logic for the player and dealer, along with conditions for busts, blackjack, or a standoff. Simple buttons can be used, and cards can be drawn as text or basic shapes.

Adapting To js13k Constraints

Developers who miss the nostalgia of retro casino games can challenge themselves with js13kGames. The premise of the challenge is straightforward. They must build a browser game in JS, HTML, and CSS that fits in a zipped package under 13 kilobytes. The js13kGames competition runs between August 13 and September 13, and each year has a different theme.

This size constraint forces developers to think creatively and rebuild a game in a way that takes away all the fluff but retains the core mechanics.

Below are some tips to stay within the 13 kb limit:

• Avoid any external libraries and instead rely entirely on vanilla JS.
• Draw symbols and cards on Canvas using code.
• Compress the final build to the appropriate size.
• Avoid using sound or use JS-based audio synthesis.
• Avoid nested object structures.

These js13k games may be basic in their look, but they offer pure gameplay that is rare to find in today’s gaming industry, mimicking the simplicity of old-school casino games.

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