Agar.io

Agar.io
Agar.io logo
Publisher(s)	Miniclip (mobile)
Designer(s)	Matheus Valadares[1]
Platform(s)	Browser, Android, iOS
Release date(s)	Browser 28 April 2015[2] Android, iOS 8 July 2015
Genre(s)	Strategy, action
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Agar.io^{[note 1]} is a massively multiplayer action game created by Matheus Valadares. Players control a cell in a map representing a petri dish; the goal is to gain as much mass as possible by swallowing smaller cells without being swallowed by bigger ones. The name Agar.io comes from the substance agar, used to culture bacteria.^[3]

The game was released to positive critical reception. Critics particularly praised its simplicity, competition, and mechanics, while criticism targeted its repetitive gameplay. A downloadable Steam version was announced on 3 May 2015, and the mobile version of Agar.io for iOS and Android was released on 8 July 2015 by Miniclip.

Gameplay

Agar.io gameplay; this shows only a small fraction of an Agar.io map. There are four cells on this screenshot. One of the cells is a drawing of Doge, an Internet meme.

The objective of Agar.io is to grow a cell by swallowing both randomly generated pellets, which slightly increase a cell's mass, and smaller cells without being swallowed by larger cells.^[4] It can be played in a deathmatch (free-for-all) or between teams.^[5] The goal of the game is to obtain the largest cell; players restart when all of their cells are swallowed. Players can change their cell's appearance with predefined words, phrases, symbols or skins.^[6][7] The more mass a cell has, the slower it will move.^[8] Cells gradually lose mass over time.^[9]

Viruses split cells larger than them into many pieces and smaller cells can hide underneath a virus for protection against larger cells. Viruses are normally randomly generated, but players can make new viruses by feeding a virus, i.e. ejecting a small fraction of a player's cell's mass into the virus a few times, causing the virus to split up and hence create another virus.^[10]

Players can split their cell into two, and one of the two evenly divided cells will be flung in the direction of the cursor. This can be used as a ranged attack to swallow other smaller cells, to escape an attack from another cell, or to move more quickly around the map.^[5] Split cells eventually merge back into one cell. Aside from feeding viruses, players can eject (release) a small fraction of their mass to feed other cells, an action commonly recognised as an intention to team with another player. A player can also eject mass to trick enemies into coming closer to the player. Once an enemy cell is close enough, the player can split his/her cell to eat the baited enemy.

Development

Agar.io was first announced on 4chan on 28 April 2015 by Matheus Valadares, a then-19-year-old Brazilian developer. Written in JavaScript and C++, the game was developed in a few days.^[11] Valadares continued updating and adding new features to the game, such as an experience system and an "experimental" gamemode for testing experimental features.^{[note 2][12]} One week later, Agar.io entered Steam Greenlight with Valadares announcing a future free-to-play version of the game for download. He planned to include features in the Steam version not available in the browser version, including additional gamemodes, custom styling, and an account system. It was approved for listing on Steam due to community interest.^[13]

On 8 July 2015, Miniclip published a mobile version of Agar.io for iOS and Android. Sergio Varanda, head of mobile at Miniclip, explained that the main goal of the mobile version was to "recreate the gaming experience" on mobile, citing the challenges with recreating the game on touchscreen controls.^[14]

Reception

Agar.io was released to a positive critical reception. Particular praise was given to the simplicity, competition, and mechanics of the game. Engadget described the game as "a good abstraction of the fierce survival-of-the-fittest competition that you sometimes see on the microscopic level."^[15] Toucharcade praised its simplicity, strategic element, and "personality."^[16]

Criticism was mainly targeted towards its repetitiveness and the controls of the mobile version. Tom Christiansen of Gamezebo was mixed on the game, saying that there was "nothing to hold my attention" and that it was "highly repetitive, overall."^[17] Pocket Gamer, reviewing the mobile version, described its controls as "floaty."^[18]

Because it was frequently propagated through social media and broadcast on Twitch.tv^[8] and YouTube,^[19] Agar.io was a quick success. The agar.io website (for the browser version) was ranked by Alexa as one of the 1,000 most visited websites^[20] and the mobile versions were downloaded more than ten million times during their first week.^[21] During 2015, Agar.io was Google's most searched game.^[22]

Use as a political soapbox

During the campaigns of the June 2015 Turkish elections, Agar.io was used in Turkey as a medium of political advocacy; many players were naming their cells after Turkish political parties and references, with alliances formed between players with similar political views, battling against other players with opposing views.^[23] Some political parties have used Agar.io in campaign posters as a symbol of support.^[6]

Notes

References

External links

• Official website