BrowserQuest is a HTML5/JavaScript multiplayer game experiment.

• Node.js 20.x LTS or later
• Modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge)
• Python 3 (for serving client files) OR Node.js http-server package

npm install

cp server/config_local.json-dist server/config_local.json
# Edit server/config_local.json if needed (default: localhost:8000)

node server/js/main.js

You should see:

{"level":30,"time":...,"msg":"Starting BrowserQuest game server..."}
{"level":30,"time":...,"msg":"Server is listening on port 8000"}

IMPORTANT: The client MUST be served via HTTP (not opened as file://) for WebSocket connections to work.

Option A - Python (simplest):

cd client
python -m http.server 8080

Option B - Node.js http-server:

npm install -g http-server
cd client
http-server -p 8080

Option C - Any HTTP server (nginx, Apache, etc.)

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://localhost:8080

Enter a username and click "Play" to start!

To test multiplayer functionality:

1. Keep the first browser window open with a logged-in player
2. Open a second browser window/tab
3. Navigate to http://localhost:8080
4. Create a second character with a different username
5. Both players should see each other and interact in real-time

Server won't start:

• Verify Node.js 20+ is installed: node --version
• Check that port 8000 is not already in use
• Ensure npm install completed successfully

Client won't connect:

• Ensure the game server is running on port 8000
• Verify the client is served via HTTP (not file://)
• Check browser console (F12) for WebSocket connection errors
• Verify client/config/config_local.json points to correct host/port

Assets not loading:

• Ensure HTTP server is running from the client/ directory
• Check browser console for 404 errors
• Verify file permissions allow reading client files

Additional documentation is located in client and server directories.

Code is licensed under MPL 2.0. Content is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.

Created by Little Workshop:

• Franck Lecollinet - @whatthefranck
• Guillaume Lecollinet - @glecollinet