What is a PBBG? A plain guide to persistent browser games
PBBG stands for persistent browser-based game: a game that runs in a web page, where the world is saved on a server and keeps going while you are away. My Criminal Life is one, and its timers make a good example.
Sign-ups are open.
The short answer
Take the three words one at a time. Browser-based means the game lives in a web page. You open it on a phone, a tablet or a computer, there is nothing to install, and there is no app store in the way. Persistent means there is one world, and it is saved on a server. It does not pause when you close the tab, and it is not rebuilt each time you play. Game is the plain part: you have a character, a goal and a score.
The label is shorthand used by the people who play and build these games, and many of them are small projects run by one person or a few. My Criminal Life is one. An earlier version ran in the early 2010s, and its owner, Marc Cocco, is rebuilding it under The Cocco Group.
How these games usually work
Actions cost a bar. Nearly everything you do spends something that runs out: a crime costs brave, a gym rep costs energy. Then you wait. The bars refill on a timer, and that single idea shapes the whole game. It gives a short visit a clear shape, and it keeps a player with ten spare minutes a day in the same race as a player with three hours.
Nobody has to be there at the same time. Play is asynchronous. You act, the game works out what happened, and other people read the result when they next sign in. Your own clocks keep running in the meantime: a job pays, a course ticks down, a bill comes due.
Everyone shares the world. Because it is persistent, what another player does is still true when you arrive. They can attack you, finish off a boss before you get your swings in, or sit one spot above you on the ladder. That is what separates a PBBG from a single-player game you happen to open in a browser.
What ticks in My Criminal Life
All of these keep running while you are signed out.
| What | When it happens |
|---|---|
| Energy | Comes back 4 points every five minutes, up to your maximum. It pays for the gym and for fights. |
| Brave | Refills a little every five minutes. It pays for crimes. |
| Your job | Pays once a day at 5:00 PM New York time. |
| A school course | Loses a day every night, and its stats land on your character when it is done. |
| Your home | The bill comes every night. |
| The Criminal Times | The city’s newspaper prints new stories every day. |
| A Most Wanted boss | Sits on a stash that grows over time, until players take it down. |
| A pile at the City Dump | Fills back up with time after it has been picked over. |
What a PBBG is not
It is not a game you download, and it is not real time, so quick reflexes do not help. It is also not an idle game that plays itself. Your choices matter: whether to spend brave on a crime now or hold it, whether to train or save energy for a fight, whether a better home is worth the nightly bill.
And it does not have to be pay to win. In this one, every part of the game is open to players who never spend anything, and the Rules apply to paying players exactly as they apply to everyone else.
Is it for you?
It suits you if you like to plan, check in a few times a day and watch a number you care about climb. It does not suit you if you want to be in the action live. If you are curious how it feels, the browser crime game page walks through a first hour, and the text-based page is honest about what a turn looks like.
Quick answers
What does PBBG stand for?
Persistent browser-based game. “Browser-based” means you play it in a web page with nothing to install. “Persistent” means the world is saved on a server and keeps going whether or not you are signed in.
Is a PBBG the same as an MMORPG?
Not quite. A PBBG is defined by where and how it runs: in a browser, in a world that persists. An MMORPG is defined by being a massively multiplayer role-playing game, usually one you download. Many PBBGs share traits with them, such as levels, stats and other players, and My Criminal Life is one of those.
Do I need to be online all the time?
No. That is the point of the format. Your bars refill, your jobs pay and your courses tick down while you are logged out. Come back when you like.
Is My Criminal Life a PBBG?
Yes. It runs in your browser, the city is saved and keeps moving, and almost everything you do spends a bar that refills on a timer.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The pages fit a phone screen, and it works in a current browser on a phone, a tablet or a computer. There is no app to install.
More answers are in the full FAQ.
More about the game
Browser crime game
What a crime game that runs in a web page is, and what your first hour in this one looks like.
Free crime MMORPG
A shared city, a level and a rank ladder, gangs and fights. What is free, and what the label does and doesn’t cover.
How to play
Your first day in Noob City: the bars, crimes, the gym, jobs, jail and levelling up.
The city map
Noob City's seven districts, what is in each, and how to get around.
The front page
What the game is, in one screen, and how to start.
About the game
The city, the ranks and the people who run it.
Ready to try it?
Make an account with your email. It’s free, it works on your phone, and you have to be 18 or older.
Sign-ups are open.