Agar.io

Agar.io is a massively multiplayer online game created by Brazilian developer Matheus Valadares and published by Miniclip. Players control one or more circular cells in a map representing a Petri dish. The goal is to gain as much mass as possible by eating cells and player cells smaller than the player's cell while avoiding larger ones which can eat the player's cells. Each player starts with one cell, but players can split a cell into two once it reaches a sufficient mass, allowing them to control multiple cells. The name comes from the substance agar, used to culture bacteria. The game received positive critical reception; critics particularly praised its simplicity, competition, and mechanics, while criticism was directed at its repetitive gameplay. Largely due to word of mouth on social networks, it was a quick success, becoming one of the most popular browser and mobile games in its first year. The mobile version of Agar.io for Android was released on 7 July 2015 and iOS on 8 July 2015 by Miniclip. Agar.io has inspired similar web games called ".io games", including games with a similar objective but different characters, and games that incorporate elements of other genres like shooter games.