Explore
Forests, coasts, deserts and mountains form one connected map. Rumour has it there are secrets worth finding.
Free browser sandbox · open beta
Asciilands A whole world, drawn in text.
Play Asciilands free in your browser — a towny multiplayer sandbox built entirely from ASCII characters. Explore one persistent world, gather and craft, build a home, and leave something for other players to find.
- Free to play
- No download
- Desktop browsers
- One shared world
Play now
Play Asciilands in your browser
The full game runs right here inside this page — the same world, servers and saves as the official site. First load fetches about 24 MB of world data; after that it is cached. A desktop browser with WebGL is required.
ASCIILANDS · BROWSER BUILD
Click to load the world
Free · Desktop only · ~24 MB first load
Entering the world…
First load is ~24 MB. The gate may show a queue when the realm is busy.
Asciilands is desktop-only for now
The game needs a desktop or laptop browser with a keyboard and mouse. Open asciilands.io/play on a computer to play, or keep reading for the full Asciilands guide.
Game © Qaz / Asciilands. Official website · Discord. This page is an unofficial fan companion; the game itself is served by asciilands.io.
The game
What is Asciilands?
Quick answer
Asciilands is a free-to-play, browser-based ASCII multiplayer sandbox developed by Qaz.
You share one persistent world with every other player: gather resources, craft tools, build towns, farm,
fight wildlife and trade. It was previously known as Browserlands.
One shared world, drawn entirely in text
Every tree, coastline, animal and item in Asciilands is a character on screen. The result looks like a living terminal — but underneath it is a full 3D first-person sandbox with terrain, lighting and weather, rendered in ASCII glyphs.
The world is persistent and shared. What you build stays for other players to find, and busy starting regions push new arrivals into nearby forests and plains. You can play alone, but Asciilands is at its best when you team up: towns, market stalls, shared storage and town upkeep are all built around other people.
Is Asciilands the same as Browserlands?
Yes. Browserlands was the earlier name of the project; the game is now called Asciilands. The old browserlands.io domain redirects to the official asciilands.io website. The game is developed by Qaz, and its ASCII rendering technology is derived from the MIT-licensed Asciicker project.
About this site
asciilands.online is an unofficial fan companion for the game. It exists to help new players find Asciilands, understand how it works and jump straight into the browser build. The game in the embed above is served by the official asciilands.io site — this page does not host or modify it.
World & mechanics
What you can do in Asciilands
Asciilands mixes survival, crafting, town building and light magic in one connected ASCII world.
Gather
Chop trees, mine ore, fish the shallows and harvest rare plants. Each region hides its own materials.
Craft & forge
Work up from stone and copper to bronze and steel, then hammer custom gear at a forge and anvil.
Build
Start with a campfire, add a foundation, walls and a roof — then grow a house into a town, or a town into a nation.
Farm & cook
Plant and tend crops, cook pies and tarts at a campfire, and keep your hunger and stamina in check.
Fight & cast
Craft bows, hunt wildlife, defend your land — and inscribe arcane glyphs to cast ASCII spells with mana.
Getting started
How to play Asciilands online
Asciilands has no launcher and no download. You can be in the world in under a minute — here is the shortest path from this page to your first campfire.
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Open it on a desktop browser
Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a desktop or laptop with WebGL enabled. Mobile and tablet browsers are not supported yet.
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Load the game and create a character
Press Play Asciilands above, then pick a name and appearance. Guest characters save locally; signing in with Discord keeps progress across devices and unlocks friends and towns.
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Pick a realm and start your first goals
Choose the Europe or North America realm, arrive in the shared world and follow the tutorial: gather wood, stone and fibre, craft your first tools and build a campfire.
Servers
Choose your Asciilands realm
Asciilands runs two regional realms, each with its own world and its own saves. Pick one before you load the game, or switch realms later from the title screen.
Realm · Europe
Europe (EU)
The default realm and the busiest of the two. A long-running shared world with established towns, markets and player history.
Realm · North America
North America (NA)
A second, newer realm with its own frontier. Often the easier place to start when Europe is busy or full.
Survival notes
Beginner tips for Asciilands
A few habits that make the first hours much less painful.
- Follow the journal. The first goals tutorialise tools, stations and food in the right order — they are the fastest route out of the stone age.
- Build a campfire early. It cooks food, sets your respawn point and lets you rest to recover stamina.
- Watch stamina and hunger. Sprinting, gathering and fighting all drain stamina; eating cooked food keeps it recovering.
- Keep a chest behind a door. Storage keeps your good tools safe — and claimed town land protects players from combat.
- Don't haul loot into the wild. Death costs you what you carry; leave valuables at home before exploring far.
- Try the other realm. If Europe shows a queue, North America usually has room — the worlds and saves are separate.
Questions
Asciilands FAQ
Everything new players ask before their first log-in.
What is Asciilands?
Asciilands is a free-to-play, browser-based ASCII multiplayer sandbox developed by Qaz. Every tree, coastline and item is drawn with text characters, but underneath it is a full 3D first-person sandbox. Players share one persistent world where they gather resources, craft tools, build towns, farm, fight and trade.
Is Asciilands free to play?
Yes. Asciilands is free to play during its open beta, with optional donations for players who want to support server costs. There is no purchase required to play.
Do I need a Discord account to play Asciilands?
No — you can create a guest character and play without an account. Signing in with Discord keeps your progress across devices and enables social features such as friends, parties and towns.
Can I play Asciilands on mobile or tablet?
Not yet. Asciilands currently supports desktop and laptop browsers only; mobile is listed as a future goal. On a phone the game will show a "desktop only" message, so open it on a computer.
How do I play Asciilands online?
Press Play Asciilands on this page to load the official game inside the page, or visit asciilands.io. Create a character, choose a realm and click the world to start playing.
Does Asciilands need to be downloaded or installed?
No. Asciilands runs entirely in the browser. The first load fetches roughly 24 MB of game data, which is then cached by the browser; later visits start much faster.
Is Asciilands multiplayer?
Yes. Asciilands is a towny multiplayer sandbox: everyone shares the same persistent world. You can play solo, but towns, market stalls, shared storage and town upkeep are built around playing with others.
What is the difference between Asciilands and Browserlands?
They are the same game. Browserlands was the project's earlier name; it was renamed to Asciilands. The old browserlands.io domain now redirects to the official asciilands.io website.
Is asciilands.online the official website?
No. This site is an unofficial fan companion. The official game website is asciilands.io. The playable frame on this page loads the official game directly, so your world and saves are the same ones.