Dublonsio, the newest in a trend of addicting .io games, features a fun pirate-themed slant to the work-your-way-to-the-top multiplayer format.

If you've never played a game of this genre before, the goal is simple: become the biggest and baddest. Simply type Dublonsio into your browser and you can find yourself ready to launch the game in a matter of seconds. The game begins with a small pirate ship that remains centered on your screen for the duration of that ship's life. Wherever you point your mouse on the screen, the ship follows. Scattered throughout the square playing arena are bronze, silver, and gold coins, which your ship can pick up by simply following a path that goes over the coin. Once added to your coin total, you can spend your booty on ship upgrades: hull strength, styles of cannon, ship speed, and so on.

You may immediately begin whizzing around the map, collecting coins and upgrading your ship. All may seem breezy and beautiful in the online pirate world, but unfortunately you will quickly encounter other players who have bigger, scarier, more upgraded ships. If another player's ship manages to kill your own, you must start the process from the very beginning: a lowly un-upgraded pirate ship.

These ship upgrades make from great repeat-Dublons play. In normal .io games, the mechanic is simple, the goal is simple, and the path forward is simple. Become big, avoid bigger players, don't die. In Dublons, the strategies vary greatly. Fast ship, high maneuverability, low cannon damage? Completely viable. Heavy armor, multiple cannons, low speed? Also completely viable. Death presents itself as an opportunity for a different strategy, and that makes Dublons a highly successful game.

Dublons perhaps suffers from a slight balance problem, in that the low-level ships don't seem to have intrinsic benefits for starting players. But this balance quickly disappears after a few rounds of upgrades occur, and the ability to adapt one's strategy to the players in your particular game makes for a highly variable game experience.

The last great thing about Dublons? No installation, no cost. We love free, especially at this quality. Check out dublons.io to play a quick round during your next break.

More io games: Agar.io, Slither.io, Wormax.io