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Web Development

Online Game Runs Without JavaScript, But It's Not Practical

Exploring a fully functional online game without relying on JavaScript

From Hacker News Original Article Hacker News Discussion

A developer built an online multiplayer board game website that works fully without JavaScript, using progressive enhancement to keep full functionality for JavaScript users. The site relies on server-side rendering, HTML elements like

and , URL parameters, and meta-refresh for updates.

Why it matters: Demonstrates a rare, practical example of a complex web app functioning without JavaScript, highlighting progressive enhancement benefits.

The stakes: Maintaining no-JavaScript support increases server load, code complexity, and slows feature development significantly.

The big picture: While JavaScript is nearly universal, this approach improves resilience and semantic HTML but is impractical for most real-world projects.

Commenters say: Readers note that JavaScript remains essential for modern sites, praise the experiment's educational value, but question the no-JavaScript audience size and scalability.