<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
is	O
a	O
massively	B-Application
multiplayer	I-Application
online	I-Application
action	B-Application
game	I-Application
created	O
by	O
Brazilian	O
developer	O
Matheus	O
Valadares	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
goal	O
is	O
to	O
gain	O
as	O
much	O
mass	O
as	O
possible	O
by	O
eating	O
agar	B-Application
and	O
cells	O
smaller	O
than	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
cell	O
while	O
avoiding	O
larger	O
ones	O
which	O
can	O
eat	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
cells	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
comes	O
from	O
the	O
substance	O
agar	B-Application
,	O
used	O
to	O
culture	O
bacteria	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Largely	O
due	O
to	O
word	O
of	O
mouth	O
on	O
social	O
networks	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
quick	O
success	O
,	O
becoming	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
popular	O
browser	B-Protocol
and	O
mobile	B-Application
games	I-Application
in	O
its	O
first	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Steam	B-Application
version	O
was	O
announced	O
on	O
3	O
May	O
2015	O
but	O
was	O
never	O
released	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
mobile	O
version	O
of	O
Agar.io	B-Application
for	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
was	O
released	O
on	O
24	O
July	O
2015	O
by	O
Miniclip	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
has	O
inspired	O
similar	O
web	B-Protocol
games	I-Protocol
called	O
"	O
.io	O
games	O
"	O
,	O
including	O
games	O
with	O
a	O
similar	O
objective	O
but	O
different	O
characters	O
,	O
and	O
games	O
that	O
incorporate	O
elements	O
of	O
other	O
genres	O
like	O
shooter	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
objective	O
of	O
Agar.io	B-Application
is	O
to	O
grow	O
a	O
cell	O
on	O
a	O
Petri	O
dish	O
by	O
swallowing	O
both	O
randomly	O
generated	O
pellets	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
agar	B-Application
"	O
,	O
which	O
slightly	O
increases	O
a	O
cell	O
's	O
mass	O
,	O
and	O
smaller	O
cells	O
,	O
without	O
being	O
swallowed	O
by	O
even	O
larger	O
cells	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
browser	B-Protocol
version	O
currently	O
holds	O
five	O
game	O
modes	O
:	O
FFA	O
(	O
Free-For-All	O
)	O
,	O
Battle	O
Royale	O
,	O
Teams	O
,	O
Experimental	O
,	O
and	O
Party	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
announced	O
on	O
4chan	O
on	O
28	O
April	O
2015	O
by	O
Matheus	O
Valadares	O
,	O
a	O
19-year-old	O
Brazilian	O
developer	O
,	O
after	O
completing	O
"	O
voar.io	O
 "	O
,	O
a	O
similar	O
game	O
that	O
involved	O
spaceships	O
orbiting	O
the	O
Earth	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Written	O
in	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
C++	B-Language
,	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
developed	O
in	O
a	O
few	O
days	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
originally	O
did	O
not	O
have	O
a	O
name	O
,	O
and	O
users	O
had	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
Valadares	O
 '	O
IP	B-Protocol
addresses	I-Protocol
in	O
order	O
to	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
name	O
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
suggested	O
by	O
an	O
anonymous	O
user	O
on	O
4chan	O
,	O
as	O
other	O
domain	O
names	O
such	O
as	O
cell.io	O
were	O
already	O
taken	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
week	O
later	O
,	O
Agar.io	B-Application
entered	O
Steam	B-Application
Greenlight	O
with	O
Valadares	O
announcing	O
a	O
future	O
free-to-play	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
for	O
download	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
planned	O
to	O
include	O
features	O
in	O
the	O
Steam	B-Application
version	O
not	O
available	O
in	O
the	O
browser	B-Protocol
version	O
,	O
including	O
additional	O
gamemodes	O
,	O
custom	O
styling	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
account	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
approved	O
for	O
listing	O
on	O
Steam	B-Application
due	O
to	O
community	O
interest	O
;	O
however	O
,	O
the	O
announced	O
game	O
has	O
yet	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
Greenlight	O
program	O
was	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
June	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
24	O
July	O
2015	O
,	O
Miniclip	B-Application
published	O
a	O
mobile	O
version	O
of	O
Agar.io	B-Application
for	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sergio	O
Varanda	O
,	O
head	O
of	O
mobile	O
at	O
Miniclip	B-Application
,	O
explained	O
that	O
the	O
main	O
goal	O
of	O
the	O
mobile	O
version	O
was	O
to	O
"	O
recreate	O
the	O
gaming	O
experience	O
"	O
on	O
mobile	O
,	O
citing	O
the	O
challenges	O
with	O
recreating	O
the	O
game	O
on	O
touchscreen	O
controls	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
released	O
to	O
a	O
positive	O
critical	O
reception	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Engadget	B-Application
described	O
the	O
game	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
good	O
abstraction	O
of	O
the	O
fierce	O
survival-of-the-fittest	O
competition	O
that	O
you	O
sometimes	O
see	O
on	O
the	O
microscopic	O
level.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
it	O
was	O
frequently	O
propagated	O
through	O
social	O
media	O
and	O
broadcast	O
on	O
Twitch	O
and	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
,	O
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
a	O
quick	O
success	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
agar.io	B-Application
website	O
(	O
for	O
the	O
browser	B-Protocol
version	O
)	O
was	O
ranked	O
by	O
Alexa	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
1,000	O
most	O
visited	O
websites	O
and	O
the	O
mobile	O
versions	O
were	O
downloaded	O
more	O
than	O
ten	O
million	O
times	O
during	O
their	O
first	O
week	O
,	O
and	O
113	O
million	O
times	O
as	O
of	O
December	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
2015	O
,	O
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
Google	B-Application
's	O
most	O
searched	O
video	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
Google	B-Application
's	O
second-most	O
searched	O
game	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
in	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2015	O
press	O
release	O
by	O
Miniclip	B-Application
stated	O
that	O
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
listed	O
as	O
the	O
fifth	O
top	O
game	O
on	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
's	O
list	O
of	O
top	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
has	O
inspired	O
similar	O
web	B-Protocol
games	I-Protocol
called	O
"	O
.io	O
games	O
"	O
,	O
including	O
games	O
with	O
a	O
similar	O
objective	O
but	O
different	O
characters	O
,	O
and	O
games	O
that	O
incorporate	O
elements	O
of	O
other	O
genres	O
like	O
shooter	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
has	O
also	O
spawned	O
several	O
clone	O
games	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
mechanics	O
and	O
theme	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Senpa.io	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nebulous.io	O
is	O
a	O
similar	O
game	O
released	O
for	O
mobile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zorb.io	O
has	O
similar	O
mechanics	O
,	O
although	O
it	O
is	O
played	O
in	O
a	O
three-dimensional	O
plane	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
campaigns	O
of	O
the	O
June	O
2015	O
Turkish	O
elections	O
,	O
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
used	O
in	O
Turkey	O
as	O
a	O
medium	O
of	O
political	O
advocacy	O
;	O
many	O
players	O
were	O
naming	O
their	O
cells	O
after	O
Turkish	O
political	O
parties	O
and	O
references	O
,	O
with	O
alliances	O
formed	O
between	O
players	O
with	O
similar	O
political	O
views	O
,	O
battling	O
against	O
other	O
players	O
with	O
opposing	O
views	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
political	O
parties	O
have	O
used	O
Agar.io	B-Application
in	O
campaign	O
posters	O
as	O
a	O
symbol	O
of	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
was	O
featured	O
,	O
including	O
some	O
details	O
of	O
its	O
gameplay	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
presidential	O
campaigning	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
shot	O
of	O
an	O
actual	O
game	O
,	O
in	O
episode	O
48	O
(	O
Chapter	O
48	O
)	O
of	O
Netflix	O
TV-series	O
House	O
of	O
Cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Agar.io	B-Application
is	O
credited	O
with	O
starting	O
the	O
"	O
.io	O
game	O
"	O
genre	O
,	O
featuring	O
games	O
that	O
are	O
generally	O
simple	O
,	O
yet	O
addictive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Slither.io	B-Application
was	O
the	O
second	O
.io	O
game	O
ever	O
released	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
Wings.io,	O
Diep.io,	O
and	O
so	O
on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Today	O
,	O
there	O
are	O
hundreds	O
,	O
if	O
not	O
thousands	O
of	O
.io	O
games	O
in	O
existence	O
.	O
</s>
