Clack is a unique and original puzzle game created by Sean from California, USA.

At first glance the game appears to be a layout from a schematic diagram, which might easily scare you away if you're the non-technical type. And it will likely have you scratching your head wondering just what to do with it even if you are an electrical engineer. However, those adventurous souls that persevere, by poking around the surface to learn what is hiding underneath, will be nicely rewarded by what they find.

Stop! If you have not yet played Clack, do yourself a favor and stop right here. Go discover it for yourself first, and then come back and read the rest of the review. You'll be glad you did. =)

Contrary to its first impression appearance, Clack is a simple game of chain reactions, similar to a domino effect or a rudimentary Rube Goldberg machine made up of only similar parts. I'm not quite sure how to describe it best since it is a marvelously unusual design.

Mousing over the surface of the play field reveals small circular 'orbits' within which each of the mallets will rotate (when the game is put into motion.) Clicking on a mallet will change its length as well as its resulting orbit. Mallets that share a common axis with other mallets move as a unit, and yet their length may be changed independently.

The ultimate objective is to set each of the mallets in the correct starting position such that, when the 'start' button is pressed, all 20 targets will be visited.

To start the game in motion, press the orange triangle found in the lower left corner of the play field; the stop button is the orange square. You may only change the settings of the puzzle when the game is stopped.

Analysis: As I mentioned above, the first time I launched Clack I was deeply puzzled. There was certainly nothing obvious about it. And yet after a bit of poking and prodding I managed to make a few clacking noises, ...and a beep(!) I was instantly hooked. From there the game pulled me in and wouldn't let go until I had lit up all 20 targets.

This engaging and compelling puzzle game fits perfectly with what I had in mind for this competition. It was the kind of puzzle where you are given no instructions and have no idea what to do at first. And even after you do figure out what is required of you, there still remains the mystery of how.

Besides being truly delightful to discover its behavior and intricacies, the game is beautiful and it looks like a work of art to me. So unassuming, plain and simple on the surface, and then so intricately detailed once you examine it up close. Absolutely wonderful, from start to finish, and brilliant. Click (Clack).

Congratulations, Sean on an excellent, creative and original puzzle game. I do hope that you plan to expand this design into a larger, multi-level game (with a level editor, too!) =D

John: Clack combines several key elements of captivating casual game design: a simple, attractive layout, easy to understand gameplay, and an absolutely riveting concept. From your first glance at the game your mind is hungry to understand what's going on. Once you figure it out, it's a joy to uncover the solution, yet that's only the beginning of the fun. My personal favorite aspect of the game is the great 'clack' noise the paddles make when they collide. It's the little things that count! A big congratulations to Sean for creating a fantastic game.

dancemonkey: My favorite thing about Clack is how little information you're given about the puzzle itself. You're just dropped into a strange interface and must discover for yourself not just the puzzle's rules, but even the object of the puzzle itself. The design is elegant and simple, and I agree with John about the sound: the game's titular sound is essential to drawing you in and keeping you hooked.

Noah: Maybe Clack should have been called Click; the split second when the initially confusing interface clicks in your mind is very satisfying. The deceptively simple concept reveals an increasingly complex and mesmerizing series of interactions through lovely animation and striking color. Congratulations Sean!

Clack walkthrough now available!

Judging this competition has truly been a bittersweet experience for all of us here at JIG Casual Gameplay. Sweet because we have been graced with so many wonderfully creative and original puzzle games to play. Every last one of them deserves the usual treatment we like to give around here, so look forward to seeing each game highlighted and reviewed in the days and weeks ahead. That these amazing interactive experiences have been created in Flash for immediate delivery anywhere in the world through the window of a browser is remarkable. The calibre of games submitted is a testament to the achievements that become possible with an accessible and easy to use development platform, as well as to the near ubiquitous penetration of the Flash Player itself.

But having to narrow this playing field to just three (3) winning entries is an unenviable position to be in. The competition was very close. Sometimes too close to call and another scan through each game was required to validate or reevaluate the scores that were tallied. Four (4) reviewers total—John, Drew, Noah and myself—scored each game in detail according to a set of rubrics established for the theme of this competition. And the summary of that data lead directly to these three choices:

• First Place: Clack
• Runners up: Thief and Cyberpunk
• Honorable mention: Gateway

Congratulations to all of the winners, and to everyone that submitted an entry. A warm and gracious thanks for helping to make this first ever Casual Gameplay design competition such a memorable one and a success.

Please show your support for all of these talented game designers by casting your votes, and dollars, towards the Audience Prize, to be announced when voting ends early Saturday morning, September 2, 2006. Please refer to the Audience Prize page for links to vote for each of the games.

Thanks also go out to Adobe for generously providing the Flash 8 licenses for the competition, and to Graeme for helping to procure a black Nintendo DS.

Prizes will be awarded as follows: The author of the first prize winning entry may choose either a Flash 8 Professional license or the black Nintendo DS. The remaining prizes will be offered to the authors of the runners up entries, using a drawing, if necessary, to settle a tie.

As you may have already guessed, scoring this competition is proving very difficult due to the quantity of quality titles submitted. Although I had hoped to have winners announced on Monday, we are taking an extra day (or two) to make sure that all entries into the competition have been thoroughly played, examined and scored fairly.

When we announced the competition earlier this month, we promised that there were additional prizes to be announced, and we were not kidding. In addition to the two (2) Flash 8 Professional licenses and the black Nintendo DS up for grabs, everyone who entered the competition will be receiving an exclusive, limited-edition JIG Casual Gameplay Competition T-Shirt! =)

But wait, that's not all.

Today we are proud to announce the Audience Prize, to be awarded to the game designer of the competition entry that receives the most votes from the JIG community.

This award will be a cash prize of at least $201.15 USD(!)

I say "at least" because we want to give everyone the opportunity to contribute to the prize, if you so choose, by donating $1.00 USD when making your vote. (Sorry, only those making a donation will be allowed to vote. Offer void where prohibited.)

No one is obligated to vote, and all we are asking for is a single dollar from each of you. All proceeds* will go directly into the Audience Prize money that I am personally starting off at $100. Of course you may donate more than a dollar when you vote, though your vote will still count as only one (1) no matter how much you contribute. We will be monitoring the incoming donations to keep this blog entry updated with the current total for a full disclosure. (*Your donation less any fees PayPal deducts prior to our receiving it. PayPal takes $0.33 cents on a one-dollar donation.) Deadline to vote is this Friday, September 1, 2006 at 11:59 PM (GMT-4:00).

To vote, simply use the PayPal ("Vote") link next to the game icon you wish to vote for. Thank you kindly for your patience, and for your anticipated contributions of support for this very talented group of Flash game developers. =)

Update (09/02/06 12:00 AM): Voting had ended! And the winner is...

• Audience Prize: Gateway

Anders Gustafsson will receive $201.15!! Congratulations, Anders! And cheers to everyone that voted! =)

(Looking for the competition entries that used to be here? They have been moved to the Game Design Competition #1 announcement page for easy access via the Favorites feature.)

The next batch of entries submitted to our competition are now up and available to play! Click.

Thank you kindly for leaving your comments and constructive criticisms for each of the puzzles. As before, please leave your comments on this entry to only the 13 entries in this batch. I'll list them here to make it easier for you...

• "Quadra Pair 42" ...by JR
• "Liquid Colors" ...by DDams
• "Keys" ...by Rob Allen
• "Thief" ...by Phillip Reagan
• "Cyberpunk" ...by Rey Gazu
• "Instruments" ...by Elizabeth Reynolds
• "Clack" ...by Sean
• "Gateway" ...by Anders Gustafsson
• "Wired" ...by Vlad Kvitnevski
• "Colour Connect" ...by Matthew Dirks
• "Houses" ...by Sean
• "Weight" ...by Sean
• "Personal Universe" ...by Damir

And that concludes the entries for this competition. =)

The first batch of eight (8) entries submitted to the competition are now up and available to play! Click.

Here is a listing of what puzzles are included in this batch:

• "Puzzle 1" ...by Tonypa
• "Puzzle 2" ...by Tonypa
• "Sigil of Binding" ...by John-Paul Walton
• "Submachine Zero" ...by Mateusz Skutnik
• "Gear Puzzle" by David Durham
• "Free the Bird" ...by Bart Bonte
• "The Alchemist’s Apprentice" ...by Lars A. Doucet
• "Jewel Drop" ...by Nick Redmond

I think I have all the bugs worked out of the UI. I've rushed to get this up, though, so please be kind with your bug reports. =)

It will be a while yet before any results are announced. There are quite a few to get through, and we want to be sure that each and every puzzle is thoroughly examined. I will be watching the comments to see what people think of each of them, and possibly taking that into consideration.

Please leave your comments for these 8 only here. Thank you!

Our first ever game design competition deadline is upon us, just a little less than 12 hours away, and already I am inundated with unbelievably good, fantastic puzzle designs to sort through and choose from. Picking the best of them will certainly not be easy. I am working feverishly hard to make sure that you are able to play each and every one of the finalists, and depending upon the quantity of any last minute submissions received, I will (hopefully) have something up and playable for you over the weekend. So be sure to check back if you are as excited as I am about it! =D

Liquid Webtoy is a Java-based (Processing, to be exact) application very similar to the World of Sand games we're all so fond of. Rather than playing with solid elements, however, this game is focused on two things: liquid and color. Fill the screen with water, slosh it around with your mouse and add different shades to the mix. It can be as relaxing or chaotic as you like and is a great time-waster.

Your cursor acts like a small bubble of air that will move through the water and push it around. You also have over half a dozen different elements to play around with, all of which use the physical properties of water to achieve different effects:

• Water - As simple as it comes, spray water on the screen and watch it slosh around.
• Paint - Mix your own color and meld it with the on-screen liquid.
• Cloud - Gloopy clouds float to the top of the screen and fall when they get too dense.
• Magma - The mostly-stationary magma turns water to steam (which acts like Cloud) when it comes in contact. Use it to create some interesting feedback loops.
• Wall - Create sections to perform different water experiments on.
• Bomb - Need I say more?
• Duck - Rubber ducky, you're the one. Floats on top of the water and resists even the hottest magma (try that in your bathtub!)
• BH (Black Hole) - Suck up all the matter surrounding your cursor. Way too fun.

Analysis: Webtoys really don't have a purpose, they're just fun to play around with. This one is no different and incorporates some visually fetching color mixing elements that make it interesting. If you're looking for accurate physics and intricate interactions with the elements, Liquid Webtoy won't satisfy your hunger. But it will give you a soothing visual playground where you can spin your thoughts, paint them different colors, then suck everything up with a Black Hole.

Play.

Mark Arenz has been designing games over at Ridiculopathy for years now and he has amassed an impressive selection with creative and original gameplay. He has recently released a sequel of sorts to a unique game concept he created about a year ago, and this one succeeds in improving the idea and taking it to the next level.

Swinger 2: Rock & Roll Apocalypse is an action game of skill that offers a delightful and gratifying game play experience. It begins with a humorous and frivolous introduction sequence that sets the tone and mood for a ridiculous galactic adventure.

Use the arrow keys to swing the... um, er, thing around each of the nodes to turn them all grey; the [right] arrow swings clockwise, [left] counter-clockwise. Press [space] to jump. You can also press [ctrl] to skip nodes or pick-ups, and to control movement when jumping in combination with the arrow keys.

Some nodes will require multiple visits and their color indicates that. For example, blue nodes turn grey when visited, green turn blue, red to green, and so forth. Visit all nodes on each level to activate the exit, which appears like a small target somewhere in the level.

Overall, loads of humor, loads of fun, and highly recommended. Click.

Be sure to read what we had to say about other Ridiculopathy games: Happy Flower Music Time, Legend of the Pointy Stick, Carnyville, and the original Swinger.

You know that dream, the one where you're walking down the streets of London listening to the frantic sounds of Gogol Bordello, when homicidal cartoons start spilling out of the scenery?

Me neither, but thanks to Toon Crisis I know how to handle myself in just such a situation. Just make a gun with your thumb and forefinger and start blasting the little baddies!

From Killer Viral comes this excellent rail shooter, an advergame for the Sony mp3 Walkman Flash—but don't let that turn you off. Each shooting stage is wonderfully integrated with video footage of London streets, with the above mentioned Gogol Bordello providing suitably manic background music. The enemy cartoons in question are also well integrated with the background scenery, moving behind and over background objects and in and out of doors and windows as they try to take you out.

The requisite elements for a great shooter are all here: good enemy variety, weapon power-ups, and a powerful boss at the end of each stage. The game was easy and fast; I managed to finish it in my first sitting, probably within 15 minutes or so, but there is a continue option built-in if you just can't hack it. You even get a downloadable prize for finishing.

I played the game on a P4 2.4 GHz desktop system with 512 MB of RAM, and a Mobile P4 1.6 GHz laptop with 256 MB of RAM. The game ran as smooth as silk on the desktop system with the exception of some very minor frame rate issues at the final boss battle. The game had minor frame rate issues from time to time on the laptop, though nothing that really affected gameplay. Your mileage may vary, so happy shooting.

Enjoy Toon Crisis. Special thanks to Chris, Jared and Mark for the submission.

Skatefall is John Freeborn's tribute to one of the earliest platformers, the Atari 2600's Pitfall! With a bodacious new skateboard, online scoreboard, bonus items and powerups, 2D platforming has a new name: Skatefall Harry.

Tap the [right] or [left] arrow to move in either direction, and keep pressing the button to gain and keep up your speed. Press the [spacebar] to jump.

As a homage, Skatefall is extremely effective and faithful; the graphics and sound are perfect and the difficulty, while formidable, is appropriate. To be honest, I haven't been able to make it to very many of its 255 levels yet, so I can't say if vines and alligators make an appearance, but here's hoping they do. Enjoy!

Cheers to Drew and Andrew for suggesting this one! =)

I have a very simple little game for you today, and it's a Java applet from Japan. Three Degrees is a variation on the classic 'click groups' puzzle game, Same Game.

The game is played by clicking on groups of the same color to eliminate them from play. Of course, the larger the group the more points awarded. But doing so also clears valuable space to fit more blocks, a new batch of which will fall into play with about every fourth click. Only by clearing very large groups (16+ blocks) can you earn a free click.

There is no "beating" this game that I could tell, the game ends when the play field fills up completely with blocks. There is a nice indicator on the bottom center of the game window that will always tell you how many blocks are in the color group under the mouse cursor. Use it to find the largest of groups available. Three Degrees is a very simple game to pick-up and play, a nice variation on a classic, and one that you will likely find yourself playing again and again. Click.

Virtual Villagers is a downloadable real-time simulation game for Windows (for Mac version, see below) developed by Last Day of Work, the creators of Fish Tycoon and a number of other casual sim games. Take charge of a village of crash survivors and help them carve out a living on a jungle island. Teach them to farm, help them research scientific advancements and expand their population. It's a remarkably addictive game that's easy to play but impossible to stay away from!

You begin with a small handful of untrained villagers. Teach them to perform various tasks such as farming, building, researching, breeding and healing. An extremely helpful tutorial guides you through the game's basics, but everything operates on a simple drag-and-drop mechanic. Want to train a scientist? Drop a villager on the research table. Need to pick berries for food? Drag someone over the berry bush. Villagers may not take to a task immediately, so sometimes you'll have to be persistent.

Once you get everything started, it's time to leave your people alone. Virtual Villagers plays out in real-time so even when the game isn't running the villagers are working hard. Each time you play you'll see the fruits of their labor and can give them new directions or just check up on their progress. You can also adjust the speed to anticipate any gaps in your playing time or to get things moving a little more quickly. Virtual Villagers is just as much about waiting as it is playing.

The strategy in Virtual Villagers comes from how many villagers you assign to each task and how you choose to upgrade your abilities. You accumulate Tech points by getting people to do scientific research. Use these points to upgrade your population's building skills, farming abilities, etc. With each new level opens more possibilities of exploration and survival. The trick is managing which abilities get upgraded first and how you use those new skills to better your village.

Your main goal is to build a thriving population, but there are also various mysteries to solve along the way. Some are fairly obvious, such as the large boulder sitting on the north end of the village, but others you must seek to discover. In all there are 16 puzzles waiting to be unearthed. As you accumulate tech points and upgrade your abilities you can explore each new mystery and see what surprises await you.

Analysis: I've had a blast playing Virtual Villagers. It's a great blend of casual gaming and strategy, which, honestly, is a tough balance to strike. Throughout the day I wonder what my villagers are up to. Are they still farming like I taught them? Any new babies in town? It's always great to come home and check up on my new family. It's great to see the little surprises, such as random events or the occasional new discovery.

Each time I fired up Virtual Villagers I only played it for ten or fifteen minutes. Really, that's all that's required. It's no different than playing a game of Solitaire just to pass the time, only now I actually accomplish something in the long run. Enticing players to return is one of the toughest jobs a casual game designer has, and Virtual Villagers does it extremely well.

Like Virtual Villagers? Check out our review of the follow-up Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children. Also be sure to check out Westward, a similar casual simulation game set in the wild old west.

If the game suffers from any drawbacks it's that sometimes there just isn't much to do, especially later in the game. In the beginning you must coddle your village and make sure everyone is working hard to keep the population alive. But as you gain villagers and start farming, it's safe to leave your people alone for days at a time. The occasional random event must be dealt with, but otherwise everything runs smoothly. Of course, if the game required your constant attention it wouldn't be casual, would it?

Virtual Villagers is a great simulation game that doesn't require a lot of time but gives you the satisfaction of an intricate game. You'll have a lot of fun managing your population, teaching them new abilities and exploring the island. You'll know how addicted you are when you wake up in the morning and your first thought is "I wonder how my village is doing?"

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version.

Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Virtual Villagers is available to download from these affiliates:

Cheers to Urizzato and Brieya for suggesting this one! =)

[Jay adds: We are beginning a relationship with a new sponsor that will allow us to make a commission from the games that are purchased through some of our reviews. You are, of course, not obligated to purchase anything. If you are interested in trying the demo or if you later decide to purchase the game, please consider using the links above to do so. This will help us to continue improving the site and to keep advertising to a minimum. We will indicate where we are making a commission so you can make an informed decision about it, and we will continue to review only games that we recommend to play.]

Virtual Villagers walkthrough now available!

Kodama, or Tama for short, is a quirky little ball-toss game that had me quickly hooked, and it wouldn't let me go until I had conquered its final challenge... with extreme prejudice.

The gameplay is simple: you toss a little metal coin into a red or blue scoring area, while avoiding the black areas that will cost you one of your four lives. The screen is divided into two fields: a green field from where you grab the coin and toss, and the little maze-like area that you need to toss the coin into.

The first two levels are so simple that you literally can't fail, but after that the difficulty ramps up. It's usually fairly easy (with a couple devious exceptions) to get the coin into the 100-point red zones, but the 500-point blue zones are arranged to maximize your risk of failure.

I played this game for hours upon hours over a couple of days before finally beating level 20, which is the final level. I was obsessed with completing it from almost the first moment I played.

The graphics are simple to the point of being crude, but that doesn't affect gameplay at all. Games like this live or die on the strength of their physics, and the physics in this game seem spot-on. The coin does pretty much exactly what you expect it to do every time. Once you've played for a while, you'll know if the toss is good or not the moment you release it.

There are only four sound effects in the game: two scoring sounds, a sound for failure (think "You've all overbid!" on The Price is Right), and the soft clink of metal on metal as the coin bounces on the walls. There's a subtle effect here too: the ricochet sound's pitch and volume change based on the speed of the coin... a nice, realistic touch.

My only small frustration with the game is the finite number of chances you get to win. You may find yourself (like me) playing through many times because of stupid mistakes or bad mouse movements. I would have appreciated either a certain number of chances per level, or perhaps even ramping up the difficulty all around and giving you infinite tries to finish.

Enjoy Kodama.

PS: I strongly recommend checking out other games from the same site, which as far as I can tell is simply titled Game (going up several levels to the ultimate root site leads you to Cool & Warm, a Japanese "Game and Design Company"). The games run the gamut from strange to inspired to inscrutable. They're all original, all well-produced, and all fun.

Ray-Hound is a new downloadable game for Windows from Hikoza Ohkubo over at Hikware software. Like his previous game, Warning Forever, Ray-Hound is a simple, well executed shmup with a creative twist that sets it apart from other indie or commercial releases. Of course, also like Warning Forever, Ray-Hound is a tiny download and absolutely free.

Instead of blasting away at the turrets that make up each stage, in Ray-Hound you turn their own attacks against them. Move your ship with the mouse and capture lasers by clicking the left button; any lasers caught in the field that surrounds your ship will begin to orbit and follow you. Release the left mouse button to fling them back at the turrets. You can also perform a boost by moving the mouse rapidly in any direction. Boost into lasers to reflect them off the front of your ship. With a little practice boosting becomes extremely useful, particularly against small groups of turrets. Right click to pause the game and adjust the boost sensitivity, and press F11 to toggle full screen mode.

When the timer in the upper right corner of the screen reaches zero, your game is over. Clearing each stage of turrets (see the bottom left corner to keep track of how many remain) will add to your time, but taking a hit from a laser will subtract 10 seconds.

Ray-Hound's fluid graphics and action are fairly intuitive, although its not until after the first dozen levels that the game really picks up and becomes gloriously hectic. With no audio, no high score ranking and only two of the four main menu options available, it is clear that Ray-Hound is not complete. Still, this early build is rock solid and a great time, particular for jaded old shooter fans dying for something fresh. Enjoy!

Cheers to Lavkian for being on the mark with suggesting this one as the review was being written. =)

An adventure game in the classic sense of the genre, as well as in a more low-tech DHTML implementation, the Mystery of Castle Wildenburg combines original photography of Germany's deep woods with the cartoon drawings of artist Aurèle Mechler, which together produces a unique visual appeal to this engaging and compelling Web-based game by Jörg Jochims.

Make your way through the deep forests on your way south to a very hidden castle that is difficult to find, Castle Wildenburg. The castle is home to a very old and mysterious, valuable treasure: the Lapsit Excillis, a jewel with an amazing power capable of extending the life of whomever possesses it. You are sent by your king to fetch it for him "by hook or by crook!" from its current owner, King Anfortas.

Sporting an easy-to-understand interface that includes clickable buttons for actions, a compass for navigation, an inventory, as well as meters showing food and water status, the game is well-designed and even supports saving and loading games as you play. Move the mouse around each scene to find hidden items and areas that can be acted upon. Click an action button first, and then the item or area desired. To move, simply click on one of the directions of the compass—provided of course you can move in that direction.

Use your old-school adventuring skills to find and examine items, talk with strangers, buy items with Taler (gold), anything you need to find the elusive castle and fetch the prize for your king.

Keep an eye on your hunger and thirst levels, for you will die if they are ignored. Good luck, and long live the king! Click.

Cheers to Jeremie for the link to this great find! =)

Note: This game maintains state using server sessions, which will timeout after a period of inactivity. Therefore make sure you save your game often, especially if you plan to be away from your computer for a while.

Looking for a map to help you find the castle or beyond? Look no further:

• Map 1: Forest and Mountain, or
• Map 2: Castle Wildenburg

Cheers to Kat for the maps! =)

Welcome to Jayisgames' Casual Gameplay, simply the best selection of (mostly) free casual games you will find on the Web today. We have been here reviewing casual games most likely longer than any other site on the Web, since 2003. We could probably claim that we were the world's first site dedicated to reviewing casual games. But I loathe to make such a self-serving statement as that.

And yes, this is a blog. It is a reverse chronological series of entries, and each one carries with it its own discussion. Just click on the entry's title, or the "comments" link at the bottom, to read what other visitors are saying about the game being reviewed.

Now, you might be thinking, "yeah, so what?"

Well, after the last couple of years of explosive growth in traffic and usage to nearly 1.5 million page views per month, quite frankly our usage has leveled off in recent months. Whether this is due to summer holidays and outside activities, school not being in session, or what have you, I'm not sure.

But there is something you can do to help.

Our reputation for highlighting some of the best, innovative, and most unusual casual games available has reached far and wide. In fact, I believe our success in this area is one of the reasons for our growth tapering off. It may not come as a surprise to you, but this site is visited and watched by a great number of other sites that also feature games for you to play. Once we post something here it will often appear on many, many other sites simply because they saw it here and therefore know it must be good.

Unfortunately, that means any exclusivity we have for our hard work finding, testing, and reviewing these games is reduced to mere hours, and then the games are available all over. While this is great news for game developers and it pleases me a great deal to be helpful in getting the word out about their outstanding creative work, I feel that there are a great number of potential visitors that still don't know about us.

So, now you might be thinking, "How can I help?"

I'm glad you asked. =)

• Tell your family and friends about our site.
• Post a link to our site on your website, blog, or favorite forum.
• When we post a review to a new game, add your voice to the discussion by posting some constructive criticism. What did you like? What didn't you like? What improvements would you like to see? Many times the developers themselves visit the review page for their game and your feedback is very valuable to them.
• Use the "digg" and "del.icio.us" links at the bottom of each review to share it with others that use those very popular services.
• Have a favorite game that hasn't been reviewed here? Submit a link to it using the Suggest a game form, a link to which can be found in the menu on every page.
• If you're a game developer that appreciates what we do, please consider giving us advance notice and a link to your game so that we may have the chance to review it first.
• If you are a game developer without a server to host your game on, consider allowing us to host it for you.
• If you are a game designer, enter our game design competitions. In fact, there's one going on now!
• Do you love to write about games as we do? Consider joining our team of reviewers. While this won't help the traffic situation directly, it can help indirectly by allowing us to spend more time with site improvements that may in-turn lead to improved visitor retention.

And most of all, thank you kindly for your visits! =)

Ever watched Flipper and were jealous about all the tricks he could do? Now you, too, can have the skill of a sea-based mammal with Dolphin Olympics. This flash game by Alan Rawkins puts you in the role of a dolphin in an infinite blue ocean. Leap from the water and perform tricks to rack up a high score and build speed for the next jump. It's a surprisingly simple idea that borrows elements from a number of games yet feels fresh each time you play.

The core of Dolphin Olympics is doing tricks to earn a better score and increase your speed. Each time you leap out of the water you can use the arrow keys to perform flips and spins. The more complex your moves and the longer you hold them, the more points you get. The crucial part is sticking your landing. If you slap the water at the wrong angle you'll lose your momentum. Nail it just right and you'll not only get a score bonus but you'll swim faster, too. Faster swimming means higher jumping, higher jumping means more time to show off your mad dolphin-trick skills. Tony Hawk, be jealous.

When you finish a two minute playing session, save your score to a global high score board to see how well you rank. You can also check out stats about your own games, such as how high you jumped, the biggest splash, etc. With a little luck and creative use of dolphin trickery, you might eventually claw your way to the top 20.

Analysis: Dolphin Olympics is a game I've found I keep coming back to play for weeks on end. Its simple, one-handed controls fit the game perfectly and there's no learning curve to bother with. Just fire up the game, do some tricks and call it a day.

Although the driving force behind Dolphin Olympics is getting a better score, I've found the little micro-bonuses urge me to keep playing more than anything. For example, as you perform tricks and leap higher out of the water, you'll catch a glimpse of the sun. Jump farther and you'll surpass the sun and reach a dark, starry sky. Even little touches like sparkles, fireworks and glowing skin gave me the warm fuzzy feeling of having accomplished something. And be sure to play the game at different times of the day for a few pleasant surprises.

Dolphin Olympics is a great pick up and play game that has enormous replay value. I'll be coming back to this one for quite some time. Play Dolphin Olympics.

Now there's a Dolphin Olympics 2!!!

I have been playing Nimian Hunter for the past few days, or at least trying to get some quality time in with this amazing and unusual new game. Created by Robert Kabwe of Montreal, the game makes use of an engine that creates the illusion of 3D in Flash, and it's very, very good.

You play the role of Nimian Hunter on a mission to feed the beast/god/demon/thing that commands you. Just move the mouse in the direction you wish to travel, lasso in hand, and click the mouse to rope the moving creatures that you find near the bright green beacons. Wait for the lock-on indicator to appear for best results.

Once lassoed, your next task is to guide the creature back to the red beacon without losing it. Trees can break the rope and release the creature if they come in-between, so navigate the terrain accordingly.

It's an unusual gameplay mechanic and one that creates a decent sense of immersion with it. Even better is the narrative that unfolds as you play, which makes this game even more compelling.

Nimian Hunter is not necessarily a long game, but it does contain a plot twist and a couple of different endings that will have you playing through at least twice. Click.

Robert has several other games available to play on his Protopop website, and I am certain you will be seeing more of his games appear here in the near future.

Cheers to Imok20 for suggesting this one! =)

A big warm shout-out to the folks over at Indie Superstar, a Web-based indie videocast all about indie games and the studios that create them, including in-person interviews with developers.

Jayisgames is prominently featured in their latest episode, number 4, so be sure to pay them a visit and check it out!

A big Jayisgames Cheers! to Susan Lambe, Mimi Balaji, Dan Brainerd, and Ichiro Lambe at Indie Superstar. =)

The following is a reader-submitted game review by Hassle Free:

This game is Super Mario Brothers from the point of view of Bullet Bill. It is also very fast paced and challenging, especially on the higher levels.

The gameplay is pretty standard for a side-scroller. Use the arrow keys to navigate while trying to hit the breakable blocks, Goombas, and even the occasional Mario or Luigi. The challenge is to avoid the green platforms that you may remember jumping on from the original SMB games.

Analysis: Overall I think this is a pretty good game. Its graphics are reminiscent of Mario, the sound effects are quite good, and it is even fairly challenging. The later levels do get difficult, and you will likely need to memorize the entire level just to get through it. Anyway, like I said it is worth a try. Play Bullet Bill 2.

Jay adds: One of the nice things about this game is that when you die you only go back to the beginning of the current level, and you are given infinite lives with which to complete the game. And while the game comes off a little amateurish in production values, the simple and effective gameplay won me over. Play this one while you can, since Nintendo is generally quite adamant about protecting their intellectual property.

Update: And that was just a demo(!) The real Bullet Bill is out and the links above have been changed to point to the new, enhanced version. If you're still interested in playing the demo, Play Bullet Bill.

Seems like the summer of game design competition announcements, but if you're a game designer/developer, especially one interested in Web games, there are plenty of opportunities available to earn recognition and win fabulous prizes for your efforts.

Not the least of which (that's me trying to say this is pretty big!) is the Independent Games Festival (IGF) held each year at the Game Developers Conference (GDC). The first deadline to submit entries for next year's competition is coming up: September 8th. Among the various categories offered is a Best Web Game prize of $2,500 that is up for grabs.

So head on over to the IGF website and find out what you need to do to enter. Hey, you never know, right?

Cheers to Simon over at Gamasutra for the heads-up about the approaching deadline. =)

As many of you were quick to point out, the previous game, Four Second Fury, has been around a few months—since April of this year, to be precise—and a sequel to that game has just been released, called Four Second Frenzy. While both games feature the same fast-paced action and gameplay, the sequel offers even more mini-games than the original (50 total).

The concept is simple: using only the arrow keys and space bar, follow the on-screen instructions for each mini-game that gets thrown at you ("Avoid!", "Shoot!", "Swat five", etc.) And you have just four (4) seconds to do it in. Make it through 20 mini-games before losing all seven (7) lives to win.

The game will be immediately familiar to anyone that has played Nintendo's Wario Ware series of games, as it borrows the very same frenetic gameplay formula. The result is a game that is almost as enjoyable as Nintendo's commercial offerings, and that's saying quite a lot. This game is a lot of fun!

The larger sequel was made possible by a collaboration of 26 Flash game authors from all over the world. Together they have made Four Second Frenzy an even better game than the original ("Fury") due to the sheer variety of mini-games it offers, and by including three (3) different modes of play: Normal, Endurance, and Sudden Death.

Normal mode is the same as in Fury, except you get seven lives to beat 20 games; Endurance mode gives you ten lives to make it through all 50 mini-games; and Sudden Death challenges you to make it through as many games as you can without losing a single life.

A cheap (it's free!) alternative to commercial games offering similar gameplay, Four Second Frenzy provides all the frenzy you'll need for an enjoyable browser-based game play experience. Click.

If you need help with any of the games, there is a tutorial available that gives hints for each of the mini-games included in the game.

Check out the entire Four Second series of games.

Cheers to Jibioko, Camjam80, RedKlonoa, and Mike for suggesting this one. =)

The following is a reader-submitted game review by Scramble125:

Furious is defined as: "Full of activity; energetic or rapid" (thanks to dictionary.com). This next game will probably make you feel a little like a "furious" five year old with a mouth full of sugar.

From jmtb02, creator of the Ball Revamped series, comes Four Second Fury. Lacking any sort of plot, Four Second Fury launches the player into a series of 20 randomly selected, four-second mini games ranging from simple dodging games to a sort of "Simon says" type games.

The game doesn't try to be anything more than that: just a simple, quick Flash game when you have a few minutes to kill. Don't expect it to last long—you only have five lives with which to fail. And once they are gone, you will have to start a new game. This isn't really a problem, however, as you will quickly master the controls (spacebar and arrow keys) and complete the game with ease. And despite the game's simplicity, it was still able to hold my attention. I can definitely see myself putting off work for yet another Four Second Fury again.

Analysis: My only problem with games like this is that sometimes they are not as fast-paced as they set out to be. However, with Four Second Fury this is not the case. It's perfect for burning off a sugar rush.

Like I said, I loved it. It doesn't really require any more in-depth analysis. Run, catch, dodge, and defeat the final "boss" as he hurls previous mini-games at you (you'll understand when you play it). Relax and enjoy it.

The music certainly adds to the atmosphere of the game (techno anyone?). Although it is almost certainly run on a loop, the game is so fast that you hardly notice. This can hardly be said for other games much like this.

Fast and furious and great for a rainy afternoon, Four Second Fury is sure to entertain you... for about 2 minutes. And that's exactly what it sets out to do. Click.

Check out the entire Four Second series of games.

Cheers also to Talps, Mike, Zengief, and Andrew for suggesting this game. =)

I just finished making a JIG Google Gadget (try saying that three times fast!) using Google's Gadget API. The gadget displays a random selection of game icons on your Google home page, similar to what shows up in the recommended section on every page of this site. So now quick-click casual games are even more accessible and convenient than ever before.

If you would like this gadget added to your Google home page, just click the image to the right, or use this link to Add to Google. =)

Egg Way is another great release from Dofi Blog, creator and popularizer of all the Falling Sand games (Hell of Sand, World of Sand, Sand Sand Sand) and the unique New Rolling Omusubi game. The goal is to guide a freshly liberated egg yolk down to a waiting frying pan. Gravity is not your friend in this game, and if the yolk takes too much punishment you'll have to start over. Using a pen that draws temporary platforms you must guide the delicate yolk to the goal as gently as possible. And then... breakfast time!

The levels in Egg Way quickly become challenging. New objects are introduced, such as rotating platforms, walls, spikes, even balloons. All just happen to be deadly to the yolk and can usually destroy it with a single touch. A good strategy is to focus on drawing near-vertical lines to keep the momentum going without beating the yolk around too much. Gently guide it around any objects with a slow, smooth stroke, then slash new platforms to correct the path as it falls. Keep the egg away from moving objects and don't let it take too many spills, otherwise you'll be drinking your breakfast.

Analysis: I'm glad cooking eggs isn't this challenging. On the other hand, I wish it were this fun. Egg Way is a simple idea that I would love to play with the touch screen on a Nintendo DS. The impermanent nature of the line