More than just a doughnut (or donut, if you despise the 'gh' letter combination), the cruller is a symbol of mankind's struggle to evolve. Often topped with sugar or icing, crullers represent the twisted yet delicious journey that life as an upright mammal can be. We have to pay taxes, we have to stand in line at the DMV, sometimes we even have to watch American Idol. But at the end of the day, nothing says "good job existing" like a delicious cruller in hand (enjoyed responsibly, of course... we must maintain our trim figures). I would like to thank the Dutch for the word "kruller" and possibly even inventing doughnuts in the first place. I would also like to thank the following games in this Weekend Download installment for being just as delicious.

Lyle in Cube Sector (Windows, freeware, 1.14MB) - Ok, so it's not exactly a new game, but it's certainly one you don't want to miss. Lyle in Cube Sector is a remarkably open-ended adventure/platformer that, yes, resembles Metroid and Cave Story to some degree. What can I say, I'm a fan of the exploration games. Travel through the "wonked out lands of the Cubesector" finding power-ups that give you new abilities that allow you to explore even more. Not nearly as difficult as La-Mulana, but there's enough challenge and intrigue to keep you wanting more.

Ancient Empires Lux (Windows, Mac, Linux, demo) - Just like American History Lux, Ancient Empires Lux is essentially a glorified, historically-themed version of Risk. Move your armies across your territory to fortify weak areas and attack your opponent. The more land you control, the more armies you get, and the more powerful you become. With the ancient empires theme the game has a much more epic feel than the other installments in the Lux series. The interface is also a bit more polished than its predecessors. Too bad you can't play the Rome scenario right off the bat.

A Mini Falafel Adventure (Windows, freeware, 737KB) - That's right, delicious chickpea goodness is now in game form! An entry by LowFlyingCow in the Retro Remake's 4 Color Competition, A Mini Falafel Adventure is a platforming adventure that smells like a delicious combination of Knytt and Super Mario Bros. It's a surprisingly magnificent game with well-balanced level design and simple yet creative gameplay. Be sure to check out the other entries, they all have a little bit of awesomeness to show off.

Acidbomb 2: Rearmed (Windows, demo, 11.9MB) - Disarming bombs is cool when it's on TV, in the movies, or in a video game. Fortunately Acidbomb 2 happens to be one of those (I'll let you guess which). Created by Vertigo Games, the object is to diffuse each puzzle (which is a bomb) by detecting which tiles are pistons and which are safe. The game plays a lot like picross where you must use clues to narrow down possibilities. A wonderfully cerebral experience that really turns up the heat when the time starts ticking down. It's a bit complex at first, so make good use of the tutorial and you'll be diffusing in no time. The download is actually just a demo for the yet-to-be-completed full version, so in the meantime, satiate yourself with the first Acidbomb.

Mezzo: Winter Edition (All platforms for online version, Windows for download, 3.8MB) - A cute and strangely engaging little puzzle game by ActionHead Studios. A 5x5 grid of squares sits in the middle of the screen. Your goal is to swap squares so the snowflakes are in a row/column facing each other with only one color in-between. If there's an odd number of cubes between them, an additional snowflake block is created. It works quite smoothly in practice and is a bit different than most puzzle games out there. Extremely enjoyable and challenging in later levels. The online version is surprisingly robust, the downloadable versions have even more content, plus there are penguins. Penguins that you can rescue and play with! Submitted by Dale