Replay 2: The Sequel is a turn-based puzzle game entered in our 3rd gameplay design competition from Caleb, R. Emmett, and longhorn54. The game revolves around the replay theme and puts you in control of a JIG logo whose shadow is constantly lagging a few steps behind. As you move across the levels, you must hold switches and avoid obstacles for your shadow (and vice versa) to ensure both make it to the goal. Although it's tagged as a sequel, don't start scouring the Internet for the original game. The code for what was to be Replay was rebuilt from the ground up, earning its status as a "part two".

Use the arrow keys to move the JIGster around and watch for switches, doors and enemies to interact with (or avoid!). Pressing the [spacebar] lets you wait a turn for your shadow to catch up, a crucial move that's a focal point of the game's strategy. Nothing moves unless you press a button, so there's no pressure to race against the clock or have fast reflexes. This puts the heavy lifting on your ability to plan several moves ahead to predict where you, your shadow, and the enemies will be in the future.

Replay 2 is more challenging than it may appear, but with enough planning and trial-and-error you can scramble your way through the levels without too much worry. One of the chief drawbacks in the game is the apparent lag in controls. Press an arrow key to move and it takes the character a fraction of a second to respond. This leads to an almost clunky overall feel that hampers some of the enjoyment (but doesn't ruin the fun). It's also a bit of a frustration to have to restart the level each time you make a mistake.

Repay 2: The Sequel is a unique and challenging puzzle game that requires forethought and patience. An excellent entry from Caleb and team! Play Replay 2: The Sequel.

Jay - Replay 2 is probably one of the more under appreciated titles from our previous competition. The game has a bit of a rustic appearance and the somewhat clunky feel to the controls (as John mentioned) may be enough to turn off the more casual gamers out there. But those who appreciate the intellectual challenge of puzzle games like Deadly Rooms of Death (DRoD) will find there is a deep and rewarding experience offered within. With the help of a seasoned Flash graphics artist and a revisit to the underlying engine that handles the controls, Replay 3 has the potential to really turn heads. Keep up the great work you're doing, Caleb and team, and cheers for a great puzzle game entry! =)

Combine charming graphics and addictive gameplay with daredveil stunt-diving, and what do you get? Besides the occasional man-shaped hole in the ground, you get an entry from our 3rd Casual Gameplay Design Competition.

Paracaidas ("parachute" in Spanish) is from Scheletro, a very talented newcomer to our competitions. It's the tale of a dedicated stunt performer who is never satisfied until he has either safely missed his target, or mysteriously closed his parachute and plummeted to his death.

Using only the [spacebar] you must drop a skydiver from a passing plane, and again with the [spacebar] you must open his parachute at just the right time to achieve the target, taking into account the wind speed and direction. You get more points the longer your chute is open before landing, and a bonus multiplier for how close you get to a bullseye. For extra bonus points you can try to collect a shiny gold star that is randomly placed on the screen.

You can continue to replay the game as long as you continue to hit the target. Miss the target and the game is immediately over. You can also inexplicable close your chute with [spacebar] which almost always results in your death, and of course the game ends then as well.

Analysis: This is one of the simplest games I've played in quite a while, yet I found myself coming back to it again and again. The graphics are charming and delightful, especially the satisfying hole in the ground you make after putting away the chute too soon. I was initially unimpressed with its "replay" value, but had to give Scheletro credit after I had been "replaying" his game for about 20 minutes straight.

My main problem with the game is with the ability to close the parachute: it's completely worthless. It seems its only value is to quickly finish an obviously failed jump, and in that it excels. It would seem natural to be able to lose the 'chute and drop a few feet onto the target, if the wind were about to make you overshoot it, for instance. That doesn't even work though since a drop of only a few inches without a parachute is still instant death. It seems too intentional a feature to be so pointless, yet I fail to see its value. Perhaps Scheletro was also a victim of running out of time, as were a few other of our entrants? Play Paracaidas.

Stuck at work on the weekend? Tired of spending your Saturday/Sunday doing homework? Or are you one of the lucky folk who have two days of (relatively) work-free bliss? In any case, we've got a boatload of distractions for you on this edition of Weekend Download. A couple of remakes dot the list that are sure to please us "veterans" of video games, while everyone else can enjoy building houses or collecting souls in the underworld. No matter if you're hopping the company firewall to grab a few games or just relaxing at home, consider this your excuse for not doing anything especially productive.

Build-a-lot (Windows, demo, 45MB) - A casual strategy/simulation game where you become a real estate mogul trying to conquer the housing market. Construct, upgrade, and sell houses for profit while you manage workers and materials, research new blueprints, and buy empty lots in each neighborhood. Build-a-lot manages to pare-down the often complex interface of similar strategy games into something everyone can enjoy.

XIQ (Windows, Mac, Linux, freeware, 10MB) - A strangely compelling retro-style shooter where you must trap vector foes to destroy them. Use the arrow keys to move, the [WASD] keys to fire in any direction, and try to box those little suckers in as quickly as you can. And the game's soundtrack? Excellent.

GoldenEye 2D (Windows, freeware, 2MB) - You've played the original, the classic, the genre-defining GoldenEye 64, right? Well... now try it in a refreshing 2D Game Boy flavor! The game stays mostly faithful to the original but feels more like a classic side-scrolling shooter rather than a game of espionage.

The Goonies (Windows, Mac, Linux, freeware, 12MB) - A gorgeous remake of The Goonies platformer game originally released for the MSX. The retro gameplay is almost perfectly preserved while the visuals have received a hefty face lift. I'm loving the water reflections. The Goonies hasn't aged as well as some other classic games, but it's still a slice of nostalgic heaven.

Kaipuu (Windows, freeware, 5MB) - A platforming game of exploration closely related to Knytt and Seiklus, Kaipuu has recently been translated to English so a wider audience can enjoy its touching storyline. The game doesn't have the smell of "instant classic" like others of its kind, but there's a little bit of magic that most players will enjoy.

Robot Goal, by Ja.Games is a simple action/puzzle game where you use a series of clickable commands to program a robot on the screen. The goal is to have the 'bot collect green spheres and fire them into the targets before time runs out. Four possible commands are laid out in tiles to the right: rotate clockwise, counterclockwise, move forward, and fire the ball. String these together in whatever order you need to get the robot to the spheres.

As the game progresses, puzzles get much more complex and can be a real challenge to complete on time. Movable blocks appear after a few levels that must be pushed out of the way before you can collect the spheres. Of course pushing them usually blocks your path and forces you to take the long way around, making your fight against the clock a little more tense.

Robot Goal carries the unique ability to make you laugh at yourself. Carefully planning moves out in your head sometimes goes awry, causing the robot to walk, twist and do some wacky looking things in the wrong place at the wrong time. You aren't penalized for "incorrect" moves (other than losing precious time), so just grin and keep chugging away.

Robot Goal is a very simple game that has a kind of innocent charm. Cheers to Ja.Games for a great entry! Play Robot Goal.

dancemonkey - I'm afraid I feel like I was missing something here. Let me start with the positive: I actually enjoyed this game and think that overall it's a great concept. What I don't really get is where the theme came into play, it just wasn't that strong of a Replay concept. That aside, I think there is a mis-match in the game's rules. You program the robot to do its thing in discrete steps, yet the levels are time-based. I think it would have been a better choice to make the constraint turn-based rather than time-based, so that you only have a certain number of moves to accomplish the goals. Either that or significantly reduce the time alloted to each level so that there is some challenge. How about this: give you no time limit at all, no programming limit either, but stipulate that the level needs to be completed in one pass? Or a mixture of all of those things and then some more that I'm not creative enough to think of? I don't mean to sound too negative, I thought the game was charming and shows a lot of promise, but it just didn't gel for me completely.

October is almost here, and you know what that means! It's time to celebrate Apple Day! Yes, the holiday everyone looks forward to all year long is finally near. Now you can eat as many apples as you like without worrying about people teasing you. And if you live in Japan you're doubly lucky, as Health and Sports Day is also in October, making sure you'll be in top condition to burn off that apple fat at the end of the month.

• Sling Jr. - Hooray, more Sling! The folks at Ezone have excreted another goo-throwing game based on the original Sling. Just as addictive as the original, though it's awfully short...
• Gravitee - It's golf. But it's in space! Kind of an odd game to wrap your head around, you're trying to punt the ball through the ringed planet. Unfortunately each planet has its own gravitational pull, so it's never just a straight-shot to the goal.
• Hexiom - An interesting but not-quite-original puzzle game where you shift shapes around the board and place them next to each other. The number on the top indicates how many sides should touch another shape. The later levels get pretty tricky.
• Dungeon Banner Escape - A banner room escape game in the style of Babarageo STG Banner and Rob Allen's banner game. Use the arrows at the bottom to move, and click around to get more information and to collect items. Pay special attention to stones that change color when you click them.
• Feudalism - A rather complex RPGish game of amassing an army and conquering the world, one city at a time. Includes lots of weapons, skills, magic, and a variety of units to control.
• The Battle - Somewhat similar in gameplay to the previously mentioned Feudalism and Bowmaster Prelude except with heavy artillery. Wipe out the enemy and their fortress by amassing an army using limited resources. Protect your oil well as that is your only source of income.
• Ocean Explorer - The only shooting you'll do in this game is of the photographic kind. Venture into the depths of the ocean to find rare fish to take pictures of. The latest game from John Cooney and Armor Games.
• Stunt Bike Draw 2 - It's like a glossy version of Line Rider with gameplay attached, except Jay couldn't even complete the first objective. But don't let his incompetence prevent you from trying.

Fitting the webtoy category more comfortably than being a game, Music Dodge is an entry from Daniel Gutierrez into our 3rd game design competition. Colored bars streak across the screen in time with the background music. You control a colorful orb and must "scratch" against the edge of the bars to score points. It's a simple game of avoidance and precision that really hits home when you play using your own music.

Depending on the beat and sounds, different intensities of colored bars will streak from right to left across the screen. You control a small orb whose only goal is to graze by the outer perimeter of these comets. The longer you do it, the higher your score, which is essentially the only goal of the game. Touch one of the bars full-on and you'll lose the ability to score for a few moments but can re-position yourself to a less crowded part of the screen.

By downloading the swf file to your computer you can play Music Dodge using your own library of mp3 files. This is by far the best feature of the game and creates an extraordinarily personal experience. Scratching along to your favorite tunes can be accurately described as "awesome", although some songs work better than others. There can be some slowdown depending on the intensity of the sounds, but Music Dodge does an excellent job converting the music to a highly visualized pseudo-game.

Music Dodge scores extremely high in the innovation and creativity categories but isn't as fulfilling on the gameplay front. Expect more of a webtoy experience, however, and you won't be disappointed. Creating something as unique as a "beat detector" program is never without its hurdles, but Music Dodge has overcome them all with surprising agility. Play Music Dodge.

dancemonkey - This has been labeled more of a toy than a game, and I guess I agree with that, although I'm not sure that the distinction is very important to me. Since owning my first video game system I've always considered gaming a good excuse to listen to music, and listen to it loud. I've been secretly disappointed in the vast improvements in computer gaming sound and music, since it means I can no longer turn off the sound for a game for fear of missing some critical gameplay element. Well I thank you, Music Dodge, you are exactly what I've been looking. Obvious areas for improvement are having a browse dialog so you can simply select the mp3 from your hard drive, rather than the somewhat convoluted process that's implemented now.

We are down to the final 5 days before the deadline for our Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4, and we're getting very excited to see and play all the games to have incorporated the "ball physics" theme!

All entries must be in by October 1st, 2007 at 11:59PM. That is this coming Monday night. Please see the competition announcement page for full details on entering.

Here is a final recap of questions that have come up during the past week:

• If we have external files that our game uses, should we place them in a sub-directory? - Yes, if your game uses or loads external files (images, swfs, etc), then please place them in a sub-directory named the same as your game. While I don't anticipate any conflicts, it is possible. Creating unique sub-directories should help avoid any potential conflicts.
• Will full screen mode be supported? - Yes, your game may switch to full screen mode if you wish. The competition UI will reset back to normal mode automatically when the player quits from your game and returns to the competition collection UI.
• Are we allowed to change the right-click context menu? - Yes, your game may create its own right-click context menu for use during your game with no consequence to the competition UI.
• I'm concerned the console menu that drops down from the top may interfere with the gameplay of my entry. What can we do? - If you think the console menu may be an issue, we can disable it for the duration of your game provided that you create a Quit-to-menu option on your main game menu that calls the GameManager function gameDone(). If you think this may be an issue, please email me about it and we'll work something out.

It's time to wrap it all up folks! Good luck! =)

Note: Comments are disabled for this entry. Please continue to use the main competition announcement page for posting questions and comments. Cheers!

Parley is a two-player strategy card game designed by Matt Slaybaugh and Joe Versoza for our 3rd game design competition. Similar to Rochambeau, the base deck is made up of three suits (Water, Fire, and Wood), each of which trumps one other suit and is in turn trumped by the remaining suit of the three. As you progress through the levels, two additional suits may come into play: Air, which trumps all other suits, and Earth, which is trumped by all other suits. In addition, each suit is broken up into a number of different ranks: Queen, Duke, Knight, Spy, and Page (from strongest to weakest). However, spies are capable of defeating queens. In the hierarchy of suits and ranks, rank takes priority, thus the Fire Queen will beat the Water Knight, despite the fact that Water defeats Fire.

Parley is loosely based on the card "game" War, although the rules are changed enough to allow for a good amount of strategy. First of all, you have a choice of two cards from your hand to play. Secondly, both your active hand and your opponent's are visible when deciding which card to play, so you can maximize your chances of success. If you win the battle, you gain one Clout point as well as the card you captured, which replaces your just-played card in your active hand. Replaying this card will earn you triple Clout points if you win again, a neat way to incorporate the competition theme as well as extend the strategy beyond simply choosing the highest card in your hand. Win a match by running your opponent out of cards.

Since so much information is out in the open, strategy becomes very subtle. You will know what cards will be in your hand and your opponent's hand for at least the next two turns, so there are situations where it might be suitable to sacrifice a card in the short-term for a better overall situation. Matt and Joe have crafted a game environment rich with possibilities.

Analysis: For this single-player implementation of Parley, the AI is not all that it could be. In the earlier levels, it seems as if there is no AI at all, like the computer is choosing cards at random. Even worse, at the later levels, the computer seems to choose its card based on the card that you already played — in effect, the computer gets a sneak preview and can then select the best card based on this extra information. To offset this advantage a bit, you can spend up to three bribes in a match to steal one of your opponent's cards, at the expense of clout.

Except that clout points are, for all intents and purposes, worthless. Whether you have positive or negative clout doesn't appear to have any effect on the game whatsoever. There's no minimum clout requirement to advance to the next level; in fact there's no requirement at all. You can start out at the top castle if you want.

Since first rolling out the game during the competition, Matt has made a couple of changes to the version that is now online that addresses some of the criticisms expressed here and in the comments. In this latest version, the AI increases gradually each level (as opposed to starting strong at level 5), and at its toughest it's only half as difficult as it was before. Also, he removed the "Earth Page" card that a number of players complained about since there is nothing that it can beat and is therefore worthless. Even with these changes, however, the AI still feels like it needs to be improved.

Parley is a great card game in theory, but the single-player implementation here fails to live up to the potential of the game. If the authors can improve the AI even more, or work out a head-to-head mode, it could very well be on the verge of habit-forming. Or maybe they could sell physical Parley decks on the Web. Hmmm... Oh well. Until then, Play Parley.

Parley is also available to play on Matt's Skeptictank website.

"Follow the white rabbit." Now where have I heard that one before? Sorry, but it's not The Matrix this time. It's better! It's Trapped Part 1: The White Rabbit — the first installment of a trilogy of point-and-click adventure games from Rodrigo Roesler.

The game is an interesting twist on your standard point-and-click. While you still use found items to solve puzzles and escape the house in which you are trapped, Trapped trades in the standard first person view for a pseudo-3D isometric third person perspective. The story is nothing new: you wake up in a room next to a dead guy and you have to escape the house. Use your clicking finger and your puzzling skills to collect items and combine items, and to get out.

Analysis: As with many Flash escape games, the story is certainly not the high point of the game. However, the game does have some great features. The puzzles are quite odd while still maintaining some sense of logic. Thankfully, all of the objects are findable and have a purpose, and none have to be combined randomly. The puzzles are very difficult, but all have solid logic behind a solution. The interface is a bit annoying at first, since you have to click twice to get an object and then click another button to drop it, but can be streamlined through keyboard shortcuts. The only real problem I had with the game was the size, as it is a bit small. This size is probably necessary to fit the isometric view, but causes a little bit of squinting after a while. On the other hand, there is no pixel-hunting required, since the cursor indicates when you hover over a clickable object.

My favorite part of the game is the extensive behind-the-scenes look Rodrigo provides in the "About" section. Can you guess how long he has been working on it? If you knew, you would understand how he has managed to make it run so smoothly. Rodrigo has been working on this first game for a long time, and I can't wait to play parts 2 and 3. Until then, will you take the red pill, or the blue pill? Or you can just Play Trapped Part 1: The White Rabbit.

Cheers to Hana, Dg, Cris, and John for sending this one in! =)

Trapped Part 1: The White Rabbit walkthrough now available!

Manifold is a physics-based action/puzzle game created by artist and designer Joel Esler. Use special orbs that can alter gravity within a small radius to climb your way through dangerous situations. It's a simple idea that's been paired with smart artistic direction to create a game that pleases the senses as well as your sense of fun.

Control the bug-like character with the arrow (or A, D, W) keys and use the mouse to move the pointer. The cursor allows you to create gravity wells by aiming at a target then dragging the mouse to indicate gravity direction. The character will toss a ball that will open the gravitational disturbance when it comes in contact with a wall. You can create as many wells as you have balls to toss and can re-absorb unused areas by moving the cursor over one and tapping the spacebar.

Gravity bubbles don't just push you in a certain direction, they actually shift the gravity within the sphere, allowing you to walk on walls and ceilings inside its borders. This opens up a huge range of possibilities in terms of action and puzzle situations, and Manifold's levels force you to get pretty creative with your gravity-defying skills.

In later levels when you have more gravity orbs to throw around, things get really interesting. You'll find yourself suspended upside-down on a ceiling with saw blades buzzing below, the only thing keeping you alive being the chain of gravity wells you're constantly creating and absorbing. Just enough thrills to keep you glued to the keyboard for the next level.

Manifold has a very clean look thanks to its simple but tasteful design. It's an excellent example of pairing artistic vision with great gameplay to craft an experience that's truly worth your time. Play Manifold.

Cheers to Charles for suggesting this one! =)

Due to popular demand, Joel has released an update to the game with more levels, some of them quite devious in design!

The latest from Bloons creators, Stephen Harris and Ninja Kiwi, Hotcorn is a game about popping corn... with heat. You control a smiling sun avatar with the mouse, moving it over kernels of corn on a top-down game board to pop them into some kind of exploded corn substance. Pop enough corn before time runs out and you win the level, simple as that.

The game comes complete with a variety of salts and garlic garnishes, in forms like kerosene cans that explode, orbs that freeze time for a minute, rocks that take a bit to explode through, kernels that slow you, yellow gel that slows you, blue gel that extinguishes you, blue orbs that temporarily make you cold so as to pass through the blue gel, and concrete blocks — and I think that's the whole shopping list, maybe there's more later in the game, but good luck encountering them.

Analysis: Hotcorn is dramatically more difficult than NK's previous titles, by the time you get to level 25 you'll be feeling the heat, nay, the sweltering intensity of wrist-bound action that you paced through carefully and cautiously toward the last levels of Bloons. This is like the Ninja Gaiden of casual games, a real-time gauntlet of swings and swipes where the difference between victory and defeat amounts to a fraction of a second. While a younger me might say "aaaalright!" to this display of game design sado-masochism (with the same pronounced drawl of Sean Pean in Fast Times at Ridgemont High) the more experienced version is inclined to say, given the target audience, the extremely narrow difficulty is more of a consistent balancing flaw than triumph. I couldn't even get past level 34 so I can't imagine what level fifty is like. And that's a shame, because I'm so hardcore I almost beat Ninja Gaiden, beset only by Jaques and his homing fireball ballet. I can only imagine the majority of people giving up much sooner. Why balance your game so the majority of the audience can only access half of it? A few fewer kernels required to win, another half second, this would make a huge difference, and I encourage Ninja Kiwi to look at whatever data they have, or otherwise to trust me, and open the game up a bit.

Regardless of the lack of butter, its definitely worth spending some time with Hotcorn. Play Hotcorn.

You may not know that before I returned to RIT to pursue game design and development, I was a software engineer by day and a club DJ at night. So it shouldn't be surprising to see various references and links to music sprinkled throughout the archives, because once a DJ: always a DJ. You could say that even now I'm still spinning, a casual games mix instead of progressive house. ;)

And with the Mercedes Benz mixed tapes coming to a close recently, I've been shopping around iTunes for something new to listen to. That's how I found this latest source of inspirational magic.

DJ Sultan is in the house! His just-released Yoshitoshi Montreal collection is one of the most amazingly uplifting, feel-good mixes of songs I've heard in quite a long time. So good that it warrants interrupting the flow of game reviews to share with you the wonderful positive energy it contains. I've been listening to it for a couple of weeks now from iTunes, but it is just now hitting stores today (9/25). If you enjoy good dance music, you won't be disappointed by the latest from Sultan. Absolutely spirit-lifting fantabulous! (I even think that's him doing the JIG!)

Because everyone deserves to feel good. :)

When I first played the Turtles of Time — created by Dom Camus for our 3rd Casual Gameplay Design Competition — I was not very impressed. I found the controls, strangely enough, a little too touchy and not responsive enough. The gameplay was a tad monotonous and, starting at Level 3, I found it oddly difficult to gain enough points to advance. Had it not been a contest entry, I would have left it for dead after one or two plays.

Let this be a lesson to aspiring game designers: make sure people know how to play your game.

As it turns out, I had the game completely misfigured. Despite its appearance, The Turtles of Time is not a rip-off of Blobular. In fact, it is a very different game altogether, one of careful planning and micromanagement rather than reckless bouncing hither and thither. There are two key game elements that should have been made clearer, either in some form of instruction screen, or through more careful game design.

First, orange and blue are not the only colors of flower that can be collected. It was not until a discussion with Dom in the comments section that I even came to realize that the appearance of blue flowers was not random as it had appeared to me. Whenever a flower grows between two orange flowers, it will come up blue. Likewise, if you grow a flower in between two blue ones, it comes up purple, and so on. By carefully cultivating your crop, you can grow flowers of higher and higher values, that accrue points much more quickly than simply rushing around and gobbling up all the blooms you can see.

Second, gaze deep into the turtle pool. See those fish? They are not just pretty decorations. They will follow your turtle if you get near enough to them, and you can gain points by leading them to the shrines that are on each level. The more you lead, the higher the point value per fish.

Taking these two facts into account, we now have a surprisingly intricate multitasking game, rich in possible strategies for maximizing your score. The replay feature also gains much more importance in light of these revelations. It takes some careful maneuvering to keep the turtles out of each other's way, in order to prevent loss of points by stealing a fish, or wrecking a cultivated garden, or even just by taking away the tempo bonus. Properly played, the game looks and plays like a well-oiled machine, or an award-winning marching band. It might even be possible (for someone with far more patience than I) to use 2 turtles to collaborate in garden cultivation.

I'm still not thrilled about the controls, but if you're moving at speeds where they become very unrealistic, you're probably going too fast anyway. I also think I might have been able to grasp the gardening concept on my own if the flowers grew back immediately instead of gradually (and randomly) over time – that might solve the problem of having to provide what would inevitably be an awkward instruction screen or tutorial.

All in all, The Turtles of Time provides everything we normally look for in a casual game: simple, fun, mostly polished, a variety of strategies, and adherence to the Replay theme, both in the inherent gameplay as well as in terms of replay value. You just have to look a little harder to find it all. Play The Turtles of Time.

Jay - Since the competition entries went up in July, Dom has been busy working on a version of the game for Greenpeace to help promote its campaign to save some real turtles. Although the new version isn't up yet, you can find out more about their efforts by visiting the website for the Turtle Witness Camp, a campaign that aims to protect the Olive Ridley Turtle at its nesting site in Orissa, India.

From Aztec, creator of Escape from Island and The Shrine, comes yet another superbly crafted point-and-click adventure game, Escape from Octlien. The sci-fi themed title drops you inside a spaceship with very little information on what you're supposed to do. Explore the environment, collect items, and try and make your way through this lengthy and challenging game.

Controls in Escape from Octlien are as simple as any online adventure — just click the items you want to interact with. Arrows appear on the edges of the screen to navigate and you use items by dragging them onto the object you want to use them on. To examine and interact with items, slide one over to the "check" button.

The puzzles are rarely easy to solve and usually include a number of steps before you see tangible results. For example, one item may give you access to a room where you'll find another item that fits in part of a puzzle located halfway across the ship. This doesn't feel frustrating or lead to mindless backtracking, it just adds to the intruigue. Your sense of accomplishment is broken into bite-sized pieces that keep your appetite for the game burning strong.

As with Aztec's other releases, the visuals in Escape from Octlien are stark but well-implemented. Sound effects are all but non-existent but fit the game extraordinarily well. A mysterious atmosphere is successfully created using as few elements as possible.

One of the best point-and-click adventure games released in the last few months from a developer that's quickly building a reputation for impressive games. Play Escape from Octlien.

Escape from Octlien walkthrough now available!

Depending on your definition, black could be the absence of any light, while white is the presence of all light. But isn't it amazing how quickly, with the flip of a switch, black can become white?

Enough philosophy, let's discuss Blackflip, a remarkably well-produced Flash puzzle game and website inspired by the game Polarium, which was created by Michell Corp. and released for the Nintendo DS.

The goal of Blackflip is to flip the black and white tiles so that each row is the same color. It is not necessary to turn the entire puzzle into one color. To flip tiles, click and drag on the tiles to draw a single continuous path through the tiles you wish to flip. You have a small amount of gray border with which you can travel around the puzzle, if necessary. If your one path flips all tiles in a row to the same color, the victory is yours!

All levels are made and submitted by fellow Blackflip players, and are solvable in at least one way. Using the level creator, you can create a puzzle as large as 13 squares wide or high. But before you can submit any near-impossible hoo-haw, just remember that for a puzzle to be listed on the site, you have to prove it's beatable by being the first to solve it! As a bonus, you can link to your own puzzles on your website with the provided tags.

Blackflip, created by Flaboratorium, comes packaged in a very nice website with fun graphics and a music player built right into the experience. (Look to the bottom-left corner to change tracks and adjust volume.) With an ever-expanding menu of solvable puzzles, can you solve them all and become a Blackflip master? Play Blackflip!

If you haven't figured out the meaning of the title of this one yet, don't feel bad; I just got it myself (hint: think sdrawkcab). Anyway, let's talk about Yalpeyalper from the ever-inventive Tonypa. This time he brings us his twist on a chain reaction game.

There have been many chain reaction games made in Flash, and the formula is simple: click one object and watch as the rest of the objects react in sequence. However, while other chain reaction games leave your fate up to chance, Yalpeyalper forces you to make sure you've picked the right starting point.

The game board is also simple: a black and white array of boxes with little dots on the sides. Each side of the box may or may not have a dot. What to do? Umm, click on one, I guess. So you click on one. The box will set off the box next to it if it has a dot on that side. This repeats the process, setting off more boxes and so on and so forth. Pretty standard chain reaction gameplay.

So now there are two options: 1) You got lucky and picked the right box and set off all the boxes, and you advance to the next level. 2) (much more likely) You saw boxes and panicked! So you just picked one randomly and failed to set off the entire chain. Oh well that's okay, you'll get it next time. So next time you figure it out and get to the next level. Now you're speeding through the levels. You're feeling pretty good about yourself. Eventually you make a mistake (it's okay, everybody makes mistakes). No big deal. You'll just pick another box with a lot of dots in it.

This doesn't look like the level you just played!!! That's because it's Level 1. That's right, it's back to the start for you. That's what you get for your impetuosity. This is the brilliance of Tonypa's implementation of the replay theme (which for some reason got seriously knocked in the comments). What was before a happy-go-lucky chain reaction extravaganza is suddenly transformed into a real thinker. Now you must thoughtfully plan your moves—you only get one chance.

Analysis: Another wonderful offering from Tonypa. Yalpeyalper takes the standard chain reaction game and tweaks it just enough to change it from a toy to a puzzle. Of course, as always with Tonypa the presentation is nice and simple, and complements the gameplay well. However, as many have noted, the board is a little small, which can make it hard to see for someone who has been staring at their computer screen for a few hours.

As for the puzzles themselves, at first I thought I had figured out a brilliant strategy: just click the box that none of the other boxes can set off. However, later stages of the game required much more thinking than that. In fact, picturing the patterns in my head became quite a trying task—and also a thing of beauty. As Psychotronic commented, watching the synchronized patterns is "very Zen". It really does have quite a mesmerizing effect.

The only real issue I had with this game was the length. I could have played many more levels than the ten offered. Again, as some have suggested, a randomization feature would make this game timeless. Then it would truly embody the replay concept—I could play it whenever I wanted. In order to preserve the original replay concept, one option could be to base the levels on size - e.g. Level 1 = 4 x 4, Level 2 = 5 x 5, Level 3 = 6 x 6, etc. Then the contest would be to see who could get to the highest level. The only loss would be the artistry that goes into level creation. Maybe the game could have two play modes: Arcade and Random.

In all, Yalpeyalper is a wonderful little puzzle game and, most importantly, unique. It is well thought out and well executed. With a little work, this game could be revisited over and over, thus providing another implementation of replay. Tonypa continues to reinvent game types we've seen before and delivers a brand new experience; see for yourself. Play Yalpeyalper.

dancemonkey - The "replay" element in this game generated a lot of discussion, and I initially agreed with those who said it was an annoying contrivance. After playing more I realized that although there were several different and brilliant interpretations of the theme in the competition, Tonypa's implementation is the most subtly brilliant one in any of the entries. It actually changes the entire nature of the game: from being what could have been a boring game of random clicking into a stately, thoughtful series of puzzles. I agree that the replays themselves could have used a "fast-forward" button, but disagree with the comment that suggested the correct square should be remembered and marked. What would be the point? If Tonypa could get a randomization feature working in this game, then Yalpeyalper could be a new puzzle sensation!

zxo - We all knew that Tonypa could teach the course on game design minimalism, but he's even outdone himself in that respect with Yalpeyelper. By taking the chain reaction concept and making a puzzle out of it, he's also once again demonstrated his keen sense of originality for game mechanics. Unfortunately, the idea doesn't quite work, as the game becomes one-dimensional once you figure out the secret. Nevertheless, it's a neat concept and the only suggestion I would make on the implementation would be to introduce a soft "pop" or something for each detonation.

Nobody ever said that volunteering to be one of the first experimental path defenders would be easy. Leaving your body and pregnant wife behind while you undertake a hyperspace mission to fight millions of aliens using only the power of your consciousness is not going to make you feel any better. Thus begins the intriguing plot of Immortal Defense (Windows, shareware), another offering in the very popular "tower defense" genre created by RPG Creations. If you are about to say "Oh no, another Tower Defense game", think again, because Immortal Defense has some aces up its sleeve.

The premise of Immortal Defense is similar to other tower defense games you may have played: creeps walk a line and you must annihilate them before they finish by placing lots of damage-dealing towers. Use your mouse to move your ethereal alter ego on screen, which, in a nice twist to the genre, can directly shoot at enemies, adding a nice arcade-y feel to a static genre. Drag and drop the icons located at the bottom of the screen to place eleven different kinds of towers, each representing an aspect of your personality (the "Fear Point" slows enemies, the "Pride Point" gains attack power after each kill). Left clicking with your mouse will target a single creep, making all the towers in range concentrate their shots on it, while right clicking will make you charge a slow but powerful attack which will prove very useful against certain enemies.

Defeating enemies gives you cache (money) that you can use to buy new towers, but since your balance carries over to subsequent stages, you may want to save some for later levels. Between each level, another page of the obscure and intriguing story unfolds. It's obvious that RPGCreations put a lot of effort in creating a sound background story for the game, which indeed succeeds in keeping the player interested throughout the game.

Graphics-wise the game is pretty minimalist, resembling an improved version of Tempest or Asteroids, but the special effects more than make up for the simplistic design. Although the sound effects are nothing to write home about, the orchestral score is truly remarkable and perfectly fits the weird sci-fi universe.

Analysis: There are a lot of things to like in Immortal Defense. Let's start with something that could be easily overlooked at a first glance: the extremely deep and intricate gameplay. Sure, things start off pretty easy and hey, you could even complete the 2 demo campaigns with little effort using the default settings, but each mission can be played at 10 different difficulty levels, and believe me, the higher ones are TOUGH. One of the things I liked the most, though, it's the fact that each level is generally quite short (no more than 5 minutes) although there are some pleasant exceptions. This allows you to play the game even if you have nothing but 10 minutes to kill. Another selling point is the compelling story: which other tower defense game has kept you awake till 3AM?

Immortal Defense is not without its faults, the most notable being the fact that the action can sometimes get very confusing. This is in part due to the design of the creeps, which are a bit too dark and hard to spot the one you really want to target. Another one may be the price tag. With so many enjoyable freeware defense games around, it's easy to summarily dismiss this game's price as "too high". The guys at RPGCreations probably know this, and that's why they put together a very, very long freeware demo version. The demo alone can last 3 or even 4 hours depending on how much you want to improve each single level score, and that's more than enough play time to help you decide whether the game is worth $22.95 or not. In the meantime, go download the demo and have a psychedelic tower-defensive trip with it.

Patrick Dugan phases into path space to say: I did some QA testing (unpaid, out of LOVE) on Immortal Defense back in April, when it was in Beta, but bought it anyway when it was released just to play the balanced version and unlock the secret levels (which extend the story in a really cool way). The game immediately struck me as something dank, one of those rare games whose generic fun is delivered in an iconic and unique way. You're not going to be disappointed there, so you owe it to yourself to try the demo.

As far as making a purchase goes, I can say that the writing and narrative design here is among the best I've seen in a long time in any indie game, much less a tower defense game. "I love you grandpa" is a piece of text that haunted me, leaving me shaken with wonder and existential horror, for hours after I finished the game. The only other game that made me feel that way, pushed over the top by a single piece of crux writing, was Planescape: Torment's "what can change the nature of a man?" Play Immortal Defense, then become enlightened, that's totally worth the price tag.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available. Use Boot Camp or Parallels.

Logi-Gun is an absolutely sensational puzzle platformer (free download for Windows only) from Darklink570. Most of the puzzles require skillful, even ingenious, use of the game's 6 guns, although some deft platforming will also be necessary. The game has 19 levels, 6 of which are training levels—one for each gun. Every level has around 3 or 4 different rooms, usually of increasing difficulty. Most rooms have a number of smaller puzzles which need to solved in order to ultimately escape the room.

The guns themselves are the focus of the game, and deservedly so. They range from the standard grapple gun to the peculiar squit cannon to the infuriating, yet satisfying, spike bow. Most of the guns have at least 2 uses—the primary use is activated with the left mouse button and the secondary use (such as the squit cannon's ability to coat a surface in a sticky substance) is activated with the right mouse button. Regarding controls, the only other ones necessary are the standard WASD keys for movement, [Q] to change guns and the [E] key to pick up or put down an item.

One of the things that I liked the most regarding Logi-Gun was the difficulty level. The game is by no means simple, and yet it avoids becoming mind-numbingly difficult. This means that, although some of the puzzles will require some serious thought, you are more likely to end up having an 'A-ha!' moment than searching for a walkthrough.

There isn't a great deal else to say, as the game is deceptively simple. One thing that I would like to point out is that despite their darker boxes, all of the characters are available from the beginning and do not need to be unlocked, as I originally thought. The game is relatively free of bugs, although there is one semi-major glitch. On Level 1-5, if you quit the level, then resume later, you are likely to find yourself at the end of Room 1, and without a gun. To solve this dilemma, simply complete the polarity beam training level again, then go back to Level 1-5.

Logi-Gun is, unfortunately, download and for Windows only, but the file is extremely small and is well worth the slight effort needed.

Tips: If you want to play the game without any help, then stop reading now. The following are some details of the game that I felt should have been mentioned in the tutorial levels, or made clearer:

• To make a platform with the squit cannon, you need to hold down the left mouse button, then release it to fire, then click again when you want the blob to become a platform. If you are using the cannon to move upwards, only charge it to a half at the most, then the web will come back sooner, before the platform you are on disintegrates.
• You are able to move magnetic blocks that you are standing on with the polarity beam. You are also able to pick up small magnetic blocks with E, as well as moving them with the polarity beam.
• Falling down a hole will mean that you begin that room again.
• Right clicking with laser marker releases a 'radar' like projectile. Clicking again will activate it, making it a send a signal to any object in the nearby area. The only use of this is to activate the blue circular switches with a satellite-like symbol on them.

In conclusion, Logi-Gun is a fantastic game with great and controls and graphics, and it will have you scratching your head in thought, but not slamming it against a wall in frustration.

Windows:
Download the free game

Mac OS X:
Not available. Use Boot Camp or Parallels.

Logi-Gun walkthrough now available!

Jill's back in a sequel to one of the most popular casual games of last year, Cake Mania, by Sandlot Games. In Cake Mania 2 you reprise the role of the baker extraordinaire with the task of helping one of two friends: Jack, who is looking for a bakery in his underwater theme park, or Risha and her bakery in the big city. Serve cranky customers piping hot cakes as quickly as you can to rake in the cash and expand your business!

Cake Mania 2 plays out like most resource management games where you must prioritize tasks and work as quickly as you can to make it through each stage. Customers walk in your bakery and your first job is to hand them a menu. When they make their selection the cake appears in a bubble showing the cake style, icing and decorations each person requires. Once that appears, it's time for you to hop to it. Bake the right shaped cake, ice it, decorate it and serve it to the customer as quickly as you can to maximize your income.

One of the best parts of Cake Mania — the quirky customers — has been expanded in Cake Mania 2. Between men in penguin suits, businessmen, lawyers, punk rockers and little kids, there's no shortage of colorful characters to keep a grin on your face. Many customer types have their own unique needs that must be tended to, such as impatient kids or busy doctors. This adds a little spice to the game and breaks apart the linearity of focusing on customers at the front of the line first.

Between rounds you can upgrade your bakery by purchasing additional ovens, icing stations and other niceties to help keep things running smoothly. You can also buy items to help keep customers happy, such as a TV or cookie oven, or get Jill a better pair of shoes so she can move faster. How you spend your dough is up to you and is a unique part of each player's strategy.

The main game in Cake Mania 2 has over 200 levels, plus an additional "endless" mode where you serve cakes to a non-stop barrage of customers until the cows come home. Plenty of cake baking action to keep you busy for a very long time.

Analysis: There's no shortage of casual resource management games, but Cake Mania has always stood out as one of the better titles around. The news of Cake Mania 2 is definitely exciting, but I can't help but feel a bit let down by the lack of new features in the sequel. The visuals have im