From Amanita Designs, creator of the famously brilliant Samorost series, comes Machinarium, a game so well-conceived and implemented it can confidently launch as one of the best point-and-click adventures of all time. Machinarium is nothing short of a playable piece of art. Similar to Samorost in style and gameplay, you play a lone robot thrown out of the city working his way through desolate mechanical slums. Solve puzzles, find and combine items, and encounter loads of creative characters in your quest. Machinarium is one of those rare games you can't praise enough.

An anagram puzzle game from Martin Sears, presented with the distinct flavor of British educational programming. Don't be fooled by the charming hand-drawn appearance and the curiously twisted vignettes between levels; don't worry if the first few levels seem too basic. This turns into a serious brain-twister.

There's a cabin in the woods you should stay away from. A quiet little place where time almost seems to stand still. But if you do ignore the warnings and pay a visit, in that dark place, you might want to do a favour for the cabin's lonely occupant. If you don't, you may find yourself staying a long, long time. A point-and-click adventure of paranormal investigation.

Drawing inspiration from popular "castle defense" games like BowMaster Prelude, Elona Shooter adds a serious helping of Asian-influenced, tactical RPG mechanics. You not only get to defend your castle from swarms of oncoming monsters with a satisfying array of weapons and skills, you won't have to go at it alone; an entire tactical RPG-styled party of helpers comes to your aid, eventually.

NinjaKiwi's Bloons Tower Defense 4 is here at last, stepping over Bloons Tower Defense 3 and adding much more of everything we love! New units, new maps, better upgrades, and more evil bloons to pop!

It's Link Dump Friday, where all your dreams of lethal numbers, physics gun-play, and bow-n-arrow toting cavemen come true! Wow, your dreams are weird! Lucky for you, we like that in a gamer!

Don't miss our CGDC #7 announcement coming November 16th!

On the list of things that are more useful in video games than they are in the real world, grappling hooks are certainly near the top. Acquiring a grappling hook in the real world is positively thrilling, until you start thinking of ways you can actually (and legally) use it. Fortunately, the aptly-titled Grappling Hook isn't grounded in reality. The puzzle platformer from SpeedRunGames is filled with 22 levels of quick-thinking grappling goodness that is sure to keep you zooming around for hours.

Descend deep beneath the earth in this free RPG based in a realm of danger and fantasy. Create a character and join a scouting team sent to explore the realm of dwarves. When disaster meets your party, leaving you the only survivor, you'll have to rely on your wits to survive as you travel deeper into unraveling the mystery. Gain party members, train your skills, and battle fearsome beasts in your quest.

We have just finished a massive walkthrough guide for Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City. This Hint-through guide will provide gentle nudges in the right direction to help you get the best from your experience with the latest Virtual Villagers game. Be warned: This guide does contain some spoilers, so proceed with caution and as a last resort!

"Welcome subject 7." With those chilling words begins a new room escape adventure series by talented Portuguese designer, Fausto Fonseca. Welcome to the Light Asylum! At least, welcome to the first two rooms, a very promising start to what looks to be an entertaining, mind-stretching series.

With its stylish black and white art and haunting music by Coin, Colour My Heart continues to blur the line between game and experience, between play and art. Using a less linear structure than the first two games allows the player to wander back and forth through the stark, cold landscapes. Although there is a conclusion this is more (much more) about the journey.

As the title implies the field before you is not empty, but hides balls. Your colored box along the edge of the playing field can fire a beam in the direction of your mouse, ricocheting off of any hidden balls and exposing them. Clicking the mouse will clear these balls from the screen, and the onslaught of balls will inch its way down the field.

The Control Panel is an oldie but a goodie. Despite its age the game is a tight, well-constructed puzzle solving treat. Stripped of everything that usually accompanies a puzzle of this sort, no story, no background, no instructions, be prepared to sit back and let the gameplay blow your mind (and perhaps cause a concussion, if you end up banging your head against the nearest flat surface in frustration).

The popular Battalion series continues with Ghosts, your solution to the daily ain't-go-no-tank blues. It's turn-based strategic warfare at its pixelated finest as the story continues. It's puns, explosions, and tactics galore. Will you emerge triumphant from the ten stage campaign? Or is it back to boot camp for you?

Created by gam.ebb.jp, Dismantlement is a puzzle game like you might find in an escape the room game. If you're looking for a fun five to ten minute break from the everyday and you are someone who likes to tear things apart to see how they work, then sit back, relax, and Dismantle the Radio.

The undead hordes are on the march, but your back yard is standing in the way, covered with fresh, fertilized topsoil. In this cheerfully absurd melding of resource management and tower defense, you must defend your delicious brains with an assortment of warrior plants. Plants vs. Zombies is the strangest, most original game from Popcap yet.

Fans of the Submachine series, your time has come at last. After more than a year and a half, Mateusz Skutnik is back with Submachine 6: The Edge, an all-new installment in one of the most popular series of escape games the Web has ever seen.

Observe this failure of an elephant. It is tiny. It is blue. It has forgotten every level of this new platform game by jmtb02 but the first. An animal known for its memory can't remember anything about the game it's starring in but a single configuration of blocks and spikes. This is it. This is the only level. What a failure of an elephant.

Voted Best of 2005 by the visitors of Jayisgames, the gameplay here is similar to the previous games in the series, Grow and Grow RPG. As with the others, the order in which you click the items determines the outcome of the game. Simple and delightful, these games are among the crown jewels of the Web. By Eyezmaze.

Virtual Families is the latest addition to the impressive lineup of simulation games from Last Day of Work, makers of the Virtual Villagers series. Virtual Families takes the basic concepts of Virtual Villagers and brings them home — literally. No longer are you concerned with a village of people trying to survive the ravages of the wild. Now it's just a single family in a single house. While the concept may seem over-simplified when compared to Virtual Villagers, you'll find that it's less about simplifying the game and more about concentrating on the details.

Hidden Expedition: Devil's Triangle is a gorgeous, fun, mind-bending casual gameplay ride. Fans of the old series should not be disappointed, and folks new to the Hidden Expedition games can enjoy as well. And, of course, any old fuddy-duddies (like me) who remember the days of the classic adventure game should enjoy the nostalgia of a point-and-click done right.

We've just finished a complete walkthrough (with images) for Dream Chronicles 3: The Chosen Child!! Be warned: contains major spoilers, so proceed only as a last resort. Be sure to read our review of Dream Chronicles 3.

Behind every brave little German boy there's a clever little German girl. Which is a good thing in this slightly twisted point-and-click retelling of the classic fairytale, since Gretel is clearly the brains of the outfit. You'll need to think outside the box to keep the two tots alive, since danger can be found in the most unexpected places. Don't let the lovely watercolour graphics fool you. This one's not for the kiddies.

Elementals: The Magic Key is a hidden object adventure hybrid that not only gets the item finding sessions right, it also delivers a wonderfully complete battle system that plays out like a turn-based strategy game.

We've just finished a complete walkthrough (with images) for Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze!! Be warned: contains major spoilers, so proceed only as a last resort.

The hams are on the loose! The cutlery is on the march! AND THE GIANT TURTLES ARE STORMING THE BEACH! No time to ask questions, every able-bodied sloth needs to load up his hot-air balloon with unsafe amounts of explosives and strike back! Super Sloth Bomber, from Megadev, is a short but relentlessly cheery, fasted-paced game of bombs and reflexes.

Have you been looking for a way to replay (or perhaps play for the first time) the banner game that Rob Allen created for us a couple years ago? When we updated the site layout moving to a larger, wider format, we temporarily lost the ability to swap stylesheets. But now it's back! Just click the image above to switch the stylesheet over to the one that includes the banner game. Click it again to switch it back.

Kids these days are just dying to spend some time alone. But when Christine's plans for a romantic weekend with her boyfriend are interrupted by a series of unsettling events, she may come to regret the secluded location for their rendezvous. Especially when she finds out that someone else has plans for her. Mixing hidden-object hunting with traditional point-and-click gameplay, The Hookman is a stellar example of creepy, quality story-telling that could have you jumping out of your skin.

The wait is over! The release of the latest Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst is finally here. Big Fish Games Studios takes the hidden object genre to unprecedented new heights with an absolutely gorgeous, hidden object / adventure hybrid that is sure to please a very wide range of casual game players. This is one game you don't want to miss!

The latest Grow game from On of Eyezmaze! Need we say more? This is without a doubt On's greatest work-to-date, and in it he embodies an optimistic philosophy. Following the correct order of things will lead to a society where men and women get along happily, the environment is protected and technology is harnessed to discover the secrets of the universe.

It's RPG madness on Mobile Monday! Ok, by "madness" I mean two role playing games. That's kinda mad, though, isn't it? It's like wow, geez, why not just throw a bajillion RPGs at us.

It's more isometric puzzle adventuring with Tangerine Pop Game's release of Grave Shift 2: The Sewers. Our courageous bearded pal finds himself in the kingdom's sewers after the first Grave Shift, and now the White Warlock is setting traps to keep his loot safe. Move through the dank environments pushing blocks, smacking enemies with a shovel, gathering keys and collecting treasures as you go, all in the name of giving King Krump extra gold.

Virtual Villagers is back, and we're so excited we couldn't wait until the weekend to tell you! With Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City, the surprisingly addictive real-time simulation game sticks with its proven formula and makes a few minor tweaks to freshen up gameplay. With new secrets to uncover, new technologies, real-time weather effects and a whole new island to explore, Virtual Villagers 3 has all the ingredients that made the first games so compelling, plus more.

Bloons Tower Defense 3 has finally been released after months of anticipation from all the hardcore Bloons fans out there. Picking up where Bloons TD 2 left off, the new game features even more tracks (eight in all!), new monkeys (towers) and upgraded gameplay mechanics.

Grow Tower follows the standard formula that On created with the first Grow game over 5 years ago. Play by clicking on the icons, one-by-one, with the objective being to reach "level max" for each of the items. Order matters, and depending on the order you click, the items will combine and react with each other to reveal a wide array of fascinating outcomes.

Hotel 626 is an amazingly innovative, beautifully-produced nightmare of a game. After "checking in" (giving the website your name, email and creating a password), you are immediately whisked away into the opening movie: your awakening, in the middle of the night, in your room at this hellish hotel.

Quick, intrepid casual gamer! The world is not at stake, but someone has inconsiderately left these brightly coloured balls lying about! We need someone with a steely eye to launch them into their matching buckets in this physics game of skill. Sound easy? You may be surprised. Simple, effective, and fun, BucketBall 2 is the perfect way to spend your coffee break.

It's here! The next chapter in the captivating virtual island village sim is available to download. The follow-up to the monumentally successful Virtual Villagers game keeps the same formula as the original but adds all new puzzles, events, collectibles and more. It's the perfect follow-up to one of the most amazing casual games ever released.

Monsters' Den: The Book of Dread is Flash RPG of extraordinary depth. It is essentially a turn-based, tactical dungeon crawl, and it understands your insatiable clawing lust for magical super-trinkets. If the promise of powerful enchanted do-dads gets your blood pumping even a little bit, then Monsters' Den will have its generous claws in you for quite a while.

With just one week left to the competition, we just want to remind everyone who hasn't already played and voted on the game entries, please do so soon. We will announce the results next Monday (November 9th)!

Gemini Lost is a casual village simulation that works to bridge the gap between titles like Virtual Villagers and Sprouts Adventure. During an eclipse, a group of people stumble onto an ancient relic with twelve zodiac symbols on its face. Upon touching one of the tiles, they were transported to a strange new world. Now, the twelve symbols are scattered throughout the land, and it's your job to manage the small tribe so they can assemble the pieces and return home!

Developed by Dark Realm Studios, Pandemic 2 is the sequel to the morbidly fun original Pandemic, a game in which your goal is to eradicate the human race with the perfect disease. While the original game didn't go on to become hugely popular, Pandemic II is more an improvement upon its predecessor than a sequel, with an improved interface and more features.

Hey look, it's Dream Chronicles 3: The Chosen Child! The latest installment in the Dream Chronicles series has arrived, and its as breathtakingly brilliant everyone would expect. A little bit of hidden object finding, a little bit of puzzle solving, but a whole lot of adventuring can be found in this superb sequel, along with some of the most gorgeous scenery you've seen since looking out your own window (assuming you live in a fantasy world with fairies, fountains, and vibrant gardens). It's an excellent follow-up to the previous Dream Chronicles games and a fantastic game in its own right.

When your spaceship crash-lands onto an unknown desert planet, you regain consciousness to find yourself one of the only survivors. Red Herring Games presents an incredibly polished point-and-click adventure game that has to be seen to be believed.

The first in the series of Grow games to be created by On of Eyezmaze from Japan. Such attention to detail went into every aspect of the game, from its animation and sound, to its graphics and gameplay. Grow is a very simple game to play, and a delight to watch the magic within it unfold.

Grow RPG takes the classic formula that made the original so compelling to play, and adds additional RPG-like elements, such as enemy combat, a shop to buy health and weapons, and even a dungeon with hidden treasure. Voted Best of 2005 by the visitors of Jayisgames.

The first in a creepy new point-and-click series set in a Wonderland a few degrees off from the one you may recall. A gruesome sight greets you when you open your eyes in this fractured fairytale... but just who are you, anyway? To find out, first you'll have to find your way out and dig a little deeper into the mystery. Provided you're prepared for what you may discover on the other side of the looking glass.

On of Eyezmaze has just released an updated 'remake' of his original Grow game, Grow (ver. 3), the game that inspired so many sequels and clones. It's one of the most unique and amazing Flash games ever produced, due mostly to its intricate animations and myriad combinations of possible outcomes. Now with 2 endings!

Squishy, squelchy, and over-the-top, Trap Master is a fast and furious hybrid of defense and side-scrolling chew-em-up action, as you play a monstrous beast defending its lair from all invaders. Upgrade your abilities, install traps to waylay or crush the unwary, and unleash every cringe-worthy attack in your arsenal to be the one, the only... Trap Master! Not for the squeamish, or head-banging resistant.

The series that made farming less of a "wake up at the crack of dawn, work 'til nightfall" chore and more of a "yay let's farm woo hoo!" form of entertainment is back! Farm Frenzy 3 doesn't mess with the proven formula from the first games, but it does bring a lot of variety into the series by moving you across five locations around the globe. Watch penguins eat fish in the arctic and fend off lions in Africa, all while harvesting eggs and turning them into a succession of better, more profitable products. And, as always, watch out for predators falling from the sky!

In My Tribe, you play as sort of a guardian angel for a tribe of island-dwellers, telling them what to do, dragging them from place to place, and occasionally sprinkling them with a (hopefully) beneficial potion. Harvest food, wood, and stone to build with. Your tribe continues to work even when your computer is off. It's remarkably similar to Virtual Villagers but better in a number of ways.

There is something inherently gratifying about smashing or destroying something, even watching a building be demolished is good fun. So it should be no surprise that we see the concept come up a lot in games. Stephen over at Ninja Kiwi claims that his latest Flash game, "is based on the very simple fact that popping balloons is fun". And you know what? He's right! In Bloons you get to pop a lot of balloons!

Alan Probe: Amateur Surgeon is a cartoonish and casually offensive entry into the simon-says-surgery genre made famous(ish) by Atlus' Trauma Center. Your job is to follow the exact requirements of each surgery as quickly and as accurately as possible. The game is blessed with the finest production values a second-tier television network can buy, with bright, detailed environments and an ever-present sense of self-conscious irony. The violence is so over-the-top that it's not really gross, but there's still plenty of comically intense moments to go around.

Totem Tribe manages to pull together some of the best elements from a number of popular casual games and create something twice as engaging without upping the complexity. Gone are resource managing, complex building/unit requirements, and villagers who act while you're away, but in are over 20 islands to explore, friendly and not-so-friendly characters to encounter, mini-quests to earn spells, and unlockable artifacts that grant your tribe special abilities.

Virtual Villagers is a downloadable real-time simulation game for Windows 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!

When you think of what this medium is capable of it's easy to grab for lofty terms like "emergence" or even "organic beauty", but have nothing solid to hold onto. The Powder Game is a rare beacon of hope for those who dream of deep interactivity. It is a fondue of loose goals and free play; creation and destruction wrapped in a tumbling embrace. Oh yeah, this game is that good and will keep you engaged for hours.

The basic premise remains unchanged: your charge, a yellow smiley face with eyes eerily glued to your mouse, must make its way to the exit circle in each level one way or another. All you've got are whatever contraptions are lying around the level, your wits, and a cursor that can slice right through solid wood like it was string cheese.

This little Dralien baby needs to find his mommy, and it's not gonna let hostile aliens, baffling contraptions, or anything else get in its way. Gameplay takes place across a series of scenes, each infested by dangerous foes, puzzling mechanisms, and other varied points of interest. Any and all clickable hot spots are highlighted with little white circles, drawing your attention to anything you might need to solve the situation at hand.

Auditorium is a fantastic new puzzle game of music and light. Solve each level by manipulating the flow of light to create the perfect balance of music. The streams of light represent sound particles that you bend toward boxes until the audio levels are full. When the flow is correct, the audio levels fill up with the proper color and all the parts of the music will play. Delightful, brilliant and stunning.

Never mind those adorable little tykes dressed like puppies or pumpkins. Forget cartoon ghosts or happily grinning scarecrows. If you like your horror visceral and bloody, we've got the game for you. Point-and-click adventure game Asylum 626, the follow-up to Hotel 626, is now accepting patients.

For room escape fans, Jan Albartus, the grand-daddy of all room escape games, has added an all-new level to his continuing series, Mystery of Time and Space (MOTAS). For the uninitiated, MOTAS is the original, the blueprint from which so many (too many?) others have tried to follow. What sets MOTAS apart from most, however, is that its puzzles are generally original, rooted in logic and not in exasperating pixel-hunts.

All room escape games have secrets. Some room escapes, however, keep their cards especially close to their chests, relinquishing their grasp bit by bit; these are sometimes the most frustrating, and often the most intriguing. Sagrario's Room is such a game, and a superb one at that.

In the mood for more beach-themed Virtual Villagers-style simulation gaming? Escape from Paradise 2: A Kingdom's Quest is now available, and it delivers exactly what its predecessor did and quite a bit more. Instead of straightforward village management, Escape from Paradise 2 blends in mini-games to break up the action, and combined with a little hidden object finding and character stat upgrading, you have a game that will quickly sink its hooks in you.

Casual sim/strategy fans (and anyone who enjoyed Virtual Villagers or My Tribe) take note: Westward III: Gold Rush has arrived! Following last spring's release of Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier, the third installment in the series continues the new 3D visual style and basic premise introduced in the second game. Take control of three new heroes as you collect resources, construct farms, saloons, granaries and more to keep your settlers happy and healthy.

Picma takes picross to dizzying new heights, and satisfies the never-ending craving familiar to picross addicts. The game lends itself well to the casual gameplay experience, being something you can do on a coffee break or when you have a few free minutes to solve a puzzle or two. Head to the site and solve one or two puzzles, or settle in for a marathon and solve until your eyes bleed, it is up to you. But definitely play Picma and enjoy the experience!

When alien slugs start invading, giant birds are having a territory war, and the giant beast chained in your cave is more teeth than cuddles, who're ya gonna call?... what? No! Not the Ghostbusters! Reemus and Liam are back to save the day, eventually, in the third chapter of this point and click saga from Ringmaster of Weirdness, Zeebarf. "Ghostbusters". Honestly.

Minecraft is a sandbox game that lets you make your own world out of colorful building blocks. Construct a fortress, and then plant tulips on the parapets. Dig a vast network of subterranean tunnels, drop a colony of people down the rabbit hole, and watch them wander. Or, if you're in a particularly metacognitive mood, make a sandbox. Uncage your imagination, and let it take you where it will.

The title sounds like the name of a top-secret Cold War superweapon, or perhaps a very specialized brand of bleach, but Red Remover has nothing to do with either Soviets or stains. Instead, this latest offering from Gaz charges you with the task of removing all of the melancholy red blocks in a level while keeping all the exuberant greens.

Bloons Tower Defense takes the Bloons concept—popping balloons, preferably with monkeys involved—and spins it in a new and intriguing direction. It's your standard tower defense game but with monkeys popping balloons with darts and various other sharp instruments. It's a flawed but engaging title that is sure to please die-hard Bloons fans.

Windosill is the story of a toy car, a little blue box with wheels and a smokestack, who one day dares to journey outside of its confining storage shelf. You, armed with the power to touch, carry, poke, prod, and experiment, will lead the toy through a cool blue dream presented in stages, a series of shadow-boxes full of curious characters and structures, each with its own puzzle to be solved.

Grow ver.2 is completely different than what Grow ver.3 turned out to be, and yet the basic premise is the same as it is for all of the Grow games: Just click on the various items, one-by-one, and try to make them all reach their maximum level. Hint: order matters.

Bloxorz is a simple idea for a puzzle game that is beautifully executed. The objective is to tumble a rectangular block through each stage and deposit it into the square hole at the end. Using a series of bridge-opening switches, teleporters, and block-splitting switches, solve the puzzle each stage presents to move on to the next of the game's 33 levels.

Gravitee 2 is space golf! In space! Send a ball out into the cosmos, whipping around planets and barreling through hoops. With 90 achievements, 4 different medals awarded per level, rewards to unlock, and a well-crafted level editor, you'll want to put your space pants on, grab your space mouse, fire up your space computer, and spend some serious time playing space golf.

Built in 1970, and deserted some time after that, no one has entered the house since the entire family committed suicide due to reasons unknown. Point-and-click your way through The House to unfold the mystery of what really happened to that fateful fictitious family. Best viewed alone, late at night, in the dark, and with the sound turned up. Not for the faint of heart.

Despite being a relatively simple game, YHTBTR has earned quite a fanbase. It boasts a game manual, four walkthroughs (including one YouTube walkthrough and one in German), a speedrun posted on YouTube, a Spanish Wikipedia page, a text-adventure version, a novelization, and a fan-comic. Come see what all the hype is about.

Eufloria, formerly known as Dyson, is a real-time strategy game built around the concepts of simplicity, ambience, and gentle pacing. It plays like an evolved version of Risk or Galcon, where sheer numbers and a good strategy are all you need to dominate. Eufloria isn't about warriors battling over blood-soaked soil. It's a slow, organic game that uses plants as its inspiration, challenging you to expand a seedling empire one asteroid at a time.

Robin the Archer in Pixeland is a platform adventure that's all about Robin, a cute little character made out of chunky pixels who's really good with the bow. Each level is filled with coins, enemies, breakable blocks, and a whole mess of tricky jumps to navigate. Work your way through over a dozen stages, stopping between levels to upgrade your abilities.

Hoshi Saga is a simple game of discovery. One part point-and-click and one part puzzle game, the objective in each of the game's 36 stages is to find the star. How you go about doing that is different for every stage. The task is up to you to figure out how. Just right to get those brain cells jumping with inspiration and excitement on a Monday.

John Cooney, author of TBA, TBA2, Grid16, and the Ball Revamped series, has unveiled his latest epic adventure. Along with timeless, classic platforming gameplay, Achievement Unlocked offers you the opportunity to earn no less than One. Hundred. Achievements. Holy bat farts on a bus.

Nick Chase: A Detective Story is a gritty, film noir-style casual adventure game flavored with hidden object scenes and loads of delicious inventory puzzles. Based on classic detective stories and graphic novels, you follow the down-and-out Nick Chase as he embarks upon his first job in ages. From his messy office to shady hideouts of even shadier characters, you'll have to use your own detective skills to piece together evidence and solve puzzles. It's one of the most enjoyable detective games I've played in quite a while, and the stellar voice acting and gorgeous hand-drawn art scores major points in my book.

Nancy Drew has returned in a brand new hidden object adventure! The ink is still warm from her previous case, so one would think Nancy gets a little vacation. It's anything but time to relax when a series of "construction accidents" (explosions!) rocks a posh spa/resort, forcing Nancy to investigate without alerting the wealthy clientele.

You awake, dazed and disoriented, on the floor of an empty room, your eyes alighting first on the bricked up windows... and the gun on the ground in front of you. But the house is silent. What could you possibly need to defend yourself against? Find out in this atmospheric point-and-click game mingled with action elements that will have you questioning whether or not you can trust your own eyes.

Here's a game that needs no introduction around here, the next game in the amazing and wonderful Grow series from Eyezmaze has just released today. Grow Nano Vol. 3 has the same familiar gameplay, graphics, animation and soundtrack as the others, and it is sure to put a smile on your face.

Just escaped from a transparent capsule filled with viscous green fluid, aided by texts from an unknown benefactor, trapped in a laboratory full of disturbing experiments, you must point and click your way to freedom. This short adventure from the author of Ghostscape keeps things dark and foreboding.

How hard could building a bridge be? In a game where you have to retrieve an elephant from a distant island, the answer may surprise you. Cargo Bridge asks you to engineer a sturdy path for your movers as they transport crates, safes, and yes, elephants.

Occasionally it's nice just to sit back, relax, and fire up the little gray cells to solve a series of puzzles rather than fry them from constant adrenaline. Escape from the Pumpkin Room is not the most original or taxing room escape game, but it's a wonderful cure for the mid-week blahs. A nice combination of logic puzzle solving and use of found objects guarantees that you will enjoy stretching the neurons a little without ending up slamming your head on the desk in frustration.

A new, creative puzzle game has surfaced, and it rocks: A little gem from Candystand that's called Electric Box. The premise is quite simple, and I'm sure you'll agree: You've got some power at point A, so get some to point B. There's many tricks and gadgets you will have to use to win, Like doodads that give power out, or things that take it in.

Switzerland. 1904. While others live out their dull, unassuming lives, a spy known as Kara continues her hunt for the elusive Karl von Toten all the way to Zurich. But while she narrows the gap between herself and her quarry, she remains all too aware that the only footsteps she hears in the dark alleyways may not be her own. The third chapter in this popular spy point-and-click adventure series is every bit as gritty and as challenging as previous installments.

Alchemia is an absolutely gorgeous new animated point-and-click adventure from Springtail Studio. Play a little hero after he shoots from the sky a bizarre looking creature. He sets off on an adventure to figure out what happened and to help his unfortunate new companion. Brilliant puzzles, illustrations and music abound, and some puzzles will require lateral thinking and problem solving rather than just simply clicking in the right areas in the correct sequence.

Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a robot bicyclist free falling down a cliff into a pit of lava! If you think that sounds far too silly, you may not be ready for the sort of freewheeling craziness CycloManiacs is here to dish up. Featuring 20 different riders, unlockable stages, achievements, upgrades and more, it's a fast-paced racing game of a different breed.

This week on Link Dump Friday... excitement! Danger! Riches beyond your wildest dreams!!... well, all right. So maybe it's just another hand-picked batch of the most delicious, freshly baked Link Dump-y games from around the net. Maybe there really aren't any riches to be had. But if you don't play, how will you ever find out?

Newly thawed from Nitrome, Ice Breaker is a great-looking physics-based puzzle game involving vikings, chunks of ice, and vikings frozen inside chunks of ice. Using the mouse, simply draw lines to cut the ice and drop vikings onto the ship. You'll often need to manipulate the frozen environment to create a smooth path for the vikingcicles to slide down, so timing and a little experimentation with physics are your two best friends in this game.

All you have to do in NinjaDoodle's ClickPLAY! is press the Play button, but that Play button sure does run and hide in some sneaky ways. Track it down and click it!

Escape: The Phone Booth is the third installment in the popular "Escape" series that has you facing off against a phone booth. As usual, there is no plot behind your encasement. All that matters is that you need to escape! The queue of items at your disposal is extremely limited, so you need to make the best of what you can in such a tight space... Ow, my elbow!

With Zuma's Revenge Popcap has hit a homerun. As with the original, you can easily waste hours and hours playing this game with no end in sight. Humorous, beautiful, addictive, Zuma's revenge includes everything a casual gamer could desire, with 50% more boss fights!

Avenue Flo features everyone's favorite waitress as she tries to help her fellow business owners salvage what could be the biggest wedding Diner Town has ever seen. Tony and Vicky are finally getting married! Maybe. Quinn of Wedding Dash fame is at her wit's end. The rings are missing, the cake has gone bad and all of the butterflies have flown away. Flo quickly springs into action and hits the streets of Diner Town in search of answers.

Have you ever wanted to step into a fairytale? Now's your chance to take on the role of Princess Isabella. Implore your puzzle solving and object finding skills to remove the witch's curse from the castle and save your friends and family from their magical imprisonment.

From the Discovery Channel comes a casually-oriented strategy game of tactics, battle, mining and exploration. The world's energy reserves have run out, but a new element called helium

From developer Lucas Paakh comes a journey into the fantastic with William and Sly. Take on the role of an agile fox in a fantastic world, working to uncover all of it's secrets and find out the reason why a network of teleportation runes has suddenly stopped working. With a massive map to explore, achievements to earn, and powers to acquire, William and Sly is almost more experience than game.