First Love is an escape-type game, though there is no real escaping to be done. It's a nice combination of Robamimi's sentiment and Bianco-Bianco's quirkiness. This is not a tense nail-biter, nor a pure cold logic puzzle. Instead, it is a warm and fuzzy nostalgia trip that is perfect for a short break from the holiday madness.

Play the role of Santa Claus, trapped in a lovely, warm A-Frame cottage trying to make your way out. It's tempting to just relax in the rocking chair, but there's escaping to be done, so try to avoid the temptation. Wander around the cozy, inviting space and investigate every nook and cranny, there's bound to be a way out. None of the puzzles are terribly tricky, but this is a fun, calm, quiet room escape perfect for the holiday season. What are you waiting for? You have presents to deliver!

Christmas Escape 3 continues the Neutral tradition of fine escapes as you encounter chirping chicks, a mercenary kitty cat, and oh, yeah, how good are you at ice fishing? The whole thing hangs together beautifully and the ending is, well, as cute as a button. It's the perfect present to escape fans for the holiday season.

It's Dismantling time yet again! Gam.ebb.jp is back with another dismantlement, and this time it's personal! Well, this time it's a mouse, at any rate. Fun, logical, and it appeals to that little part in all of us that revels in just breaking something down to its basic components. What are you waiting for, start dismantling!

Despite all the silliness, there's lots of real escaping fun to be had in A Code Escape from Japan. A nice mix of puzzle solving and use of found objects; with the need for the animals' own special abilities thrown in for good measure makes for wonderful gaming experience. There are even two endings to be found in this little gem. Marvel at the leaping dog and the punching cat, just remember to use them well while you are playing nurse.

Beard of Santa is the perfect mid-week pick-me-up, especially at this time of year. Fire up this little gem and learn what you've always suspected: cats are good gymnasts, raccoons are helpful gardeners, composting is good for the environment, and Santa really does suck sometimes, doesn't he?

Welcome to Bubble Tanks Tower Defense, a nifty little, free-form tower defense game from the talented guys of Hero Interactive guys. Come, join these trigger-happy bubble tanks as they hunker down for battle. With so many levels and upgrades, the player is guaranteed a wonderful, tower defending good time.

Escape Ancient China Room is a lovely, well-put together little escape game that depends more on your ability to combine objects than to solve puzzles. In other words, the bulk of the game is finding and using what you've found. It's a little trickier than most escapes featured in Weekday Escape, and yet still makes for a nice break in the middle of the week with its lovely scenery and the calming music.

A point-and-click adventure set in a magical and mystical world that never was. Created by 3dpi Games, makers of the Tortuga series, Mandrake 1 begins a new series on the foibles of the Van der Dooms and their increasingly bitter dispute. The artwork has a nice, stylish hand drawn look done up in shades of black, white, and gray with just a hint of color here and there to liven things up.

Welcome to Dismantlement: Tea Canister, another great point and click where you can have once again have fun reducing something to its basic components. Mind you, there's usually not much to dismantle when it comes to a tea canister. Still, it's nice to tear things apart, so go for it. Take a break from the everyday and start dismantling! Just try not to blow up so much, okay?

Welcome to The Water Well by no1game.net, a quiet room escape game that won't solve all your problems, but is certainly an oasis of calm in an otherwise frantic week.

Fantasy of the Sord is a classically styled adventure game and a finalist in our 6th Casual Gameplay Design Competition. In answer to the call of the competition, Klint Honeychurch has taken the theme of "exploration" and given us a sweet little nugget that harkens back to the early days of console gaming; a time when a flurry of pixels was as well-designed as the high-polygon count, 3D models of today.

Escape From Mr. Y's Room is a relaxing way to stretch your brain in the middle of the week without overheating. Let the bare walls and lilting piano music take you to a very Zen place as you try to escape. Settle into a lotus position, take a deep breath, let it out, and enjoy the Zen of casual gameplay.

How My Grandfather Won the War is a stunningly beautiful game that is worth a second, and even third play through. Treat it as a simple side-scroller or go deeper and explore every inch of its breathtaking cardboard world. The detail is so fantastic you can almost touch the screen and feel the rough edges of haphazardly cut items.

Bart Bonte has given us a stylishly-designed and enjoyable, bunny filled way to have a little fun and waste a little time. Clean, stylish, and polished, Full Moon is a fantastic casual gameplay experience.

Although dark, brooding, atmospheric, scary, or slam-your-head-against-the-desk hard room escapes are always fun, in the middle of the week it's nice to kick back and enjoy something simpler. A nice break from the everyday that won't take up the entire day (or even the entire break, if you're really quick). So sit back, relax, and enjoy a cappuccino of an escape game. With colorful sprinkles!

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).

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

While not as long as a full-sized downloadable game, Legend of the Golden Mask is a complete adventure, a perfect way to while away an afternoon, or a coffee break. Ultimately a fun, casual gameplay experience that can be enjoyed by everyone.

Bloktonik is an addictive new colored block-matching game with a twist: blocks come into the play area from all 4 sides, and it's up to you to manage where they land. A new twist on an old classic, Bloktonik is a great way to waste an afternoon. Or several, depending on how willing you are to are to avoid the real world.

Cuber is a short but cute and enjoyable physics puzzle that will test your construction skills to the limit.All you must do is keep the smiling little green ball from falling off the screen. To do this, construct something from the available materials and then let the little ball drop. You are limited only by your imagination and your budget.

A collaboration between game developer and artist, The Glean of Glob was initially created as an interactive art installation. And though this Web edition might be called an experimental point-and-click, the term 'game as art' is definitely at play here. Add this to the category of games that push the envelope of what a game can be.

While not a complicated life-or-death struggle to escape, Escape from the Meeting Room is perfect for mid-week casual gameplay. Short enough to fit in a lunch break (or even a coffee break), escape from responsibility, escape from the everyday, and most importantly Escape from the Meeting Room!

Cake Pirate is a tower defense game in which you add elements (ingredients) to your towers (cakes) to make different power-up combinations. The twist here is that your lives are also cakes, and you can sell those cakes for money to upgrade your cake towers. And it has a cake that shoots bees!

Sometimes it's nice to kick back, relax, and enjoy the scenery and the truly casual gameplay of a room escape. The puzzles themselves are tricky without being difficult, adding to the relaxation factor. While there is only one way out, there are three different endings based on your methodology. Having trouble getting over the mid-week hump? Then sit down, relax, pour a drink, and spend a little time escaping the Strawberry Cafe.

Magical Sphere Escape evokes that Myst-like sensation of not just solving puzzles, but solving history. And despite its flaws, Magical Sphere Escape is one of the best escape games I have played. There are a couple places where you'll need your Veteran Escaper Sense™ to find a clue or item, but the major puzzles are astonishingly logical. But be sure to read our review and consult our translation notes to get the most out of hidden gem.

U-Sensor is a fun, engaging escape game from Japanese development studio, HILG (G-Sensor). Short enough for casual gameplay yet complex enough (three different ways out) to have fun playing more than once. Escape the doldrums of office work by escaping from the office!

GUMP has done it again! The boy with the pink hair is back! Uranus picks up where Neptune left off, in that same mysterious ivy-lined passage, only to trap you in yet another strange room you must escape. But not alone! Prepare to meet a most... unusual companion. Uranus is not terribly taxing but still an enjoyable weekday escape.

Roses are red, violets are blue, this little point-and-click adventure is just for you! Learn the language of love to help one confused fellow win back his sweetheart after taking her for granted. Short, sweet, and silly, Finding My Heart is a clever take on the genre where hunting for words and actions instead of objects is what you'll need to do to win the day.