The Dofi-Blog sand and zombie toys are making their way around the Web like a ??? explosion (inside joke), and for good reason: they are quite literally sand box games that allow for a seemingly infinite variety of creative play. And now the author, d_of_i, has released another sand world, Hell of Sand, which appears to be a combination of the previously reviewed War of the Hell and World of Sand.

There is plenty of remarkable work being done over at Dofi-Blog in both the Java and Processing languages. Although the blog is written predominantly in Japanese, there are several compelling and engaging interactive games and toys that should not be missed regardless of your language of choice. Strongly recommended: World of Sand.

Just in time for the holidays, On of Eyezmaze has done it again: a brand new X-mas mini-Grow game has just been released and, as the name implies, is a bit shorter and sweeter than the others. On's Grow games are all elegantly simple, and accessible to people of all ages. A wonderful holiday gift from Eyezmaze.

In a plea to save the whales, Greenpeace has posted this cute and delightful Flash game on its website for the world to play. Whale-Flip! puts you in control of two (2) different whales on a cooperative mission to rid the waters of the nasty polluting submarines.

The Dark Complex builds on the brilliant puzzle work of the first game, The Dark Room, by creating an entire complex of rooms, each with its own unique puzzle inside. This is a game that will keep you busy and mesmerized for hours. Be sure to bring a paper and pencil with you, you'll need them to find your way out of this dark, complex game.

Kafkamesto is an unusual and dark interactive narrative that will at first seem familiar to those acquainted with point-and-click adventures, but beware the futility in store. The over-arching narrative seems to be as much a statement about Kafka's own life as it is the themes he often wrote about.

Deanimator is an elegantly simple, gorgeous and gruesome shooter that was inspired by one of H. P. Lovecraft's short stories, Herbert West: Reanimator, which is the gruesome tale of an eccentric young doctor with a penchant for experiments that involve reanimating the dead. If you have the stomach for survival horror, don't miss this one.

This gorgeous, interactive narrative and detective drama is set in the late 1920's and produced by the award-winning creative team at Preloaded in the UK. Death in Sakkara is an Egyptian adventure game that offers a rich immersing narrative experience peppered with historical content, puzzles, mystery and intrigue. All four (4) episodes available to play.

As far as casual game design is concerned, I find much to celebrate about Gas Games. All of the games on the site have been created with a consistent appearance and style, and many of them feature gameplay that is unique and addictive. A few of my favorites are Fulfillment, Gravity, and Centrifuge.

Sporting stylized graphics and an infectious soundtrack, GunRun delivers the goods with flair in classic arcade action style. This beautiful 2D side-scrolling shooter was created in Flash by Felix Reidl of Germany.

One of my favorite mini-games from Globz gets another sequel: Twin Spin III picks-up where the first two left off, continuing the same addictive gameplay formula with 24 all-new levels. The core gameplay mechanic consists of clicking the mouse button (or space bar) to 'walk' a baton around the play field and explode all of the balloons that exist for each level.

Escape from Rhetundo Island is a little bit point-and-click, a little bit Lemmings, and a little bit Hapland all rolled into one. It strings together a sequence of individual screens, or vignettes, through which you must safely navigate the stick-figure protagonist, Johnny Tag. Another amazing game from Rob Allen.

HyperFrame is a new puzzle game offered by Shockwave.com that combines 3D graphics and an engaging soundtrack to create a compelling interactive experience. The goal of the game is fairly simple: connect each pair of same-colored blocks with an unbroken line that does not cross over, or use the same space as, another color.

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.

This odd pair of Flash puzzle games comes complete with a geeky title expressed in XML. Use the mouse for interaction within each puzzle: point, click, drag, whatever it takes to solve its mystery. The author offers up this description: "Within the confines of this virtual space cyclicality is deemed a violation of basic human sensibilities." I'll leave that for you to ponder.

As I enter Guano Junction inside the Bat Hole, I check my equipment. Chef's hat? Check. Rubber axe? Check. Frilly skirt? Check. Dirty hobo gloves? Check. Pine-Fresh air freshener? Check (well, one can never be too careful). I am ready for anything.

Slingstar marks the 26th Flash game created and released by David Thorburn on his Teagames.com website. The pace at which he is able to create new games is remarkable! In this one, the most recent of his games, he creates a new game by combining two classic gameplay mechanics: the slingshot and the platformer.

Bania Kururin is a wonderful Japanese action game in which you play as an anime-style cat-girl character with a rocket-pack on her back. The author of the game has kidnapped your little cat-friend and plans to eat him, so you must rescue him by collecting stars. Tricky at first to control, and yet very gratifying once you get the hang of it.

Avoid suspicion. Lie to your friends. Eliminate your enemies. Cry Wolf is a multiplayer Web game created to promote a movie of the same name coming to theaters this September. And if the movie is executed as well as the game has been, it will likely be a hit at the box office.

Infect is an action arcade game in which you play a virus. Your mission is to survive by infecting red blood cells while avoiding white blood cells and antibiotics.

One more game to leave you with to sweat it out over the weekend. Mark Arenz over at Ridiculopathy.com, author of the previously reviewed Swinger game, has just released his latest creation and it's a unique combination of point-and-click puzzles with arcade mini-games thrown in for good measure.

Created by Taro Ito, a Japanese game developer whom publishes his work under the name GameDesign, this domino-toppling game transported me back to Nan's living room floor where rows of dominoes and blocks often stood, precariously on end, awaiting destruction.

Anyone familiar with Ferry Halim's Orisinal collection of games will immediately recognize his characteristic style of art in the image to the right. Those who are not yet familiar are in for a treat: These playful pups are the main characters in his latest Flash game.

No Brainer is a fast-paced quiz game that asks what seems to be a never-ending string of questions, all of of which require a simple yes or no answer. It's a fun and hilarious game that is sure to put a smile on your face, and even more fun when playing with some friends.

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.

Probably one of the greatest Flash games ever created and made available for free on the Web, The Asylum is a surprisingly rich interactive narrative experience and it continues to surprise and delight gamers of all ages from all over the world. Won't you help these adorable cuddly toys overcome a distressing past?

Comboling is an original puzzle game that is very easy to pick-up and play. It was conceived by Jérôme Lulling in the mid-80's by examining tiles on the bathroom floor. He eventually teamed up with Dmitry Irsheins to help bring his idea to life, and the result of that collaboration is this remarkable Flash game.

Case Western University student, John Tantalo, created this elegantly simple game with gratifying and addictive gameplay. Planarity is a Flash puzzle game that is played by clicking and dragging the vertices of a 2D geometric shape to rearrange them such that no lines cross. Simple to understand, difficult to put down.

Hanamushi is an absolutely gorgeous Japanese website filled with beautiful artwork and even a couple of Flash point-and-click adventures to discover. Simply amazing. And yet there is a dark side to the shapes that lurk in the shadows, so watch where you step. For the truly adventurous.

Toby Godden, of Vibration13.com, has made available two different games that are both worth playing: Virus and Treasure Hunt. Virus is composed of several puzzles that you must solve separately and together to win the game. In other words, the answers you gain from one may be used to solve another. Virus...

Created by Macoto Yanagisawa of Japan, this Shockwave work of art is a nice diversion from the usual fare, and there is much to see and hear in this electro-luminescent piece. Click the mouse to cycle through the displays; move the mouse to interact with each. Although it's not Electroplankton, it is very reminiscent of the musical wonder-toy for Nintendo's dual-screened handheld.

Pong was an amazing and innovative game in its time. Unfortunately, after the novelty wore off there just wasn't much gameplay left to hold our interest. And by today's standards, it's just too simple a game to be much fun anymore. GameLab leverages the simplicity of Pong, as well as that...

Manuel Fallmann's latest offering on his MINDistortion site is a turn-based strategy game against the CPU, or a human opponent at the same computer. The object of Quarkz is to be the first player to reach the number of points designated as the victory condition by adding particles to the...

An unusual Flash game with a variety of gameplay possibilities, Magnetism lets you select the type of game that is right for you. Created by Tyler Glaiel, a 14 year-old budding game developer, Magnetism is a unique puzzle game that features challenges of strategy and skill with an emphasis on...

After playing many "me-too" casual games that offer nothing other than a new skin to old gameplay, it is refreshing when a game comes along that forces you to think differently. And though Mamezo is not the first game to offer such a gameplay mechanic as drawing lines to bounce an object around the play field, it is a game that will provide a unique experience for many.

Another recent production from Rubilon is this odd and yet simple game of timing. Babycal Throw is an action arcade game in which the player attempts to hit walking and running targets by tossing bean-bags up in the air. What makes this game special is the manner in which Rubilon has implemented the scoring and the power-ups.

Rumble Ball is a strategy game of sorts. The object is to score the most points you can by hitting colored items on the play field with a large ball. I was immediately drawn to this game due to its very pretty presentation. The appealing graphics and top-down, pseudo-3D appearance make this game compelling for most anyone to pick up and play.

The Machine is a Shockwave game about a normal computer interface gone awry. The object of the game is to correct the chaos, right the wrong, and make it through to the end. In other words, figure out what to do on your own because the journey is the reward. What I will say is that you will only need the mouse to point, click, and drag.

Unlock is a unique little puzzle game in which you must unlock the secrets of each stage to advance to the next. Some stages are easy, while others are maddening difficult. This game will tease your brain and test your patience and resolve. Another game designed by Uminin of Flash...

This time a Flash shmup from Uminin of the Flash Game Zone in Japan. Moment Zero is a mostly grayscale shooter of exceptional design. Noteworthy features include a lock-on targeting mechanism and multiple paths through the game. From the initial enemy wave you can tell this isn't any ordinary shooter. The...

Park is another point-and-click exploration game from the Vector Park, the very same that created the tranquilizing Levers game. This one is easy and a bit short, and yet it will certainly delight those who enjoy the thrill of discovery that this type of game offers.

I have point-and-click happiness to spread throughout the world today in the form of a cube. Not so much a puzzle as it is an interactive narrative that unfolds with each click of the mouse in the appropriate place. See what happens when a mysterious cube falls out of the sky and lands on the ground in the middle of a very round town filled with round things.

la Pâte à Son is an amazing sound toy created in France. This original musical piece and compositional tool was conceived to encourage musical experimentation, and its achievements surpass its goal. Not only is this toy fun to play and experiment with, it is also capable of creating some very beautiful music.

Rodeo is a Flash game that is clever in its simplicity of style and remarkably fun in execution. Created by Mark Vertegaal of Coldtomatoes in the Netherlands, the object of the game is to ride the bull for as long as you can. Click the rider's hat to begin, and then...

Polyphonic Spree did it with Quest for the Rest, and now a band called Mae is promoting their soon-to-be-released album, The Everglow, with a brand new Flash game. The Everglow mixes original music from the band's new album with several short games to provide an entertaining interactive experience. Included is a...

It's always a happy day when discovering that Ferry Halim has released a new addition to his Orisinal line of fine Flash games. Just like Grandma's delicate china reserved for those very special guests, Orisinal games offer game play experiences for discriminating tastes. A Daily Cup of Tea is his latest...

One of the more popular games available for the Nintendo DS, the odd and unique Feel The Magic offers a bevy of bite-sized mini-games that make good use of the innovative handheld's features. The simple premise is that you are a boy who attempts to win over the affection of...

Panzo the Panda bear got more than he bargained for in this Shockwave remake of Pang from Japan. Geru Geru Panic roughly translates to Gel Gel Panic, a reference no doubt to the gelatinous goo that the aliens appear to be made of. Although it may seem odd, you don't need to speak Japanese to enjoy the amazing good times packed into this little gem.

On over at Eyezmaze has just released another addition to his ever-expanding collection of unique and enchanting Flash games. Hatch is an action arcade game that will put your reflexes and hand-eye coordination to the test. To play, put your fingers on each of the keys of the keyboard representing...

"My name is Ada. I'm going to show you how to catch butterflies." Loop is a delightful action game that makes use of the mouse for drawing loops around butterflies to catch them. It's a full-featured, multi-level, gorgeous Web game with personality, style and grace. If you haven't seen this one before, don't miss out! Created by gameLab, and hosted by Shockwave.com.

Can you torque the talk? In this unusual Flash adventure game your spacecraft crash lands on an alien planet, and to escape you must observe the culture and learn a new language to communicate with the inhabitants of this alien world. Remarkable in its originality and design, as well as its gameplay.

The Dark Room is an absolutely brilliant Flash puzzle game that is as gorgeous as it is enjoyable. Using only the mouse, point, click and solve the mystery of the dark room in this amazing and remarkable hi-tech themed puzzle game. Created by Jonathan May of Woolythinking.

It shouldn't be surprising that from the world's smallest website comes the world's smallest games. From British game and Web designer Alan Outten comes this very tiny website, only 18 pixels wide by 18 pixels high, yet it is packed full with games such as Pong, Pacman, Footy, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pinball, and others. Everything old is new again.

As the days get shorter, so do the starry nights get longer with the winter solstice fast approaching. Capturing the essence of these calm and peaceful nights is Ferry Halim's beautiful Starry Night. The Flash game is a work of art, and of exemplary casual game design.

A game in which you're given magnetic control over the environment in the form of a bunny with a electromagnet for a head. The premise of Magnet 2 is a bit odd, but the gameplay formula works brilliantly. Each level presents different objects and obstacles where you must maneuver the magnet to attract the objects into the goal. Magnet 2 proves that realistic high-tech graphics are not required for creating games that are engaging and fun to play.

Just one of several games created by Takahiro Miyazawa of SKT Products in Japan. Goki Dash is a Pac-Mac style Flash game where you control a cockroach that eats up green dots while avoiding the roach-eating gecko. The play field is larger than the game window, so there is a little more ground to cover than what meets the eye. Several difficulty settings provide enough challenge for any level of game player.

Birdy is another cute little Flash game from Mach Parat. Move the mouse over the game window to take control of the little birdy. Eat, but don't be eaten or get carried away. Like the other No Clix games in the series, no mouse clicks are required to play. These games are simple and fun to play for a quick amusement and attitude adjustment break. C...

This is just one of several cute little Flash games by the talented folks at Mach Parat in Cologne, Germany. UBoot is played in a browser by simply moving the mouse over the game window. No clicks are required. In fact, this is one of several games in their No Clix series. Simple and elegant with gameplay to boot. Clix. Included here with permissi...

Madness. Not really a game, and yet I had a lot of fun playing with Just Letters, a Flash Communications Server application. Basically, there is a white board with lots of English alphabet letters on it that you drag around to form words, sort into colors, or what ever you like. Problem is, there are many others all doing the same thing.

A new game by the multi-talented Ferry Halim, High Delivery elevates Flash game design to new heights of artistic expression. Armed with a small fan propeller, the object of the game is to blow air at the always upward floating balloon to influence its movement. By moving the dangling bottle to within range of the falling blossoms, they are thus ca...

A cross between a point-and-click puzzle game, interactive art, and a Rube Goldberg invention, Treasure Box is a gorgeous and fun little Flash game that puts you to the task of finding the treasure of a king long since passed. It's a short and beautiful interactive multimedia adventure from an artist with a purpose.

This is a brand new Flash puzzle game by Tonypa, called NeliNurk. The object of the game is to locate rectangles on the play field by clicking each of four corners of the same color.

From Orgdot, a media lab based in Oslo, Norway, DNA Factory is a Flash game that features stylized pixel graphics with a biotechnology theme. Gameplay consists of aligning the 4 base chemicals of DNA into symbol pairs using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

Craziest is the story of a girl in love with Scrabble, and how it influenced her life, her beliefs, and her destiny. The Flash movie tells the tale of her brush with fate and the mother-of-all Scrabble scores. Engaging, creative, entertaining, humorous and original, and possibly only slightly disturbing. Wow, that's a lot of adjectives for an 8-minute movie.

Mudcraft is a real-time strategy game playable in any browser with the Shockwave plug-in. Mudpeople gather dirt and water to make more Mudpeople, and they build huts to protect themselves from the rain. If caught in the rain, they melt and must be revived with more dirt. Gather resources to complete the objectives for each level. Delightfully dirty.

Audiogame est musique interactive by Frenchman marc Em. This Flash ‘game' is a collection of works incorporating feats of multimedia genius. Combining audio and video elements with interactivity and motion graphics, marc Em draws you into each of his creations as conductor, director, performer, and player. The entire project has evolved over the last 2 years, and Audiogame continues to be a work in progress. As dynamic as the compositions it contains.

An irresistible, fast-paced action Flash game where the objective is to kill the required number of pacmans (or is it pacmen?) within the time limit. You ‘kill' a pacman by jumping on it, Mario-style. Simply hop from one pacman to the next without falling to the ground. Simple and addictive.

The tree of Vanilla grows rapidly and becomes difficult to manage and balance if not cared for properly. Like the tree it's named after, Vanilla is a deliciously refreshing and original game from Eyezmaze that is simple to pick-up and play, but difficult to beat. The objective is to see how high you can make the tree grow before it tips too far towards either edge of the play field.

Monkey Slide shines with glistening golden bananas, twinkling shooting stars and cute adorable monkeys all sliding down a pole. Your task is to get all the monkeys to safety while avoiding all the bombs. Games don't get much cuter than this, nor more beautiful. An Orisinal production.

The disappearing cursor game was created in Flash by Tom Pennock and released to the public just a few days ago on his site, BeatsTelevision.com. It's a game with a modest design and lofty expectations on the player. There are at least 12 levels where you must navigate the cursor with the mouse from point A (Go) to point B. The concept sounds easy, until you actually give it a try.

A creative play on words gives this game a poetic name and purpose, while a poem at the beginning of the game gives it soul. And yet it's the haunting imagery of men of straw being eaten by a murder of ravenous crows, and then coming alive to thrash and swipe for their lives that gives this game its magic. A beautiful work of art disguised as an enjoyable game. Or is it the other way around?

Warthog Launch is an exceptionally good physics puzzle game with gratifying gameplay that feels a bit like bowling. Simply position the Warthog, add grenades, and blast-off. Clear all the creatures on the play field in one fell-swoop to advance to the next level. More fun that it should be, this game is the bomb.

Og Og Alive is an original concept action adventure game of life back in the stone ages when days were spent foraging for food and protection. Play as either male or female Og Og, and pay particular attention to the hints they give as you adventure through the game. This excellent and unusual game is part of the Game On initiative of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Best Game award winner at the Flash Forward Festival in San Francisco, Chasm is a point-and-click adventure game that stands head-and-shoulders above the rest of the pack. Containing top-notch production values that rivals many commercial products, the animation is excellent with colors and cell shaded graphics that resemble a Warner Bros. Loony-Toons cartoon. Highly recommended.

The prolific and gifted Ferry Halim has created yet another wonderful game and it plays like a Disney animated short. Think Fantasia and Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies and you won't be far from the Flash magic Ferry serves up in this game: Chrysalides turn to butterflies when zapped by your little magic dew drops as you fall through the branches of a very, very tall tree.

Naive's latest game is Equilibrium in which you must balance your unicycle on a tightrope using the mouse. Then, while balancing, use the tightrope as a slingshot to jump in the air and catch the orbs that float by. The artwork is beautiful, the soundtrack is soothing, and the gameplay mechanics make this game a lot of fun.

C'est bizarre. From Paris, France, Yamago.net is a talented bunch of Flash and web folks that serve up games and cartoons, and multiplayer environments. Many of their games are very strange, like the one I've highlighted here: Sick and Famous.

From VectorPark comes this incredibly mesmerizing Flash game of physics and balance. Create an intricate mobile by attaching each piece such that balance is maintained. If done properly, another piece will drop in the water for you to continue with. How far can you get?

Bubbles is a clever and addictive arcade game in which the objective is to collect bubbles to score points while avoiding spikes that can burst your own bubble. The problem is that the more bubbles you collect, the larger your bubble becomes, which makes navigation a bit trickier. A grooving soundtrack and numerous power-ups make this game a lot of fun.

The Asylum: Psychiatric Clinic for Abused Cuddly Toys, that's the extended name of this very odd Flash game. And the gameplay is just as strange: through various therapeutic methods, attempt to lead the cuddly toy patients to resolve their traumatic past experiences. If you have ever wondered if someone would ever make a game for therapists, it's time to stop wondering.

The Telephone is a stylish and unique puzzle game in which you embark on an adventure by dialing in destinations. The destinations are 3-digit telephone numbers that you find in each 'level' and which advance you through the game. Each destination is unique in its objective, sound, and interface.

Micro Life is a real time strategy game (RTS) that is quite easy to play, and it has a lot of charm to compensate for the relatively light challenge it presents. Accessible to all ages, this game is one part simulation, one part strategy, and one part Insaniquarium all rolled into one.

Another puzzle game, this time from the Netherlands. This one is a new spin on the Rubik's cube genre, if there is such beast, and it's called Sloyd (I think they could have come up with a better name, although I have no idea what Sloyd means in Dutch).

Not a game per se, but definitely fun to play with. Infinite Wheel is a series of Flash movies by Jim Johnstone that borrows samples from various 'Dub' artists and presents them in a virtual playground in which you click, drag, and mouse-over the unique and compelling interactive controls to create your own dub music mixes.

From Popcap comes this cute, strange and addictive, action strategy Java game called Insaniquarium. Originally developed by Flying Bear Entertainment, Insaniquarium won the Innovation in Game Design award at the 2002 Independent Games Festival (IGF).

A lot of thought and design went into developing the Anti-Bush Online VideoGame. It's a mix of SouthPark brashness with old-school 2D side-scrolling fun. Everyone should play it, if for no other reason than to see just how George Bush has failed us as our president. The Emperor has no clothes! We must get rid of him before it's too late.

A wonderfully bizarre and strangely fun interactive narrative by Jakub Dvorský of Amanita Design. Samorost is the granddaddy of all Web Flash point-and-click adventure games. It is full of clicky puzzles and beautifully rendered scenes mixed with animations and various gadgetry. The number one game in the Best of 2004, and now it even has a sequel.

While on the subject of Pacman, several months ago there was a posting on Slashdot games about a Japanese programmer who re-created Pacman entirely in an Excel spreadsheet. Upon reading the story I was both amazed and curious, so I downloaded the zip file from the site linked-to in the story. And it really was Pacman, right down to the cut scenes b...

Here's a Flash game about gene sequencing from the UK which is surprisingly fun to play. The controls took me a couple of games to get used to, then I caught on to it quickly. It's all about constructing genes by piecing amino acids together in the proper sequence. A very odd premise on which to build a game, but it works quite well actually. Be ...

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.