Best of 2012 Nominations...
A game you can beat in five seconds? That's not a coffee break game, that's a
thinking about taking a coffee break game. Fortunately, Nolan Labs' action/exploration game 100% Complete features more than just a few seconds of gameplay, though if you want to get technical, you can reach the end simply by heading right and using the door. If you want to actually accomplish something before winning, though, you'll need to get to exploring. Yay!
A Man's Quest is an HTML5 action platformer by The Drunk Devs that hearkens to yesteryear, both in terms of its retro graphics and the bouncy spirit of childhood. Help Ty show up his rival Kevin by swiping his place as Chosen One and being the first to make it to the top of Ominous Power. A compressed burst of fun, if one with somewhat loose jump physics.
When a low demon on the infernal totem pole trips and accidentally shatters an urn full of souls, he's got to track them all down or risk some pretty serious punishment. What follows it a vibrant, gorgeous, but challenging puzzle platforming title that packs a lot of character into its design.
It's tough going when the love of your life is a ravenous member of the walking dead. Clearly the two of you want to be together but for that to happen you'll have run, jump, shoot, and dodge your way around angry zombies as you help guide your zombie lover to her cage in this endearing storybook love story of a platformer.
It's hard to be 2D in a 3D world, which you'll soon find out if you play this austere little platformer from Henning Steinbock. But don't let the minimalist atmosphere lull you into a false sense of security, because you'll need to do all your best wrist exercises from that mandatory carpal tunnel workshop your boss made you attend last spring if you're going to be limber enough to keep this line on track to ultimate victory. Jumping Line is a great example of a simple idea done well that will appeal to all the oldschool gamers out there who don't need a lot of bells and whistles to have a good time and break a satisfying gamer sweat.
A simple errand takes a turn for the surreal when our hero, forced away from the video game console and out of the house, stumbles down a hole into the middle of the earth where he is, of course, tasked with tracking down magical gems. The same thing happened to me the other day. A little bit retro, mixed with a healthy dose of metroidvania and high-difficulty platforming, and Kodachrome is a weird but appealing little challenge.
The original Lee Lee's Quest left players with a lot of unanswered. Will platforming hero guy Lee Lee ever make peace with his cubey neighbors? Will Marcus Richert ever run out snarky fourth-wall breaking dialogue? Answer: APPARENTLY NOT. Just as hilarious as the first installment, Lee Lee's Quest 2 is the laugh-out loud sequel every fan could have wanted.
Making Monkeys is just as charming and quirky as Greg Sergeant's previous game Use Boxmen. With only 11 true levels, this puzzle platformer is definitely brief, but it works well as a coffee break game, maybe along with some monkey-shaped toast and a banana.
Whoa... what happened last night? You remember leaving the waller around 10... Did you have one too many swigs of slop? How the heck did you end up in this stump? Where is everyone? Well, I guess it can't be helped. You'll just have to get started on the long, dusty, spike-filled road back to your pen. Mr. Bree Returning Home is an award-winning platform game by TawStudio Entertainment, taking home Best Art Game at the 2011 Brazilian Games Symposium. It's up to you to ensure this little piggy makes it all the way home.
On a quest to stop some nefarious blocks from turning his friends and the whole world square, Red Ball sets out on a vibrant physics-based platforming adventure that's fun for the whole family, and a prime example of how one developer's continual push for improvement has paid off significantly.
Raise your hand if you've heard this one before: The evil Dr. Mad has corrupted the programming of six thematic robots and has sent them out to do his bidding, each utilizing a weapon that would be suspiciously effectively against exactly of their evil kin. The only thing possibly standing in Mad's way is the new creation of the good Dr. Thane: the high-jumping, fast-dashing, laser-blasting, ability-stealing Rokko Chan! Okay, Japanese developer King admittedly isn't exactly trying to hide the inspirations for his retro platformer. But if Rokko Chan may look and play like a ROM hack, then it is a very lovingly crafted one of high quality.
If lil' SkullFace is going to make it through the Greg Sergeant-developed action platform game that bears his name, he's going to have to run, jump and duck like a mad-skull, since spikes, enemies and magic portals abound! SkullFace is an engaging, if unforgiving platform with tight controls and that parkour-perfect sense of flow.
A high-difficulty minimalist platformer by Noxious Hamster, Spikes Tend To Kill You 2 makes no bones about its brutal difficulty. However tough it is though, the challenges are mostly fair, and clever level design and dialogue will keep players interested, even after the 500th impalement.
Aimed more at kids than adults but equally enjoyable by both for its charm, this sweet little adventure platformer tells the story of a teddy bear who gets lost and strikes out to find a way back home to the little girl who dropped him. Light on challenge but big on style and cuteness, it's just the right size for new gamers to try on, and just the right tone for old gamers to relax with.
The third installment in Brad Borne's Fancy Pants Adventure series is here! Do gravity-defying wall runs, jump off some walls, and even cut up some enemies with your fancy new weapon! The fancy pants man has come along way since World 1 and he has definitely added some sweet, new tricks to his repertoire. The Fancy Pants Adventure series features some of the best platforming action you can have in a browser.
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