Based on a simple game of Cat & Mouse, the gameplay is turn-based where for each move you make, the guard (or dog) also makes a move towards you. The objective is to make it to the goal before you are caught. There are rules of movement you will need to exploit if you are to escape the later levels. Everything about this game reeks of quality.
More Flash fun with pixel graphics, this time from the BBC's 6 Music digital network. 6ixel is a platform game that has 6 levels of increasing difficulty, and each one highlights a different artist or group: Bob Marley, The Clash, Alanis Morissette, New Order, Run DMC/Aerosmith, The Strokes.
PixelHugger in the Field of Typography is about defeating the evil Auntie Alias who has mesmerized the Typographic World with her ultra-smooth ways. As a result, many perfectly good pixels lie abandoned in the Field of Typography, and your mission is to rescue as many as you can.
Based on the simple game of paper toss, the objective of Cyrkam Airtös is to first catch the various paper objects being thrown at you, then toss them into the waste bucket. If you make it, someone moves the bucket for the next toss to make the game more challenging. A simple concept paired with gameplay mechanics most people can immediately relate to must certainly contribute to why this game is becomming so popular across the Web.
From Homestar Runner comes this hilariously funny game that pokes fun at itself and the text-based adventures and 8-bit graphics of years gone by. Boasting “lush 16-color landscapes,” this game puts you in the shoes of a short-panted peasant named Rather Dashing who sets out on a quest of revenge against Trogdor the Burninator. A fun and quirky classic.
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?
This must be a day for German pinball games. Rapid Motion is another very clever entry in the pinball game genre, this one uses a circular playing field and a virtual magnetized surface as part of the gameplay mechanics. The object, besides of course racking up as many points as you can, is to complete the ring of ball bearings by triggering a pit ...
Robo Pinball is an excellent, original concept, Shockwave 3D pinball game from Germany. It combines old-school pinball action with 3D graphics and elements of a first-person shooter, all wrapped up into one. The game is a beautiful implementation of Director 3D with realistic physics and all sorts of secrets to discover.
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.
The Australian government has issued this latest game for would-be pilots interested in joining the Australian Defence Force. The Flash game consists of mission based levels that have you flying an F/A 18 Hornet aircraft by using the mouse to guide the plane. You must keep the plane with the boundaries of the gates as you follow the lead aircraft. ...
From David and Goliath, maker of funny T-shirts and other fine apparel, comes this Flash game straight out of their “Boys Are Smelly” department: Throw Rocks at Boys. And why shouldn't we? After all, everyone knows that boys are stupid. If you've ever seen D&G designs then the game will be quite familiar. Otherwise, you might think ...
Appealing to a wide audience requires that your game design be straightforward and easily understood. Games that are instantly and universally accessible are generally based on simple concepts and mechanics that most everyone can identify with. Quite often it's the simpler games that win over our affection, and our attention, and become a joy to pi...
Alien Hominid is a fast-paced 2D side-scroller in which players must run, jump and shoot their way across the globe in pursuit of the alien's coveted UFO. Also sporting 2-player madness, this game is a truly original title with outstanding hand drawn cel-shaded graphics and animation.
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.
If you have ever seen or played one of these Megatouch coin-op video games before, usually found in bars and restaurants, then you're probably familiar with a game on it called PhotoHunt. The game presents you with two identical appearing photos, placed side by side, with one of the photos having been modified in five (5) locations using an image manipulator. The objective is simply to find all the differences.
I did a double-take when I first saw this on a French Flash games site. Fighters were the one genre that I had seen very little if anything done in Flash, yet now you can relive those arcade glory days by playing Street Fighter with your friends, on your computer.
Julien Philippe has created a version that allows you to play single player against ...
Tino Zijdel of The Netherlands, aka Crisp, has created a remake of the classic game of Lemmings, originally developed by DMA Design, and coded it using JavaScript and DHTML! The game is beautiful and works very nicely if you have a recent browser (Mozilla, Firefox or Opera) and a 500MHz+ CPU.
The latest of the point-and-click puzzle adventures to pop onto the Flash game scene is a short little story about a girl who has lost her head... literally. With gameplay very similar to that of Samarost, this game is charming and very enjoyable, the only downside is that it is over way too soon.
Played just like the old plastic game of Battleship that used red and white pegs to record hits and misses, except this Flash version does all the hard work for you. First position your fleet on the board, then all you have to do is click on a square to fire torpedoes.
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.
This set of Flash driving drills comes from France. The stylish graphics reminded me of one of those motor vehicle safety manuals they used to pass out in school. Maybe they are coordination tests for driver permits? Oh, that's just plain silly. Anyways, each game requires you to steer your way to the objective using the arrow keys on the keyboard (right, left, forward, reverse) and the space bar for the handbrake.
Based on some characters and plot elements of Isaac Asimov's short story collection from 1950, the movie "I, Robot" starring Will Smith's has been released. And to promote it, 20th Century Fox created an impressive Flash site to play with. In it I found this series of games related to the content in the movie. Lots of animation and motion graphic eye candy going on in there. I hope the movie is as entertaining as the website was.
Also known as Table Tennis, this Shockwave game is from the folks that bring you the websites Mini-Clip and Shockplay. The game plays exactly like any ordinary game of Ping Pong, with you playing against one of three selectable computer players.
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.
Jumble.com has launched a play-online section that features daily Jumbles, with a new one added every day. This version of the classic puzzler adds a timer, scoring, and even a hint feature if you really get stumped. Word puzzles are a good way to keep your mind sharp, and to give your fingers a break from all those button-mashing games.
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.
Tontie deserves its own entry—and this way I can also add it to the "Recommended" section in the side bar. Posted a while back with the magnificient Grow game by Eyezmaze, Tontie is simply one of the most accessible, fun-to-play and challenging Flash games I've seen. Anyone with a numeric keypad can play: Just follow the on-screen instruction...
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.
Roll the mouse over groups of similar bugs (2 or more) and click to remove them from the board. Try to leave as few bugs on the board when there are no more groups to click, as the number you leave is reduced from your credits before moving to the next level. You only have just 100 credits to start with.
This well-crafted Flash game is a simple shmup that is fast and furious, as well as addictive. He's done a nice job with implementing power-ups, bonus multipliers, smooth animation particle effects, and a high score list, too. So, if you like shmups, you're gonna love SpaceFighta.
A game that's more difficult than it might seem, this one is based on clicking sequentially numbered circles to clear each level. For example, when the game begins, click on the circle with 1, then 2, then 3... not too difficult, eh? You try it.
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.
Chris Hilgert has finished yet another game in his YetiSports series of Flash games; this one features a flamingo, and of course the penguin obliggato. The object of the game is to hit the penguin as far as you can while avoiding obstacles such as an elephant, a giraffe, and a tree. For best results, don't hit it too high, and use the obstacles to ...
A version of the original Prince of Persia game recreated in Flash. The original game, created by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989, used an animation technique called rotoscope to give the characters human-like qualities. It was also a lot of fun to play. This special Flash edition isn't quite the whole experience, but you should be able to at least get a taste of what the original was like.
Written in Flash by Johnny Slack, an interactive multimedia technology student at Purdue, this version of Duck Hunt uses the mouse for aiming and shooting. It looks, acts and sounds just like the original (though it offers only one mode of play).
If you like board games and you like playing against others over the Internet, give Conqueror! a try. This full-featured, multiplayer, turn-based strategy game is very similar to Risk, and yet its gameplay is a lot richer. An ingenious system of simultaneous turns means that you don't have to wait for other players to make their moves.
Crimson Warfare is a real-time strategy game in... Flash! I couldn't believe it when I saw it, but it truly is an RTS in the genre's most basic form. The gameplay mechanics are quite simple: you decide which buildings you'll need—one type gathers resources (money) and another allows you to build two types of soliders and an armored vehicle. T...
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).
Reflections is a classic game of lasers and mirrors (and bombs!). The objective of the game is to position the mirrors and lenses provided such that the laser passes through and illuminates each of the light bulbs. An easy game to pick and get started with, but later levels present increased difficulty and more complex lens types.
Created by Klas Kroon of Sweden, this little game is one of the tiniest Flash games I've ever seen. The objective of Blockdude is to move the little dude to the exit door by picking up and moving blocks to solve each level. This game is actually a remake of an old TI-83 game originally written by Brandon Sterner.
Another game from Japan, this adventure game is a bit of a mystery but looks promising in that it appears to be another one of those clicky puzzles like Viridian Room and like Samorost, and yet with a bit more action involved. All the text is in Japanese, so best of luck brave adventurer!
This gorgeous game, titled "The Malibu 9 Rescues Mr. Malibu (and 6/9 of the Deepfried Posse)", was originally from a club, Club Malibu, in Stockholm, Sweden, that may not even be in existence any longer (you know how clubs just come and go). Top notch production in a fun little Flash game.
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.
PsychoPong is not new, as it dates back to 2001; yet it is a worthy game just the same. With gameplay similar to Pong, the granddaddy of all video games, this Shockwave game has a mind of its own. There are five (5) levels of increasing difficulty... though I bet you'll have trouble making it past even the second level. Click.
The designer of the ...
I've been having a lot of fun lately playing this old-school style, top-down shmup (shoot-em-up) called Hurricane developed by Nuvorm in the Netherlands. Along the lines of the arcade classic Galaga, this one has power-ups to increase shields and weapons with lots of cool pyro-technic particle effects. There is also a downloadable PC version of the game available.
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.
Viridian Room is a place you wish to escape from, but have you the soul to withstand the challenge? Muha-ha-ha-ha-ha! This point-and-click puzzle game was one of the very first escape-the-room type Flash Web games. Nicely done with eerie sound effects.
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.
Another classic game, and this one needs no introduction. Arguably the single game that injected the most excitement into arcade video games during their infancy. Original game: copyright Namco, 1980; this version hand-coded in Flash by Paul Neave.
What may be one of the oldest games ever played, Mancala is simple to learn and yet difficult to master. This cute Flash version of the game is played using snails for stones and features both single player and multiplayer modes of play. Created by the talented folks at RocketSnail Games in British Columbia.
A fantastic Asteroids recreation from Shawn at Hot Flash Games, and boy does it rock! Very authentic classic gameplay with a serious modern soundtrack that just... ROCKS! Shawn did an excellent job designing the sound for the game, as it contains a mix of classic Asteroids samples and some phat rocking beats.
Lately, I've been wanting to play a game, called Mastermind, that I used to play a lot when I was in high school, but couldn't find a decent version of it anywhere online. The versions I did find were either buggy or weren't much to look at. So I made a better one.
For our final project for MUMS (Multi-User Media Spaces), Jonathan Atleson and I wanted to create a predator-prey simulation in Director 3D. Our objective was to show how naturalistic behavior can emerge from simple intelligent agents. You will need the latest Shockwave player installed to view the simulation.
An odd and addictive little game of violence against stick figures intent on invading your castle. From what I can glean, the gameplay has some depth by allowing you to purchase additional units and upgrades between levels.
An odd and addictive little game of violence against stick figures intent on invading your castle. From what I can glean, the gameplay has some depth by allowing you to purchase additional units and upgrades between levels.
From Shockwave Japan, this cute little Flash game requires you to click on adjacent animals to swap places and line up 3 or more of the same. It sounds a little confusing, and with the instructions in Japanese, I was a little confused at first myself. Just ignore the first screen with the cell phone, don't click it—it's an ad. Wait for the ga...
For the puzzle lover in you comes this cute little Flash game in which the objective is to get the silver ball into the hole by clicking on the telescopes. Telescopes can push or pull the ball across the grid. It's a very clever little twist on a classic puzzle game concept, and it even remembers the progress you've made through the game in case you have to leave and come back.
File this one under interactive Flash tools for creative expression. Scribbler is just one of many interactive "toys" available at Zefrank.com. This "generative illustration toy" allows you to draw with the mouse in the window, then Scribbler takes over and creates its own drawing on top of what you've drawn. There are even interactive controls that you can set and tweak to your heart's content.
This is simply amazing. Someone that goes only by the name of Voxel, has created a 3D version of the original Metroid game in Director! By taking the Metroid tileset, he built a utility that allows him to convert 2D sprites to 3D sprites, and then he uses those to build the levels of the game.
Crab Ball is a hilarious and addictive little Flash game played with crabs and a beachball. Keep the ball from hitting the ground by moving your crab left and right, and jumping in the air to spike the ball. This game is actually a lot funnier than it sounds, and a lot more fun than it probably should be.
Blast Billiards is a billiards game with a unique twist: it's a race against the clock to get all the balls in the pockets before time runs out. Your score is dependent upon how quickly you sink each ball. Nice and solid presentation, and the ball physics are fairly realistic.
Back in the day, Space Invaders, by Japanese company Taito, was one of the coolest games to come along as it was one of the first (if not the first) electronic game ever to offer open-ended gameplay. What that means is that it's impossible to 'beat' the game, the aliens just keep coming at you relentlessly.
In one of the sections of Interactive Digital Media that I'm a TA for this quarter, one of the students wants to create a Simon game in Director. And while I think that a Simon-type game is entirely doable in Director, I also think that it wouldn't be much of a challenge. And that got me thinking about how much fun I used to have with S...
This little Flash avatar creator is a versatile and has several options to help you create very unique characters. Create a face of your own that fits your unique personality, then do a PrintScrn and paste into your favorite bitmap graphics program.
Chris Hilgert has finally made the fourth game in his YetiSports series available online, this one featuring a flock of Albatross. The object of the game is to fly the penguin as far as you can along the Australian beach. "Get close to the wind, Luke". Click....
Here's a great little Flash game of mini-golf that is very well done if you can overlook the rather simplistic and plain looking graphics. After all, it's all about the gameplay, isn't it?
From the BBC show featuring the same Blobs comes this cute little Flash game that is actually a bit of a challenge. Similar to the classic Lunar Lander game, the objective of Blob Lander is to fly and land your spaceship gracefully.
Here's a beautifully crafted Flash multimedia piece by Drew Cope and Sam Lanyon Jones from their multi-award winning site called TokyoPlastic where they will be rolling out version two in May. Not new, I just think it's cool. Enjoy. Click....
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 ...
Another favorite of mine is this game by Squid S O U P. Snake delivers classic-style gameplay in a 3D Shockwave implementation. Very nice indeed.
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.
Bubbels is a strangely addictive Flash game, like Bust-a-Move, from the Netherlands. There are actually five (5) different versions to choose from.
In January, 2004, Chris Hilgert created a Flash game which spread across the Internet like wildfire. The gameplay mechanics were simple and surprisingly fun: Bat a penguin with a Yeti to see how far you could throw him. Since then, Chris has created a trio of games featuring penguins, a yeti and other arctic mammals, and a fourth one is on the way.
One of the very first games ever to be featured here at JIG, Cats is an adorably cute game created by Ferry Halim. A very simple game that captures the essence of the fickle feline. From his Original site, a treasure trove for the casual game lover, and especially for kids. It is clear that Ferry puts his heart into every game he makes.
Why is this game so addictive?
Is it because it's easy to find at least a couple of words? It certainly can't be because I always end up at the bottom of the scoring list. Click....
Lately I've been working on one of the coolest projects so far in my RIT education, and it's for Multi-User Media Spaces (MUMS) taught by Professors Nancy Doubleday and Steve Kurtz. The project aims to simulate flocking behavior by implementing behavioral rules, though I guess it should be dubbed "schooling" behavior since we are using fish - and yet these same rules apply to birds and herds as well.
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