Friend, you look a little stressed. The week has been unkind to you, or perhaps merely long, and nothing cures a case of the "Urrrrrrrrrrghs" quite like a pile of free online games with no connected themes, concepts, or genres whatsoever. Or at least, that's what I've been telling people so I can introduce myself as Doctor Dora. This week! A feline-tastic simulation designed to help you unwind, a date that goes nowhere near as well as it initially seems, a slow walk through the woods and your memories, and an elemental puzzle game where a unicorn is just a click away.
Cat Petting Simulator 2014 - Sometimes a game is exactly what it says on the tin, and neongrey's Twine text-based game has no twists, no jumps, no quirky surprises... it's just about you, a quiet afternoon at home, some fries, and, you guessed it, a cat to pet, as you like. It's simple, sure, but also simply pleasant and relaxing, and isn't that what all of us need after a long week?
Little Alchemy - Jakub Kozoil's little sandbox puzzle simulation, also free for iOS and Android, is a Doodle God-alike where you drag elements and objects from the right side of the screen together in the middle, and watch as they create and unlock something new. Some of them, like fire and earth combining into lava, are fairly obvious, but, well, how do you think one goes about making a dinosaur or a unicorn?
Second Date - [Warning: This deals with graphic violence and subject matter some may find upsetting.] In Harrison Chute's initially innocuous Twine text adventure, you're just an average Joe (well, Marvin) on a date with a young woman who seems to really like him, and the decisions you make by clicking the bolded text will determine how the story unfolds in dramatic, swear-y fashion, but suffice it to say Jessica isn't the dream girl you think, and maybe you aren't such a nice guy either.
Lantern - Best thought of as a short interactive narrative, this Unity-based game by Quinn Stephens follows a woman walking alone at night, as poetic text accompanies her through the woods and to a small house. While there are a few puzzles, they are very simple, and the whole game shouldn't take you much more then ten minutes or so to play through. The emphasis is on story and atmosphere, so just relax and go for a walk.
Doctor Dora, how did you know? The Cat Petting Simulator is beyond perfect. I'm very sick, I've been up since 3am, called in sick to work for the second time this week... and I love cats, and I'm allergic to them. So this is amazing! When I saw it, I almost cried. You may have thought you were just kidding, but you've actually helped at least one sick person to really feel better already this morning. Thank you.
Lysana
I glitched Little Alchemy and now I have a ghost Pottery over my menu -_- Not game breaking and I'm not sure how I did it but weird and a little annoying.
Update: It went away when I cleared the screen of items.
Also, some controls that aren't mentioned (not sure if it needs a spoiler tag, so it's getting one):
Double click to duplicate an item on the screen, that way you don't need to find it in the menu every time.
Scroll wheel of mouse works to go through the menu, but it's very slow. Swipe like you would on a touchscreen.
A few of the interesting items I've found (not saying how to get them though):
Hamburger
Lightsaber and Jedi
Alpaca
Candy cane
Omelette
Pinocchio
Shuriken
Sweater
Pressure
So far I've found 243/540 elements, not sure if it saves progress when I close but am gonna find that out.
Hey Dora,
Thank you so much for featuring Second Date! I hope you enjoyed it!
I didn't see any simple puzzle in lantern, all I did was walk to the left until there was no more then walk to the right until there was no more.
I know some "interactive fiction" stretches the boundary what we call a game, but if you'd watch a youtube video of this there wouldn't be any less experience.
Little Alchemy does indeed save your progress in-browser.
Ugh, Second Date was a little too stupid plot-wise. I don't want my only options to be two equally stupid options.
Serial killers don't have magic powers-- they are scary because someone could catch you off guard. It makes no sense for a person to think they are going to inevitably die because you met one. Almost every move the protagonist makes is stupid. What a waste of time.
I know that there's not much to the interactivity in Lantern, but
did you push the up key when the lantern light turned green?
Update