Games - Online

Online Games

Anika's Odyssey

Anika's mother makes her go and get some water from the well. While Anika is busy getting the water from the well a huge bird swoops down from the sky and snatches up her poor defenseless stuffed bunny! Use your cunning imagination in this brief adventure to rescue poor Anika's bunny. The game is beautifully illustrated in hand drawn landscapes and animations and features several funny characters. It uses a simple point-and-click interface that even children will be able to figure out.

Arkandian Crusade

Dungeon crawlers are always good time killers and Arkandian Crusade has plenty of the staples of a properly made dungeon crawl: random and quest driven items, increasing skills and levels, multiple, but short quests, and a slowly unfolding story line. It also has a few strategy elements with combat, though the game is pretty easy for anyone familiar with min/maxing. While the combat and exploration isn't overly exciting, there are plenty of stats to try and max out, which keeps the game exciting.

Biolab Disaster

It looks like Flash, but brother, it ain't Flash! While Biolab doesn't break any new ground in the run-and-gun game market, it does showcase the new HTML 5 canvas addition which shows how you can make games purely in JavaScript.

But That Was Yesterday

This is a sort of multi-style platform game that unveils a story as the it progresses. The story begins in the middle of a snowy field. You control a man who, upon walking into a bubbling black wall is knocked back and flooded with visions of memories from his past. A little fooling around with the controls will allow you to progress through the various scenes. While the game play is linear and very short, the story element is powerful and the attractive graphics and ambient soundtrack make the game a joy to play.

Card Games

This site has several well-known card games that can be played online against other human players. Computer players take over when there aren't enough humans to play, or a human drops out. If you sign up they'll also keep track of your scores and rank you.

Bridge - Cribbage - Euchre - Spades - Hearts

Desktop Tower Defense

Unless you've been behind a stingy proxy your whole life, you've played a tower defense game or two. Desktop Tower Defense is one of the best of the genre. Plan a devious strategy of building up a maze of towers to slow the progress of the advancing hordes of creeps. Prevent them from getting to the other side of the screen by upgrading the firepower of your towers. The creeps will continually advance, so you must continue to update your maze. There are many different creeps to will thwart your and many different towers to stop them. You'll have to figure out the perfect combination in order to withstand them all. There are several versions of the game available, each with various scenarios, and methods of play.

Dice Wars

This strategy game is similar to the board game Risk, except that you don't get to place your initial armies and the map is built totally at random. The entire game is focused on combat. Because the map and initial placement of the armies is setup randomly, you'll never play the same game twice. Invade your neighboring countries, run a blitzkrieg through the board, and dominate the entire world! There are several points of strategy to learn before you can master the game, and after a victory, you can watch the entire history of the game in an instant replay.

Edmus

Edmus is a rather simple racing game based on strange creatures that can run and jump. The design is simple, you run along as the screen scrolls and jump from platform to platform. Your speed continues to increase at a constant rate, all you have to do is control your jumping. Some of the platforms contain wildflowers that you can run through, and in Edmus, flowers are currency that allow you to upgrade your creature between each race. You only have three variables, jump height, double-jump height, and speed. Once you've maxed out your stats, the game becomes repetitious, but a new map is made every day to keep things exciting.

Easy Joe

Easy Joe is a very simple, but fun to play puzzle game where you must get Joe the bunny to the other side of the screen by manipulating various objects. The pink and green palette is terrible to look at, but the simplified graphics keep the game play light.

Escape Games

Escape games involve you being trapped in a room, and, through the manipulation of the objects in the room, you get out. This is almost always done using a point-and-click interface and a lot of trial and error. There are numerous "escape" games floating around the interwebs, here are my favorites:

Office - Crimson Room

Every Day the Same Dream

Every Day the Same Dream is another one of those rather surreal games in which you must beat the game in various ways to finish properly. The game takes place in a dull gray world in which every day you perform the same tasks at the same job with the same boss. Everything seems pointless. However, each day must find new ways to alter your dull routine and slowly break out of your ho-hum life. Some of the distractions you will simply stumble upon, others take a bit more cleverness to discover.

Feed the Head

In the category of surreal toy-like-games, Feed the Head certainly excels. Basically, you move your mouse over various parts of this big blue head and discover strange things to do with it. All sorts of strange animations occur that are fun to watch and interact with. The primary goal is to feed the head and complete the full game loop.

Hero's Arms

This game is basically a short version of an early Zelda game. It's a bird's-eye perspective of an adventure game with real-time combat. You control Rix, a young boy who must save the world from a big armored guy named Gordzak. The story in incredibly ridiculous, but the game is a lot of fun. You start the game with a tiny shield and a stick for a weapon, but as you progress through the game you'll find new weapons, buy better armor, and all sorts of helpful items. There are several different monsters to slay, secrets to uncover, and bad bosses to defeat. The game saves your progress, so you can always take a break and come back for more.

Hoshi Saga

Hoshi Saga is an expanding series of games, and in each game there are 36 micro games. The objective of each micro game is to uncover a star hidden somewhere in the scene. Certain objects can be moved, pushed, pulled, spun, broken, etc. Your job is to figure out precisely what needs to be done. Some of the micro games are extremely simple, while others will have you scratching your head for hours.

Game 1 - Game 2 - Game 3 - Game 4 - Game 5 - Game 6 - Game 7

I Wish I Were the Moon

This is a storybook style game by Daniel Benmergui where you must discover all of the different endings of the story. You use a sort of cut-and-paste control with the mouse where you can grab objects and move them to other parts of the screen. When you move the objects, other objects will be affected as well which alter how the story unfolds. Some of the endings are sad, some are happy, but it's up to you to discover all 8 different endings.

Jumble Crosswords

Fans of both crossword puzzles and word jumbles will enjoy Jumble Crosswords. Clues are given along with the jumbled answer. For each crossword clue you complete you reveal a couple of the jumbled letters for the big final clue. The game scores you on how quickly you can figure out the clues, and by how many hints you needed. If you don't care for the computer interface, you can print out a traditional style format of the puzzle.

Learn to Fly

What happens when a penguin realizes that he can't fly? Well, he decides to learn to fly himself! You control the penguin who slides down an icy ramp on his belly and proceeds to launch himself into the air! After each jump you receive money relative to how far you "flew". This money will allow you to buy more equipment to help you fly further like hang gliders and rocket packs. Figure out the prefect trajectory to sail the penguin as high and as far as you possibly can to unlock every achievement in the game! Don't forget to enjoy the disgustingly cute intro.

Looming

Looming is an interesting exploration game with a rather slow pace, but it has a very unusual plot. You walk around this large mostly barren landscape and collect artifacts that have been left behind by some ancient alien race. The use of a halftone grayscale for graphics and dreamlike music really give the game a strange ambiance.

The Majesty of Colors

This is another storybook style game, though more interactive. The game features a small amount of poetic dialog which adds flavor to the minimalist graphics. You play a massive sea monster with three eyes and one long sinewy tentacle. Where ever you click, your tentacle will follow and grab what ever you click on. The game has five different endings that are discovered based on your actions as a hulking sea-beast.

Peasant's Quest

This is a game for all of you fans of old Sierra classics like King's Quest and Space Quest. You'll now doubt find the graphics and game play awfully familiar, though the game is still enjoyable to new comers as well. It seems your pathetic hovel has been destroyed by Trogdor the Burninator! However, when you go to destroy him you realize that your way is blocked by an annoying knight. You must search the land high and low in order to fulfill his requirements to climb the mountain to destroy the evil dragon once and for all! The game is full of witticisms and clever-uh-cisms.

The Quest For the Rest

This is a short, but very whimsical puzzle exploration game made by Amanita Design. Each scene features a beautifully rendered interactive background set to the wonderful music of The Polyphonic Spree. To figure out what to do, move your mouse around the map. When the arrow turns to a hand, you'll know the object is interactive. Click the object and watch how the characters react to your interference. The objective is to get three band members of The Polyphonic Spree to meet their group at the end.

Robot Wants Series

The Robot Wants series is a collection of simple platformers where you control a robot that wants something. In each game he wants something different and you must guide him through a labyrinthine world finding power-ups to help you get further into the game to eventually find what the robot wants. As you play through the sequels, you'll notice the quality and completeness of the games increase. Also, in each game, there are new and unique power-ups to get.

Kitty - Puppy - Fishy - Ice Cream

Samorost

This is another puzzle exploration game made by Amanita Design. The graphics of Samorost are an amalgam from photographs of trees, moss, driftwood, machines, and various unusual objects. This gives the game a wonderfully surreal look. The solid animation is very visible on the photographic background and really makes it stand out. The story starts with a little guy realizing that his spaceship is on a collision course with another ship that appears to be adrift. You must affect the background so that the little guy can get through each scene to find a way to prevent the collision. The game is short, but very sweet.

Game 1 - Game 2

Solipskier

This rapid-paced action skier lets you draw your own ski terrain with jumps and slopes the way you want them. As you speed along your track various flag gates appear that you must try and hit. Every now and then you'll come across a long tunnel that will rocket your speed ahead. Also, there will be dangerous chasms to jump over. Draw your slopes right and you'll get the highest and longest jumps.

Super Mario Bros. Crossover

Remember all those times you thought to yourself? Wouldn't it be awesome if I could play as Super Mario Bros., but with Mega Man? What about Link or Samus? Well, Super Mario Bros. Crossover lets you do just that! Replay Super Mario Bros. with some of your favorite characters from other games including Simon from Castlevania, Mad Dog from Contra, and many more! Each character increases their abilities as you get power-ups.

Super Text Twist

If you're a fan of word scrambles you're going to love Super Text Twist. You are given a six-letter scrambled word and you must not only try to descramble the word, but also make every possible word that exists from the letters of the word. You can pass to the next level either by finding the big word, or by finding nearly all of the other words, but you must think fast because you only have a limited amount of time to work on it.

Today I Die

Daniel Benmergui again impresses me with his ability to make games that are more art than entertainment. Today I Die is an interactive poem where you must use the mouse cursor to alter the background to get new words to alter the poem. Each alteration affects the background creating a new obstacle for you to overcome. The art is pixelated, and the suicidal theme is quite macabre, yet playing the game makes me feel serene.

Totem Destroyer

This is a simple strategy game created by Gabriel Ochsenhofer where you must destroy a totem of blocks in an attempt to get golden idol safely to the lowest point without shattering it. It's a basic premise, but the levels continually increase in difficulty with blocks that cause bouncing, and very unstable structures. After you beat the game you can strive for the other nine achievements which take a lot of patience and skill to unlock.

Universal Crossword

Universal Crossword is just your typical run of the mill crossword puzzle on the computer. It features a new puzzle every day and has several options, like hints, and clues to make it as hard or as easy as you prefer. The interface is relatively simple to use, but if you don't like it, you can print the crossword out and play it as a traditional one. When you finish the game tells you how long it took you to complete the puzzle, and how many hints you needed.

White Jigsaw

Tried of putting together jigsaw puzzles with pretty pictures on them? Wouldn't you just prefer the excitement of a plain white puzzle? Well, okay, maybe the picture leaves a lot to be desired, but the game itself has a gimmick. It starts with only 12 pieces, and each time you solve the puzzle, it increases in pieces. The second level has 15 pieces, then 24, then 35, then 48, and so on. The ever-increasing difficulty gives the drab art a much more entertaining appeal.

Zwok

Remember playing Tank Wars? Scorched Earth? QB Gorillas? You know, all those games where you have to enter a angle and velocity to try and lob some artillery at your foe? Well, Zwok is an online Flash game that pits you up against players from around the world in a snowball fight. Launch various types of snowballs at the opposing team while dodging enemy fire in between rounds. The mouse will let you set your snowball's trajectory and use the arrow keys to move between throws.