To Tide You Over

In the next week or so, I will be messing around with the domain-hosted version of this site. Please bear with me. I don’t know when I’ll get everything up, but I will try to post a game for all of you at least once a week until I do. Your wait should be about a week and no more than two weeks.

So here’s a game for you… one that will, as the title says, tide you over in the desert of posts that will be next week.

Okay, so Visual Acoustics is not really a game. More like a strange hybrid of classical music and a Flash programmer’s acid trip. What ensues is a neat activity that basically allows you to “paint” with brushes that are not colors; rather, they’re musical instruments. It’s fun to mess around with; one of the cooler things on the Internet. (If I do say so myself).
Enjoy!

Gorgeous Time Consumer

Winterbells is an absolutely gorgeous flash diversion. It falls into the same category as the other flash games that are unbelievably simple, but, at the same time, will devour your time as you find you are addicted to bouncing around on gorgeously rendered bells.

This mouse-driven game has you guiding a bunny as he hops from bell to bell. Each acts as a sort of trampoline to get you to the next one. You don’t technically need to bounce on the bells, you can bounce through them, too. Oh, and using birds as springboards earns you double points.

The game also records your high score, so you can, in effect, try to beat your own best score. Unless, of course, other people are also playing on your machine. Then you’d be competing against them.

The graphics make this flash game stand out, so much so that the first time you play you’ll be drooling. And the gameplay makes it stick.

Winterbells is from a website by Ferry Halim called Orisinal.  Her other games are equally beautiful and playable. Thanks to Carina for the tip!

Nintendo’s version of an advent calendar

Fun for everyone as you play as a snowman in Nintendo’s version of an advent calendar. So, yes, it is month-long advertisement for various Nintendo games. But the levels are entertaining and there’s a new one everyday.

(Sorry that I posted this so late in the month) Also, I forgot the link. [Thanks, Travis!]

Falling Diversion

FallDown 2 is a game specifically designed for those people who need to sit in a cubicle all day and need a diversion from endless monotony. The basic gist is that you guide the ball with your left and right arrow keys and keep it from running into the ceiling. In essence, you need to fall to live.

Which is not something you should try in real life, just to warn any of you who have some problems determining between fantasy and reality. (Although, if you think you’re a black ball whose only goal in life is to see how far you can fall, you need some help. Now.)

In any case, FallDown 2 is good at what it’s supposed to be good at: being a diversion. Yes, it’s not the most spectacularly interesting game ever made, but it’s addicting, fun, and short. Very, very short. Unless you’re an uber-Falling Down master.

Eating squares == diversion

So, Squares 2.  Apparently, there was a Squares 1, but who’s counting?  Playing games like this offered for free on the Internet makes you wonder what the big deal of the multi-multi-million polygon count on the PS3 is.

Basically, you play as the one square that is definitely not like the others: it’s rotated 45 degrees.  See?  That one.  Right under the score.

This game involves your rotated-45-degrees square and the other black and white squares.  And some circles.  You need to guide your square into the other black squares (apparently, it’s cannibalistic)  and eat them.  Well, there is no animation that actually shows you eating the other black squares, but Snake didn’t have an animation, either.   Also, the red squares are diseased and they kill you.  Actually, I’m not sure what they are, but they aren’t good.

You can also eat the black circles.  They’re power-ups that make gameplay easier (an extra thousand points, smaller square, etc).  You can eat the red circles, which aren’t quite as deadly as their square counterparts, but they do mess you up.

Overall, the gameplay is simple but fun.  It will keep you busy for a little while, and it’s one of those quick diversions to an otherwise unfun day.

All you need is four seconds

Anyone up for a WarioWare-like game that is simple to learn but uber-frustrating at the same time? Enter Four Second Fury, a game that comes with only one set of rules: use your arrow keys and space bar.

That’s it. No other explanation for gameplay is given, so you basically have to figure out how to play the mini (erm… micro) games in the four seconds that are supplied for each one. Each game gives you a command like “Run!” or “Shoot!” and nothing more. They’re not necessarily hard to learn but may upset the more stress-prone among us.

The games are interesting to a point. They get repetitive as the object of many of the games are similar. For example, more than one game makes you go from point A to point B with only the use of your arrow keys. Of course, it’s probably hard to conjure many four second games for a varied gaming experience.

The graphics change with each game. Sometimes, the pictures look like something someone would draw with a tablet and artpad. Other drawings are stylized to look like old video games. It depends on the game. I think the overall style keeps the game from being cohesive enough, even though the idea is to have a frenzied, detached pace.

The best thing about the game is its replay value. I found myself coming back to it simply because I wanted to see if I could get further into the game than I had done before.

I would have liked to have seen a little more variety, but Four Second Fury is a great game to play if you only have a few minutes of free time.

Prelim Review: What’s slimy and green all over?

Know how people are invariably attracted to slimy things (including people, I’ve noticed)? Sling capitalizes on that strange attraction we have to all things slightly gross and weird. The main character, who is referred to only as Apprentice by a slighter older slime, resembles snot. He’s green, slimy, rounded at the edge, and hangs from spherical objects.

The storyline is basic and nothing to be surprised about.  A thief steals one of the crystals that keep the very fabric of their world together, just as the stereotypical babbling old master tells his Apprentice that they should be guarded at all costs.  It’s should be no surprise to anyone that the Apprentice needs to go out and retrieve the crystal, as the Master is, you know, too busy watching cartoons.

The game takes some time to get used to, but that time investment is worth it. I haven’t played through the whole game yet (hence the prelim review), but the basic gameplay doesn’t change. You play as the Apprentice, who acts like a slingshot. You pull down on the slime and he bounces in the opposite direction when you let go. If you pull more, he goes further and faster. The object is to turn all of the white spheres in the stage green (that happens when you manage to grab hold of the white spheres). Then you need to transport to the next level through a swirly blue… uhm… portal… thing.

The levels get progressively harder as more obstacles are added, included spiked floors and the occasional monster that steals the white spheres.

And there is no life system.  None.  Meaning, Apprentice can die as many times as you need, and you don’t have to worry about starting from the beginning.  The game will remember where you were when you left your computer.

The game is a pretty interesting blend of strange (but oddly, nice) graphics and engaging gameplay.  Some levels require thinking.  Or just random experimentation.

Sling can be found at Miniclip.  A nice feature of the game is the save button.

Game offers more satire than playtime

“Oil God” is one of those games that you feel slightly uncomfortable when you play it. You don’t know whether the developers wallow in some kind of sadistic pleasure in trivializing world problems or if they’re very brilliant satirists. I go with the latter, but you’ll have to decide for yourself.

You play a god whose main joy in his eternal life is manipulating the oil prices. You have a slew of tools at your uhm, disembodied hand’s fingertips. Wars, natural disasters, and the ability to change the politicial and economical atmosphere of oil-producing (and consuming) countries. You have “God Hand Credits” that you expend when you make any changes in the world. The credits replenish themselves during the game.

Although interesting, the game is short. It counts down by “days” (seconds) how long it takes for you to double the world price of oil. There are simple things you can do to completely obliterate oil fields that will make your game last for little more than a minute. Sometimes less. And even though there are three levels of difficulty, they seem to become easier despite the fact the credits replenish themselves at a slower speed.

All in all, “Oil God” makes more of a statement than present solid gameplay. The game is witty, but it offers little to keep the gamer occupied.

“Oil God” was produced by Persuasive Games and is free to play on the Internet.

Pong reincarnated as a circle

The basic idea of Flashy is simple. You keep the green ball out of the circle in the middle of the screen using the paddle that looks suspiciously like a URL. Which it is. A URL, I mean.

It’s also a descendant of Pong. A great-grandchild of the black and white game that basically sparked the video gaming craze. Now with power-ups. That’s right. If the evil enemy ball hits a power up, something good happens.

There’s not much to say about this game except that it’s addictive in the way Pong was addictive. You’ll play it for awhile, and then decide you’d rather be serving food.

Simple games that involve protecting your territory never get old. Ever.

You can play Flashy for free. And as many times as you want, straight from blahbleh.com.

Game of Interest: Mario World Online

Just the mention of the name Mario makes many gamers emit a nostalgic sigh (even if you weren’t even born when Mario was released in his first incarnation as the princess-saving Donkey Kong-beating pixel plumber).

I found this morning that a gaming company has translated the Mario-goodness of Super Mario World into a flash version so you can play it in your browser.

Ah, the sweet joys of bouncing on koopas and growing larger and smaller at the whims of a mushroom. Just thought I’d drop it by all of you readers (uhm… the two of you that happen by every day) so you can go reminisce. No, I won’t review this particular game.