While doing research for my post the other night, I came across this awesome, Web 2.0-ish repository for online flash games called Kongregate. According to their FAQ, the site is still in heavy development, but some of the features for developers who host their games on Kongregate seem pretty exciting.
For example, the site offers weekly and monthly contests for developers with the highest-rated games and monthly referral contests for users who generate traffic for them. Plus, Kongregate offers ad revenue sharing for ads served on developers’ game pages. It seems like an innovative business model that I haven’t seen applied to online gaming until now.
Business aside, the games I’ve played so far have been top notch. This evening I played Bowmaster Prelude, a strategy game that involves a whole bunch of arrows, and Red, an update of the classic Missile Command. Both were incredibly well done and very fun to play. And so far, there are a few hundred other games on the site to explore.
If you enjoy killing time playing Flash games in your browser, I highly recommend you check out Kongregate.com.
I enjoy a good waste of time as much as the next guy. So in the spirit of anti-productivity, I give you 10 awesome flash games you can play online.
1. Puki 3D
This is my current favorite flash game. It’s a really simple first person shooter in which the enemies are these cute little snowmen-looking vampires. The interface and controls are slick, and the graphics are clean and well done. Great game.
2. Distraction Game
This is another Japanese game. The object is to guide your little bird through bombs and missles while eating fruit. Sounds easy, right? Well, as you play the game, a couple of characters start messing with the screen and blocking your view and such. It’s very entertaining.
3. Fancy Pants Adventure
Imagine if Sonic the Hedgehog was a stick figure wearing awesome pants. You get the picture.
4. Cursor Dodger
Play a game of keep away with a little jerk trying to steal your cursor. It’s entertaining to see what lengths he goes to to capture your pointer. Also, it’s addictive because you don’t want that little bugger to win.
5. Snowball 2007
You steer a snowball rolling down a hill. Avoid trees and buildings, but make sure to roll up hapless skiers and animals once your ball is big enough.
6. Double Wires
Very crude graphics on this one, but the game physics are so much fun. Think Spider-man as a stick figure, and you get the picture.
7. Sprout
Sprout is an amazingly stylized lateral thinking puzzle game. Your character is a seed that can learn to grow into different plants with different abilities. And you have to use those abilities to advance through the level. Very well done.
8. Jouer
I’m aware that “jouer” is just the French instruction on the game to “play,” but I couldn’t find another name for it. Simple game: you’ve got two beams and two balls. The object is to balance one ball while bouncing the other ball in the air. Incredibly difficult.
9. electricman 2 HS
Have you noticed my love of stick figures? Well, the is the best stick figure fighting game I’ve ever played. The game pits you against several different types of enemies and gives you many different types of attacks. The only drawback is the long load time for the game.
10. Line Rider
Not really a game, Line Rider is more of a toy. But it is addictive and fun nevertheless. The program lets you draw lines and shows you how a rider on a sled would behave on your course using somewhat realistic physics. There are some pretty detailed courses that folks have created and recorded. Over on digg.com, where I spend a decent amount of time, Line Rider has become somewhat of a phenomenon.
There you have 10 of my favorite online games. Don’t waste too much time! And if any of those links are broken, please let me know.
