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kottke.org posts about addictive Flash games

Endless Migration

Endless Migration is a fun Flash game where you control a flock of geese while dogding airplanes and weather systems. (thx, neil)


I suck at online basketball too

A simple but oddly compelling multiplayer basketball game…after each shot, you’re shown how you’re doing against everyone else (~1000 players when I was playing). (via waxy)


Warzone Tower Defense

Let’s get your Monday started off on the wrong foot: Warzone Tower Defense. A worthy alternative to Desktop Tower Defense. (thx, shay)


Gimme Friction Baby

GFB is a game and it’s totally safe for work unless you want to actually get something done today. From a review at Jay is Games:

There is a certain paradigm shift that must occur when playing this game for the first time before the light goes on and the player ‘gets it’. I believe this is due to a sort of cognitive bias we have as gamers: when firing a turret we expect things to explode… and to go fast.

However, this game is anything but fast. The gameplay forces the player to slow down, think first, and to plan each shot carefully. Each game therefore becomes a careful placement of orbs rather than a quick-fire session to arrive at the end result. The slower pace gives way to excitement as an orb inches ever so close to that fearsome dotted line, and strategy emerges as the key ingredient to an award winning recipe. Those who don’t experience the paradigm shift may never appreciate the subtlety and the genius of this very simple gameplay design.

There’s also a version for the iPhone called Orbital.

Update: Here’s a Java version with rotation.


Continuity

Continuity is an ingenious little Flash game that is one part side-scroller and one part magic square puzzle. (thx, carl)


Hedgehog Launch 2

I don’t have time for a proper play, but the sequel to Hedgehog Launch is out. It’s more of the same, only different. (thx, ben)

PS. In case you missed it on Friday, all the fun Flash games I post have their own page now: addictive Flash games. There it is, your whole day. Waiting to be ruined.


Shields of Gemland

Shields of Gemland is a fun Snood-like game. (via buzzfeed)

BTW, I’ve collected a bunch of the fun Flash games I post occasionally into a tag of their own: addictive Flash games. Hundreds of hours of fun, all on one page.


A game where upgrading is the game

The goal of the UPGRADE COMPLETE! game is to upgrade the game fully. (Yes, this game was inspired by Achievement Unlocked.)

This game has crummy graphics… UNTIL YOU UPGRADE THE GRAPHICS ENGINE! And no sound? UNTIL YOU BUY IT IN THE SHOP! And no mute button!? You guessed it, this game requires you to buy that as well!

Which seems a bit lame but then when you get into it a bit, it’s a little less lame but the game is totally easy and it just takes some time to get through it and get everything. I guess what I’m trying to say is: I finished it.


CycloManiacs

CycloManiacs is Excitebike all grown up…it can drink alcohol and tie cherry stems in knots with its tongue. Warning: this is literally hours of fun. Hours.


Must Pop Words

Boggle + Tetris/Snood = Must Pop Words. This is difficult for poor typists like me. (via vsl)


Play Max Damage

Max Damage. You didn’t want the rest of your afternoon, right?


Circle the cat

The Circle the Cat game is addictive until you figure out the optimal strategy (which took me way too long) and then it’s pretty easy. (via @dunstan)


Multitasking, now in game form

In Multitask, you start off playing one game and then another and so on until you’re playing several games at the same time. I am horrible at this. (via waxy)


Pixel

I could have played Pixel all day but my mouse hand fell off.


BridgeCraft

Usually free Flash games take about 30-45 minutes to get through but BridgeCraft has a whopping 140 levels (70 each on easy and normal settings)! You could build actual bridges in the time it would take to finish this game.


Music Catch 2

Catch musical notes as they fly by to the rhythm of a classical soundtrack. I enjoyed this game way more than I thought I would…it’s likely my love of games where you tidy up. (thx, dylan)


Micro Olympics

Aaaaaaand if you liked Hedgehog Launch and Learn to Fly, you’ll also probably enjoy Micro Olympics and Micro Olympics on Mars.


Learn to Fly

If small addictive Flash games were advertised through Hollywoodesque trailers: if you loved Hedgehog Launch, you’ll go penguins for Learn to Fly.


Crush the Castle

A pox on thee and thine house, Andy Baio, for introducing me to Crush the Castle, which prevented me from crushing on some PHP I should have been doing tonight. BTW, if you get stuck on the last few levels, check out this video. Not that I did for the last level. Not at all. Nope. (via waxy)


Effing Hail

Keep hail afloat with your mouse’s wind to grow it large enough that it can crush houses, skyscrapers, and buildings. Effing Hail! Addiction level: my eyes are bleeding.


BallDroppings

BallDroppings might be the next Line Rider. Or maybe it was the original Line Rider. If you don’t know what that means, congratulations and go play this fun thing with musical balls and lines. You can also get it for Windows or the Mac. Has anyone made actual music with this sucker? If you take a crack at it, send me a link to a video of the results. (via this is that)


Tetris HD

Who knew that radically expanding the size of the game board in Tetris makes the game almost completely unplayable, unless the object is to die in the least amount of time possible. Reports, which I have sadly corroborated with my own play, say that it take 15 minutes to complete one line. OCD, anyone? (via waxy)


The Space Game

From the folks who brought you Desktop Tower Defense comes The Space Game. The gameplay looks daunting (a huge mistake for online embeddable games like this) but skip the training crap and click on the missions tab to get right into it. Playing The Space Game, I’m fondly reminded of Dune II…loved that game. (via buzzfeed)


Totem Destroyer 2

Yet another addictive puzzle + physics Flash game: Totem Destroyer 2.


Balance game

Perfect Balance is one of those “I’ll just play it for a bit” games and then you’re all like, wait, it’s 2:30am? (via waxy)


Two Rooms game

Two Rooms is a simple Flash game, part puzzle and part fast-twitch, in which you move items around in two adjacent rooms in order to get one of your movers to a goal. (via buzzfeed)


Auditorium

Your next 45 minutes are spoken for: Auditorium. I wish this game went on forever but it’s only a demo for an eventual larger game.


Tower defense game for the iPhone

If I am to maintain my current levels of productivity and balance in my life, I do not need a tower defense game on my iPhone. But if I *were* to bring such a thing into my life, Fieldrunners looks like a good candidate. I can’t wait until playing video games falls under the rubric of parenting. (Just kidding, Meg.)

Also, after a long period with no activity, Desktop Tower Defense is set to be updated soon (hopefully):

Version 1.9 announced! I am working on an updated version DTD which will include multiplayer, extra modes and extra creeps. It will be released in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

But they have a lot of other games under development so I’m not holding my breath.

Update: DTD 1.9 is available here. (thx, christopher & jason)


Nano War

Fun Flash game: Nano War. It’s pretty easy to brute force your way through level 10 but after that there’s some strategy required that I didn’t have the patience to work out. (via buzzfeed)


Don’t Shoot the Puppy

Don’t Shoot the Puppy is a simple but difficult Flash game, the perfect Friday time waster. I drained my reserves of patience in doing so, but I finally finished level 15.