LINK DUMP MONDAY: FLASH GAMES

It’s that time again.  Link Dump Monday!

With the heat back in action (at least in the St. Louis area, which is where I live), my mind wants a distraction and my body wants to stay in the air-conditioned environment.  So, what better to do this week than to waste your time on flippant games online?

This link dump will focus on free, fun flash games (flash is a type of programming) you can play online.

Here we go!

The majority of the games I play are at Kongregate. It is a really cool community that gives you all kinds of badges and awards (like getting entered in a drawing for a new XBOX and Fallout 3) just for playing.  Some of the rewards are cards for their very cool card strategy game Kongai.  If you like collectible card games (think Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh combined), this is for you.

I really love wasting time on turret defense games.  They are easy to get hooked on, and loads of fun to try.  Some of my favorites are Gemcraft, Desktop Defense 1.5, Xeno Tactic, and Dungeon Defender.  You can also go to Tower Defence Games, Turret Defense Games, or TowerDefence.net for websites dedicated solely to this kind of gaming.

You know the kind of games that feature a repetitive task (shooting, slicing, etc.)?  I call those grind games.  You just want to grind away on them.  A few of my favorite grinders are The Last Canopy, Dino Run (PixelJam makes awesome old-school games!), Momentum Missile Mayhem, Intrusion, and Pillage the Village.

Strategy and point-and-click games are a nice way to spend a lunch-break in the office.  For something realistic and frustrating, check out Pandemic 2. If you want something slightly macabre, check out The Visitor. I really love whimsical games with unique animation. For funky gameplay set in fantastic settings, check out Sprout and The Great Kitchen Escape or The Great Living Room Escape. They are not too complex, but they take some figuring out.

This last one is not flash.  My biggest frustratioin in the world of online gaming is with World of Warcraft and other Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs).  Most normal people don’t have hundreds of hours to play to learn the ins and outs of these games.  For those of us who wish to play something fun that requires less time, check out The Passively Multiplayer Online Game. It’s a really excellent little thing that you play with Firefox browser (must be Firefox; sorry IE and Safari users!).  Here’s how it works: you create an account, do your normal thing, and, as you go, little missions and portals pop up like ads, only these you want to see.  You and other players can plant missions, bombs, or portals on any webpage on the internet.  These appear for anyone signed into PMOG while surfing.  When someone hits the page with your mission or portal, a small pop-up will appear, saying “A Mission is here: ‘The Best Photography Websites.’  Accept?”  Accepting any of these missions or following any of these portals gets you experience and money, and eventually, you gain levels.  A mission leads you to a string of websites.  A bomb knocks off some gold and experience, a portal is sort of a wild-card, and there is no telling where it might take you.  You never fight or actually face conflicts. It is just a really fun way to explore the web.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did.  Here’s to wasting time!  Cheers!