Good Experience Games
These are online games that, in my opinion, offer a "good experience" - good game design with an overall attention to quality. Unless otherwise noted, they're all free, online, and available right now. -mh
| Sort by: Name | Date added | Duration | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zwingo | 12/10/07 | fast | Swing the ball to protect the base. Nicely designed. |
| ZunderFury | 01/17/08 | fast | Fun shootemup, a strong sequel to OrbBlaster. |
| Zeta Flow | 08/27/07 | fast | Nicely designed abstract shootemup. (Thanks, jay) |
| World of Sand | 01/24/06 | varies | There's no object here except to play. Experiment with the different substances (sand, water, salt, oil) and special tools (fire, ceramic, and the weird viral thing). Fun and addictive. |
| World of Archoon | 02/07/06 | fast | Inventive gameplay. Hold and release the mouse button to shoot down every balloon. (Thanks, Jay) |
| WordConnect | 03/01/08 | fast | Combo of Tetris and Scrabble, sort of. Neat. (tx, Nev) |
| Word Shoot | 10/24/07 | fast | Way more fun than a typing tutor. Shoot the advancing words! (In Qwerty or Dvorak, covered in my book). |
| Word Sandwich | 03/13/06 | fast | Guess the secret five-letter word. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Winterbells | 12/07/06 | fast | Fun holiday game with a jumping bunny. (Thanks, jay) |
| White Jigsaw | 09/14/06 | fast | Jigsaw puzzles with an especially clean and simple interface. Starts easy and builds up. (Thanks, jay) |
| What's That Song | 03/29/05 | fast | Type a band name in the upper-right search form, and then try to name the tunes that the server plays. |
| What Did I Search For? | 12/16/05 | fast | Clever design: fill in the blank on the search results page. New from gamesforthebrain.com. |
| WEBoggle | 11/16/06 | fast | Nicely implemented Web-based Boggle. (Thanks, JA) |
| Warthog Launch | 09/20/06 | fast | Launch the jeep in the air to get the floating baddies. Fun. (Thanks, jay) |
| Warbears | 02/27/06 | long | Nicely designed all around. A bit like Samorost - find the proper sequence of clicks. (Thanks, Jay) |
| War of the Hell | 01/24/06 | fast | A truly strange and inventive game. You're trying to rescue poor stick figures dumped on the floor. Trouble is, you only have a bungie cord for them to cling on to - move it too fast as you bring them to "heaven", and they may fall off. |
| Valo | 01/01/07 | fast | Elegant and simple, with nice music. (Thanks, jay) |
| Unique | 06/06/08 | fast | Elegant: click the one that doesn't match. (Thanks, jay) |
| Udder Insanity | 04/15/05 | fast | An oldie-but-goodie, sort of a farmer-remake of the 80s game Tapper. It's rated "R" by the creators for "violent content." (Exploding cows (and imploding, too).) |
| Uchuforce 2 | 04/07/08 | fast | Very old-school shootemup. Elegant. (Thanks, jay) |
| Typing game | 02/16/06 | fast | Nice, clean interface for this typing game from 2addicted.com. |
| TypeRacer | 04/26/08 | fast | Race other users in typing speed. One problem: it doesn't recognize bit lever-typed text, which is as legit as everychar typing. |
| Type Crime: Italics | 09/16/05 | fast | Exceedingly simple game that is worth mentioning because the theme is so unusual: protect your letterforms from being distorted by the flying gremlins that turn them into something that is not italic. In other games you can save curly quotes or watch helplessly as letters get distorted. Ahh, typography. |
| Turbo Tanks | 01/25/06 | fast | Outstanding update of the old early-80s "Combat". Stone! |
| Tumbler | 05/18/06 | fast | Touch anything green and avoid everything else. |
| Tube Racer | 08/21/06 | fast | Dizzying game of navigating a series of tubes - that is, the Internet. Just use the arrow keys. |
| Troyis | 09/28/05 | fast | Puzzle challenging a chess knight to jump onto certain squares. |
| Treasure of Cutlass Reef | 11/02/07 | fast | Simple game of sailing ship combat. Nicely done. (Thanks, jay) |
| Treasure Box | 11/14/07 | varies | Clever and beautiful little adventure. (thanks, MUG) |
| Travian | 03/02/06 | long | Simple browser-based massively multiplayer game - with elements of Settlers of Catan and Risk. We'll see more games like these in the future. This is one to watch. |
| Touch the Bubbles 2 | 11/30/07 | fast | Very nicely designed music puzzle. (Thanks, jay) |
| Totem Destroyer | 07/08/08 | fast | Click to remove blocks while keeping the sculpture off the ground. (via) |
| Toon Crisis | 08/17/06 | fast | Shootemup set on the streets of London. |
| Tonypa's Flash games | 04/15/05 | fast | (List) Set of creative, if occasionally bizarre, Flash games. |
| Tontoko | 02/01/06 | fast | A very fast game. Try to get above 1000 points. |
| Tontie | 10/28/05 | fast | A much more interesting version of Whack-a-mole. If you can get past level 9, I salute you. Great design. |
| Tilt | 08/16/06 | fast | Elegant. Use the mouse to keep the toy balanced. |
| Thor Towers | 08/10/07 | fast | Build a tower with space bar only. Elegant. (Thanks, jay) |
| The Way of the Ninja | 10/24/05 | long | A kind of updated Lode Runner with Gumby running the course. (No coincidence that the first level is called "the motherlode".) Elegant controls: just left, right, and jump. |
| The Python Challenge | 01/10/07 | long | "The first programming riddle on the net." Geeky fun. |
| The Fancy Pants Adventure | 03/25/06 | varies | A Mario Brothers-like scroller with hand-drawn cartoon graphics - nicely done. (Thanks, Jay) |
| The Bugs Are Coming! | 11/10/05 | fast | Fun mouse-avoider game. (Find the name of the game about halfway down the list.) |
| The Blank Card Game | 02/04/06 | varies | (Offline) An in-person party game with markers and blank cards. Haven't tried it but sounds fun and creative. (Also see Telephone Pictionary.) |
| The Amazing Dare Dozen | 10/13/05 | fast | Move the egg up from bowl to bowl. Elegant design: you control the entire game with the mouse button only. |
| Telephone Pictionary | 08/31/05 | varies | (Offline) This isn't an online game - it's one of those old-fashioned in-person party games... I like it because it's an elegant design, requiring only pen and paper; and as a bonus, the website has some funny examples of past rounds. |
| Tea Games | 07/12/05 | fast | (List) A couple dozen quick Flash games. No sound on most of them. Thanks to Mike G. for the pointer. |
| Tanks V2 | 10/12/07 | fast | Tanks shoot it out - a bit like the old "Worms 2" game. |
| Tama | 08/20/06 | fast | Neat ball-tossing game. Land in red or blue, avoid black. (Thanks, jay) |
| Tall Stump | 12/27/07 | long | Very nicely designed side-scroller. (Thanks, jay) |
| Swoop to Nuts | 01/04/06 | fast | Unique interface: just move the mouse left or right - there are no other controls - to get the flying squirrel to pick up nuts. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Super Smash Flash | 08/24/06 | fast | An imperfect but spirited attempt at recreating the Nintendo über-classic for online play. (The regular Super Smash Brothers is, I believe, the best multiplayer console game ever created.) |
| Super Smash Brothers Melee | 04/08/05 | long | (Console only) One of the best multiplayer games ever. For Nintendo GameCube only. The unique handicapping system makes the losing player stronger; why don't more multiplayer games do this? It makes it possible for new and experienced users to compete. Full review in Uncle Mark 2006, and in this blog post. |
| Super Mario Sunshine | 04/20/05 | long | (Console only) My favorite recent adventure game - for Nintendo GameCube only. Full review in Uncle Mark 2005. |
| Sunny Day Sky | 06/26/08 | fast | Calming bear-in-traffic game from orisinal. (Thanks, jay) |
| Sumo Sushi Soccer | 05/20/06 | fast | One-on-one soccer with sumo wrestlers. Hint: don't jump too early, and use the up-arrow a lot. |
| Sugar Crash | 07/22/05 | fast | An homage to Breakout, starring a sugar cube (you) and a bouncing baby. Great sound effects. |
| Sudoku | 08/14/06 | varies | The standard, except that here you can click the "New" link to instantly generate a new puzzle. |
| Stretch Bendycoot | 01/03/06 | fast | A side-scroller with a unique interface - when the cursor turns into a pencil, you have to draw the path of the jump. (Thanks, Gordon) |
| Strategic Domination | 12/29/07 | long | Finally, the classic Mac game Strategic Conquest is online and multiplayer. |
| Stick Remover | 01/25/07 | fast | Click to remove sticks without destroying the structure. (Thanks, jay) |
| Sproing | 09/14/07 | fast | Clever & elegant: not a shootemup but a "whipemup." I don't get Level 6, though. (Thanks, jay) |
| Spin the Black Circle | 02/05/08 | fast | Rotate the board to guide the ball. Elegant, difficult game. (thanks, waxy) |
| Speedtest | 11/26/07 | fast | Nicely designed typing test, in one minute. I got 101 correct, 0 wrong (without a bit lever). |
| Spaced Penguin | 10/21/05 | fast | Gravity, a penguin, and one of the most elegant game interfaces anywhere. An oldie but (very) goodie. |
| Space Pilot | 07/29/07 | fast | Nice twist on Asteroids - just move, never shoot. (Thanks, jay) |
| Soccer Challenge | 06/04/06 | fast | Clever design of kicking soccer balls into various goals. (Thanks, jay) |
| Snowy: The Bear's Adventures | 09/19/06 | fast | Cute bear throws snowballs at baddies. (Thanks, jay) |
| Snowcraft | 03/27/05 | fast | Interesting gameplay for a snowball fight. Apparently part of a bygone holiday greetings card. |
| Snood | 04/25/05 | varies | The one and only Snood, the beloved PC game. Not online; it requires download onto a Windows or Mac machine. But well worth checking out. |
| Snake Classic | 10/20/06 | fast | Well done update of this classic game. Don't eat your tail! (Thanks, jay) |
| Snake | 11/19/06 | fast | Elegant - just left and right arrows. Here a lifelike snake eats mice. (Note: Minor blood and gore.) |
| Shufflebrain | 12/04/05 | fast | Clever ball-rolling puzzle by Scott Kim. |
| Shuffle | 06/02/07 | fast | Simple, fast, and fun billiards-style game. |
| Shooot 2 | 02/11/08 | fast | Elegant shooter - sequel to Shooot. (Thanks, jay) |
| Shooot | 09/14/05 | fast | Quick shooter game - a bit like Galaga. Click Shooot to start, and then just hold down the mouse button. |
| Set - Daily Puzzle | 12/14/05 | fast | A daily online puzzle from the makers of the popular Set card game. (Thanks, Sarah L.) |
| Samorost 2 | 12/12/05 | long | The sequel to the well-loved Samorost, listed here back in August. |
| Samorost | 08/23/05 | long | Fun find-the-click game. Cute graphics, not too hard to progress. In my Safari Web browser I find that typing Tab is like a hint key, displaying the available click points. (Thanks, Stevan Baird.) |
| Runes of Shalak | 08/17/06 | varies | Old-school graphics and music make for a fun Lode Runner-type game. H58K9 |
| Roly Poly | 09/21/06 | fast | Inventive interface: move the board, not the character, to finish the level. |
| Rocket Bob | 01/09/06 | fast | Clever game of jumps: just choose the power and angle. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Robokill | 05/28/08 | varies | Exquisitely executed shooter, an update of Smash TV - a game based on a movie based on a book. (Thanks, jay) |
| Roboclaw | 03/24/06 | fast | Move the robot arm to pick up the ball. Clean, simple design. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Rings and Sticks | 03/02/07 | fast | Clever puzzle game: grow the tree branches through the rings. (Thanks, jay) |
| Ring Mania 2 | 04/28/06 | fast | Collect and match the colored rings by flying around the screen. Nicely done! triviaaaa |
| Rigby | 12/29/07 | fast | Elegant, fun bouncing-ball game. (Thanks, jay) |
| Rhythm | 04/03/07 | fast | Very inventive. A mouse, a pentagon, and some insipiration from Dance Dance Revolution... (thanks, AudioElf) |
| RGB | 05/22/07 | fast | Shoot the colored targets. Simple & fun. (Thanks, jay) |
| Reflex | 05/02/05 | fast | Fun geometric puzzle. |
| Red Team | 05/12/07 | fast | Navigate two characters separately and simultaneously. Fun. (Thanks, jay) different |
| Red | 10/02/06 | fast | Fantastic update of Missile Command. Concept, graphics, music, game play are all excellent. (Thanks, jay) |
| RayRay | 06/15/05 | fast | Simple but challenging puzzle: get all the RayRays to stand up. Anywhere you click makes adjacent (not diagonal) RayRays to toggle their sitting/standing. |
| Rat Maze 2 | 07/01/07 | varies | Just explore the look-and-feel of this retro game... much like Adventure, the old Atari 2600 game from a quarter-century ago. (Thanks, jay) |
| Rapture Capture | 04/17/07 | fast | Unique shootemup, or perhaps a "whipemup" - inventive mouse-only interface. (Thanks, jay) |
| Rapid Motion | 01/27/06 | fast | Pinball game with a sleek interface and easy controls (space and left/right arrows). |
| Ramps | 09/19/07 | fast | Elegant and fun. Position the ramps to guide the sphere safely. (Thanks, jay) mallorylikespolkadots |
| RaidenX | 09/26/06 | fast | Nice homage to the 1980s top-scrolling shooter. |
| Racing game | 07/12/06 | fast | Nice Lunar Landar-type game from my buddy Ze Frank. |
| Race to the Bottom | 04/26/08 | fast | Elegant 1-button game: stay ahead of the caterpillar. (Thanks, jay) |
| Pyoro | 11/18/05 | fast | Hit the space bar to make the bird eat the seeds. Elegant, fast, with nearly hypnotic gameplay. (Thanks, jay) Also: weirdly-similar movie |
| PuzzPinball | 10/23/07 | fast | Design a pinball level to solve each puzzle. Really nice. (Thanks, jay) |
| Puzzle Parlor | 04/30/08 | varies | A dozen jigsaw-like puzzles. |
| Proximity | 07/11/05 | fast | A sort of cross between Othello and Go, with a twist. Fun. |
| ProgramGeek Arcade | 07/19/05 | fast | (List) Use the text links at the bottom of the page to choose any of hundreds of quick Flash games. Varying quality. |
| Professor Fizzwizzle | 09/19/05 | long | Very well executed puzzle game. Download the demo for Mac or Windows. |
| Pretty Pretty Bang Bang | 02/03/06 | fast | Like Chain Reaction but faster paced. Try to get to the Underwear Ventriloquist. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Poom | 07/13/05 | fast | Inverse of Breakout. The ball is a given; you move the board. Thanks to Jim C. |
| PongOut | 04/16/08 | fast | Multitasking fun: play Pong and Breakout at the same time. |
| Polinko | 08/15/08 | fast | Beautiful and surprisingly fun version of pachinko. (Thanks, jay) |
| Pod Panic | 10/25/06 | fast | Nicely done, creative update of Asteroids. (Thanks, jay) |
| Plastic Balls | 02/12/06 | fast | A circular version of "Breakout" - nicely done. |
| Planarity | 07/12/05 | varies | Great topology game with an especially clean interface. Addictive, though it gets very difficult by level 4. |
| Pixel Blaster | 10/26/06 | fast | Outstanding shootemup except that you have to click to fire. Space bar, please! Be nice to wrists. (Thanks, jay) |
| Pitch N Put Golf | 08/05/05 | fast | Good mini golf game. (Thanks, kottke) |
| Picture Logic | 12/14/07 | varies | Fun puzzles somewhat like sudoku. Good game UI, though most text is Japanese. (Thanks, jay) |
| Picto | 11/19/07 | fast | Very clever memory game: just click the new thing. (thanks, IN) |
| Phoboris | 02/21/07 | fast | Neat. Clear the grid bugs by bouncing the frisbee-thing around. (Thanks, jay) |
| Pendulumeca | 05/09/06 | fast | Swing, Tarzan-style, along the ceiling. Key is getting the right angle and speed. |
| Pel | 08/15/08 | fast | Elegant low-tech paddle game. (Thanks, jay) |
| Peekaboom | 08/08/05 | fast | You get partnered with an anonymous player elsewhere on the Web to play this image-guessing game. Good design, but too much clicking. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Paths | 11/15/06 | fast | Clever drawing game: draw the path, hit the space bar, and move the obstacles. (Thanks, jay) |
| Passage | 01/14/08 | fast | This is a MUST-play. The whole game lasts only five minutes. Just play it. (Download for Mac/Win/Linux.) |
| Paper-and-pen games | 11/06/06 | varies | List of offline games, like Other Foot, that require only pen and paper. Great for parties. |
| Panic | 09/19/06 | fast | Great shootemup. Trick is to shoot the baddies while as high up as possible. (Thanks, jay) |
| Panda Pang | 06/28/05 | fast | Fun shooter in the style of 80s arcade games. Sort of a cross between Galaga, Space Invaders, and Xevious - starring a panda. Hint: hold the mouse button down, rather than shooting individual shots. |
| Paddle Ball | 05/26/08 | fast | Very simple concept, well executed. |
| Pac-Xon | 08/17/06 | fast | A cross between Pac-Man and Qix - very nice. |
| Orisinal | 07/13/05 | varies | A collection of visually beautiful games and puzzles, which include Bottom of the Sea, linked below. Thanks to Marc C. for recommending Floats, which is similar to Loop. (Loop has the superior interface, not requiring clicks; Floats has a better soundtrack.) |
| Orbox | 07/05/06 | fast | Clever puzzle game. Use the arrow keys to move the ball to the goal. |
| OrbBlaster | 11/28/07 | fast | Excellent shootemup... shades of Asteroids and Red, and new elements, in this outstanding design. |
| Orangutwang Game | 04/24/06 | fast | Stretch the cute orangutan to grab the bananas. Too much clicking for me, but visually well done. (Also: learn more about these endangered animals) |
| Orange | 03/08/07 | fast | Followup to the outstanding Red. Nice visuals and sound, and decent game play, but too much mouse clicking. (Thanks, jay) |
| Opniyama | 10/11/06 | fast | A bit like Fly Guy - a cute, fun world to explore. (Thanks, MUG) |
| Open Doors | 07/16/08 | fast | Clever puzzle of moving around a blueprint. |
| One on One | 06/07/06 | fast | Dribble past the goalie and shoot. (Thanks to the game designer: jp) |
| Ollie's Dance Experience | 10/10/06 | fast | A keyboard version of Dance Dance Revolution. |
| Nucleus | 04/04/05 | fast | Devilishly simple yet addictive online game. |
| No circles | 06/10/05 | long | Very well done Flash game. Figure out what the visual puzzle is on each level, then solve it. |
| Nethack | 11/16/05 | long | (Download) Difficult to set up and difficult to learn to play, but overcome those obstacles and you have the best one-person adventure game ever created. I recommend the text-only version, which is more immersive and compelling than any version of Doom, Halo, or anything else. Also see this. |
| Nests of Moai | 02/21/07 | fast | Quick fun: mouse over 100 Easter Island heads each level. (Thanks, jay) |
| Neon 2 | 10/06/06 | fast | Fun shootemup. A bit like Asteroids in the vector-art world of Tempest. (Thanks, jay) |
| neko-juppiki | 11/22/06 | fast | Guide the kittens to safety, like lemmings, by clicking on arrows. (Thanks, jay) |
| Neave Games | 06/08/05 | fast | Classic arcade games free on the Web! Tetris, Asteroids, Pac Man, Simon (remember that?), Space Invaders, and more. |
| Nanotube | 03/12/08 | fast | Outstanding. Elegant design, unique gameplay - vaguely Tempest-like. (thanks, jay) |
| Nano War | 05/30/08 | fast | Cool real-time strategy. More levels and multiplayer, please! (Thanks, jay) |
| N3wton | 11/09/07 | varies | Sumo-wrestling tanks! Nicely designed. (Thanks, jay) |
| Mystery of Castle Wildenburg | 08/18/06 | long | Nice point-and-click adventure game with photographic backgrounds. (Thanks, jay) inits0818 |
| Mypie | 11/03/05 | fast | Simple game of avoiding the alligators and getting the goodies. I like the cake-eating noise. |
| Music Catch | 05/26/08 | fast | Nice musical game. Catch the shapes, like Doeo. |
| Music Bounce | 05/13/08 | varies | Unique, clever, musical, all-around great. (Thanks, jay) |
| Multiball Madness | 02/01/08 | fast | Quick version of Breakout with many balls. Juggle! (Thanks, jay) |
| Mr. Mothball 2 | 11/09/07 | fast | Very clever take on the shootemup genre. Friendly and cute; too much clicking, though. Space bar, please! (Thanks, jay) |
| Movie Puzzle | 04/18/06 | fast | Clever puzzle: reconstruct the pieces of the bouncing ball's animation. |
| Mouse Avoider 2 | 10/31/05 | fast | Elegant UI - no clicking, just moving the mouse. I dare you to get past Level 7. |
| Motherload | 12/27/06 | long | Mine the earth for minerals and money. (Thanks, kottke) (original URL) |
| Mission in Snowdriftland | 12/09/06 | varies | Great winter-themed game, much ilke Mario World. (Thanks, jay) |
| Missile Game 3D | 11/16/06 | fast | Use the mouse to pilot through the tunnel. Elegant. |
| Missile Command | 05/07/05 | fast | Yes, the original arcade version. Even improved over the original, since you use the mouse (and it knows which of the three bases to shoot from). |
| Mini-putt | 07/19/05 | fast | Good execution with an elegant interface. |
| Mini Golf | 12/27/06 | fast | Nicely done mini-golf game. (Thanks, kottke) |
| Miners 4K | 04/20/06 | fast | Excellent game in only four kilobytes. Right-click to build tunnels for the workers. Caveat, techie Java-install required. (Thanks, Christoph of Aevum Obscurum) |
| Mindfields 2204 | 08/29/07 | varies | Neat tank puzzle game, reminiscent of the German cow game. (Thanks, Ralp H) UA33 |
| Milaa mindreader | 06/28/06 | fast | This Flash app created by a designer in Iran appears to read your mind. (Thanks, Shaun) |
| Micro Pac-Man | 06/18/05 | fast | Just for novelty appeal: the world's smallest Pac-Man clone. It's so small, there's no room for a score, or more than one ghost. Only for those with good eyesight. |
| Maze Frenzy | 06/10/06 | fast | Click on the red dot and then guide it through the maze. |
| Maxwell's Demon - Balls | 05/15/05 | fast | Segregate the bouncing balls by red and blue. Simple and addictive. |
| Mahjongg Solitaire | 11/29/05 | fast | This version of the tile-matching game can be played offline, once it's loaded up. (Thanks, Thomas Weibel) |
| Magnetism | 10/24/05 | fast | Great little game, somewhat like Spaced Penguin. Levels 1 through 9 are fun; 10 is nearly impossible to beat. |
| Magic Pen | 04/14/08 | fast | Fun crayon-physics game. (tx, jim) |
| Luminara | 02/14/08 | fast | Outstanding shootemup with great powerups. |
| Lost Your Marbles? | 06/21/05 | fast | Fun quick game. Use the mouse to avoid walls, but feel free to bump into anything circular. |
| Loop | 07/12/05 | fast | Another gem from gameLab, it features the unusual interface element of looping the mouse; no clicking or typing needed. Well worth playing. (Brings to mind the old Mac classic Boogaloopers, which is "out of print" now.) |
| Line Rider | 11/03/06 | fast | Draw your own track for the sled to ride on. Then watch this video, and this, to see what others have done. (Thanks, kottke) |
| LightSprites | 07/01/07 | fast | Fun game with a cute-bizarre Nintendo feel. Drag and throw the colored balls to grow happy humanoids. (Thanks, jay) |
| Lightning Pool | 10/17/05 | fast | Fun one-person billiards game with different challenges. |
| Lightforce games | 07/15/05 | varies | A couple dozen puzzle and tile games from Lightforce. |
| Library | 10/13/07 | fast | Still in a rough "beta" version, but unique and fun: choose the best source for library patrons' queries. |
| Levers | 05/22/05 | fast | One of all-time favorite online puzzles. Brings to mind Myst and other fun puzzle games. |
| Launchball | 10/15/07 | fast | Fun science-museum-type puzzles. Great visual and sound design. (Thanks, jay) momi12agma |
| Laser and Bubbles | 12/07/07 | fast | Unique and fun: pop bubbles with lasers. (Thanks, jay) |
| Lander | 11/06/06 | fast | Quick three-level lunar lander game. Fun. |
| Kurnik games | 10/03/05 | fast | (List) Many free multiplayer games here - Chess, Hearts, etc. as well as Pencil Soccer, a new one for me. |
| Kumo Neko | 11/28/06 | fast | Swing the cat onto the diamonds. Elegant. (Thanks, jay) |
| Know Your World? | 10/31/07 | fast | Very nicely designed geography quiz. |
| Kingdom of Loathing | 07/27/05 | long | Adventure game featuring stick figures, cartoon drawings, and silly writing. Well done. |
| Kinetikz 2 | 08/13/08 | fast | Souped-up version of billiards, with obstacles and baddies. (Thanks, jay) |
| Kill Time | 07/21/05 | fast | Very fast game. Don't let him get your mouse cursor! (Just move the mouse; no clicking required.) |
| Katamari | 02/17/06 | fast | A very low-res version of the excellent Playstation 2 game Katamari Damacy. It's a little like Fishy - with the sense of humor of the PS2 game. |
| Just Letters | 07/22/05 | fast | A real-time, communal scratch pad. The "game" is whatever you make it. I challenge you to write something intelligible before someone steals it... |
| Jungle Crash Land | 11/28/06 | fast | Drop bombs to clear the runway before you land. |
| Jinx | 10/26/06 | fast | Fun kid-friendly adventure game themed for Halloween. This is Part 1, and when you're done, try Part 2. (Thanks, jay) |
| Jay Is | 07/13/05 | varies | (Blog) Jay Bibby has written about his favorite online games for years. Don't miss the "recommended" and "classic" sections on the left side of the page. |
| Jamie Kane | 08/17/05 | long | From the BBC, a whodunit mystery about a fictitious popstar. (Note that I haven't played this game; I'm relying on recommendations from Boing Boing and Jay.) |
| iSketch | 03/21/06 | fast | Good online version of Pictionary. (Thanks, ze) |
| Iron Sudoku | 07/08/06 | varies | Nice interface to solve a daily puzzle. Free with registration. |
| Invader360 | 05/19/06 | fast | Good old-fashioned shoot-em-up. (Thanks, jay) |
| Insane Orb | 08/15/06 | fast | Outstanding update of Pong. The space bar can shoot the puck. Watch for a 80s arcade celebrity sighting. |
| Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide TTG | 06/04/05 | long | Yes, it's the original Infocom text adventure from the 80s (linked from Douglas Adams' site). Another reason to love the Web. |
| Infocom text games | 09/14/05 | long | (List) Eighteen classic Infocom text adventures, ported to Java in their original from. Straight from the 80s! (Thanks, Phoebe.) |
| Indestruct 2 Tank | 10/29/07 | fast | Clever game where you try to get hit by the baddies. |
| Ignition | 05/12/07 | fast | Stylish, elegant, and quick driving game. Nicely done! (Thanks, jay) |
| iFiction games | 06/17/06 | long | (List) Many command-line text adventures from the 80s, available for play online. |
| I/O | 02/07/08 | fast | Fun geeky puzzle, not too hard. (Thanks, jay) |
| Hyper Sphere | 09/11/06 | fast | Sort of a 2-D version of the 80s classic Marble Madness. |
| Hungry Spiders | 04/24/05 | fast | Sort of Missile Command meets Little Miss Muffet. (Muffet Command?) Not for arachnophobes. |
| Hotcorn | 10/02/07 | fast | Pop the corn. You're the sun. Some hard levels, but fun. (Thanks, jay) |
| Hot Shot Business | 11/18/05 | long | Created by the Kauffman Foundation and Disney to teach entrepreneurship. Although it's built for younger players (middle- or high-school age), I found myself drawn in. Outstanding. (See The Economist article for background info.) |
| Hot Rocks | 01/24/06 | fast | Great updated version of the 1980s classic Asteroids, including new weapons and a cool soundtrack. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Hoshi Saga | 05/22/07 | fast | Inventive - find a way to uncover the star in each level. (Thanks, jay) |
| Horsey Racing | 08/07/06 | fast | Simple and fun - move the mouse to the right or left to control speed, click to jump. (Thanks, jay) |
| High Delivery | 04/11/06 | fast | Use the fan to blow the balloon near the roses. Keep growing the bouquet. (Thanks, Jonathan) |
| Helicopter | 06/12/05 | fast | Fun quick helicopter game. Use the space bar and arrow keys - it's designed well enough that you don't need instructions. |
| Hedgehog Launch | 07/01/08 | fast | Unique, clever, well-balanced game - with a nice surprise, too. |
| Happy Flower Music Time | 08/18/06 | fast | The old handheld game Simon (mimicking tunes) on animated flower petals. Cute. (Thanks, jay) |
| Hapland 3 | 04/08/06 | varies | The latest sequel in this popular series. Find the proper sequence of clicks to win. |
| Hapland | 07/13/05 | long | Don't be thrown off by the simple 2-D graphic. This is a well-designed puzzle that challenges players to explore the world, figure out what the question is, then slowly discover the answer (a particular sequence of clicks). There's also a sequel. |
| Hangman | 09/19/05 | fast | Elegant version of the classic game. Well done. (Thanks to Sean himself for the pointer.) |
| Gyroball | 07/21/05 | fast | Similar to the 80s coin-op game Marble Madness, but with no sound. A bit clunky with arrow keys instead of the trackball, but then it's not as hard as MM was. |
| Guess-the-Google | 07/15/05 | fast | Grant Robinson's clever game of guessing the search query that yielded a set of images. Especially clean execution that reminds me of the outstanding "You Don't Know Jack" from the mid-90s. |
| Guess the Place | 08/15/06 | fast | Guess the city or country from a photo or part of a map. |
| Grow v.2 | 06/12/06 | fast | A delight to play, like the previous Grow games. Click the elements in the right order. (Thanks, jay) |
| Grow v.1 | 12/12/06 | fast | A quick but welcome addition to the outstanding Grow series. (Thanks, jay) |
| Grow RPG | 01/27/06 | varies | Fantastic game. But first play the equally fantastic Grow, if you haven't yet, since this is the sequel. |
| Grow Island | 09/13/07 | fast | Yet another must-play in the Grow series. (Thanks, jay) |
| Grow Cube | 02/01/06 | fast | Third in this outstanding series: first play Grow, then Grow RPG, then this one. (The same designer also made the excellent Tontie.) |
| Grow | 07/25/05 | fast | Drag the items, one by one, into the middle of the circle. Do it in exactly the right order and they'll all achieve their maximum potential and you'll win the game... |
| Gridlock | 12/08/05 | fast | Move the blue block out the right-side exit. I like the organic, torn-paper look. (Thanks, Evan) |
| Grid16 | 02/19/08 | fast | Fun collection of two-second games. (Thanks, jim) |
| Gravity | 10/25/05 | fast | With an interface similar to Spaced Penguin, fire an atom to orbit - and not touch - several gravity sources. Try not to hit a wall. (Similar game: Orbit) |
| Goggles: Google Maps flight sim | 08/10/06 | fast | A simple addition to Google Maps - a little cartoon airplane - makes a surprisingly good flight simulator. |
| Go Robot | 03/19/08 | fast | Quick game about a robot, made by yours truly. |
| GlobZ Mini Games | 10/13/05 | fast | (List) A dozen tiny games controlled with a mouse click or not much more. Apparently no sound, though. |
| Globulos | 11/07/06 | fast | Fantastic set of multi-player games featuring yellow and red bouncing balls. Games this good are rare online. (Note: All the games are kid-friendly but there is always a chat window visible, allowing other players to type uncensored messages.) |
| Glassez | 03/02/07 | fast | Cute game of filling a puzzle with geometric pieces. Too much clicking, though. (Thanks, jay) |
| German cow game | 01/05/06 | fast | Drag the arrows to control the cow. Somehow reminds me of Blix. |
| Geography Challenge | 11/08/06 | fast | Nicely done geography quiz. |
| Geartaker | 07/29/06 | fast | (Find the link near the top of the list.) Click at the right time and advance. Elegant and fun. (Thanks, jay) |
| Gamma Bros | 07/08/06 | varies | Outstanding shootemup. Play this and you'll relive (or get schooled in) Asteroids, Galaga, and Robotron 2084. Warning: addictive! (Thanks, Eric at UW) GOLVL2 |
| Games for toddlers | 11/25/06 | fast | List of sites that link to games appropriate for toddlers. (Thanks, jay) |
| Games for the Brain | 07/13/05 | fast | (List) Several games that require the player to think a bit. Includes Dragger, linked below. |
| Games for Change | 05/11/05 | varies | (Blog) A group creating and advocating for "serious games" that teach about issues around the world, like Food Force. |
| game, game and again game | 05/12/07 | varies | Worth trying because it's so unique... abstract poetry in the form of a video game. Don't try to make sense of it, but do try it. (Thanks, jay) |
| Galcon | 06/06/08 | fast | Great multiplayer conquest game (much like Nano War, but Galcon came first). Download for Mac/Windows. |
| fuzetsu | 07/25/06 | fast | The closer you get to the flying objects - but don't touch - the more bullets you shoot. No buttons or keys - just move the mouse. Elegant, beautiful, and fun. (Note: Needs this Java thing to play.) (Thanks, jay) |
| Funny Farm | 12/05/07 | long | Ingenious word-association puzzle. |
| Fulfillment | 04/03/07 | fast | Fun block-fitting game, like a static version of Tetris. (thanks, AudioElf) |
| Frogger | 05/07/05 | fast | The original arcade version. Great soundtrack, and in such a small amount of memory. (Kids, this is what quality looks like under tremendous constraints!) |
| Free Style | 02/03/06 | fast | A rare game that blends music with game play. Use the arrow keys to turn all the squares green. |
| Free Rice | 10/16/07 | fast | Vocabulary game that donates rice upon a correct answer. Cleverly sets the difficulty level (I got to 45). |
| Four Second Fury | 07/13/06 | fast | Use the arrow keys and space bar to complete each mini-game within four seconds. (A lot like WarioWare - nicely done.) |
| Four Second Frenzy | 08/14/06 | fast | Another mini-game medley; the sequel to Four Second Fury listed earlier. |
| Four Second Firestorm | 11/03/06 | fast | Another four-second minigame medley, like Frenzy and Fury before it. (Thanks, jay) |
| Formation | 03/08/07 | fast | Elegant avoid-the-dots game. Nicely done. (Thanks, jay) |
| FoolYoo | 02/16/07 | fast | Cute samurai game: cut up the baddies (and veggies - refer to this). (Thanks, jay) |
| Food Force | 07/07/05 | long | (Requires big download) Adventure game showing players what it's like to rebuild a poor country hit by the tsunami. 198 megabyte download for Mac or Windows. |
| Fly Guy | 09/19/06 | fast | A very old one, in Internet years, but still good. A friendly little world to explore. |
| Flow | 08/21/06 | varies | Outstanding. Explore a strange aquatic world. Mysterious and soothing. (Thanks, all who recommended.) |
| Flash Element TD | 01/19/07 | fast | Set up towers to shoot incoming waves of monsters. Good stuff. (Thanks, joanne) |
| Flash Circle TD | 03/20/07 | varies | Great followup to Flash Element TD - even better. Caution: addicting. (Thanks, jay) |
| Fishy | 08/29/05 | fast | Excellent game design. Just use the arrow keys to eat anything smaller than you; that's the whole game. I've played Fishy on and off for years, and it's still a fav. (This is Fishy Classic; don't bother with the newer version.) |
| Fingerbilliard | 09/08/06 | fast | Fun Flash game of pool. From the home page, choose Toys, then "fingerbillard" [sic]. |
| Filler | 01/16/08 | fast | Elegant. Like Qix but with circles. (Thanks, jay) |
| Feed Me | 08/07/06 | varies | A bit like a Mario World side-scroller, starring a venus flytrap. |
| Factory Balls | 10/22/07 | fast | Outstanding puzzle game: clever, fun, and unique. |
| Experimental Gameplay Project | 04/29/06 | fast | (List) Many quickly developed, experimental online games. Quality varies. |
| Excit | 01/03/08 | fast | Puzzles in a spreadsheet world. Workflow |
| Evito Ball | 07/30/08 | fast | Guide the ball with arrow keys, avoiding obstacles. (Thanks, jay) |
| ESP Game | 02/15/06 | fast | Sort of a Web version of the old TV game "Password." Try to guess the keywords that another user types when they see a given image. (Use bugmenot.com to get a username and password.) |
| Eskiv | 05/18/06 | fast | Call me old-fashioned, but this is one of the best games I've found online. Simple, elegant, fun. Hit the box and avoid the balls. (Thanks, Xeni) |
| Escape Vision | 02/12/08 | long | Interesting escape-the-room puzzle. (Thanks, Alberto) |
| Escape the room games | 09/01/07 | long | List of "escape the room" games. Click around to find and use objects and solve the puzzle. |
| Escape from Rhetundo Island | 10/12/05 | long | Intriguing sequel to Hapland and Hapland 2, both listed here on 13 July 05. |
| Escape from Rhetundo Island | 06/08/06 | fast | From the designer of the Hapland and Avoision series. Click things to remove obstacles and keep the guy running to the right (a bit like the 80s game Pitfall). |
| Entrapment | 08/01/05 | fast | Not exactly a game, but an area for play. Explore the rules and the interface of this environment and see what you think! (Hint: Draw a big "6" or "G" shape to trap most of the critters.) |
| Ellipsis | 04/02/07 | fast | Nicely executed, simple mouse-clicking game. Like Asteroids without the aim. |
| Eight Letters | 03/16/06 | fast | Similar to Babble, but with a focus on eight-letter words. (Thanks, AL) |
| Eggrun | 10/12/05 | fast | Click the egg and drag the mouse down; let go and watch the egg hit the stick. Repeat as necessary. |
| Egg Way | 08/11/06 | fast | Draw little barriers to help guide the egg yolk into the pan. (Thanks, jay) |
| Dungeon Escape | 04/13/06 | varies | Outstanding. A tribute to Dragon's Lair and other short-lived laser disc games of the mid 80s. The Web is a perfect platform for this genre, and I want to see more. |
| Dumbolf | 07/05/06 | fast | Cute minigolf with a cartoon elephant. Some of the levels are pretty difficult. |
| Drifts | 11/29/05 | fast | Elegant gameplay and a nice scrolling background. Unfortunately, the game is much too harsh, often ending abruptly. |
| Dragger | 07/12/05 | fast | Clever game: drag the pieces into place to reform the picture. One of the several entertaining Games for the Brain. |
| Double Wires | 11/09/06 | fast | Swing the stick figure, Tarzan-like. (Thanks, jay) |
| Door to Door | 06/15/07 | fast | Cute version of Concentration, especially for kids. (Thanks, April) |
| Doom Funnel Chasers | 10/21/05 | fast | The long-awaited sequel to Spaced Penguin. |
| Don Pixel games | 06/07/05 | varies | (List) Several "free online games for all the family." Nintendo Super MonkeyBall fans will be happy to find a version of MonkeyBall there. |
| Don Pixel | 08/02/05 | varies | (List) A selection of "only the best free online games for all the family." También en español. |
| Dolphin Olympics 2 | 08/27/07 | fast | New & improved version of the great Dolphin Olympics, listed here a year ago. Play this! (Thanks, jay) |
| Dolphin Olympics | 08/16/06 | fast | Outstanding. Elegant and fun - just use the arrow keys. Play! (Thanks, jay) |
| Doeo | 05/01/08 | fast | Stylish mouse-only game, recalls Katamari. (via) |
| Dodge | 07/13/05 | fast | This is a devilish little game. Just try to keep your red block away from all the floating blue blocks. Worthy of study - how often in a game do you get a good chase sequence? (Thanks to Andrew K.) |
| Dodge | 05/04/07 | fast | Dodge the red balls. So simple... for a few levels. |
| Dino Run | 05/23/08 | fast | Clever, retro scroller - outrun the volcano. (tx, rene) |
| Diner Dash | 07/01/05 | varies | Great game design, as always, from the crew at gameLab. Play free (for awhile) online, but I'd recommend paying the $20 and getting the full downloadable version to play all the levels. Fun and addictive. |
| Digg Games | 08/26/06 | fast | (List) A couple dozen quick Flash games that have been featured on the home page of Digg. |
| Dicewars | 08/01/06 | fast | Very nice scaled-down version of Risk, playing against several computer opponents. |
| Desktop TD | 03/20/07 | fast | Cuter, more addictive version of the other TD games. See WSJ profile of the creator from June 20, 2007. (thanks, kottke) |
| Day of the Bobteds | 12/28/07 | fast | Inventive ball-physics game. |
| Cutie Quake | 08/09/06 | fast | Shoot any bouncing thing that moves, don't get shot. |
| Curveball | 04/05/06 | fast | 3-D pong, looking top-down, with spin. Well done. |
| Cursor*10 | 01/13/08 | fast | Clever puzzle of stairs and recordings of past moves. |
| Cubefield | 01/14/06 | fast | Use the left and right arrow keys to fly around the boxes. Anyone who played "Star Wars" in arcades in the mid-80s will recognize it. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Cube Bugs | 02/10/06 | fast | Cute implementation of the common game of clicking off sets of similar items (bugs, in this case). |
| Cube | 02/02/06 | fast | Like shuffleboard with a square puck. Well done. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Crypt Raider | 05/17/05 | long | Kind of a 2D Sokoban version of Tomb Raider. Funny soundtrack between levels. |
| Crossword | 11/15/06 | fast | Good crossword game with no clues. (Thanks, jay) |
| Crazy Mammoths | 05/25/07 | fast | Neat space bar-only game. Jump your mammoth at the right moment to win. |
| Crazy Ladybugs | 05/18/07 | fast | Elegant and fun one-click game: bring the ladybugs together. (thanks, bb) |
| Crash | 04/11/05 | fast | Good one from the designers at gameLab: the elegant interface makes for especially good game play. |
| Cosmic Encounter | 09/14/06 | varies | Nice online version of the classic board game. Complex, but fun, once you know the rules. Click "Play as Guest" to avoid registration. |
| Conqueror | 11/13/05 | long | Good Risk-type game. (Thanks, jay) |
| Commander Keen | 11/09/06 | long | An old side-scroller now online. A lot like Mario World. |
| Comboling | 05/27/05 | fast | Great puzzle. Try it without reading the directions first. |
| Color Junction | 04/03/08 | fast | Quick and fun. Try to remove all the colors. |
| Coign of Vantage | 08/14/08 | fast | Clever concept, nice gameplay: rotate the image until everything clicks. (Thanks, jay) |
| Click the Colour | 05/18/06 | fast | ...and not the word. Harder than it sounds. |
| Click Maze 2 | 11/09/07 | fast | Click the dot through the maze; a bit like mini golf. Fun. (Thanks, jay) |
| Chat Noir | 11/30/07 | fast | Simple - but not easy - puzzle of hemming in an escaping kitteh. (thanks, bb) |
| Chain Reaction | 07/12/05 | fast | Really quick game - click to see how many explosions you can set off with one click. A bit of "Missile Command" in this one. My three-round best is 121. |
| Chain Factor | 01/29/08 | fast | Drop numbered tiles to form chains. (thanks, kottke) |
| Cave 3D | 05/23/05 | fast | Fly in the middle of the cave (or is it the Death Star tunnel?).. Hint: press the space bar. Warning: addictive. My high score: 1031. |
| Catch Thirty-three | 01/17/07 | fast | Mouse over the digits in sequence. Quick and elegant. (Thanks, Matt) |
| Cat with Bow Golf | 08/03/07 | fast | Shoot the arrow (cat hanging on happily) toward the bulls-eye. Cute. |
| Cat on a Dolphin | 12/27/07 | fast | Strangely compelling cat-tossing game. (Thanks, jay) |
| Castle Smasher | 02/01/07 | fast | Well-designed, fun catapult game. |
| Castle Draw | 05/30/07 | fast | Draw rocks to drop onto invaders. Don't miss the Shop menu on the right. (Thanks, jay) |
| Canyon Shooter | 05/25/08 | fast | Surprisingly engaging down-scroller. (Thanks, jay) |
| Cannon Bods | 04/12/07 | fast | Cute, fun game with pirates and cannons. (Thanks, jay) |
| Bullet Bill | 08/15/06 | fast | Very fast side-scroller where you play the bullet in the Mario games. Cute. (Thanks, jay) Q3TH6 |
| Bugs | 01/06/06 | fast | Elegant and soothing. Great design. Click and hold the mouse button, but let it go before the ladybugs touch the bubble. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Bubbles | 06/06/06 | fast | A bouncing-ball version of Asteroids. Left arrow, right arrow, space. (Thanks, jay) |
| Brute Wars | 05/17/08 | long | Turn-based combat/adventure game. (Thanks, jay) |
| Brain Buster | 05/18/06 | fast | Nicely done reflex-memory game. The music section is a great way to learn intervals - I wish that was its own game. (Thanks, Jay) |
| Boxhead Rooms | 07/27/07 | varies | Shoot the zombies. (Thanks, Matt.) P.S. Here's a possible theme song for the game by my friend Andrew. |
| Boxhead More Rooms | 08/06/07 | varies | Sequel to Boxhead Rooms - more rooms, weapons, and baddies. |
| Box Up | 07/15/05 | fast | Reminiscent of Sokoban. Simple implementation and quickly very difficult puzzles. Nice feature is that you can click to any level you'd like to see at any time. |
| BowMaster Prelude | 12/14/06 | varies | Defend the castle by shooting arrows. Excellent. (Thanks, jay) |
| Bound Bear | 07/14/07 | fast | Clever, unique bear-head-throwing game. (Thanks, jay) |
| Bottom of the Sea | 05/10/05 | long | Frogger meets Donkey Kong, under the sea - kind of. Fun concept, fairly difficult to progress far. |
| Boomstick | 03/28/08 | fast | Excellent. Shoot the abstract shapes to get more ammo. |
| Boomshine | 03/27/07 | fast | Set off a chain reaction - like Chaos Theory but better graphics and sound. Fun. |
| BoomBot | 08/23/08 | fast | Place charges to blow the bot to the exit. (via) |
| Bombay Taxi | 08/21/07 | fast | Fun with parallel parking. |
| Bomb Wars | 07/13/07 | fast | Great replay of Tron Deadly Discs, one of my arcade favs from 80s. (Thanks, jay) |
| Board Dots | 08/25/06 | varies | Elegant and difficult puzzle - click around in the grid and you'll get it. You have to fill all the squares. |
| Bloxorz | 07/06/07 | fast | Clever 3-D block-movement puzzle. (thanks, jj) 524383 |
| Bloons | 03/29/07 | fast | Fun balloon-popping game. |
| Blockoban | 04/21/08 | varies | Clever and difficult block-sliding puzzle. |
| Blix | 11/22/05 | fast | Elegant, fun, addictive, and just plain cool. I played this game for the first time in (I think) 1999, and it's still great. Thanks, gameLab! It's got great tempo. |
| Binball Wizard | 06/10/06 | fast | Shoot the soccer ball into the office bin. Elegant and fun. (Thanks, jay) |
| Battleships | 10/20/06 | fast | Good implementation of the classic board game Battleship. Note that you can only play the computer. (Thanks, jay) |
| Babble | 03/14/06 | fast | Nicely done version of Boggle. Only downside - you have to register to play. (Thanks, svn) |
| Avoision XP Pro | 06/08/06 | fast | Sequel to Avoision - with even better graphics and level design. Nicely done. I got to 1064. |
| Avoision | 06/08/06 | fast | A lot like Eskiv, but with better graphics. |
| Attractors | 02/02/07 | fast | Fun gravity toy. You can drag the platforms and gravity sources. |
| Artillery Live | 05/22/07 | fast | Nice scaled-down tank game. Simple multiplayer game - good work. (Thanks, jay) |
| Art Games | 12/02/05 | varies | (List) Several games or game-related projects with art themes. |
| Archipelago | 07/08/06 | long | A south-Pacific version of Myst, except much harder. Here's a walkthrough with the answers. (Thanks, jay) |
| Applicate vol. 0 | 06/15/ |
