@nnci's blog

Free, online browser-games that deserve credit

First, I got to admit that I have never been a fan of online, in-browser flash games. Even though I have spent many breaks between classes at high school playing around on the Norwegian site 123spill.no. It’s probably because I have pretty high standards to games, especially to its graphics and “cleverness”. I like puzzle games which don’t have a timer, and provides intricate levels where you really have to think to solve it.

Still, through the years I’ve come across a few free online games I really think deserves credit. Some of the games contain great (though simple) graphics which is crucial for me to even enjoy looking at something more than five seconds. Other games are more clever and good at keeping the challenges.. well.. challenging and fun.

“Oil Panic” – move and react fast!

It’s rare that I enjoy an arcade game, where time matters. “Oil Panic” is one. It’s a very old game and I’m suprised that it’s still active. It’s in Norwegian, but you don’t need to know more than using the arrowkeys to move left, right and down and Space bar to retreat the oil drill. The goal is to gather all blue drops (presumably oil drops) in the level. The challenge lies in the enemies (in form of flames, red stars or other things) that suddenly appears at the border’s edge and move horizontally. The only way to kill them is by hitting them with the drill head – if they hit your extended pipe you die. That means that even though the drill head is picking up drops way at the bottom, if an enemy appears in the upper rows, you need to climb all the way back up before it hits your pipe and then climb back down again. Special walls and items appear in the later levels, as well as faster enemies and shorter time to react.

“Shift” – think in black and white

There are now four “Shift”(s?), but i prefer the first two, “Shift 1” and “Shift 2“. These games don’t consist of many levels, but have a clever gimmick. The game is in black and white for a reason, because pressing Shift inverts the board. Otherwise it appears as a platform-game where you move and jump your way to the exit door. Reaching keys, switches and avoiding spikes have never been as challenging as in “Shift”. The games got humor too, including several obvious references to the great game Portal. I haven’t played “Shift 3” or “Shift 4” as much mostly because the last game runs on a timer.

 

“Fragger” – ninjahunting with grenades!

I recently discovered “Fragger“, which is basically the traditional Tank Wars dressed up as throwing grenades killing ninjas in a more “urban” setting. You can set your angle and velocity using your mouse, and click to throw a grenade. You only have a limited amount of grenades, but unlimited retries at all levels. “Fragger” consist of 30 creative and challenging levels, where not only adjusting the angle and velocity is crucial for completion. When you have completed all 30 levels, you can play them again using a harder difficulty level.

“Orisinal” games – just cute

Games created at “Orisinal” is not really games per se. They are more pleasurable for the eye than actually providing you challenges. The site provides no less than 60 individual games, all in the same style. Each game consists of really just one simple challenge, e.g. stack pigs in order to reach floating muffins high up in the air, or control a squirrel hunting for apples. What really attracts me is their beautiful appearance. My favourite games are the jumping rabbit in “Winterbells” and stacking pigs in “These Little Pigs“.

2 Comments to Free, online browser-games that deserve credit

1. 

   Oil Panic is addictive. Good findings!
Kostenlose Browsergames on October 25th, 2009
2. 

   Hi,
   This is Sayantani from India.
   29, Female, Game freak, geek
   I have also spent hours in FerryHalim’s Orisinal. Loved it – simply great eye-soothing graphics.
   I was reading your ‘nostalgic games’ post. I also used to play Ceasar III and AOE in my teens… Did you ever play SimCity? That is also a good city-building game…
   Recently discovered Age Of Mythology… You should give it a try if you already have not. You can select Norse, Egyptian or Roman mythologies. God powers and whatnot. You’ll sure enjoy it
   Hope to see more great posts from you, and btw your designs are great.

   Sayantani
Sayantani on January 28th, 2010

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