All-time Best Games
Listing of the top 1,000 games (all types) reviewed here on JIG, and rated by you, the JIG community (ordered by ranking):
We are grateful to James Prucey for this marvel of a game;With its mix of luck and strategy, it's never quite the same;
Though it used to need an iPhone, now we all can praise its name;
Oh Lock 'n' Roll, ROCK ON!
If you've ever had sand kicked in your face at the beach by a vending machine, then this ridiculously over-the-top arcade game will provide some much needed closure. Unleash a massive array of upgradeable abilities and weapons, including volleyballs, lightning, guns, magic scythes, and lightsabers, to showcase the most "epic man vs vending machine" brawl ever.
Similar in concept to the Total Perspective Vortex, from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Scale of the Universe 2 isn't really a game, but it'll still blow your mind. You start at human scale and can scroll all the way down to theoretical concepts like strings or all the way up to the potential size of the universe. That's pretty big, and you have to scroll for a long, long, long time time to get back to human scale from there. It's kind of terrifying, honestly. Try not to think about it too much.
We've waited nearly 2 years for the next installment in Mateusz Skutnik's enigmatic Submachine series, but the wait is over. Submachine 8: The Plan is here at long last with more mysterious mechanical contraptions to figure out, more mysteries to be revealed, and maybe even some long overdue answers to questions that have been nagging at us since the last chapter. Portals within portals? This changes everything.
The Trader of Stories: Bell's Heart is a new point-and-click adventure by Marek and Marcin Rudowski with help from Pastel Games. You take control of Myosotis and travel through a town in a beautifully drawn world trying to fix your wagon wheel and learn the story of a wiseman named Derrida. Though short and fairly easy, Bell's Heart is a great, wonderful looking game.
This sleepless young prince is a puckish, mischievous sort who wants to play pranks on everyone in the castle. You can join in by exploring every room using keyboard commands, to find and use objects until you've racked up every trophy and achievement to be had in this point-and-click puzzle adventure from Black Square. What to do and where can be arbitrary at times, but for those who love the artwork and the searching about, The Prince Edwards proves to be charming and handsome indeed.
Red and Giant Panda's master has been kidnapped by ninjas! Are you a bad enough panda to rescue him? So is the challenge of Neutronized's new teamwork platformer. Guide them through twenty levels of puzzles, alternating control between the differently-abled Giant and Red all the while. This is a slow-paced, almost zen, walk through a pixelated garden.
The Earth has become too small for Bob the snail. He dreams of space travel, and what do you know, he gets a call from the snail army, asking him to go on an interplanetary mission. Help Bob stay alive as he battles gravity, aliens, and laser beams in this wonderfully entertaining puzzle game. 
How do you raise a dragon? As you progress through this unique interactive story adventure from Gregory Weir, you'll find it's more complicated than strapping on a pair of fireproof gloves and stocking up on cattle. The choices you make can have unexpected consequences, and multiple endings based on the path you take will have you coming back to this one again and again.
Way back in the long-forgotten year of 2009, we reviewed a tile-based puzzle game called Electric Box. Since then, the game has maintained a steady following, with user levels constantly being added. Today, the people at Twinkle Star Games have released Electric Box 2, a supercharged sequel that's sure to make people forget all about the original.
When I heard the newest Nitrome game since Sky Wire 2 was called Small Fry, I turned to my own "Small Fry", seven-year-old Roland to help me out with the review. Roland says this one is special because you get four different characters, and you have to get them all to the tree house at the end of the level. 
As any guy with a bottle of super glue and his ex-girlfriend's CD collection can tell you, it's fun to stack things on top of each other. So here's the deal: Super Stacker 2 offers 40 levels of shape stacking, ranging from pathetically easy to hand-crampingly difficult. If that's not enough, I have three very special words for you: Level. Editor. Booya.
Do you ever think about death? Not just about dying, but about everything connected to it... the emotions, the concepts, the way people from all over the world look at it in vastly different ways? The End from Preloaded and Channel 4 is a bizarre puzzle platforming adventure through a series of realms that ask questions designed to make you think about life and what comes after.
Where oh where has my kitty cat gone? Only robot can find out, and it's up to you to help him get there by guiding him past hazards and to power ups, keys, and ultimately kitty-cat-havin'-glory in this retro-themed, pixel platform adventure.
Karoshi is a platform/puzzle game where your goal is the exact opposite of most such entertainments: you have to die. Throw yourself onto spikes, zap yourself with electricity, smash yourself with a falling safe. It's like an extended version of the cathartic moment when you get finally get sick of Mario's empty-headed cheerleading and just hurl him off a cliff.
You are the CEO of a major international oil company, your job is to make money: Democracy, environment, and global economic health are irrelevant. Explore, drill, corrupt governments, hire mercenaries, engage in covert operations, fix elections (which are clearly broken without you) and most of all: have fun.
Rusty Lake takes you to a theater of the mind in their latest entry in their beautiful but bizarre and unsettling escape series, as a very special performance is about to begin, and a myriad of puzzles await. Also free for iOS and Android!
The Dreamerz is a point-and-click adventure game where you play a cute little astronaut who is tasked with collecting "dream spheres" filled with "dream ingredients" to fix a "dream machine" on a little planet oozing with wonderment. And if that sounds trite, treacly and unappealing, you are in for a very pleasant surprise. The Dreamerz is not a cotton-puff excess about the power of dreams. If you find yourself put off by that sort of syrupy exhibitionism, then The Dreamerz is the game for you.
In the battle between man and machine, what side will you take? You are a human who has volunteered to be "digitized" in an effort to bring a halt to the rogue AIs that are plaguing cyberspace. But who can you really trust? CoreSector's tower defense strategy game is an engaging, addictive title with eye-catching aesthetics, upgrades, enemy types, and an interesting story to tell.
Grenades and baddies and physics, oh my! Adjust your angle to lob grenades from a limited supply at waiting targets to get the best scores and achievements you can across thirty levels and three difficulty settings. Why do they look so happy about getting blown up? Who knows! Just remember; pull the pin, then throw it. It's okay. We get that messed up all the time, too. You should see our offices.
Need an itty-bitty dose of holiday cheer? Then get your point-and-click puzzle-solving on with Pencilkids' monkeys as they search for enough presents (and a little something extra) to make their Christmas complete.
In this platform fighting game, evil has no chance as you take the Blackmist form of a young hero named Leo and his Eagle, to puzzle and fight your way through various worlds, eliminating henchmen and completing boss battles to overcome the evil that threatens to annihilate your village.
This gorgeous scene from Robamimi is filled with charisma as well as fun puzzles. Just like One Scene and One Scene 2, all the gameplay takes place along one wall. Point and click your way through every picturesque detail, finding the clues needed to "escape" the scene. The quality of design and the affable features make this a relaxing and beguiling experience. When something is this good, it's always a happy occasion to find more! 
The world has gone insane, but Pencil Kids is here to set it right with another installment of primate point-and-click puzzling with Monkey Go Happy Mini Monkeys 3. This time, the adventure is on a boat, on a boat, on a monkey-loving boat, and tracking down all 15 of those mischievous mini-monkeys is going to be no cup of grog. The series may be starting to get a little formulaic, but no less charming for it.
If you get lost in the woods, you'd better hope the worst you have to deal with is bugs and being forced to go to the bathroom in a bush. Little Viola has no such luck, and when she wakes alone and confused, trapped on a forest path, the only way to go is inside a mysterious house. Unfortunately for her, the place proves to be filled with dark secrets and a ton of fatal tricks and traps, and staying alive will be harder than you think in this gory free indie horror adventure.
The latest in Toge Production's popular series of zombie action-strategy games, Infectonator 2 thrives on frenetic chain-reaction based gameplay, its awesome sprite art, and the pure adrenaline rush one gets by infecting the world, continent by continent. It may be a bit taxing on the CPU for such mindless fun, but that just means you'll keep going even after someone has taken a chomp from your brain
It's the Era of Automation! We automate everything from manufacturing, to financial transactions, to blog updates. So why not automate creativity as well? Okay, that sounds horrible, but there is something fascinating about pre-configured, automatic processes that produce beautiful and seemingly random results. Depending on how you start your composition, you can either create regular repeating patterns, or patterns that subtly shift in interesting ways. It can be difficult to predict how a given setup will act, but that is part of the joy of Otomata.
Give Up Robot 2 is a solid platformer with enough neat tricks and visual appeal to set itself apart from the crowd (and its predecessor). You'll guide Robot through 60 stages spread throughout three worlds, each of which is filled with a variety of deadly traps. Your only saving grace is Robot's built-in grappling hook, and you'll need to master its use quickly. It's worth a look for anyone who won't throw their computer through the nearest window after hammering away at a tough level.
Time to brush up on your culinary skills and get cooking in this latest Tesshi-e escape game! Explore the irregular dimensions of this out of the ordinary room as you enjoy the beautiful and stunning graphics that Tesshi-e is known for. You'll need to combine logic, puzzle solving, object finding, object using, and a few culinary skills in order to call your friend to let you out so you can enjoy the lovely breakfast you just slaved over a hot...hot-plate to create.
Haretoki doesn't disappoint with this latest escape-the-room funhouse of clever puzzles and baffling devices. Quirky contraptions line every wall, inviting experimentation and exploration. You'll need to think outside the box and work through clues that are logical yet subtle, but the "This is way cool!" payoff is worth it.
It's time to raise a toast in celebration of Tesshi-e's 73rd astonishing room escape effort and once again enjoy its tricky, twisty, mistily nostalgic personality. There's really nothing to complain about in Mild Escape 5. The puzzles are tricky and satisfying with some neat solutions, the construction is at a minimum, the English translations are terrific, the controls are top notch, and the color puzzles come with text making them solvable even for the colorblind.
Raze 2 by AddisonR and Juice-Tin is the latest in a long line of action shooters with spacey-marines and/or one-word non-indicative titles. Let's count them off: Doom, Quake, Halo, Descent, Unreal, and, uh... Haze. It's surprising there are any alien-demon-zombie menaces left to battle considering how quickly we're able to deploy a near-endless supply of Master Chiefs. It's a good thing then that Raze 2 has the quality gameplay and presentation to distinguish itself from the competition.
When the head of the Weardd Academy's School for Responsible Reanimation mysteriously dies in a fire, the students blame each other and take up sides. They summon up the undead and dispatch them into battle. Welcome to Corpse Craft: Incident at Weardd Academy, a new zombie game from the makers of Whirled that mixes real time strategy with block clearing to create a unique new game experience.
An odd and addictive little game of violence against stick figures intent on invading your castle. From what I can glean, the gameplay has some depth by allowing you to purchase additional units and upgrades between levels.An odd and addictive little game of violence against stick figures intent on invading your castle. From what I can glean, the gameplay has some depth by allowing you to purchase additional units and upgrades between levels.
It's a hot summer so you rent a cool bungalow for a nice bit of relaxation. Or so you thought, because in Tesshi-e's world all doors are to be looked at suspiciously. Turns out this one is no differently as you're soon locked inside with no key in sight. Time to escape! Search around this whimsically appointed vacation cabin for clues and helpful objects, solving puzzles until that elusive exit key is in hand.
Desktop TD Pro is a substantial new update to one of the grandfathers of tower defense, with new shiny graphics and menacing new "hopper" and "decoy" creeps. With the new Scenarios, Sprint Mode, and a completely customizable Sandbox Mode, this is a strong contender for Best Tower Defense Game Ever.
With Zuma's Revenge Popcap has hit a homerun. As with the original, you can easily waste hours and hours playing this game with no end in sight. Humorous, beautiful, addictive, Zuma's revenge includes everything a casual gamer could desire, with 50% more boss fights!
Daniel wakes up on the floor of an ancient castle, unable to remember anything but his name... unfortunate for him since his past might be out to get them. Frictional Games delivers one of the most tense and frightening horror titles in a long time, using superb atmosphere and physics controls to plunge you into a story you won't soon forget... assuming you survive.
The designers behind Tesshi-e go down memory lane with this fresh remake of their very first escape game and they drag us along for the ride. It's a wonderful, nostalgic look back that brings those old, simple designs into the stunning present. With its stunning graphics, involving puzzles, and two endings, Mild Escape 1 is a fantastic addition to the Tesshi-e escape catalogue.
Wink: The Game is a graphical adventure in which the emphasis is on stealth over brute force. Wink is not exactly a tough guy: his most useful skill is the ability to vanish into the shadows and, whenever one of the hooded, glowy-eyed baddies passes by, creep up from behind and knock the enemy out.
Blocks With Letters On is a game that seamlessly combines language riddles with physical tile puzzles. Each level provides you with an assortment of blocks (with letters on), and you must find a way to position them in the supplied pink spaces so that they spell an English word. This sequel's difficulty picks up at the point where the last game left off. Which was already freakishly difficult. Be warned.
Plexus serves up some sweet seasonal puzzling with this Valentine's Day themed jigsaw. Though not as difficult as others we've seen from them, beautiful colours and cute imagery makes for proof positive that the best way to say "I tolerate you" is to say it with puzzles.
Anaksha, the butt-kicking heroine from the sniping simulation adventure Dark Angel, goes a different route in this collection of quirky old-school style adventures with a sense of humour. Solve problems for people, come up with creative solutions to obstacles, and a lot more in Arif Majothi's trio of games set in Anaksha's world. Originally conceived as a simple experiment with a new game engine, they show the evolution of talent and determination all the way up to "A New Threat", which boasts a ton of replay value for one very odd but entertaining adventure.
Japanese Mahjong is a completely different game from the tile-matching Mahjong Solitaire. A cross between Gin Rummy and the fictional Dragon Poker, this is one game that will definitely take a while to learn, and even longer to master.
Warbears: Mission 2 is a brand new installment in the unique point-and-click game vaguely similar to Rob Allen's Hapland games. Controlling four bears via a context sensitive action menu, you must discover how to infiltrate a house filled with paintball-loaded dummies. An extraordinarily cute, funny and entertaining game by Gionatan Iasio of Italy.
Battle 60 new levels of Sudoku in this next installment of the Conceptis Light series of puzzle games. Offering up the same mixture of Sudoku puzzles from Mix Sudoku Light Vol. 1, only harder, this set of puzzles is not for the Sudoku novice or easily frustrated. If you're looking for a decent challenge that's the perfect length for a little break, solve a puzzle from Mix Sudoku Light Vol. 2!
Your life takes a drastic change when you discover that you're no ordinary teenage girl; you're a witch, and there's a place at the secretive Iris Academy waiting for you! Will you bury your nose in your schoolbooks and become the next great magical prodigy? Develop friendships (and rivalries) to last a lifetime? Or maybe you'll find... someone special? This latest visual novel RPG simulation from Hanako Games and Spiky Caterpillar is not only tremendously addictive and engrossing, it's packed full of charm, replay value, and a magic all its own.
It may look cute and simple, but Nitrome's latest puzzler has some serious teeth to its challenge. When your girlfriend, a walking eyeball (it's cool, you're one too) is abducted by a jealous cloud, you set out to get her back. Paint yourself with colours to change your environment and get ready for a platformer that's going to challenge your reflexes!
it seems that many in the JIG community really like picross, and I do, too! Sometimes I'll delay working on economics homework just to play a game (or two or three or four) of picross. And there are so many online implementations of my favorite game, and all with a different interface. So, which one to choose? For some, the question may be difficult to answer. But not for me: I choose Picture Logic!
In his ongoing, mad quest to give us all nightmares about geometry, Tonypa has unleashed Cobacoli upon the world. It sounds like a deadly bacteria, but no, it's an elegant puzzle game based around 2-dimensional ball physics, although in many ways it qualifies as an infectious disease. Symptoms include intense concentration, swearing, and the inability to pry your hand away from your mouse. Updates include a level select screen and better high score memory.
A Stitch in Time is not a traditional sequel, for it doesn't exactly pick up where the original left off. Instead, it starts a new story with a new protagonist that overlaps with the continuation of the previous story. You play Nigel Trelawney, just arrived at the town of Ravenhallow to settle his late, estranged father's estate. You quickly discover that this is no simple matter, as Ravenhallow has been overtaken by a sort of parochial Fascisti that, among other injustices, is making it really bothersome to move freely about town. The demo covers the introduction and first act of the full game, which is quite a bit of adventure game to sample.
Day in, day out, Stanley works at his desk pushing keys the way he's told... until one day the orders stop coming and he realises his office is empty. He strikes out to uncover the truth, guided by an omnipresent narrator, and that's what this game is about. Isn't it? Galactic Cafe delivers one of the most surprising, compelling, and unexpectedly delightful indie experiences in a long time.
Echo Genesis is another digital media feast for the senses with a heavy emphasis on aural stimulation. Let your mouse guide you as you float dreamily through five (5) unique environments while interacting with the elements contained within.
Digital Chocolate comes Tower Bloxx Deluxe, a PC downloadable version of its hit Flash game Tower Bloxx. Deluxe features an amped-up, graphically-superior 3D presentation to the original mobile title with more complexity and improved game mechanics. Watch the swinging block and tap the spacebar to drop it. Line the blocks up and watch how high the tower can grow!
Desktop Armada is a tour de force of action strategy that successfully combines the grand sweep of naval warfare with the joy of pushing around a plastic tugboat going "TOOT TOOT". Take command of your very own fleet of model ships and send them across a forbidding wooden ocean to destroy the enemy base, while the opposing commodore tries to do the same to you.
The first commercial release from indie developer cactus and his partner Dennis Wedin is a brutal and bloody orchestra from violence. Messages left on your answering machine seem to drive you to acts of mass carnage and unspeakable violence, but what's the reason behind it all? Unlock new masks to hide your identity with special abilities, deal damage with tons of unlockable weapons, and master the game's reflex-driven combat to waltz your way through sprawling, challenging missions as you get closer to the truth. 
Platform Game is, believe it or not, an action-puzzle platformer. But wait, there's a plot twist! There are two characters that you have to guide to the exit! And most of the time, you'll have to guide them through separate routes, due to some exquisite level designs that require teamwork to get through.
Those of us adept at folding space-time (with or without the use of spice) are very familiar with the concept of moving chunks of the universe around so we can easily step from one area to another. For everyone else, there's Continuity 2: The Continuation, a sequel to the familiar Flash puzzle game Continuity. Combining a little bit of 2D platforming and a lot of sliding puzzle logic, Continuity 2 is a unique and challenging experience made better by the battery of almost 50 new levels packed into the iPhone's tiny little screen. It's all the space-time folding you could ever want, without the blue-in-blue eyes to show for it!
In Blue Suburbia, artist and flash designer Nathalie Lawhead creates a magnificently dark and dramatic world filled with striking imagery and haunting vignettes. The project began as a small animation on her website and grew to incorporate her own poetry and a number of small scenes commenting on western society and the modern school system. The application is more like an experiment in interactive poetry rather than a game, as there's no real goal, purpose or progression. Even still, Blue Suburbia is an absolutely stunning piece of artwork that you'll want to explore to its fullest.
Who says fire and water can't mix? Our two elemental protagonists probably shouldn't hug, but together they make for yet another challenging installment in the much-loved puzzle platforming series that blends speed and brains! With portals thrown into the mix, taking top rank and nabbing all the gems will be harder than ever, but you'll love every minute of it.
The great thief Henry Stick has finally been caught and sent to the seemingly inescapable prison known as The Wall... but in this stellar point-and-click escape adventure from PuffballsUnited, you can find a way out. Just be prepared to fail again and again and again, and have fun doing it.
Step into another surreal world created by Amanita Design (Samorost). With eight totally separate environments, Questionaut feels like a cohesive whole. It's like stepping into a story book and becoming one of its characters. And thanks to Questionaut's powerful imagery, it feels like a living universe that continues to exist even after you've shut down your browser. Just delightful.
Acid Bunny is an action-platformer that revels in offensiveness, almost as if its ashamed of the adorable heart beating underneath. Certainly, one can't tell tell the story of a cute lil' bunny with a tendency for acid flashbacks without getting a little dark, but those who stick through the aggressively bleak humor of the opening will find an engaging open-world to explore. Please be aware that this game contains material many would find offensive, including drug use and suicide.
Continuing your mad dash for rescue from a post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland, this upgrade and action-packed sequel doesn't change the gameplay much as you crash through the undead and destructible barriers to rack up cash, but is just as entertaining as you'd hope.
Christmas Escape 3 continues the Neutral tradition of fine escapes as you encounter chirping chicks, a mercenary kitty cat, and oh, yeah, how good are you at ice fishing? The whole thing hangs together beautifully and the ending is, well, as cute as a button. It's the perfect present to escape fans for the holiday season.
This time we mean it. This is the Only Level Too! The sequel to jmtb02's original hit puzzle/platformer about a determined elephant stuck in an endless procession of seemingly identical levels is back. This time with more shenanigans and at least twice as much velociraptor!
Disobeying is easy—they say go, you stop, they say right, you go left. But what if there's no obvious reverse of the command? You'll need puzzle-solving smarts and platforming fingers to complete Depict1 and discover the truth. For people who love the hybrid, it's not to be missed.
Drawing inspiration from popular "castle defense" games like BowMaster Prelude, Elona Shooter adds a serious helping of Asian-influenced, tactical RPG mechanics. You not only get to defend your castle from swarms of oncoming monsters with a satisfying array of weapons and skills, you won't have to go at it alone; an entire tactical RPG-styled party of helpers comes to your aid, eventually.
Fishing Girl, the first game from developer Luna Drift, is the most tranquil, unhurried game about a life-or-death rescue operation you're ever likely to play. Rescue a boy stranded on an island, using only your humble powers of fishing! This game manages to capture the peacefulness and melancholy of fishing without bending to realism, and it's built on an emotional foundation of devotion and perseverance. What a neat little game.
Sometimes Cloudy Challenge, by Haretoki, is a fresh, fun, and fabulous Japanese escape game. The space is small and cramped, less a room and more of a large closet. Crammed within the confines are a plethora of strange and wonderful devices, each one more mysterious than the last. Take the plunge and enjoy a small yet meaty escape that is sure to tickle your logic circuits and prompt at least one "wow, cool!" moment before you're done.
Ivoryboy's gorgeous "spot the difference" game has returned with 4 Differences! Scrutinize the two pictures and click on each bit that doesn't match between the pictures. This game is miles above most other spot-the-difference games. Its visual presentation alone makes it worth a look. If you like the genre at all, you won't want to miss it.Sometimes Cloudy Challenge, by Haretoki, is a fresh, fun, and fabulous Japanese escape game. The space is small and cramped, less a room and more of a large closet. Crammed within the confines are a plethora of strange and wonderful devices, each one more mysterious than the last. Take the plunge and enjoy a small yet meaty escape that is sure to tickle your logic circuits and prompt at least one "wow, cool!" moment before you're done.
We begged, we pleaded for another dish of Nitrome's top-down arcade puzzle series, Bad Ice Cream. Now, all our pretty pleas have been answered with the cherry on top that is Bad Ice Cream 3, and it has all the charm, challenge, and gorgeous pixel art we've come to expect.
A turn-based aerial dogfighting game may sound bland in writing, but as SteamBirds conclusively proves, it's the whole nine yards of awesome. Working from a top-down perspective, you fight a series of increasingly difficult enemies with your small squadron of planes. Set your course, unleash a fancy ability if necessary, and try to maneuver yourself to a direct line-of-sight to your foe to set your guns blazing. And, you know, don't get shot down yourself.
You might not be ready for this Jelly Escape, a puzzle-platformer by Taw Studio. Games about anthropomorphic blobs making their way through dangerous obstacle-laden settings are nothing new, and this one is hit by a bit of CPU lag. With a fluid progression of 50+ levels, a comprehensive checkpoint system that allows the game to be challenging without ever feeling too tough, and a hilariously whimsical sense of humor, though, it's worth checking out.
Play Texas Hold 'Em against skillful computer opponents in Governor of Poker. Build your reputation and wealth in a dusty western town by winning at poker and buying up property. You start out in a small Texas town with some money in your pocket and ambition to climb up in the world. As you win at poker, you are able to buy property and increase your reputation. The higher your reputation, the more poker games you get invited to, and so on, until you own the whole town. You can even make headlines in the town's newspaper!
Tower defense fans, get your fix and ease your withdrawal symptoms with booblyc's Keeper of the Grove. In this lovely addition to the genre you play the defender of a beautiful garden kingdom, recently invaded by dark rogues, mean scaly louts, and ugly abominations. And they all want your gems! Keeper of the Grove features a long list of towers and upgrades to go along with it's lovely backdrops, but don't be fooled by it's Sunday afternoon Candyland exterior...underneath all that cute lies a monster of a tower defense game that will keep hardcore fans up at night, and more casual players entertained for the day.
Think you have the skills to conquer the arena? Of course you don't! But no worries, you have a training dummy that knows how to make you sweat and skills to unlock. You'll be kicking butt and taking names in no time in this action-packed game. 
Tower Core is another shining star from John Feltham, the author of the previous "Core" series of games. It continues the story line established in Soul Core without a hitch, and even provides a recap accessible from the main menu. An alien being has decided to attack Earth while it was vulnerable. We can't let this happen. Unfortunately, the planet's defense systems are powered by a special Power Core Deluxe which someone forgot to charge before leaving.
We hold a truth to be self-evident that all squishy bouncy blob thingies are born with certain inalienable rights, including those of life, liberty and the pursuit of hat-iness. The hero of Pursuit of Hat, a puzzle platformer from Anton Rogov, is willing to risk all manner of life and limb for his head-covering... mainly limb though, since his are detachable. Literally tearing ones self apart over a head-covering may seem a little extreme. In all fairness... it's a pretty sweet hat.
Sushi Cat: The Honeymoon is essentially a level pack for the original Sushi Cat game. Both titles play the same way, and all you have to do is drop our kitty companion from the top of the screen and try to nom as much sushi as you can on the way down.
It's survival of the fittest as seen through a microscope. Genetically engineer the perfect virus in your lab to combat those created by your predecessors. Discover new elements and splice genes in an increasingly hostile environment. Just... remember to wash up before you shake someone's hand.
Casual sim/strategy fans (and anyone who enjoyed Virtual Villagers or My Tribe) take note: Westward III: Gold Rush has arrived! Following last spring's release of Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier, the third installment in the series continues the new 3D visual style and basic premise introduced in the second game. Take control of three new heroes as you collect resources, construct farms, saloons, granaries and more to keep your settlers happy and healthy.
It's hard to be 2D in a 3D world, which you'll soon find out if you play this austere little platformer from Henning Steinbock. But don't let the minimalist atmosphere lull you into a false sense of security, because you'll need to do all your best wrist exercises from that mandatory carpal tunnel workshop your boss made you attend last spring if you're going to be limber enough to keep this line on track to ultimate victory. Jumping Line is a great example of a simple idea done well that will appeal to all the oldschool gamers out there who don't need a lot of bells and whistles to have a good time and break a satisfying gamer sweat.
Just like in real life, cats will stop at nothing if food is at stake. That is, as long as the food is round and can be rolled across ramps and bounced through portals. Cat Around Asia is the third game in the series in which you have to help a hungry kitty get her international snacks while solving a bunch of interesting physics puzzles.
Battalion: Nemesis is a respectable attempt to translate the fast, accessible brain-play of Advance Wars to the realm of free online games, without directly treading on Nintendo's intellectual property. The gameplay is like a complex version of Rock-Paper-Scissors played out on a chess board, with major emphasis on positioning and choosing the right unit to do the right job.
This escape is bigger on the inside, as you find yourself locked in a very soothing room after following a letter whose sender is nowhere to be found. With piles of puzzles that will require you to pay close attention to your surroundings and look at things in different ways, this is a sneaky-smart game that fans of Tesshi-e, or great escapes in general, will enjoy.
Chocolatier: Decadence by Design is the latest installment in the popular Chocolatier series. Decadence by Design returns Chocolatier to its original format, allowing you to make chocolates in factories, explore new ports around the world, running errands and completing quests. So, even though this sequel is set a half a century after the first, fans of the original Chocolatier will feel right at home.
You know what to expect from Escape from Mr. Y's Room 1+ if you've played Tesshi-e's past games: click around the room, solve puzzles, pick up items and use them to ultimately escape. If anyone knows how to follow a tried-and-true formula, Tesshi-e does; they've gotten a lot right in the past, and they don't change any of it. As usual, the graphics are nicely photorealistic yet never distracting, and the puzzles are logical and just challenging enough.
A expansion of both the gameplay and quirky game-world of the Ludum Dare original, Leaf Me Alone (Expanded) by Mark Foster and David Fenn, has players explore all corners and all seasons of a pixelated forest. Though like most Metroidvanias, a little more direction would be helpful, all in all, this is the refined half-sequel, half-remake those charmed by the original have been waiting for.
Fight as a team or create a free-for-all where everyone is the enemy; play for points or compete in a deathmatch; or have everyone shooting at once as opposed to individually, the choices are endless. Live chat allows you to talk trash to your fellow players as you try to annihilate each other across the changing landscape. ShellShock Live is back and better than ever with more weapons, more landscapes, more modes, and more explodey fun with ShellShock Live 2 (ShellShockaggeddon?)
Tesshi-e once again teaches us the art of constructing a useful item from random bits of crap found around a room we've been locked into in the entertaining and challenging Escape from Tesshi-e's Room 2.
In this conclusion to the Stamp Rally Escape trilogy, the puzzles flow nicely from one to the next and the animals' special talents for jumping and punching are on display front and center several times around the room. All in all a nice, satisfying conclusion to the series, leaving the room escaper happy and content, at least until Cogito Ergo Sum's next epic trilogy. 
As evidenced by a flood of Flash-based titles in the last year or so, tower defense games are all the rage. Now, iWin is throwing its hat in the ring with Garden Defense, a full-blown downloadable tower defense game where you save your garden using gnomes, flamingos, cupid statues and a host of plants to fight off waves of attacking bugs. It's eat or be eaten in this easy to learn but surprisingly challenging strategy game!
Warbears Adventures: An A.R. Xmas stars Kla and Steve, as Kla stops by Bob for some holiday shopping and to pick up a few packages on order. But Steve has a secret mission in mind. The results are unpredictable as usual and a whole lot of fun. Enjoy this new holiday release from Gionatan Iasio of Italy.
If there's anything Christmas specials have told us, it's that the big man at the North Pole is notoriously bad at managing his assets. In Tesshi-e's holiday escape this year, Santa has lost ten of the Happy Coins he's supposed to give the children, and in The Happy Escape it's up to you to find them and save Christmas once again. Tesshi-e has come through with a spectacular escape this time, as per usual; the puzzles flow perfectly and logically, the sounds and graphics are charming, and although there's still no changing cursor, you never really have to do any pixel-hunting.
When we last left the Tipping Point series, it wasn't clear if we were wandering through a surreal dream or being teleported around by satellites and villains with 1980's technology and bad intentions. Tipping Point: Chapter 4 takes over just where we left off, entering another unknown tropical destination with our strange, homemade device in hand. 
Tontie is a remarkably accessible and addictive action game from On of Eyezmaze. This now classic Web game uses the numeric keypad for hammering enemies whack-a-mole style as they pop-up on the grid. Some enemies require more than one hit, others require hits with precision timing. Numerous power-ups and special features give its gameplay surprising depth.
Sometimes receiving a message can be so exciting that the letters seem to jump off the page. Then those letters form into a giraffe, which will dart across the landscape pursued by snakes, sharks and Godzilla. Okay, that just might be the interactive music video for Japanese rock group Andop's song "Bell". With an amazing combination of typographic and charcoal art, the game so visually interesting that it makes up for the CPU-hogging and somewhat loose gameplay. There are probably easier ways to post a missive, but this is definitely one of the most fun.
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