Barbarians, monsters, rainbows, rogues and ever-so-slightly different shapes – it's all here in this week's edition of the The Free Webgame Round-Up, which as usual collects the best browser-based games released over the past week. So follow the following links, angle your monitor away from your boss so they can't see you slacking off, and look busy while playing this fine assortment of online games. Enjoy!
The Grey Rainbow by Black Olive Games
A really quite lovely hand-drawn adventure game, in the style of the Lands of Dream series. You're an unhappy guy in a grey, dull world, but thankfully you soon emerge into a sketchy, multicoloured wonderland, supported by a soothing instrumental soundtrack. Calming stuff.
Barbarium by Hypnohustler
A post-apocalyptic action-platformer starring a sword-and-gun-wielding barbarian who enjoys the odd can of beer. It's not perfect – the slightly awkward control scheme in particular could do with another pass – but I enjoyed Barbarium's gaudy, tongue-in-cheek sprites, and I loved the John Carpenter-style synth-apocalypse soundtrack.
More Which? by Nekogames
I appear to have missed the original Which?, which is madness because this sequel is one of the most inventive, tactile browser games I've played. You're instructed to choose between one of two shapes, deciding Which one fits the description by pulling, prodding, or otherwise interacting with them with the mouse. There's real joy to be had discovering the differently coloured circles' varying properties – once you've finished the quiz, make sure you check out the original game . (Via Indiegames )
Double Rogue by Rat King
Regrettably, I haven't had time to sift through the massive number of entries in this year's 7 Day Roguelike competition, so thanks to IndieGames for pointing out the wonderful Double Rogue. It's a delightfully left-field approach the roguelike, throwing you into the body/bodies of two different adventurers, who live on opposite sides of the same tile. Each time you move in the 3D environment, the tile flips over, switching to the other hero. Trust me, it makes more sense when you're playing it.
24killers by Todd Luke and Sam English
Another 7 Day Roguelike, this time from Seasons developer Todd Luke (and with excellent music by Sam English). 24Killers is not so much a roguelike as it is a whodunnit, tasking you with finding a killer in a packed club full of unusual monsters. Question guests to be given clues as to the real killer's nature (or to be given random, hilarious nonsense instead). When you think you've built up a solid case, simply switch to 'kill mode' to slaughter your suspect, before they find and murder you first. A strange, brilliant, compulsive little game – I would love to see a board game version of this.
Baldur's Gate 3 defies the laws of physics by being a single-player RPG with more daily users in 2024 than its release year
Early plans for Half-Life 2 sound wild, including visits to cities like Chicago and LA, several Combine bases, and a sequence where a plane crashed into a skyrise that was cut after 9/11
