If Wimbledon and Glastonbury aren't exciting enough for you, why not spend this weekend playing the latest browser games from the non-muddy, entirely strawberrys-and-cream-free comfort of your own home? (Feel free to pitch a tent or tennis rink in your living room, if it helps to establish the same sort of atmosphere.) Read on for battle penguins, dark rooms, daymares, second chances and a very slippery game of capture-the-flag.
A Dark Room by Doublespeak Games
The Candy Box-inspired A Dark Room is another sorta-text-adventure that starts off small – incredibly small – and soon unfolds into something far greater. It begins in a dark room, and with a fire, but pretty soon you're taking care of a whole village. It's a game with a great sense of mystery and satisfying micromanagement, but on a technical level I particularly like the timed decision boxes, which make A Dark Room feel far less static than a lot of text-based titles. (Via IndieGames )
TagPro by Koala Beast
Capture the Flag meets Mario Kart meets those carnival buzz-game-things that test the steadiness of your hand. TagPro doesn't look like much, and it's a little too ad-heavy for my liking, but there's a tactical, seemingly well balanced online multiplayer game waiting for you behind all that. As either a red ball or a blue ball (ouch, in both cases), you have to grab the opposing flag and bring it back to your base, while fighting spikes, other players, and the game's gloriously slippy controls.
A Second Chance by Major Bueno
The great Flash conglomerate known as Major Bueno continues to win browser games with the briefly wonderful A Second Chance, which is basically a screen full of buttons that enable funny things. You're a guy at NASA mission control, or something like that, and all you have to do is help a team of astronauts plant and explode a bomb on an incoming asteroid. The 'right' path is quite simple and doesn't take very long, but there are a few minutes of fun to be had from getting things A Bit Wrong first – as usual, this is mainly down to the fantastic artwork. (Via Free Indie Games )
Daymare Cat by Mateusz Skutnik
A stunningly drawn adventure game/platformer that reminds of Knytt and Machinarium. You're trying to piece something together, by collecting things and jumping over pits, but the joy lies in exploring the game's atmosphere-rich little world. It's the kind of place that doesn't need to make sense, and it won't, but I hope creator Mateusz Skutnik decides to return there someday. If you're enjoying the soundtrack, make sure you complete the game for a nice reward. (Via Indie Statik )
Ripple Dot Zero by Pixeltruss
Did you ever wonder what happened to Pingu? Well, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it turns out he was penguin-napped by scientists and transformed into a 'battle penguin' – or if not him, then a similar tux-wearing bird. (Or perhaps even a waiter. It's hard to tell the two groups apart.) You play as that battle waiter penguin in the nostalgerrific Ripple Dot Zero, which will remind us old people of Sonic and Shinobi back on the Mega Drive. It does quite a good impression, boasting strong art and music and plenty of pointlessly collectible things. The problem, for me at least, is that 16-bit-style platformers no longer appeal, but you may be blessed with greater patience. (Via IndieGames )
