An elephant never forgets

Armor Games Studios has announced that they’re bringing a collection of John Cooney’s Flash games back in The Elephant Collection.

Do you remember Flash games? I don’t, but a lifetime of self-inflicted concussions will do that to you. For th??ose like myself who only house a big blank space, Flash was an animation platform that some internet denizens would twist to make games. It was ahead of its time, putting powerful (but flawed) tools in the hands of everyone.

Hold on. A number of repressed memories are returni??ng ??to haunt me....

Newgrounds was the nexus for these experiments, and The Elephant Collection compiles a number of high-profile games from those days. Each of these games stars a blue elephant, and many of them are a subtle (or not-so-subtle) commentary on the games industry at the time. These include the mind-bending This is the Only Level and the more on-the-nose Achievement Unlocked.

//youtu.be/-Hf91nIk3zI

With Flash getting sucked down the Adobe tube and replaced with a disparate selection of other platforms that don’t have quite the same security issues, a lot of people have been left trying to preserve what is at risk of being lost. In that regard, The Elephant Collection is an impo??rtant glimpse of a part of the past t??hat could otherwise be forgotten.

To be clear, Newgrounds does still exist, and these games can still be run using the Newgrounds Player. That would be the site’s own (effective) attempt at preserving its content. The collection, however, will upgrade the quality of ??these games, rather than just present them as-is. I’d just warn caution in re-visiting Newgrounds, as its reminder of better days may suck you down memory lane. I’m seriously getting kind of misty-eyed here.

The Elephant Collection is coming to PC sometime in 2023.

The post The Elephant Collec??tion ?compiles some legendary Flash games appeared first on Destructoid.

Promoted from our Community Blogs

_{[The internet was a very different time in Flash's heyday, and it's worth preserving those old games, animations, and even just our memories as much as possible. This blog from Nior brought me back to the early 2000s in the best way. -Jordan]}

On December 31st of t?his year, Adobe i?s officially “killing” the Flash Player plugin.

I doubt I need to explain to most of you what this plugin even is. It was such a ubiquitous part of the early age of the internet, offering interactivity in the for??m of games and video players, that it feels weir?d that we’re about to live in a world without it.

The simple truth?? is that technology moved on, and the plugin became obsolete ages ago, but those days, that early, wild west age of the internet, when the rules were not defined and no one knew what the hell they were doing, is something that is burned into my mind, in no small part thanks to Flash Player. And today, I’d like to take you back there. One last trip down memory lane, a farewell to some of my favorite things from so many years ago.

Let’s do this.

StickPage

I feel like there’s no place more appropriate for me to start than here. If there’s one thing everybody likes, it's stick figures. If there’s another that’s synonymous with the early days of the net, it’s also “stick figures.” The internet in the early 2000s was expensive and slow, so my main method of access was a local Lan House/Web Café owned by my parents. We had a whopping 2Mbps speed split between 12 machines, 13 if you count the main server. Slow doesn’t even start to describe it, to the point where if someone started a large download, the whole place would know immediately because the speed would tank so hard you could play classic Resident Evil with it. Luckily for me, there was something relativ??ely?? light to load and endlessly amusing: stick figures! Unsurprisingly, I was drawn in by the games first.

I still remember how fun it was to simply run around in Fancy Pants Adventures, how the dumb humor of the Henry Stickmin series kept me coming back just to intentionally fail and see a new gag, and even how Combo Factory gave me the first taste of stringing long, satisfying combos that would eventually culminate in my love for spectacle fighters like Bayonetta and Devil May Cry.

_{Part 2 starts at 1:54}

I came for the games, but what made me stay was the stick fights, and I don’t think people give these enough credit. They might look simplistic at first glance, but one needs but a couple of minutes to realize a lot of love goes into crafting these. It’s not just a cop-out for a lack of resources, stick fights are a legitimate art style that you can use for almost anything! If you want to see frenetic, stylish action, then look no further than the works of animator Philips “Terkoiz” Lacanlale. His “Shock” series is what I consider to be his magnum opus, with “Shock 2” being a fight I still rewatch regularly, and the thing I can thank for introducing me to the band “The Sleeping.” The absolute classic "Xiao Xiao" was like watching a stick version of a John Woo shootout, c?omplete with tota?lly unnecessary but still cool as fuck Gun-Fu.

While not quite as action-packed, the original “Animation vs Animator” is still a fun and creative concept that’s still going on to this day, and it’s some of the best content the internet has to offer! And never let it be said that you can’t make good horror with stick figures, because the “Castle” series used to scare the hell out of me! It has zombies/demons, plenty of action, and lots of blood, but it took its time to build up tension and tries to tell ??a cool story. It is a damn shame that it might remain unfinished forever.

_{By the way, I know Super Mario Bros Z exists and it is awesome! I just wasn't into it back then...}

Final Fantasy Sonic X

Oh boy, here’s a deep cut. If the previous two paragraphs didn’t give away my age, this one definitely will. Final Fantasy Sonic X is probably the most 2000s thing on this list. Part turn-based RPG, part sprite animation, this was a big hot fudge of a crossover between Sonic, Zelda, Mega Man (Classic, X, and Zero), with a touch of “original characters, donut steal” to seal the deal. The Final Fantasy part comes from the c?ombat system, which is mostly an excuse for interactivity, and to give Sonic a Buster Sword in one of the episodes. No, seriously, he goes Super and just summons Cloud’s sword from thin ?? air.

The fights are heavily scripted as well, so the only way to lose was to royally screw-up, and don’t ask how I know that. But this is not a bad thing. It made me feel like I was the one making each dramat??ic moment happen. Today, I know that’s not the case, but holy shit did it feel good!

The story mostly revolves around some cursed magic sword that everyone and their mother wants, and like the gameplay, it gets better as it goes on. Fights become less scripted, the action becomes mor??e fluid, there are more effects, and even voice acting! It’s a strange mess, but it’s compelling in its own, strange way, ??and if you can get past the first two episodes (that are admittedly not that great) there’s a fun ride to be had here.

Thing Thing Series

I’ll be honest, Thing Thing isn’t special by any means. They’re a mix of 2D platforming and shooting, with simple controls and relatively easy difficulty. We follow “Project 154,” a test subject for a government program trying to create enhanced super soldiers. Ne??edless to say, we escape and go on a roaring rampage of revenge against the corporations ??that ruined our lives, culminating in a fourth game that was surprisingly dark! What stood out the most to me was the art style.

The characters in this look like if you tried to draw using the style of the Rayman series but were only allowed to use circles (pieces of clothing being the exception). It’s pretty unique all things considered, and if you've played any of them, you’ll instantly remember from a screenshot alone. The other thing that stood out was the series’ affinity for weapons. There are a lot of classic firearms represented here, with great sprite work that captures the feel and looks of t??hem, and I’m not ashamed to admit that this is how I learned the names of many iconic arms. So if anything, this is an educational experience!

_{Do consider supporting the series by buying it on Steam!}

Epic Battle Fantasy Series

If you’re into RPGs, there’s a non-zero chance you’ve heard of Epic Battle Fantasy. The genre is saturated like a bad TikTok meme, yet the EBF? series has managed to stay relevant since its inception back i??n 2009! The reason is very simple. For one, these are full-blown RPGs and making one of those in Flash is pretty impressive. And two, they are charming as all hell!

There’s a plot but that’s not important. You’re here for the surprisingly well-thought-out combat and the frankly staggering amount of content on offer! The fourth game, for example, took me around 30 hours to complete! For free! Coupled with an art style that is simple but expressive—a perfect complement to the lighthearted tone of the games—EBF wants you to have a good time all the time. The g?ames are full of humor and alth?ough it’s often as silly as the art style, it lands more often than it misses. If you enjoy RPGs (or want to find out if you do) give these games a chance. You won’t regret it.

_{Don't be fooled by the graphics. This stupid game will end you!}

Realm of the Mad God

There are two things I like: MMOs and shoot-'em-ups, and Realm of the Mad God combines both with roguelike elements. There are traditional RPG classes, like Warrior, Rogue, and Archer, but unlike a traditional RPG, RotMG is played in real-time and everyone fires proj??ectiles.

How it works is that you join a server and are given some random quests automatically. Then you teleport the nearest players around ?said quest, who definitely have the same quest, and start killing, and the amount of dakka only increases as you level up and join bigger groups to take down massive bosses. Once enough quests are completed, the Mad God Oryx will close the ??Realm (meaning no new players can join that server) and teleport all players to his castle dungeon. Survive and you get the chance to face Oryx, in a boss battle with three phases of increasingly stupider levels of danmaku. Thrive and your rewards include bragging rights, status, and some of the best gear available.

Simple enough, right? Wrong! This fucking game will ruin your productivity! The hunt for better gear will consume you, the power scaling will intoxicate you, and the pick-up-and-play nature of it all will make sure you keep coming back for more! It’s a high that ?only the massive gut-punch of losing a super powerful character can destroy (I told you this was a roguelike). But you’ll still come back for more just for another shot at taking down the titular Mad God. It’s a simple and satisfying co-op bullet hell, and I can’t recommend it enough.

_{This is the best Kingdom Rush game. Fight me!}

Kingdom Rush Series

C'mon, you probably saw this one coming from the moment you clicked this blog. You can’t talk about Flash game??s without getting into the tower defense genre at some point, and this is one of the best.

Kingdom Rush asks you to defend the realm from orcs, vampires, trolls, and all sorts of monsters fr??????????????????????????om classic medieval fantasy tropes. Spells complement your arsenal, but what makes this one stand out from the rest are the towers. You have barracks that produce units that can body block monsters, and all towers have a tech tree that splits into two, allowing further specialization and the ability to unlock special powers that can drastically change the tide of battle. There’s a damn good reason why the series is still going on to this d??ay, with each new game iterating on the concept in creative and clever ways.

Exit Path

Do you know what’s cool? Speedrunning. There’s something mesmerizing about watching people break the games we love in half, either by exploiting engine quirks or just some good old-fashioned skilled execution. It’s even better when games are designed around speedrunning, and 2D platformer Exit Path is one such game. The single-player mode consists of a gauntlet of increasingly deadly rooms, asking you to guide our test subject towards freedom. It has an atmosphere that reminds me of the original Portal, only with a lot more violence. Multiplayer was a different beast, putting up to 40 players in deadly races to see who could reach the end of a room with fewer deaths, and that was my preferred method of play. The servers are unsurprisingly dead, but if you want to have an idea of how it was, imagine the game Speedrunners but without the grappling hook or Mario Kart power-ups.

The history of Flash involves way more games, animations, and websites than I can possibly hope to cover here. This list is but a microcosm of the things that I grew up with. However, this is not goodbye. Preservation efforts like the Flashpoint Project and Internet Archive are already hard at work to keep this part of internet his??tory alive—and Newgrounds has a dedicated player to keep its games alive.

The successful among them have moved on to Steam and App/Apple Stores, and Hyun’s Dojo is a hub for animators that have kept the art of stick figures alive for all these years. This is the end of the plugin, but it’s far from being the end of its leg??acy. These games will live on, if only in the memories of people like you and me.

So long, and thanks fo?r all the memories, Flash Player. You will be missed.

The post Flash Player is dead. Long live Flash Player! appeared first on Destructoid.

Gone in a Flash

Zynga has announced that its era-defining Facebook app, FarmVille will be cl?osing its barn doors for good in December, ?following almost 11 successful years of operation.

Zynga revealed the news in a statement on its official website. "We’re aware that many of you have been with us since the very beginning, helping to build an i??ncre??dible global community of players over the years who’ve enjoyed this game just as much as we have," said the developer. "For that we say thank you."

Originally launching on the hellish social media site in 2009, FarmVille immediately attracted the attention of millions of players, with the user base rising to a staggering 84m active farmers during its 2010 peak. But with Adobe's plans to stop distributing Flash Player in 2021, Facebook will no longer be supporting flash games, spelling the end for the flower-growing, crop-arranging time-filler. FarmVille will close on December 31, 2020.

While most assuredly the end-of-an-era, the closure will not affect the FarmVille franchise in the bigger picture. FarmVille 3: Animals is set to launch on iOS and Android platforms later this year, thus pocket-croppers will still have no problems cultivating private worlds whilst hidden aw??ay in the office toilets.

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What a ribbiting deal

Frog Fractions: Game of the Decade Edition is available on Steam right now for the low price of zero dollars. If you’ve somehow managed to never get around to checking it out, especially if you still don’t know what it actually is, I highly urge you to stop reading, put everything else in your life on hold, and play it immediately. Even if you end up regretting it, I can guarantee you’ve never played anything else quite like Frog Fractions. There’s ??a reason people still talk about?? it to this day.

Just remember: if you’re ever feeling frustrated and down while playing, especially near the beginning, there are always further depths in which you can sink. There’s something really beautiful about the way Frog Fractions f?ully tackles and inhabits that mantra. It knows what it is and embraces it completely.

It originally released as a browser game back in 2012 and quickly took the world by storm. Flash is about to finally lose support across major browsers at the end of this year, and luckily, thanks to Game of the Decade Edition, this is now one piece of gaming history that’ll live to see another day. This new version comes with a shiny coat of paint, and it’s legitimately never looked better, but it’s still the exact same game for all practical purposes. Nothing has been lost in translation for the port. If anything, this is technically the best way you could possibly hope to experience Frog Fractions, in all of its glory.

Now, there is one brand new addition in the form of a paid DLC called Hop’s Iconic Hat. It’ll cost $9.99 regularly, but there’s currently a launch week discount where you can pick it up for $7.99. You might think that’s a costly sum for a simple cosmetic DLC, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong to think so. I’m not going to get into any details here, but I’ll have some thoughts on that coming up in a separate article later on. For anyone fee??ling impatient and trying to remain sp?oiler free, I definitely do think returning fans will get a kick out of it.

As for the main course, even if the blunt impact of that first playthrough can never be experienced exactly the same again (because once you know you know), the original Frog Fractions is still a stone-cold classic of indie innovation. You can’t put a price on something like that, and luckily for us, the creator feels the exact same? way.

Frog Fractions [Steam]

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No 12-step program required

_{[This week Destructoid is brought to you by Addicting Games. Here's a quick note from our sponsor.]}

Addicting Games is a household name in the world of browser and games for the web. Since the early 2000s, AG has been working with small indie developers to bring their games to a larger audience. These partnerships have resulted in a number of big hits, like the famed Impossible Quiz, Pandemic 2 and Bloons.

In the last year, AG has rebuilt their games portal from the ground up. The new website is mobile friendly and features all their biggest hits converted HTML5. This week, they launched their Game Pass, a subscription service that?? grants members access to an ad-free experience, along with early access to exclusive titles. The service is $2.49 per month if you purcha?se a yearly subscription.

"The exposure on AG is good, seeing thousands of players try my games always brings a sense of fulfillment," Mathew Hobbs, an indie game developer, said. "Working with AG h??as been very smooth, the use of slack makes any problems I have quickly resolved within an hour or so," Hobbes said.

In addition to working with developers who release single-player experiences, AG also sponsors games in the io games categ?ory which are multiplayer HTML5 games. The sponsorships are mostly for smaller, indie game developers.

"One of the goals of web game hubs like Addicting Games is to give exposure to games and developers who don't have any m??arketing or relationship with publishers to get their game out there," Chris Scott, general manager at Addicting Games, said. "It is a mutually beneficial relationship, because developers are paid with cash and other incentives while we receive content for our audience."

"AG had a key role into making me grow as an indie game developer and reach the audience my games deserve," Isaac Gurillo said. Gurillo just launched Slush.io with Addicting Games, and has had dozens of his own titles sponsored by Addicting Games in the p??ast.

The subscription service offered by AG is one of the first of its kind for web-based games. While web games are typically supported by advertisements, a premium membership service, like the one offered by AG, allows users to support their favorite developers without needing to ??suffer through advertisements. It also ensures accessibility to games on all devices, including tablet and mobile.

"We hope that the combined benefits of no ads and early access to our growing library of games is what makes Game Pass an attractive offer to everyone who visits Addicting Games' Matt Mirkovi??ch, who is the project manager, said. "This alternative revenue stream will also help us in securing more exclusive titles down the line, more Flash to HTML5 game conversions, and continued development of our mobile and tablet experience. We recognize that there are many choices out there these days, and we simply want to offer the best experience we possibly can."

Addicting Games is part of the Destructoid family of websites, if you visit their site and register use the promo code "destruct" and it will upgrade your account to remove all ads and give you early access to all the upcoming game releas??es.

The post Addicting Games launches Game Pass Sub??scription Ser?vice appeared first on Destructoid.

No 12-step program required

_{[This week Destructoid is brought to you by Addicting Games. Here's a quick note from our sponsor.]}

Addicting Games is a household name in the world of browser and games for the web. Since the early 2000s, AG has been working with small indie developers to bring their games to a larger audience. These partnerships have resulted in a number of big hits, like the famed Impossible Quiz, Pandemic 2 and Bloons.

In the last year, AG has rebuilt their games portal from the ground up. The new website is mobile friendly and features all their bigge??st hits converted HTML5. This week, they launched their Game Pass, a subscription service that grants members access to an ad-free experience, along with early access to exclusive titles. The service is $2.49 per month if you purchase a yearly subscripti??on.

"The exposure on AG is good, seeing thousands of players try my games always brings a sense of fulfillment," Mathew Hobbs, an indie game developer, said. "Working with AG has been very smooth, the use of slack makes any problems I have quickly re?solved within an hour or so," Hobbes said.

In addition to working with developers who release single-player experiences, AG also sponsors games in the io games categ??ory which are multiplayer HTML5 games. The sponsorships are mostly for smaller, indie game developers.

"One of the goals of web game hubs like Addicting Games is to give exposure to games and developers who don't have any marketing or relationship with publishers to get their game out there," Chris Scott, general manager at Addicting Games, said. "It is a mutually beneficial relationship, because developers are paid with cash and other incen??tives while we receive content for our audience."

"AG had a key role into making me grow as an indie game developer and reach the audience my games deserve," Isaac Gurillo said. Gurillo just launched Slush.io with Addicting Games, and has had dozens of his own titles sponsore??d by Addicting Games in the past.

The subscription service offered by AG is one of the first of its kind for web-based games. While web games are typically supported by advertisements, a premium membership service, like the one offered by AG, allows users to support their favorite developers without needing to suffe??r through advertisements. It also ensures accessibility to games on all devices, including tablet and mobile.

"We hope that the combined benefits of no ads and early access to our gr?owing library of games is what makes Game Pass an attractive offer to everyone who visits Addicting Games' Matt Mirkovich, who is the project manager, said. "This alternative revenue stream will also help us in securing more exclusive titles down the line, more Flash to HTML5 game conversions, and ??continued development of our mobile and tablet experience. We recognize that there are many choices out there these days, and we simply want to offer the best experience we possibly can."

Addicting Games is part of the Destructoid family of websites, if you visit their site and register use the promo code "destruct" and it will upgrade your acc??ount to remove all ads and give you early access to all the upcoming game releases.

The post Addicting Games launches Game Pass Subscription Se??rvice appeared first on Destructoid.

Flash is a multimedia platform originally developed by a company called Macromedia and bought by Adobe. It allows users to experience interactive content in the browser that HTML was not originally designed to do, like play games and watch videos. Now that HTML specifications (with HTML5) have "caught up," so to speak, with th??e everyday needs of users (watch videos, play games, etc), Flash is being "turned off" and discontinued in majo?r browsers.

Apple was one of the first major tech company to stop supporting flash. Steve Jobs wrote an infamous article in 2010 titled "Thoughts on Flash," in which he outlines th??e many flaws with Flash technology. The article was a response to Adobe’s criticism of Apple for removing flash?? support on Apple devices, such as the iPad and iPhone.

"Flash is a successfu?l business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short…"

Jobs predicted HTML5 standards would "win on mobile devices (and PC??s too)," and so far his prediction has been correct.

Using data collected from Google Chrome users, Flash usage was at 80% of all websites in 2014, but 4 years later (in 2018) was calculated at a mere 8% according to Parisa Tabriz, Di?rector of Engineering at Google. YouTube ditched Adobe Flash as the default player in 2015. In 2017, Kongregate published some very eye-opening data ??conce??rning the technology used by games uploaded to their platform.

^{* Chart courtesy of Kongregate}

As you can see, starting in 2010, game developers began rapidly transitioning to HTML5. For good reason! Both Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome plan to completely discontinue Flash by the end of 2020. This means that you won’t be able to use Flash in-browser, even after explicitly turning it on in your browser settings (which you must do now to play Flash). It also might not be possible, due to security re?strictions, to use Flash via third-party browser extensions/add-ons; though, Google and Mozilla have not explicitly stated this.

Why is Flash quickly becoming obsolete?

• Flash is a proprietary technology, owned and licensed by the Adobe Corporation. Tech giants and end-users don’t like this because the web is supposed to be built on open technology. Even Adobe themselves admits that Flash needs to die to meet the changing needs of its users.

• Flash is extremely insecure and requires constant updates. CVE Details has revealed a startling 1077 vulnerabilities discovered since 2005.

• Flash is resource intensive and a battery-drain on mobile devices, as Steve Jobs pointed out in his 2010 expose on Flash technology.

What are the benefits of HTML5?

HTML5, the latest HTML specification, not only does what Flash did but does it ??better. What are the benefits of HTML5 vs. Flash?

• With HTML5, you don’t need to download or install third-party software to develop apps. Instead, you can develop directly in the browser, as HTML5 is natively supported. Chrome developer tools, which ships n??ativ?ely with every version of Chrome, is an extensive toolkit for this purpose. All other major browsers, including Safari, IE, and Firefox, have an equivalent.

• HTML5 standardizes content in a way that Flash did not. Flash is infamous for accessibility issues. "Nearly all Flash content on the web poses notable accessibility issues for many users with disabilities," according to webaim.org. This problem is done away with on HTML5 because all elements of the application (even the interactive canvas element) can be designed with tex????t alternatives for screen readers and people with disabilities.

• HTML5 contain support for webgl, which provides a pipeline to the GPU (via a rendering context on the canvas element). In layman's terms, applications in the browser can utilize your graphics card, making it possible to create complex 3D experiences, comparable to those of full-blown desktop apps. This was never possibl?e with Flash, which was, for the most part, limited to 2D or faux 3D due to hardware limitations.

For much of its history, Flash was an integral part of the web’s ecosystem. Aside from using Java Applets (discontin?ued lon??g ago), playing games in the browser simply wasn’t possible without Flash. Now that era is over, and websites must quickly adapt or be left behind.

The birth of IO games

One of the most interesting things to see come out of the death of Flash and transition into HTML5 is the birth of IO Games. These massively multiplayer online games, such as agar.io and krunker.io, woul?d have been completely ??impractical – if not impossible – to make with Flash.

In 201??2, Mozilla released a demo of a multiplayer browser game built with websockets and HTML5 called "Browser Quest." Browser Quest was revolutionary because it proved many of the capabilities of HTML5 and websockets, long be??fore they became standardized. In some respects, the launch of "Browser Quest" marked the beginning of HTML5 and IO games.

Websockets is a TCP protocol (separate from HTTP) exp?licitly referenced inside the HTML5 specification to allow rapid t??wo-way communication between the browser and a server endpoint. In layman's terms, websockets make it possible to have lots of data moving really fast between clients. Before websockets came a long, developers needed to use extremely cumbersome methods (such as XHR polling) to accomplish real-time multiplayer environments. That, more than anything, explains the explosive popularity of IO games: the emerg??ing technology changes and adaptation of HTML5 and websockets.

There’s something pure and inviting about IO games, which require no downloads, no Flash player, and (generally speaking) no login or sign up. Just click and play. These kinds of games have become so ubiquitous it’s almost rare to see non-multiplayer web games built with HTML5 draw any attention (with the exception of timeless classics such as The Impossible Quiz being converted to HTML5 from Flash). Facebook’s own platform, Instant Games, has become an enormous hub for multiplayer ??HTML5 ?content as well.

What is the future of browser games and HTML5?

Much as cheesy and simplistic single-player Flash games had their popularity, "IO Games," may not always be in-vouge. My prediction is that web games will continually evolve a??nd take more and more of the casual gaming ma?rket each year, but also the "hardcore" gaming market.

If there’s anything we can learn from the ubiquity of smart phones, it’s that people p?refer to have an "all-in-one" experience, with smartphones consolidating the calculator, notepad, GPS, phone, and pager. A similar pattern can be observed with the browser.?? After all, could we ever have imagined the browser would replace our television set with platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube? Or that social media platforms such as Discord, Twitter, and Facebook (accessible through the browser) would replace calling people on the telephone? It’s not so far of a stretch, then, to believe the browser could also replace the gaming console.

"IO Games" are really just the start, as webgl opens the doors to developing easily-accessible applications without requiring plugins ??or downloads. Who knows what the future will bring?

The post Flash vs. HTML5 and the future of browser gaming appeared first on Destructoid.

Float, quack, and be cute

With the release of Untitled Goose Game and the reveal of Sirfetch'd, it seems that waterfowl are having their video game moment in the sun. But geese are arrogant dicks who will attack you and Pokemon Sword isn't out for almost two months. We need duck representation right now! Thankfully ducklings.io is h??ere, free,?? and lets you live out all of your deepest fantasies of being a duck in a small pond.

ducklings.io is another game in the .io legacy of free games, each ?of which sees you navigate around a map collecting things to increase your score. This time you are a duck collecting ducklings for your nest so that it can grow in size and Mo??mma duck will show you some hearts.

I've been playing it as a browser game, but there's also an Android and Apple app for those who want to float on the go. Some might see this as a ??mindless time-waster, but they are only suppressing?? their base desire to quack at a world that has forsaken them.

Quack.

The post Why be an untitled goose when you can be a ?lov??ely duck? appeared first on Destructoid.

Exhibit A: This synchronized 'Mountain King' video

A few days ago, YouTube recommended me some video for Line Rider?, a monstrously effective time-waster I haven't thought about in close to a decade. Like most of these automated suggestions, I only gave the video's title a glance before moving? on to something else. I just assumed it was super old!

Flash forward to today, and Darren asks Destructoid staff "Is it still cool to post Line Rider videos? Because th??is one [the same exac?t one I originally skipped] is amazing."

To answer his question, in this case, yes. Yes it is cool. YouTube user DoodleChaos took a month to painstaking??ly fine-tune a level so th??at it would sync up with "In the Hall of the Mountain King."

The rest of my day will now be spent fighting the urge to screw around in Line Rider. Well done.

The post Yep, Line Rider is still good as hell appeared first on Destructoid.

Masters of the universe

Now that Adobe has announced it will be discontinuing support for Flash after the year 2020, I decided to speak with some of the creators who got their start with the platform. Jim Crawford, Tim Donley, Tyler Glaiel??, and Tom Fulp join us to reflect on the past, present, and future of Adobe Flash.

For over ?20 years, people have been creating with it, and, despite its current security flaws, this is still an important part of video game history. It deserves to be preserved. Once support is finally phased out of modern browsers, many of these experiences run the risk of being lost to the unforgiving void of time.

Instead of foaming at the mouth with my own views on the subject, I thought it might be more interesting to get insight from the people that?? this matters to t?he most: the developers who used it.

Jim Crawford (Frog Fractions)

Really, the issue F??lash game devs face isn't that Flash is going away, it's that a huge chunk of their user-base ran off to mobile phones. Phone browsers aren't beefy enough to run action-game-grade web apps, and they certainly won't be by 2020 -- both major manufacturers have incentive to make sure games stay *off* the web and in the app store so they get their cut.

Adobe AIR lets you target native PC or mobile using the Flash toolchain and API, so porting indivi??dual games isn't too hard. The problem is that to live in the iOS walled garden, you're subject to Apple's whims. For example, Apple doesn't allow games with significant mod or scripting support, because that starts to comp??ete with the app store itself. Another big one is that Apple doesn't really care about backwards compatibility, so games usually don't live more than a few iOS revisions unless they're popular enough for the developer to keep them updated.

If you grew up playing console or PC games, it's easy to forget that games working forever isn't just *how things are*. Console hardware doesn't change, and Microsoft historically was extremely careful that each version of their OS could run software from the previous version. Here's a fun example.

Flash has a similarly excellent track record for backwards compatibility -- if you load up a Flash game made in the 90’s in a modern Flash runtime, it'l??l still run.

Game preservation is hard enough even within these ecosystems. Outside of them, this kind of "bit rot" is the norm.

Game developers have been trending away from PC and console and towards phones, because that's where the money is. ?It's been long enough that the public is starting to notice what game historians have been saying for years: game preservation is about to get very difficult, if not impossible.

Tim Donley (Boss 101/Lead Artist on Planescape: Torment)

I can tell you this. When I got into Flash games I was considering the idea of making ONLY Flash based games and bringing them over ?to PC or whichever console I could. After working in Flash a few years, I found out it was not a simple “export to… (insert platform of choice)” problem. The deal I found was Flash was good for certain things but clunky for a lot?? of others. General animation and things like that it can do very well but as a robust game engine not so much. That isn’t to say a LOT of people haven’t made amazing Flash games and Flash game engines. Most people/teams though are likely limited by Flash for major game development projects.

For me, I wanted to bring Boss 101 to the PC platform and found it was easier to switch game engines to something built for the PC and built around Flash. A lot of the game development tools for animation, particles, sound, and general game development all tend to have export modules for Unity, Unreal, and various major engines but not as many export to a Flash friendly format. Also, the Flash format was already dying out when I start on Boss 101’s web version around 2??012. Flash games were selling less with mobile taking over, and there j??ust wasn’t as much money in the Flash market.

I do love Flash. It was one of my first and BEST animation tools. It allowed me to learn and create so many quality animations and it’s still extremely good for that. I imagine many others have a similar experience with F??lash. Whoever designed it was clearly an animator at heart since it has extremely nice controls and creation tools for making 2D animations.

In the end though, I suspect Flash will remain around in one form or another. It has so many advantages for aspiring animators and game creators that I can’t imagine it totally dying off. Still, for mainstream type games, I believe it will ??become less and less economical?????????????????????????? to use.

Tyler Glaiel (Closure/The End Is Nigh)

I started using Flash when I was 11 because it was the most accessible program out there at the time for doing that. You didn't need ANY other programs besides Flash to mak?e a game, and that was huge. I could learn "Flash" instead of needing to learn a million different programs and languages and tools. Nothing out there today does that. They all require other programs for asset creation and code editing. That can’t be overstated and that fact alone is what made it possible to learn it at such a young age. Additionally, there was a really low barrier of entry for releasing stuff. You just uploaded it to Newgrounds and instantly got thousands of plays and hundreds of reviews on it. Newgrounds basically guaranteed every game uploaded there an even chance at success. Every game was guaranteed a certain number of votes, and games with high user scores, or games that the admins just liked, got promoted more. If you made a good game, it got played even though hundreds were released every day during peak Newgrounds. Somehow, they solved the discovery problem that all current platforms seem to struggle with..... more than 10 years ago.

Flash's downfall was the fact that it was so ubiquitous on the web in the 2000s. YouTube started up because they realized they could use Flash to make a video streamer that worked on every platform at the time (no clunky embedded .movs or RealPlayer plugins). Flash was never meant for that and it wasn't great at it, but it was the only option at the time. It gets remembered as the software that made Y?ouTube slow a?nd clunky rather than the software that let YouTube exist in the first place. It gets remembered for dumb banner ads instead of the millions of games and animations made in it.

Flash was an animation tool originally, and it’s still the best animation tool out there for 2D games. The way it structures movie clips and timelines and whatnot just works so well for making interactive things. My current engine (the one we used for The End is Nigh and the one I'm using for most of my future projects with Ed) takes advantage of this by loading .swf files directly and extracting the art and animation out of them at run time (much faster than Flash player was as well). It was quite a lot of work to get that engine working because .swf is a really weird file format, but the end result is that it’s so fast to work with Flash graphics that we were able to make all of The End is Nigh in basically 8 months.

Flash game preservation is important. A lot of people handwave? it away saying, "just port them to HTML5 then," but that’s like impossible for 99% of the Flash games out there, made by teenagers who may not even still have their original source code. I think someone should work on making a webGL implementation of Flash Player that can run all the old Flash games, kinda like an emulator. It’s not an impossible project and I almost think it should be Adobe's responsibilit?y to support the development of it (either by open sourcing Flash Player or providing some funding for open source devs).

Tom Fulp (co-creator of Alien Hominid/Founder of Newgrounds)

In terms of transition, we've been preparing for the end of Flash for many years now. Our 2012 site redesign even removed the word "Flash" from the layout, referring to the content as just games and animation vs Flash. We developed Swivel, softwar?e for converting SWF files into the best-ever MP4 fo?rmat.

Most of the Flash-based animation you see on Newgrounds and YouTube has been converted with Swivel and the majority of our animated content nowadays is uploaded in this format and viewed in an HTML5 video player. We've been gradually converting t??he classic content as well.

Games are a more difficult situation, as we haven't created a web player for those. There are projects underway such a??s Shumway where the goal is to run SWF files via a JavaScript player. There is also a lot of interest in a compiled player using WebAssembly, which is still in its infancy but has great potential for future web apps. The big question will be whether we’ll be able to run ALL of the Flash content in web browsers or just specific sets such as games made with ActionScript 2 or ActionScript 3. Any help from Adobe on this front would be awesome.

In the worst-case scenario, people will still be able to find all the classic games on NG, but they will have to download and play them in a standalone player. Alternatively, we could offer exe versions of the games - t?he Flash player does have an EXE expor??t option we could use for that.

In terms of content moving forward, Newgrounds already accepts games in HTML5 format and a lot of games are uploaded that way now. The Audio Portal will soon be updated to use an HTML5 audio player and the Art Portal never depended on Flash. A lot of people assume NG will die with Flash, b??ut it already doesn't depend on it much beyond making classic content available. We would like to keep that content available via browser, though.

No matter what, Flash will continue to live on in some form or another, but how much will be lost in the process? It appears that the ball rests firmly in Adobe’s court at the moment. These games, even the lesser-known ones which are most at risk right now, are a huge part of the company’s legacy. Hopefully, they’ll have a change of heart and become a little more cooperative with preservation efforts in the future. After all, this isn’t just their history. This is ours too.

The post An effigy for Adobe Flash appeared first on Destructoid.

Might as well jump!

It seems like Metanet is never going to be done with N++. Hot off the heels of the announcement of a free expansion to the game, N++ will now be landing on Xbox One as N++ Ultimate Edition. This version will incl?ude every bit of content released thus far. I'm sure Metanet will come up with another few t?housand levels next year, though.

No firm release date was given, just a summer timeline. Seeing as how the PS4 version of the game has not yet received those bonus levels, I'm guessing this port will land at the same time as that update. Either way, its great to see this game on as many platforms as possible. N has remained a class?ic o?ver the years and more people should play it.

The post N++ is making the jump to Xbox One appeared first on Destructoid.

Triangle tits

The original Tomb Raider may not have aged all too well, but it definitely remains an important title in the fifth console generation. Not only was it one of the first mainstream titles to feature a female lead, it also introduced gamers to the concept of massive scale puzzle solving that was never seen before. It did Indiana Jones better than any of the previous licensed Jones titles.

While there are plenty of ways to relive the misery glory of the classic game, you can now do so without actually downloading the title. A modder by the name of XProger has spent the past few months working on an open source port of Tomb Raider that can now be played from within your browser of choice (although probably not Edge sin??ce Edge really sucks)??.

This version is called OpenLara (hehe) and it features third and first-person viewpoints for you to tinker around with. While it currently only features the second level of the game, if you happen to own the original on PC you can load in the map files and try those. This port also has native support for m??odern gamepads and introduces actual camera control, although it doesn't remove the tank controls. At least you can have a more comfortable time while cursing at Lara for running straight into a damn wall, which is honestly all I've ever needed.

You can play this version over on XProger's website. Its fun for a nostalgic trip, if nothing else.

Play the original Tomb Raider in your browser with unlocked FPS [PC Gamer]

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Stealth-based rogue-like thief game

Terry Cavanagh is the man behind VVVVVV and Super Hexagon. Even if you've never played those games, you've probably heard about their extreme difficulty. While I love VVVVVV and have since surmounted most of its challenges, I'm still perplexed by Super Hexagon and h?ow anyone can beat the various other difficulties. Doing 60 seconds on the standard version is hard ?enough; why would I want it faster?

Anyway,  Cavanagh has just released his newest title, a browser-based, roguelike stealth title about stealing gems. Called Tiny Heist, the goal is simply to beat 15 levels and escape with a bunch of treasure. I can't manage to get past level fou?r, but since this is a browser game, ??I have a feeling that my productivity at work is going to plummet as I try to see the finale.

I'd make a comment about Terry Cavanagh not being able to finish his own games, but he proved himself worthy in front of a live audience. Now I feel inadequate. Anyway, why not give Tiny Heist a go?

Terry Cavanagh's stealthy roguelike Tiny Heist released for free [PC Gamer]

The post Terry Cavanagh releases his next game, Tiny Heist appeared first on Destructoid.

Double Down Browntown

Colonel Sanders lived an interesting life. In an attempt to bring him back into the public eye, fast food chain KFC wants to tell the story of his life, though it seems like it might be embellished a bit in the free minigame collection Colonel Quest.

Each of the five games represents a fictionalized stage in his life leading up to opening the fried chicken joint. It begins with Sixth Grade Dropout, an auto-runner where a young Harland Sanders has to escape a very long classroom. Then comes Baby Business, a reskin of the old Game & Watch game Fire, representing his time spent as an amateur obstetrician. After that is Courtroom Brawl, a fighting game to show his time spent as a lawyer. Then comes Gas Station Shootout, where he duels a rival gas station owner. Finally, there is Chicken Time!, a Root Beer Tapper-like featuring customers hungry for?? his origin?al recipe.

I managed to finish with two golds, two silvers, and a bronze. For my trouble, I got a coupon for $5 off some fried chicken. It's not clear if performing better nets a better reward, because after I upped it to three golds and two silvers, I couldn't get another coupon. Oh well. You can play Colonel Quest at the official site.

KFC Releases Absurd Video Game As Pa??rt O??f Its Hipster Makeover [Eater]

The post KFC takes us th??rough the life of Colonel Sanders in a game appeared first on Destructoid.

Sup Holmes every Sunday at 4pm EST!

_{[Sup Holmes is a weekly talk show for people that make great videogames. It airs live every Sunday at 4pm EST on YouTube, and can be found in Podcast form on Libsyn and iTunes.]}

Last time on Sup Holmes, we welcomed Professor Pippin Barr to the program. Pippin has been making small, "artsy" games for years now. In fact, he even made a game called Art Game. But is Art Game an "Art Game"? That's a topic I couldn't help but broach, even at the risk of annoying our guest with ??my over attention to se??mantics and unnecessarily class distinctions in delineating communication methods. It was a hoot!

Pippin was extremely insightful and forthcoming, maneuvering between a decidedly New Zealand-flavored humility and a unquenchable excitement for videogames. I share Pippin's excitement about games, including his games, which made for an occasional battle between an Excitement-type game journalist and a Humble-type game developer. I think you'll find that my rant about how much I love Pippin's game Lets Play: The Shining was super effective. 

?We also talked about Dadaism, how much it changes your sense of purpose and owners??hip when you start selling your work, what it is about games that fascinates him, how to harness the everyday experience of parenting into an exercise in survival horror, and a lot more. 

Thanks again to Pipping for being on the show, and make sure to tune in today at 4pm EST when we welcome Kim Voll to the program. 

The post Making The Shining funny and ordinary parentin??g scary wit?h Pippin Barr appeared first on Destructoid.

Now I feel old

These days, Tom Fulp is probably best known for his work with The Behemoth, behind games like Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers. Way back in the day, I knew him as the guy in charge of Newgrounds. I spent a ton of time (probably too much) in high school playing free Flash games on the site. I still remember playing through Pico's School, a point-and-click adventure about a school shooting. It hasn't exactly aged well (un??less you count the more recent remakes), but it still reminds me of being a kid, playing morbid videogames when I should have been doing homework.

Newgrounds has grown a lot since the early days, becoming a place for a huge number of creators to put up content of varying quality. It even became the birthplace of some big names in games today like The Binding of Isaac.

Newgrounds turns 20 years old today, and to celebrate, Fulp and company are streaming a bevy of the site's hosted games on Twitch.

[Thanks, Dieter!]
[Image]

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Permission to write every post like this?

Flash game on Newgrounds
Like VVVVVV
Superficially

Mirror images
Form platforms on either side
Climb to the portal

Push boxes around
Avoid deadly laser beams
Flip the gravity

Hard puzzles and then
Some trivial solutions
Difficulty spikes

It's not a long game
And it doesn't cost money
Play it if you want

The post Some haikus about free puzzle platformer Symmetry appeared first on Destructoid.

The Enchanted Cave 2

I'm struggling to stop playing The Enchanted Cave 2 for long enough to tell you about it. Unassuming name and overabundance of roguel??ikes aside, this browser-based game is terrific.

You delve into a cavern? in search of gold, gear, and experience but here's the trick: only certain items can be brought back to the surface. And you need a special item to escape in the first place. Combat is tile-based in classic "mash against a monster until someone dies" fashion. There's skill trees, crafting, and did I mention the music? It's typical Kirkhope. Amazing.

If you're coming in as a veteran of the original game, prepare?? for quite the upgrade.

Here's the Steam Greenlight trailer from a fe??w months back:

The post A free roguelike with music by Banjo-Kazooie’s Grant Kirkhope? Yes, please! appeared first on Destructoid.

And ends up being oddly enjoyable

Did you like DLC Quest, conceptually? You might also dig Upgrade Complete 3mium, a ??short browser-based game that parodies the worst aspects ??of free-to-play gaming.

You're forced ??to play the crappy lite version of the game and shoot down waves of alien ships to afford upgrades like "enable sound" and "font." Best of all, the joke doesn't outstay its welcome.

I haven't played the earlier Upgrade Complete titles, but 3mium is fun. Well, maybe not fun -- more like satisfying. In a clinical sense. Progress for the s?ake of progress. Lighting-rod guns for the sake of lighting-rod guns. And I was not prepared for that s?urprise ending. Or those jump-scares.

Upgrade Complete 3mium [Armor Games]

There are even faux in-game??? ads and, yep, you better believe there's an upgrade to disable them.

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Get it? Because you're two kids pretending to be the Fuhrer?

I know what you're thinking. Hitler? Shoulders? Shh. I promise I'm going somewhere positive with this. Let me let you in on a little secret. This game is hilarious, and it could very well be the next QWOP.

Double Hitler is a Newgrounds creation by Damian Schloter in ??which you (struggle to) control two children standing on top of each other who are pretending to be Hitler??. You read that correctly. You control both kids independently of one another as you find yourself conducting day to day business as old Adolf himself, with your cohorts staying none the wiser even as you sway and look totally conspicuous. It's so goofy. 

Oh, did I mention this game is super hard? It totally is, but so satisfying. Give it a look here and let us know how far you make it. 

Double Hitler [NeoGAF]

The post Put Hitler o?n your shoulders in this New??grounds game appeared first on Destructoid.

Well, maybe not a million

Seth MacFarlane chooses to inject nearly every bit of media he touches with a rush of nostalgia from his childhood. I'm a little similar, but I'm nowhere near as rich. And I'm kind of on the fence about the upcoming movie A Million Ways to Die in the West, but this promotional game makes me ?laugh for all the right reas??ons.

It's set up like an homage to The Oregon Trail, but it quickly devolves into a smorgasbord of retro goodness, with throwbacks to Frogger, Donkey Kong, and other recognizable greats. It's an Adult Swim release, so I shouldn't be surprised, but this is actually one licensed game I don't feel like a corporate shill for playing. Plus, just look how cute it is. I'm?? going to give it the old college try, and if you can get past the subject (if you're not a MacFarlane fan) you might want to as well. 

A Million Ways to Die in the West Online Game Mines Multiple Classics [Topless Robot]

The post A Million Ways? to Die in the West game has a million ways to wax nostalgic about retro games appeared first on Destructoid.

Hug them all

Naughty Dog designer Peter Javidpour made a little flash game about Rambo. He released Rambo: Last Blood a couple of years ago actually, but it's making the rounds again after the release of that horrible piece of crap Rambo game that just came out.

I'm glad people are talking about it, as I missed it the first time around. It's not what you expect at all from a typical Rambo game as you can guess by the headline of this post. Give?? a spin, it may make the last few hours of your weekend a little ??bit more enjoyable.

The post You are Rambo, a?nd you must rip off your shirt t??o hug ghost ninjas appeared first on Destructoid.

Well it's a typing fighting game but still

Remember that wonderful Sesame Street x Street Fighter crossover art series from way back in 2010? Artist gava??cho13 made a pretty funny spoof, and now after all this time it's been turned into an actual game.

It's not quite a fighting game in the traditional terms. Sesame Street Fighter is more like Typing of the Dead in that you have to type out wo?rds to fight your opponents. So there's an educational angle still there at? least.

Sesame Street Fighter Is The Log??ical? Fusion Of Two Childhood Favorites [The Creators Project]

The post Ho?ly crap, Sesame Street Fighter is an actual game now appeared first on Destructoid.

'A bit of a double-standard, eh?'

Not that people who have been following the news about Candy Crush Saga maker King trademarking "Candy" and causing issues over The Banner Saga's use of the word "Saga" in its title need any more fuel for the fire, but here goes: developer Matthew Cox has accused the company of cloning a browser-based game he worked on called Scamperghost.

His team was in talks with King to license this game but "before the deal was closed (and certainly before any contracts were signed) MaxGames.com made a better offer so we thanked King for considering our game and politely ended our negotiations." As a result, King sponsored "a similar game," in the words of their contact Lars Jörnow, titled Pac-Avoid (really).

Allegedly, the team working on Pac-Avoid was told to "clone the game very quickly, and [King] even wanted to beat the release of the original game." This comes d?irectly from an email correspondence with one of the developers contracted by the co??mpany, according to Cox.

"Scamperghost isn't the most original game in the world," wrote Cox. "It's obviously inspired by Pac-Man but we at least took it in an original direction by making it a mouse avoider with no walls. King.com, however, showed no respect for other people's intellectual property when they made a direct, blatant clone of Scamperghost. Now they'?ve trademarked? "Candy" and are using their massive legal power against other small competing developers. A bit of a double-standard, eh?"

King.com, makers of Cand??y Crush Saga...Trademark Trolls with a Double Standard?[Junkyard Sam -- Thanks, OpiumHerz]

Here's the side-by-side comparison:

The post Indie developer claims King cloned its game appeared first on Destructoid.

A fun little distraction

Dojo of Death is a super addictive little browser game over on Kongregate. You a??re a ninja, and you must kill other ninjas with the simple click of your mouse button. Just aim, click, and slash away.

The entire thing takes place in one room, and two enemy types spawn ?as you go on your slicing rampage. Enjoy!

The post Play this: Dojo of Death appeared first on Destructoid.

Night Rider Turbo

"Yo??ur car is falling apart in the middle of the night in the middle of a highway. Make sure not to die. This is important. Control the car using hand."

This is Night Rider Turbo, the chaotic new game from McPixel creator Sos Sosowski. It's his contribution to the Charity Game Jam and it's worth a few minutes of your time, or possibly many, ma??ny more minutes depending on how determined you are to compete on the leaderboards. Some maniac managed to drive for 36.853 KM!

The slightest twitch of your hand usually results in a component of your car being ripped off, and that's when the insanity begins. Night Rider Turbo can be grasped quickly given its simple premise, but that's not to say it's easy. Quite the opposite. This represents e??verything I love about browser-based games, and the soundtrack is excellent (hit the radio to c?ycle the songs).

The post McPixel developer’s new web game is pure chaos appeared first on Destructoid.

Ludum Dare 26 game playable in browser

The Ludum Dare game jam series has been going on for a while now, with its 28th iteration coming up next month. Ludum Dare 26's theme was "minimalism," and one of the titles to come out of that event was Leaf Me Alone, a 2D exploration-based platformer starring a little tree person?? (or som??ething).

Set against serene music and chirping birds, Leaf Me Alone puts the player in the environment with only the basic controls of moving and jumping explained. Within a few minutes, I was on top of a tree where I found a leaf that could be used as a sort of parachute, Wind Waker style. Though it started as a small game jam title, Leaf Me Alone was added to since the competit??ion, and is now an adventure tha?t takes a couple hours to complete.

If you're bored at work and can hide a browser game from your superiors, then you might want to take a look. Leaf Me Alone can be found on AddictingGames.com.

The post Need something to do? Play Leaf Me Alone appeared first on Destructoid.

You can play it for free on Adult Swim

Do you remember Tower of Heaven? If the answer is yes, skip ahead to the next paragraph. If the answer is "no" because you never played it back in 2009, then you can (and should) rectify that immediately. It's not very long; you can play it now and then come back here ??when you're finished. I'll wait.

You're back? Great. Tadakuni Amano, the developer behind Tower of Heaven, has released a new platformer called Pause Ahead. It's similar to the previous work in that it's a platformer from the Super Meat Boy school of tough-but-fair, and the two Amano titles share similar fourth-wall-break??ing themes as well.

The main hook of Pause Ahead is that you?? can pause the game at any time, and while the buzzsaws and Thwomp-esque traps will stop moving, the protagonist will continue in a straig?ht path with the momentum he had just prior to the pause, passing through any death-dealing elements unharmed. The catch is the protagonist cannot be directly controlled while the game is paused, and once it is unpaused he becomes just as susceptible to explosive death as before.

With only about twenty bite-sized levels to play through, the fastest times posted are in the two minute range. It took me a little over a half hour to get through entirely, and some levels are especially frustrating, but overall it is a neat experience. You can play it right now on Adult Swim.

The post Tower of Heaven creator releases new game Pau??se Ah??ead appeared first on Destructoid.

NES-inspired Flash game based on the web series

In last week's episode of web series Video Game High School, the character Ki created a videogame based on lead protagonist Brian D's troubled first week of class. In other words, it was a game adaptation of VGHS Season 1, appropriately titled High School Video Game.

Though that version of the game is exclusive to the show's universe, Joel Sinclair of Newgrounds used the art from the fake game to create a real one in Flash. Each event in Brian's life is represented as a clone of a popular NES game, such as Mega Man, Super Mario Bros., Punch-Out!!, and Contra. Not perfect recreations by any means, but you get the idea.

It's very short, so you can clear it in no time at all. Just something to occupy yourself?? on a lazy Saturday evening.

VGHS the Flash Video Game! [Rocket Jump]

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"Typing is full of vitamins C, B12, and antioxidants"

"You can't just type ANYTHING, you know."

Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing is a typing game. Kind of. You will type. Feverishly, fiendishly, and a bit fetishisticly. For reasons. And an owl will feed you false facts while an executive will ask you to sign your rights away and you will because it will be fun.

"'Where there is typing, there is life' - Mahatma Gandhi"

There is an unused progression system at the start wherein you can sap all your points from "strength," "optimism," and "hygiene" and put them towards "animal spirit" and "overall mojo." There's also a Typogatchi egg you feed your typing points to for sustenance. Sometimes you have to type all the letters in a word twice.

Just play it. You can play it right here. It takes under 20 minutes. I??t's manic and hilarious and surprisingly taut. The end is fantastic.

The post Icarus Proudbottom Teaches Typing?? is mental; play it appeared first on Destructoid.