All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'casual, indie' on The Great Games Experiment All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'casual, indie' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg All-Time Highest Rated Games Tagged 'casual, indie' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Cave Story - Doukutsu Monogatari Cave Story is a freeware sidescrolling action/adventure/platformer title with leanings towards Wonderboy and recent sidescrolling Castlevania titles. You control a little amnesiac who runs around helping out these rabbit-ish creatures called Mimigas while trying to find your way out of the giant cave inside the floating island which makes up the game's setting.

This is a free game made by one man:

Pixel said,
It's been five years since I first thought to myself, "Hey, why not try making a game?" I developed Cave Story at my own pace, taking my time, and while doing so I released a few other smaller games as well.
]]> 26 Nov 2006 01:38:13 Blocksum Blocksum is a very new typed action puzzle game. For everyone who can add numbers to 20.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 07:04:52 PixelShips Retro [from official page]
After six years, a new PixelShips game emerges! Except... shouldn't this have come first? ;)

PixelShips Retro is an all-new game, taking on the look and feel of classic, 80's style games. The graphics, the sound, the music, the simple controls, the very high framerate, all indicative of those old-school games.

Of course, if there weren't significant improvements over the original PixelShips game, this one wouldn't be shareware! Besides the 13 original music tracks, numerous sound effects and more weapons than before, the game is far more balanced, lending itself to greatly simplified statistics and easier to understand concepts.

But perhaps the biggest change of all is that the screen no longer scrolls on its own! The screen moves as you move to provide you with a good view of what's ahead of you. (Leaving your backside more vulnerable of course!) You decide where and when to go!

Drones come in a much wider variety now and have their own unique array of 12 weapons, such as the Ring Pulse which slowly tracks you and the Trail Pulse which leaves a damaging trail behind for you to accidentally dash through!

The 9 different environments can actually threaten you this time around too. For instance, Space Arenas have force fields to block your progress and Class R Planets have erupting volcanos and oceans of lava. The background is no longer just an obstacle but a hazard too!
]]> 11 Mar 2007 10:28:55 Within a Deep Forest Within a Deep Forest is a freeware 2D platform game for Windows, featuring challenging gameplay, beautiful music, an evil doctor, infinite cuteness, and a deep forest.
]]> 26 Nov 2006 02:38:21 Merry Gear Solid merry gear solid: secret santa is a top down stealth action game in the vein of hideo kojima's metal gear solid series.

it's grid-based as it was entered in the daily click grid-based x-mas game competition. it won 1st place.

use distractions and tools you find around the level to distract and get past any guards that are you in your way.

the game is relatively short, taking around 10-20 minutes to complete. the story is related to the metal gear solid series' plot so if you haven't played those games, you might be kind of lost.
]]> 11 Feb 2007 06:06:28 Monkey on Your Back On a small, uncharted island a mysterious organization is breeding Bio-Enhanced Animal-Cyborgs at the bidding of the brilliant, albeit evil, Dr. Randolph Montague Krenwinkle. In a small cage down in the deepest level sits Nim, a rebellious test monkey who has acquired a secret and powerful ability. An experimental treatment has given Nim enhanced psychic powers that allow him to take control of any human simply by jumping on their backs! Now is his one chance to escape. Use Nim’s ability to take control of scientists, soldiers and A-Bots! Blast and sneak your way through the Krenwinkle facility in a desperate attempt for freedom! Revel in the ironic justice of using your enemies against each other! Experience innovative action gameplay on your phone and with a monkey!
]]> 23 Feb 2007 12:23:01 True Combat: Elite What Is TrueCombat:Elite?
TC:E is a modern world total conversion modification of the free, popular, stand-alone first-person shooter Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. That is, TC:E is an entirely free game, made by gamers, for gamers.

TC:E is currently being developed by GrooveSix Studios and TeamTerminator. While TeamTerminator is known for the famous Q3 based TrueCombat series, GrooveSix Studios was initiated by retired TeamTerminator co-founder Coroner to develop a Return to Castle Wolfenstein modification that is not released. Thus, as very experienced Q3-based content creators, we hope to be able to serve the gaming community with a quality offering.
Now, the most important question: "What can you expect from TC:E?" TC:E is a tactical-team shooter, set up in a modern-world environment. TC:E puts you into the role of elite mercenary soldier in the conflicts of two internationally operating forces.


SpecOps vs. Terrors
The Global Intervention Force (GIF626) is a special force formed of the top of the world experts joining from US Delta force, UK SAS, German KSK and GSG9, to mention a few. An international mercenary organization known as "The Unit" is their opponent. It is reported that some of these dudes are were once with the above forces, but the lure of money is strong. You say "Yet another terror counter-terrorism shooter. Why the hell should I go for it?". We say "Cause you don't have to spend a cent and it features:"

  • Texture Tone Mapping
  • HDR Lighting
  • Realistic scaling
  • Free climb
  • Free Aim
  • High quality sounds (44khz)
  • rich, deluxe graphics, based on high-resolution digital-camera shots
  • Letterbox & widescreen modes - TrueVision
  • Dynamic Eye Adaption - DynEA
  • Cross Platform Gaming (Win, OS X, Linux)
  • tactical-teamplay oriented, modern-world combat simulation
  • realistic weapon behavior simulation
  • iron sight aiming system, no crosshair
  • sophisticated ballistic simulation including multiple-layer object penetration
  • professional mode: 1-life, short-timed, objective driven scenarios in realistic environments
  • bodycount mode: team deathmatch style, gametype to relax?
  • Reinforced OBJ, as Capture the Flag in stock maps
  • balanced, team specific set of real-world weapons (Grenades, Pistols, SMG's, Assault-, Shotgun- and Sniper-Rifles)
  • lag compensation, client-side bullet prediction, punkbuster support
  • immersive and lethal, fast-paced action"


    • You will need to download and install Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory to install and play this game. But it's all free, so it's all good!
    ]]>     27 Feb 2007 08:35:25     Chalk Chalk is an arcade style scrolling shooter with a different kind of control scheme. Instead of shooting, you only have a piece of chalk with which you can draw. The way you defeat the enemies is different depending on the type. Some require all of the green dots to be connected, and others need to have their bullets connected back to them. There are bosses at the end of each level that will take a bit more thinking to destroy. The game is controlled entirely with the mouse, but the keyboard can be used as well.
    ]]>     30 May 2007 06:39:39     Gesundheit! Help an allergic pig save a city from snot-eating monsters using a clever combination of brains and boogers.

    While keeping out of sight, you must lure your enemies through each single-screen level with your delicious nasal discharges. Objects scattered around town provide your pig with different ways of solving each puzzle. Control is simple and intuitive, requiring only a two-button mouse.
    ]]>     13 Mar 2007 12:32:37     Super Shove IT! Amongst the elite circle of Extreme Mining Superstars, one man reigns supreme...Joseppe Theodore Blocco. Now trapped by an earthquake deep within the ruins of the dangerous Luxicore, Joe will have to escape using only his special Extreme Miner Heating and Cooling gloves.
    ]]>     23 Feb 2007 12:14:34     Critter Crunch
    ]]>     03 Aug 2007 10:17:49     Snapshot Adventures: Secret of bird island Let me get this out of the way: I consider myself at times a pretty "hard-core" video gamer. I mean, I'm not adverse to hacking and slashing Orcs in fantasy role-playing games, such as World of Warcraft. I can shoot down enemy aliens in Halo 2 and drop nukes on unsuspecting enemies in Supreme Commander. I'm tough, and I'm proud of it. So when my trusty Gamezebo editor asked me to review a "bird watching" game, you can imagine my initial reaction...

    OK, so call me what you will, but after playing Snapshot Adventures: Secret of Bird Island, I'm not only sold on the concept, but completely hooked.

    At the start of the game you find out your grandfather -- a famous bird photographer and naturalist who went missing six months ago -- left you a shoebox with your name on it. Inside you find a map of the U.S., his beloved camera and a half-empty field journal that alludes to a mystery (and uses your real name in the cryptic passage, since you typed it in when you started playing!). And so you decide to visit his old friends and colleagues, beginning in Pennsylvania, to find clues leading to his disappearance as well as learn the craft of nature photography in the process.

    In fact, you're asked to snap photos of birds for magazine covers and your field journal, and receive advice along the way. For example, you'll get more points for your photos if they're close-up, unobstructed and centered shots, and if the bird is orientated well, such as looking at the camera or caught in the act of singing, eating, flying or preening.

    Game-play works as follows. After you get your mission, such as take five photos of a Blue Jay in-flight or three photos with quality of at least 3 stars, you're presented with a landscape such as a forest, parks or shoreline (while you're on a moving boat). You can move the mouse side-to-side to see even more of the environment. Your mouse cursor is now a magnifier, so as you move it around to see subjects to photograph, you will see a larger view of the bird when your mouse is placed over top of it. Take the photo by pressing the left-mouse button. If you've earned the zoom lens you can use your mouse's middle-scroll wheel to zoom in closer; other tools you can unlock for completing missions include an infrared scope, bird seed (to get them to eat), bird identifier (which tells you what kind of bird it is), a "Flight Stimulator" plane (to make birds fly), camera auto-winder, and more.

    Bonus points are awarded at the end of the level for finding other species (such as a Baltimore Oriole or red-winged blackbird) within a predetermined amount of time (and only if you have film left).

    Developed in collaboration with experts at Cornell University, this game features authentic-looking birds and animations, and realistic birdsongs. You can unlock additional birdsongs as a reward for taking good photos.

    The big payoff is seeing your photos at the end of each level. You must choose between two side-by-side photos and once you do, the points are revealed for both so it's almost like a mini-game to choose the best one (and see if the game agrees!). You can see your best work as a cover of a magazine and in your field journal (which you can view at any time from the main menu) or with the click of a mouse you can email a photo to a friend right from within the game.

    As you travel throughout the U.S. to photograph new birds, you will receive clues and other information that will eventually unravel this grand mystery.

    A wonderful addition to Snapshot Adventures: Secret of Bird Island is an unlockable Bird Creator mode. With this clever in-game tool, you can create any bird you like. You begin with a basic shape -- such as an owl, gull, loon or hummingbird - then begin to tweak the wingspan, body size, beak length, eye style, field marks and color, and so on. Then you can name your bird (mine was called the Toronto Tailfeather), add other info if you like, and then upload to the Net for other gamers to download and photograph. I also downloaded close to 200 other custom-made birds to photograph in various locations.

    As fun and unique this game is, there are a few faults. For one, it's far too easy to unlock the Bird Creator mode, which only took about 30 minutes or so. It would be a better dangling carrot if it took longer to achieve this bonus. Secondly, the feedback doesn't always match your performance; in one instance, a magazine editor told me "An excellent collection of new photographs!" yet I failed the mission and had to start it over again.

    Even with these minor shortcomings, Snapshot Adventures: Secret of Bird Island may be the most refreshingly fun casual game of 2007. Seriously, yes, a bird photography game. But before you turn your beak up in disbelief, download this iWin game and give it a spin.

    Written by: Marc Saltzman/Gamezebo
    ]]>     24 May 2007 05:48:53     SMABU: Earth Wars On a distant planet populated by Robots and Monkeys there is a new phenomenon known simply as S.M.A.B.U. - The ultimate combination of reality TV and maximum carnage!
    ]]>     23 Feb 2007 12:41:00     Armadillo Run Armadillo Run is a physics-based puzzle game. You have to build structures with the purpose of getting an armadillo to a certain point in space. There is a selection of building materials, each with different properties, which can be combined to form almost anything. The realistic physics simulation gives you the freedom to solve each level in many different ways.
    ]]>     09 Dec 2006 02:13:47     The Last Stand In The Last Stand, your objective is to protect a barricade against the oncoming hordes. Manage your time during the daylight to search for weapons, survivors and repair.
    ]]>     05 Jul 2007 05:34:55     Knytt The Knytt was abducted by an alien! Traveling through space, the UFO flies into a meteor and crashes on a nearby planet. Luckily, the Knytt and the alien survive, but the UFO is a wreck. How can the Knytt possibly find it's way back home again?
    ]]>     06 Dec 2006 12:42:22     Scorched Planets An epic space battle consumes a future galaxy as its eccentric inhabitants fight for domination. Your mission is to join the conflict and hurl everything you have at the enemy. Choose between races such as evil Dragons and the United Hamster Federation and take command of their inter-planetary super cannon. Select your projectile, aim, fire and watch your foes panic as the chaos ensues. Use weapons such as the Earthworm Bomb and the Kitchen Sink to outsmart and disgrace your opponents. Your task will not be easy; Space is a dangerous place indeed. Asteroids, comets, and multiple gravity fields will hinder your attacks, or even turn them against you. With every successful strike you earn money to increase your bizarre arsenal and move one step closer to complete domination. Hone your mastery in single player then humiliate your friends in multiplayer in this comic, space-themed artillery game. Let the destruction begin!

    Download at http://www.scorchedplanets.com
    ]]>     09 Mar 2007 10:09:23     Oasis You are the future Scarab King. Your father, the Falcon King, has been murdered. Egypt has plunged into chaos, and an evil fog has covered your father's empire. Using your magical staff, you will lift the fog and rebuild the empire. Your followers will flock to you and obey your commands.

    You will discover cities, build roads, and develop new technologies. Your goal is to seek out the Oasis and the Obelisk it contains, and to protect it from the barbarian hordes.

    Once your presence in a kingdom is discovered, you have a limited number of turns before the barbarian horde arrives. Spend your turns wisely, develop your kingdom carefully, or watch the barbarian hordes smash it to rubble!

    If your kingdom survives with the Obelisk intact, you will be able to retrieve its Glyph, and the power to restore order to the land. Earn twelve Glyphs from twelve different levels, and you will have the power to restore the empire, dispel the fog forever, and become the Scarab King.
    ]]>     19 Dec 2006 01:36:53     Arcade Phoenix
    ]]>     15 Sep 2007 05:23:45     Thinkin'in Thinkin'in is a Logic , memory and hability game with two game modes (training and exam) with ten minigames, two Languages( English - Spanish ) and local Ranking.
    ]]>     16 Apr 2007 05:58:18     The Pirate Tales Follow the adventures of Captain Caninbahl, Barley, Deckhand Dewey, Ruby Barnacle, and Planky the Parrot as they plunder their way through caves, underwater shipwrecks, and dangerous port towns. The Pirate Tales is a match-3 puzzle game spanning 100 chapter-style levels. Perform typical pirating duties, plunder treasure, and fight opponents in your quest to rescue Dewey's girlfriend, Ruby Barnacle.

    This game is developed and published by Twintale Entertainment.

    Shore leave is supposed to be a happy time for a pirate, filled with carousing, picking fights, and tax-free plundering.
    ]]>     19 Feb 2007 11:23:33     Super Mario War Made with Microsoft's Game Studio Express by loving fans. This is basically a 2-D version of the 64's Smash Bros. game. The game supports up to 4 players going head to head and has various modes such as: capture the flag, race, deathmatch and more. The game also comes packaged with a level editor so you can make new levels to smash your friends! This game is tremendously fun and is definitely worth a download, especially because the full game is completely FREE!
    ]]>     16 Jun 2007 12:54:52     VECK Veck is an entry for a vector minicompetition on the Retro Remakes forum. It won, with more than 50% of the vote! Yay!
    ]]>     02 Feb 2007 10:33:52     A Mini Falafel Adventure Episode 1 of a Gameboy-style platform adventure game. Collect ingredients to gain abilities and become the ultimate falafel.

    Single screen, free-roaming gameplay, with an emphasis on exploration and gameplay progression.

    This first episode will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. 5-6 if you know where you're going. 3 episodes are planned, which will be compiled into one story.

    Originally this game was started as an entry for a Retro Remakes competition.
    ]]>     09 Feb 2007 11:33:45     The Adventure's of Toby Turtle The Adventures of Toby Turtle
    ]]>     13 Nov 2006 07:25:57     Clonk Rage Clonk is a highly traditional 2D game of action, strategy, tactics, and skill. It features multiplayer battles or cooperative settlement in random generated or predefined landscapes with unique physics.

    Build your base, mine for resources, develop technology, or simply knock your opponent on the head. You will have trouble finding a game with more variety in gameplay - download the trailer video to find out more.

    The game has been freshly ported from Windows to Linux and Mac and is currently in Beta. We would especially love feedback on the two new platforms.

    Prepare for an uncommon set of controls which will take a bit of time to master but which will then give you full control over all actions of your crew members in realtime.

    Clonk is fully editable. An integrated developer mode with a powerful and fully documented scripting language will leave nothing to be desired if you want to take things into your own and create your own game extensions as hundreds of community players have already done.

    The free demo will keep you playing for months. After that, register to get all addons and access the online league.

    Go to the Clonk Rage homepage for downloads and more information. Check out the forums to get in touch with the community and developers.

    Download trailer video (44 MB).

    Read more at http://www.clonk.de
    ]]>     15 May 2007 11:04:14     Nut Harvest Nut Harvest is a fun and frantic game for the Xbox 360 that supports up to 4-players! Take on your friends in a mad dash to collect the most golden acorns. Jump, shove, slide, and flip your way to victory as you try to hoard the acorns while unleashing havoc on your friends with crazy power ups! And don't forget it is completely free to play and source is included!
    ]]>     10 Feb 2007 10:54:07     Slouching Towards Bedlam Enter a steampunk adventure set in a London that might have been. The year is 1885. Bedlam Hospital still stands in Moorsfield, a decaying shell used to house the poor and the hopeless. Steam-driven mechanical wonders roam the streets. Gear-wheeled analytical engines spin out reams of thought onto punched paper tapes.

    And in the darkness - in the alleys and the side shops - hide secrets.
    ]]>     11 Feb 2007 12:49:30     Element Online Element is a platform MMORPG project. You start as a little white blob, and depending on how you play and what you buy, it changes.

    Most of the servers require a free program called Hamachi to play. It's included in the zip. For more info, go to:

    http://www.hamachi.cc

    Our Network is:
    Name: ElementOnline
    Pass: IM1337

    If you need help setting it up, let me know, I've helped a lot of people get this thing up and running, I know what I'm doing.

    Controls:
    Arrows: Move
    Click: Interact
    F4 Fullscreen

    To get in a battle, collide with an enemy.
    ]]>     24 May 2007 03:55:41     iKonquest iKonquest is a simple turn-based strategy multiplayer game of galactic conquest. The object is to conquer the entire (2 dimensional) galaxy. Each planet produces a fixed number of ships every turn. The game currently can only be played with other players. No AI has been programmed yet. It's a simple game similar to risk without the border restrictions.

    The original game was created by Rick Raddatz in 1987. A second game for the K desktop environment called Konquest was developed initially prior to 1999? by Russell Steffen. Much of the concept was borrowed from the Konquest source repository.
    ]]>     07 Feb 2007 08:30:39     Brain Crash ' Your brain doesn't work right '

    Did you know that your brain is not perfect? Test it now in a funny way! Absolutely for free!

    When you see the word 'Red' printed in Blue, something strange happens. Your brain gets two contradictory informations from two valid sources. On the one hand, the label says 'Red'. On the other hand, the color of the label says 'Blue'. This way, your brain gets confused.

    Your goal in Brain Crash: click on the labels which TEXT matches its COLOR. Simple, uh? Not so...

    Time is limited, so go quickly! The faster you are, the higher your score! But be careful, because if you click on an incorrect label you will go back 2 levels.

    A game for all the family. Non-violent and fun for all ages.

    Now it's your time. Are you a master of Brain Crash?

    Come on! Try it now! Absolutely for free!
    ]]>     14 Feb 2007 06:06:13     Tropical Puzzle Tropical Puzzle is an incredible puzzle entertainment, which shines with unique tropical visuals and animation. You will have to go through 85 game levels solving increasingly difficult puzzles. The objective is to clear the playing field from balls. The challenge of the game is additional balls that appear on the field if your move doesn’t result in making a line of balls. A system of bonuses adds variety to the gameplay.
    ]]>     05 Mar 2007 01:11:48     Tofu hunt Tofuhunt is a "whats wrong with this picture?" game. Two pictures come up and you are to find the differences or a tofu in the pictures. You can also make your own pictures.
    ]]>     08 Mar 2007 08:33:00     100 Invaders GAME: a sub-dimentional invaders game,. destroy the invaders and their ghosts.
    RELEASED: 2005
    ]]>     12 Mar 2007 05:11:34     Sphere Of War Sphere of War is a FREE online multiplayer strategy game. The name of the game is world domination. Do you have what it takes to dominate the Sphere of War?

    Players have the ability to create their own unique characters and build those characters as they choose. Those with a penchant for war can train their character to use a variety of different weapon types and defend themselves against them as well. Team up with your clan mates by forming or joining a Militia and see if you can climb the Militia ladder to the top.

    Those who desire an economic challenge will find a host of challenging features as well. Start your own company, hire and fire employees, buy resources and produce items to sell on the player market. Buy and sell stock and build your own multi-millionair stock portfolio.

    Think you know how to run a country? Get yourself elected as president of one in Sphere of War and find out. Control taxation, natural resource commerce and country warfare as the president of a country and see if you can create the next world super power.

    Visit www.sphereofwar.com
    ]]>     29 Mar 2007 04:24:22     Metal Burger You play as Metal Burger, a burger who absolutely loves Heavy Metal music. Sadly, he has lost all ten of his favorite metal CD's, and they've been scattered all over the (unusually small) world he lives in. To make matters worse, he only has 3 minutes to get them back (for no apparent reason)! You'll need to make him run and jump his way through the world in order to retrieve the CD's with as much time and health left as possible.
    ]]>     29 Mar 2007 07:45:32     Demon's Crest The Red Arremer demon Firebrand is on a quest to collect all of the elemental Crests, magical stones which preside over their respective elements (Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Time, and Heaven). It is said that when all crests are combined, the Crest of Infinity will appear, allowing its holder infinite power, and the ability to conquer any and all realms with it. However, during his quest, he is gravely wounded in a battle with the Demon Dragon in his efforts to claim the Crest of Heaven, and his nemesis Phalanx uses Firebrand's moment of weakness to attack him and steal all of his crests for himself, with the exception of the Crest of Fire which was broken into pieces in the fight (Firebrand still has one shard of it at the game's outset). Having fallen back to earth in the coliseum where he fought the Dragon earlier, Fireband is forced to destroy him for good to survive, so that he can go after Phalanx and reclaim the Crests. Whether Firebrand wants them for power, or for glory, is never stated.

    Main Characters

  • Firebrand: The story's anti-hero. Known as the Red Blaze by the lesser demons who fear him. He has the ability to tap into the power of the crests to increase his powers, or even take on entirely new forms.

  • Phalanx: The arch-nemesis of Firebrand. He desires the crests for himself, so that he may summon the Crest of Infinity and obtain ultimate power to conquer both the demon realm and the human worlds.

  • Arma: A general in service of Phalanx, Arma has been given orders to hunt down and retrieve the Crest of Fire from Firebrand. The player encounters Arma on several occasions throughout the game, each time receiving one of the Crests he was given for safekeeping as spoils of victory (first the Crest of Earth, then the Crest of Wind, and finally the Crest of Time). Upon losing the Time Crest to Firebrand, Arma seals himself within it to help Firebrand in his quest to defeat Phalanx.

    • Gameplay

    The gameplay is a mix of standard platforming, with mild RPG elements and occasional side-scrolling shooter sequences. Each level can be played multiple times, and often the player has to revisit a level with new Crests to access areas, items and bosses that he could not before.

    The player collects different 'crests' which, when equipped during the game, allowing you to change into different-ability Firebrands. Some of the powers possible are Earth, Wind and Water. The player also collects talismans, magic potions and other equipment during their journey.
    ]]>     05 Apr 2007 10:45:20     Moves This is a very simple board game for 2 players (or 1 player versus the computer). Both players get 7 pawns and 1 king on a 8x8 board. The goal is to get your opponent's king or 6 of his pawns. Each turn, the player may select 1 stone and move it straight or in an L-bow. You cannot jump over stones, but you can step onto your opponent's stone to take it. The numbers on your stones indicate the number of tiles they can move in a turn. When the Mastermind option is selected, the stones change in value when you move it. Pawns can get numbers 1-4, while the king only gets 1 or 2. A challenging game!

    Setting the Mastermind option (to change the alue of your stones each move) will show numbers on the board so you will know the number you will get when you move a stone there.

    This games comes with 5 imaginary friends of fine-tuned artificial intelligence to play offline against your computer.
    ]]>     17 Apr 2007 04:47:13     Ashen Empires The Time of Gold
    Long ago, before the thinking races had tamed the horse or built the first cities, the rune-guardians of Ashen Empires mastered the magic of the runes, learned to control animals and plants and perhaps even weather... and then vanished.

    Centuries later, the peace they had fashioned still endured. Food was plentiful, customs were calm, and people had no ancient hatreds to blind them. The thinking races — humans, night elves, orcs, and other folk — did not wage war upon one another. Wise rule, hard work, and brisk trade ensured prosperity. Knowledge was shared, dangerous beasts kept outside the frontiers, and all the land was a single nation.

    It was a golden age...

    But golden ages do not last forever.


    The Time of Darkness
    No one knows where they came from, the dark warriors. Suddenly they were everywhere, speaking languages not known to the people of Ashen Empires, seizing knowledge of the runes wherever they could find it. They used the runes to create items of terror — weapons, armor, implements of torture, objects that wrenched mind and soul. These runic devices corrupted the spirits of all who used them.

    As the armies of Rune Warriors grew, so grew the resolve of the people of Ashen Empires to destroy them. The desire for peace, even the very concept of peace, was abandoned.

    Lotor, a nobleman of Krythan — and later king of that region (once Ashen Empires was sundered into warring nations) — was the first great defender against the Rune Warriors. He built armies of his own, made peace among nations that had been founded upon strife, outmaneuvered his enemies, and gave hope to a world that had all but lost it.

    And even though the war grew long and Lotor grew old, he found a warrior to succeed him as the hope of Ashen Empires. Talazar, the Sword of Krythan, a noble fighter no Rune Warrior could stand against, led Lotor’s armies to victory again and again.

    He was a hero for all the world.

    But such heroes do not last forever.


    The Time of Ash
    In time, the armies of Krythan defeated the Rune Warriors and assembled all their runic artifacts. King Lotor summoned his twelve greatest warriors, Talazar among them, and commanded them to take the artifacts far away — to hide them where the eyes of the thinking races would never find them. The twelve accepted their duty and rode from the capital with these items of evil.

    But none ever reached his intended destination.

    Each warrior — some after mere days of travel, some after months — succumbed to the corrupting influence of the rune artifacts. One by one their thoughts turned to personal gain, power, lust, revenge. One by one they abandoned paths of humility and self-sacrifice to prey upon the people of Ashen Empires.

    Some became bandit-kings, leading armies of raiders into more civilized lands. Some became solitary riders, thundering through the night on missions sane folk would never understand, their names invoked only in whispers, only to frighten children. Some died, only to have their heirs accept their rune artifacts and continue their legacies of pain.

    Some disappeared. This was the fate of Talazar, once the greatest of heroes. Those who saw him in the time before his disappearance say he was no longer a man, no longer quite human.

    Centuries passed, centuries in which the land did not heal, the nations did not reunite, knowledge did not prosper. Beasts crept into once-civilized lands. Kings fought kings even when the rune artifacts had no part to play in their squabbles.

    This was a time of slow, inescapable suffering.

    But even times such as this do not last forever.


    The Time of Renewal
    In recent years, prophecies have hinted that a new era was dawning, a time of change and instability, a time when the ugly balance of the Time of Ash could be lost... for better or for worse.

    Sixteen summers ago, in the nation of Krythan, a boy-child of Lotor’s line was born and given the name Lotor. He survived to reach his age of majority and this summer not long ago received the crown of Krythan, taking the royal name of Lotor II.

    Not long after, military forces claiming to belong to Talazar began laying waste to towns and cities in the western regions. They claimed not to follow some descendant of the original Talazar, but the corrupted warrior himself, and tales filtering from those distant places say that he is now a demon, a thing of inhuman places and unknowable intent.

    Heroes, men and women skilled in fighting, have become more numerous in recent summers, some flocking to the side of Lotor II, some joining the forces of Talazar, others seeking their own way in this increasingly turbulent land.

    And you are one of them.

    Your skills and courage are enough to make you the master of any little village, the champion of any petty nobleman... but that is not enough. The challenge this new era poses calls to you. You can tip the balance of power — toward Lotor, toward Talazar, toward some fate no one can predict.

    This chance waits before you, but you must act soon.
    ]]>     18 Apr 2007 12:50:32     MiniOne Racing MiniOne Racing is of course a racing game, where players drive colorful, humorous miniature cars over various landscapes, taking them to beaches, schoolyards... and even other planets !!!
    Spread over 15 tracks and arenas, you'll be racing fast and dangerously armed vehicles, using any of 6 Power Ups to vanquish your AI or human opponents.
    ]]>     24 Apr 2007 05:46:12     Fraser's Ride FROM THE TEAM THAT BROUGHT YOU FANCY PANTS ADVENTURES (Tommy did some stuff too)
    ]]>     07 May 2007 08:04:43     Memory Memory is a simple remake of the classic game of Memory. You are given a series of cards face down and must turn them over to create matches. Once a pair is matched it is removed from the board revealing part of the picture in the background.
    Home Page: http://kids.eonclash.com/ViewGame.php?ID=1
    Age Group: 3 to 4+
    Features
  • Difficulty Settings - Game has settings for 4x4, 6x4, and 6x8 board size to let you set your child's difficulty level appropriately.
  • 48 Card Types - Animals, Letters, Numbers, Cars, Trains, and more... The different cards types are sure to keep your little one amused.
  • Random Backgrounds - Each game played gets a random background selected from those available.
    • * Customizeable Backgrounds - Any PNG, BMP, or JPG file that is placed into the application's Graphics/Backgrounds folder will be automatically loaded and used within the game.
    ]]>     30 May 2007 10:27:44     Turbulence
    ]]>     30 Aug 2007 12:06:21     Flash Element TD This addictive little flash game uses the Warcraft defensive towers to protect your little strip of land from wave after wave of "creeps".

    Place your towers around the track to prevent the creeps from reaching the end. You earn interest based on the amount of gold you have left at the end of each turn, so place your towers sparingly.
    ]]>     30 Jan 2007 12:07:07     Desktop Tower Defense Desktop TD is a fun flash based puzzle / strategy game where you have to protect your desktop from invaders by spending money on attacking pieces and building a maze for them to follow. Strangely addictive yet stress relieving... how many levels can you survive?
    ]]>     03 Jul 2007 01:44:20     Knytt Stories
    ]]>     28 Aug 2007 08:35:48     Galcon Galcon is an awesome high-paced multi-player galactic action-strategy game. You send swarms of ships from planet to planet to take over the galaxy. It's arcade action risk with planets! Anyone can play - only takes 30 seconds to learn. Multi-player network game for up to 12 players with teams. 15 different single player missions against 7 different computer players. Attack planets with thousands of swarming ships! Short battles, epic warfare - only 5 minutes per round. Net ranking of all net players. Good times guaranteed!
    ]]>     23 Jan 2007 06:58:24     Seiklus This is an strange endearing relaxing game. All about exploring the world.

    It has many nice touches that come out if you take the time to play. Shows how much simple things and bare bones gameplay can still add up to an enjoyable experience.

    The environments are strange and unexpected.. Might be a bit challenging for some and frustrating at times, but I enjoyed it overall.

    This was made by a single guy using GameMaker, and given away for free! See developer's links below for more info

    clysm said,
    Well, when I make any game, I make
    a game that Id like to see made by someone
    else; like partly as just an effort to inspire other people to make little games. I know a lot of people who are really talented, or who have some ambition, but they dont do anything, because they just think they cant....
    ]]>     26 Nov 2006 11:33:25     Geneforge 4: Rebellion From the game's description:
    "The Shapers have the ability to create life, in any form they choose. They can make plants to grow in harsh wastelands, living tools that obey their commands, and powerful monsters to crush any who oppose them. They jealously guard their powers and destroy any who question their will.

    Or so they did. Then the revolution came.Your Army

    Some of their creations, tired of bondage, rose up. Jealous humans, wanting the powers of the Shapers for themselves, joined them. Now the lands of Terrestia are full of ruins, refugees, and maddened mutant beasts, hunting for prey. There is war. And the Shapers are winning."

    You play as an apprentice life crafter, a rebel in the war against the Shapers. Of course, like most Spiderweb games, you have a choice of allegiance. Will you continue to fight against the tyranny of the Shapers, or will you help the Shapers restore order to the world?
    ]]>     26 Mar 2007 10:10:40     Frets on Fire Frets on Fire is a game of musical skill and fast fingers. The aim of the game is to play guitar with the keyboard as accurately as possible.
    ]]>     06 Dec 2006 04:17:44