Best of the Net: Casual Addiction
July 31st, 2010
The end of July means the end of the Casual Addiction theme. Games were all over the place especially in terms of theme interpretation, and a boatload of developers made multiple games with some really impressive results. Over all we had 30 games this month.
We’re back to a one month deadline for the last month of Summer starting to tomorrow, but until then check out the games!
Greedy Bankers, by Alistair Aitcheson
Super-polished puzzle game with a click-and-drag to merge mechanic. Also dug the soundtrack, and of course the theme is quite appropriate in this day and age.
Shooter meets puzzle game. A lovely continuous experience, that only stops when your time runs out. Definitely worth a go.
Cause chain reactions in this nifty puzzle-ish game. Use your cursor to cause an explosion and propel stars into other stars.
Tilting is Fun, by Knut Arild Erstad
Very accurate title for a simple, fun game. Move your mouse left and right to tilt all of the paddles in a direction to guide the ball to its goal. Difficult, but addictive.
Pretty, and pretty neat drawing game. Draw branches to drop apples and collect items to progress to the next level.
More Lovely and More Temperate, by Nathan McCoy
A chain game with an interesting, somewhat springy mechanic. I’d definitely love to see this one expanded upon.
A 1st Person Arena Shooter. I thought it was going to live up to its name…until I accidentally shot the nuke weapon.
A really trippy platformer. Kind of a more surreal version of “This is the Only Level.” A little hard to control, but a fun time.
Glitcy Escape, by Roan Contreras
Quite fun platformer-with-crazy-physics styled game. The time limit and multiple deaths do make you replay it quite a bit.
A rotating puzzle game with a cellular twist.
Man I wish I remembered Chemistry. Definitely pay attention to the instructions. Connecting, and disconnecting molecules was pretty juicy.
A more physics oriented version of Bust-a-Move. The fact that they can roll and move after being thrown definitely changes how you play.
Directional Pressure, by Nheenom
Type arrows in order as fast as possible. Has some addictive qualities, and the ascending scale is a nice touch. I can’t even place on that High Score board.
Enter to Admit Defeat, by Joaquim
Psychedelic platformer. Pressing arrow keys in addition to moving your character seems to do all sorts of funky things to environment. Pressing “ENTER” resets the level, changing the effect.
Super Addictorgz, by Chevreuil
This one tackles the subject of gaming addiction in the most literal way possible. Fly around as a businessman getting high off of gaming icons.
Fastest RPG Ever, by Remy Sohier
Not really addictive, but you will replay it multiple times without fail. An amusing title, for sure.
Undercurrent, by Zink Interactive
Comparisons will doubtlessly be made to SPORE and Flow. Control an upgradable creature and evolve to kill- love the ambiance.
Solar Takedown Redux, by Spunkmeyer
A free roaming, upgradable, space opera – if the shape from Asteroids had ever encountered fleets of aliens. Has a lot of promise, but it feels like your ship moves way too slow.
10,000 Ninjas: Pirate Edition, by Abethke
Run around killing pirates while filling your rage meter.
Archipelago Maze, by Ben
Explore randomly generated mazes. Also seems to create random treasure names. Would like to see where this could go given more time.
Straight 4 Shooting, by Roan Contreras
The most explanatory named game of the lot. An arena shooter using the arrow keys and WASD.
Playing as a jellyfish your goal is to pop as many bubbles as possible, while making sure none of your babies escapes to the surface. Cute, if a little odd.
Super Fun Time With Zombies, by NESSXX
Arena shooter with zombies. Really difficult game, but the music and presentation work well together. I wish I could switch weapons automatically.
Running from Red, by Turtle Soup
Actually dealt with addiction, metaphorically. The idea and execution work pretty well, though I wish it had music.
Type the letters before they fall off screen. Would have loved to have seen more of a penalty for mistyped letters – since I was able to spam the game by mashing on my keyboard.
Pretty much as it sounds. Shoot fish with lasers in 1st person.
You play as an atom that stole energy from ghosts who want it back. Wait, what? Not quite sure how to play this one. Definitely the most random game to date.
Simple running & dodge game. Repeatedly walk over special tiles while dodge falling items to knock down the wall.
Super simple card sorting game. Make piles out of red or blue cards using the arrow keys.
Don’t worry Mr. Wilhelm, we all have our fair share of crappy games. Do check out his postmortem to see where things went awry.
We're a group of indie game developers, running a friendly competition every month. The rules: Make a game based on the month's theme, and don't spend more than 7 days. New games posted at the end of every month.