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kottke.org posts about addictive Flash games

Your Favorite Addictive Flash Games, Back From the Dead

posted by Jason Kottke   Jul 20, 2023

Long-time readers will recall that I used to link to Flash games pretty regularly. They were typically easy to play and hard to put down โ€” I collected them under the addictive Flash games tag. The collective time and energy spent by kottke.org readers playing these games over the years is, well, I don't even want to take a guess. So, it is with regret for the rest of your workday that I pass along this site that contains playable versions of tens of thousands of Flash games, including many of the ones I've collected. Here are several that you might remember:

Good luck with all that...I only escaped after an hour of poking around. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ (via waxy)

Idleplex

posted by Jason Kottke   Aug 19, 2014

Idleplex starts you off playing sheep pong and when you earn enough money from that, you can buy other mini-games which you can level up enough to play themselves, and then you become a manager of sorts of the games. The game's creator, John Cooney, attempts to explain:

I approached this game wanting to return to simple game mechanics. In fact, I considered how simple game mechanics could go, with simple shapes and single-button mechanics controlling everything. After defining these simple mechanics, I wanted to let the games play themselves, and let the players focus on cultivating a mosaic of these moving pieces.

I love these types of games. (via waxy)

Cyclomaniacs 2

posted by Jason Kottke   Jul 16, 2014

Occasionally I'll go to my page of addictive Flash games to revisit some old favorites. I mostly play games on my phone now, but some of these are still pretty good. One of my absolute faves is a game called Cyclomaniacs, which I've played all the way through several times over the years. Last night I discovered there's a Cyclomaniacs 2. So good.

Update: There is also Cyclomaniacs Epic and a one-off called Gregmaniacs. (via @ISeeFrants)

Typing Karaoke

posted by Jason Kottke   Oct 25, 2012

With Typing Karaoke, instead of singing the songs, you type along to the lyrics and get points for lack of errors and how well you keep up. Too fun!

Bloody funny game: Happy Wheels

posted by Jason Kottke   Apr 04, 2012

Don't know why exactly, but I am loving the hell out of Happy Wheels. The game is pretty simple โ€” it's a cross between CycloManiacs, Line Rider, and Jackass โ€” you ride on a bike or Segway or mobility scooter through a course avoiding obstacles and trying to reach the end. Which is fun enough except that when you hit something hard, you body flies apart and blood sprays all over the place. Hilariously. Like this Skate 3 video, which is also inexplicably gut-busting. (via mlkshk)

Cool Flash game: Constellations

posted by Jason Kottke   Apr 03, 2012

Been a few months since we've had one of these. Constellations is a simple game where you shoot jellyfish at stars and shoo fish out of the way. What, I was just playing that for 30 minutes? Oof.

Axon

posted by Aaron Cohen   Mar 23, 2012

Oh, have plans this weekend? Cancel them. There are neurons to build and Axon will help you build them. I think zombies might like this game, too, because it's all about brainzzz.

(via Noah Gray)

Wonderputt

posted by Jason Kottke   Aug 25, 2011

Wonderputt is a wonderfully inventive mini golf game. You might even call it whimsical. (via waxy)

Kingdom Rush

posted by Jason Kottke   Aug 19, 2011

Ok, if you don't want to be playing this game for the next 20 hours straight, click away now. Kingdom Rush is my latest tower defense addiction and it may be the best one yet. That the music sounds a lot like the Game of Thones theme isn't hurting it either.

A tower defense word game

posted by Jason Kottke   Apr 08, 2011

That's how Clockwords bills itself...you try words containing the available letters to shoot badguys coming your way. More fun than it sounds, especially for Boggle/Scrabble nerds.

The game of Love

posted by Jason Kottke   Feb 04, 2011

Forgive me Internet for I have sinned. It has been several months since I regularly posted addictive Flash games to kottke.org. As penance, I offer up Love, in which you get your spinning square close to (but not too close to) a bunch of squares. More funner than it sounds. Go in peace.

Z-Type

posted by Jason Kottke   Jan 12, 2011

Z-Type is a fun typing game...falling enemies each have a word associated with them and you type it to blow them up. More fun than it sounds. (via @nathanperetic)

Clock Blocks

posted by Jason Kottke   Sep 17, 2010

A little Friday fun: Clock Blocks. It took me a bit to figure out how to play, but basically you clear a grid of clocks by shooting from clock to clock at the angle of each clock's rapidly spinning second hand. Ok, maybe not so basically, but you'll get the gist after playing for a few seconds. There is also an iPhone version.

Solipskier

posted by Jason Kottke   Aug 24, 2010

Uh oh, this one is going to be a big timesink. Timetub? Timelake? Anyway, try out Solipskier and feel the rest of your day slipping away. My top so far: 18.7 million...I got a lot better once I tried it on the iPad. (via waxy)

Entanglement

posted by Jason Kottke   Aug 17, 2010

Entanglement is a fun little Flash game that reminds me a lot of those old Pipe * games. (thx, kathryn)

Gluey

posted by Jason Kottke   Jul 20, 2010

Gluey is a short game (~15 minutes) that's like a liquidy version of Bejeweled.

Ragdoll Cannon 3

posted by Jason Kottke   Jun 22, 2010

Got sucked into this game for more than a few minutes: Ragdoll Cannon 3. (via buzzfeed)

Cursed Treasure

posted by Jason Kottke   May 10, 2010

This tower defense game is really really addictive. Like don't start if you want to get something done today. (via buzzfeed)

Super Mario Bros remixed

posted by Jason Kottke   Apr 28, 2010

Oh, man. Now you can play the original Super Mario Bros game as Link from Zelda, Mega Man, Samus Aran, and others. Really really fun. The only thing that could make this better is if you could play as NHL94's Jeremy Roenick or Tecmo Bowl's Bo Jackson. (thx, will)

Steambirds

posted by Jason Kottke   Apr 05, 2010

A fun dogfighting game; here's the premise:

1835: Sir Albert Pembleton accidentially discovers low temperature fusion. His invention changes history. A nuclear hotbox is installed in an early aeroplane. Super heated steam, the technology of the age, drives all the systems.

(thx, nick)

Taberinos one-click game

posted by Jason Kottke   Mar 29, 2010

Oh, I can see where this game would get maddeningly addictive after awhile, especially if you like to shoot pool. (thx, marc)

Blosics 2

posted by Jason Kottke   Feb 24, 2010

It's another one of those puzzle shooters I like so much. (via buzzfeed)

Alphabet Shoot

posted by Jason Kottke   Feb 19, 2010

A strategy shooter game that gets pretty hard in the later levels...like level 19, my nemesis.

Record Tripping

posted by Jason Kottke   Feb 12, 2010

You've gotta have a scroll wheel (or trackpad) to play Record Tripping, a game in which you utilize DJ scratching to solve little puzzles.

Creeper World

posted by Jason Kottke   Feb 01, 2010

Build your network, set up your blasters & mortars, get some energy stores in place, and try not to play Creeper World for like 12 straight hours. And this is just a demo for a downloadable for-pay game with more than 50 missions. (via buzzfeed)

Pictogrid

posted by Jason Kottke   Jan 22, 2010

Pictogrid starts off deceptively simple but is difficult to stop playing after a few rounds. (via buzzfeed)

Bubble Tanks Tower Defense

posted by Jason Kottke   Jan 19, 2010

I didn't think much of this one at first (yet another tower defense game, right?) but the megatower wrinkle helps make Bubble Tanks Tower Defense almost unputdownable.

Oh, and there's a level with unlimited money to spend on towers and upgrades to defend against unlimited enemies (it's the last board in the top row). I built up the board as much as I could and let it run overnight. After 10 hours or so, the game got to level 2758 before all 20 lives were gone.

First person Tetris

posted by Jason Kottke   Jan 15, 2010

Completely trippy version of Tetris where pushing the rotate button ROTATES THE WHOLE WORLD. (thx, ryan)

Fly Hard

posted by Jason Kottke   Jan 12, 2010

If you liked Hedgehog Launch, you'll also like Fly Hard.

Hoshi Saga

posted by Jason Kottke   Jan 11, 2010

New Super Mario Bros Wii may be difficult, but the simple Hoshi Saga had me tearing my hair out way more than Bowser's minions.

And call your hairdresser because there is also Hoshi Saga 2, Hoshi Saga 3, and Hoshi Saga Ringo. (via buzzfeed)