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10 greatest Friday Flash games

Posted on 15 May 2008 at 17:53

7 - WAY OF THE NINJA
Way of the Ninja is quite simply the coolest game ever created. Fact. The aim is to collect all the gems on each level to progress to the next. But the real trick is to do it with as much style as possible. Backed by impressive physics, your little stick-figure ninja will bounce off walls, glide through the air and generally saunter about looking brilliant, even despite your cack-handed attempts to control him. Play this game. Be cool.

8 - CHRONOTRON
Chronotron requires Thought, yes that's Thought with a capital letter. You play a time-travelling robot solving time-travelling puzzles to escape levels. Walk over to a switch on the floor and a platform will rise. Head back to your Tardis, press space and another version of you will appear and perform exactly the action you've just executed, while you trundle over to the platform you've just raised to reach the previously unreachable level. Later levels require half a dozen copies of your little guy, working with clockwork precision to solve problems. Heap on top of that paradoxes and you've got one of the most startlingly original and compulsive games of the last few years, and it's free. Hoorah.

9 - THE HELICOPTER GAME
The Helicopter Game is designed with one purpose and one purpose only; to completely ruin your life. At first glance all it asks is that you guide a little helicopter through an obstacle-ridden cavern. There's no end and no enemies, just a tiny counter in the bottom corner racking up the distance you've travelled, and believe us, that counter will swiftly become your whole life. Crashing 10 yards short of your record is like watching a bagful of puppies being bludgeoned to death, while beating that record will require the sort of commitment usually reserved for Olympic events. For those interested, the office record is 4,522 yards. Beat it and we'll send the boys round.

10 - BOOMSHINE
Boomshine is the internet equivalent of watching an aquarium for half-an-hour, while squeezing a stress ball, during a massage. The task is simple: set off a chain reaction of floating coloured balls, with the number of balls you need to explode increasing each level. It's deceptively simple, but gets tricky very quickly.

It could be frustrating but by sporting a nice line in mood music and a gentle pace, the only thing you'll be stressed about is the stack of work piling up by your desk as the minutes tick away.

Author: Stuart Turton