Flashy Friday: Squares 2

In Flashy Friday segments, normally I just give the picture of the featured game, a brief description and then a link to go play it. This time Flashy Friday is a bit longer since I have a particularly cool story about this one.
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I remember playing Squares 2 a couple of years ago after stumbling upon it at ebaumsworld (remember that crazy site?). It was a simple flash game really. You control a black square via the mouse and your job is to collect other black squares and avoid red ones. The squares shoot from all sides of the screen so the game gets pretty intense with all the squares zipping back and forth. In addition, as you pick up black squares you get bigger in size, making it easier to pick up black squares and making yourself a pretty big target for red ones. There are also power-ups and power-downs you can collect, ranging from brief invincibility, to making your square even more gigantic.

Squares 2 wasn't easy by any means though. You need to have really quick reaction time in order to keep raising your score. On top of all this, Squares 2 has a pretty sick beat going on in the background that fits perfectly with all of the moving squares. The music is incredibly addictive and the coolest effect is when you get the slow motion power-up, causing the music to fade so only the percussion is audible, and then have the music come back in full when the slow motion wears off. Needless to say, I liked this game, and I know a lot of other gamers who have.


Fast forward to two days ago. I'm sitting at a table at one of PLAY's weekly game night meetings. This tall dude with a fro is sitting next to me with an Yngwie Malmsteen shirt on and I'm listening to Steve Vai on my headphones. He hears the music, asks me who it is, and we begin exchanging progressive metal artists that we both enjoy. (We both agreed that Yngwie is overrated).

We eventually ended up talking about out majors/concentration, and I tell him I'm in video game production. After hearing this, he tells me that he just started selling this flash game for iPhone, a flash game he made a long time ago. He needed some help marketing it, and I told him to get on various forums, get in touch with a couple of contacts I have, post the game on newgrounds, addictinggames, and kongregate, etc. All the meanwhile I realize we haven't even properly introduced ourselves or that I haven't even seen the game yet.

He tells me his name is Gavin Shapiro, and as I typed his name into facebook, my long-term memory twitched. Where the hell have I seen this name before? I think nothing of it and I ask him what the name of his game was. He says "you've probably never heard of it, but it called Squares 2."


I had this moment of sudden realization, kinda like the moment Edward Norton had in Fight Club when he finds out who Tyler Durden REALLY is. I had what some people would call a moment of clarity.

So I had a little geek out moment when I found out this guy made this game. I ended up telling this information to everyone in games club, and I'm pretty sure I made Gavin a little embarrassed. Little did he know that he was a mini-celebrity since a lot of people have played his flash game and really enjoyed it. So this blog entry is part normal flashy friday and a bit of a shout-out to Gavin.

Click here to play Squares 2 right now.

And if you happen to have an iPhone, look for Squares 2 in the app store. The game is only $0.99 and you'll be able to compare your scores on a global leaderboard. Not only will you enjoy the game, but the money will go to Gavin for developing this awesome flash game.

Flashy Friday: 99 Bricks

This game came out a while ago on Kongregate but since I've been talking about Tetris recently, I figured I should put this game up as the Flashy Friday game as it's an interesting variant on Tetris.


Instead of focusing on making lines, 99 bricks is focused on making towers. The bricks you have are identical to tetraminoes but, gravity will affect the pieces. So as you build your tower you'll begin to realize that it is swaying, and suddenly leaving a thin column on the right of left sides for a line piece isn't a good strategy.

This game is very addictive and the challenges on Kongregate are just mean. Building a tower with a height of 600 is crazy hard as is, and using all 99 bricks in one tower is also insane. It's not impossible though; my friend Angela did manage to achieve both of those goals. And she STILL holds it over my head as one of her gaming achievements over me.

*sigh*

Click here to play 99 bricks right now.

Flashy Friday: Interactive Buddy

Did you ever get the urge to punch/explode/set fire to somebody? If so, Interactive Buddy is for you. Interactive buddy is not really a game; it's more of an interactive program.


Your "buddy" is the round grey dude shown above. By clicking different abilities from the menu, you are able to click anywhere on the screen and use that ability. For example, to start off, I would suggest clicking on grenades from the item menu and spray those across the screen. Your buddy will be confused for a moment and then BOOM; he's bounced around the screen in a fiery blaze. It's cute, really.

The more damage you do to your buddy, the more money you get to buy more things to hurt him with. To get money quickly, use grenades first and then buy missiles for $100. Use the missiles and money will rack up very quickly. From there, enjoy buying new skins for your buddy, more modes and of course, more weapons.

Click here to play Interactive Buddy right now.

Flashy Friday: Vector Runner

I was surprised at myself for not showing this game earlier since I absolutely love this flash game. Vector runner is a racing game that uses vector graphics, which gives the game a unique feel. Be warned, this game is addictive.


The impossible achievement on Kongregate for this game is insane. You need to get 30,000 points without taking a single hit. Good luck trying to get that one. It took me hours of staring at the computer screen to get that badge.

Click here to play Vector Runner right now.

Flashy Friday: Gamma Bros.

Alright, so Flash Friday has turned into more like "Flashy Sometime Near Friday" or "Flashy When Rich Decides To Write It." Whatever though, I'm still sharing with you some awesome awesome games.


This week's game is Gamma Bros, an old-school space-themed shoot-em-up game. Gamma Bros has been around for a long time (since 2006) but I was only introduced to it this semester.

You control a spaceship that can move up, down, left and right. However, instead of only being able to shoot upwards (or sideways) like most shoot-em-ups, you can shoot in all four directions in this game. The choice of shooting four directions but only one at a time makes Gamma Bros really dynamic and fun to play.

Good luck trying to stop playing this game once you've started. It's addictive.

Click here to play Gamma Bros right now.

Flashy Friday: Dolphin Olympics 2

WARNING: ADDICTIVE GAME ALERT! RUN AWAY NOW TO SAVE YOURSELF!!!

Alright, you were warned.


I was introduced to Dolphin Olympics 2 yesterday and now I'm completely hooked. I can now safely say that I hate my friends Pei and Josh for telling me about this awesome game.

Dolphin Olympics 2 is a "see how high you can get" game. Using the arrow keys, you can move your dolphin in the water and when you jump out of the water you can rotate and spin to gain points, a la Tony Hawk style. The spin on this game though is that with every trick and nice entry you make into the water, you gain more speed. Then, if you jump out of the water again fast enough to continue your chain, you'll gain even more speed.

But the game doesn't stop there. While deep in the sky and space, you can ride on different starslides and use their arcs to bounce yourself even higher into space, past the moon, mars, and all the way to friggin' Pluto (and beyond that even >.<). The game seems simple enough, and it is. At least, to learn how to play.

To make it to the different planets will require hours of fine-tuning your jumps and entries, and damnit, this thing is massively addictive. It's quite possibly one of the most fun and simple flash games I've ever played. If all casual games had this amount of hidden depth (that also require insane skill), I would support them more.

Click here to play Dolphin Olympics 2 now. And sorry if I just ruined your work schedule.

Flashy Friday: Hanna in a Choppa

Hanna in a Choppa is a fairly new Flash game (it released this month). You play as an Orange helicopter and your goal is to just reach the flag at the end of the stage. The movement is surprisingly smooth but what you'll really like about this game is the catchy music and the overall cuteness in the minimalist orange and black setting.


The game isn't that hard really, or that long even. You can successfully complete this game in about an hour sitting at your computer, but good luck trying to get all of the in-game achievements. Those are pretty hardcore. Two achievements involve you speed running every level and doing no-hit runs respectively.

Click here to play Hanna in a Choppa now.

Flashy Friday: Meatboy

I love platformers. My buddy Josh showed me this crazy addictive platformer called Meatboy. You play as a slab of meat. Your girlfriend has been kidnpped and you must try and save her by going on a perilous platforming journey that will pit you against meat grinders, salt, lava, and conveyer belts.


This game isn't for the faint of heart. This game is actually really damn hard. You will consistently just barely make jumps and you will die a lot. Josh and I beat this game yesterday, taking turns on levels that were making us tear our hair out. I got so crazed that I yelled at my computer. Hence, I love this game.

Click here to play Meatboy now.

Flashy Friday: Poke the Penguin

Flashy Friday? Isn't it already Saturday? Shhh. Best not think about these things. This week's segment features a classic flash "game" called Poke the Penguin. Thanks to Lima for reminding me about this one.


There's really not much to say about this one. Poke the penguin at your own risk. Hilarity ensues.

Click here to play Poke the Penguin right now.

Flashy Friday: Mastermind: WC

This flash game popped up on Newgrounds a couple of weeks ago. I was actually one of the people who voted on it before it was officially accepted into Newgrounds, so I got a protect point out of it. What's also cool is that it's the #1 flash on Newgrounds right now.


Mastermind is part real-time strategy, part simulation. You control Mastermind, a character who wants to take over the entire world. You can buy minions, henchmen, businesses and the like. The main goal of the game is to steal knowledge that will make you scientifically powerful enough to take over the entire world.

The game engine is amazing. From a top-down view you gain control of your army and the controls are very responsive. You can also buy equipment and partake is special world events within the game that can help you make a lot of money. You have a ton of choices throughout the game, and you'll expand out quite quickly.

The voice acting is also superb, which is extremely rare for a Flash game. Make sure you listen to the tutorial thoughl as the controls can be confusing. They break it down nicely though, no worries.

Click here to play Mastermind: WC, right now. (It's not up on Kongregate yet Will!)

Flashy Friday: Flash Gear Solid VR: The NIKITA Missons

I loved the VR missions for Metal Gear Solid. The mini-missions were so much fun, which was surprising since it spawned out of a stealth game. This flash artist took the VR mission digital style and made a really awesome flash game out of it.


You play as Snake in a box and you have a certain amount of NIKITA missiles that you can shoot. You need the missiles to hit the targets and you can control missiles much like you control them in Metal Gear Solid, meaning you can control their direction as they fly.

The game uses a top-down view but you can switch to first person (of both Snake AND the missiles) by holding down X on your keyboard. The graphics are really sharp for a Flash game and the first-person view actually adds a lot to the gameplay. Even if you dislike Metal Gear Solid, you'll probably enjoy this game as the controls are smooth and it gets pretty hard towards the end.

Click here to go play Flash Gear Solid VR: The NIKITA Missions right now.

Flashy Friday: Election Smackdown 2008

With the election coming up in November, many programmers are making election-related flash games. Most of them suck really bad, but I randomly tried this one the other day and it was pretty funny. Election Smackdown 2008 has you do what you've wanted to do for a couple months now, and slap the crap out of the politicians.


The game is simple. You just zoom in on a candidate and if they are asleep or doing something stupid, you just slap them back into place and they lose votes. The animations are really what make this game funny though. Obama has angels surround him preaching for change, while Cheney will be firing a shotgun. Ah, good political humor.

You probably won't play this game more than once, but it's good for a quick laugh. Here's the link for Election Smackdown 2008.

Flashy Friday: 3D Logic

This week's Flashy Friday game is a cleverly built puzzle game named 3D logic. Simple in form and holding 30 levels, you'll be playing this for a couple hours. Chances are that you'll give up before reaching level 30. The game starts off pretty simple but there is a stark difficulty increase upon reaching level 16. Actually, I can pretty much guarantee you that you will be stumped at level 16.


The goal of the game is to create lines from one colored box to another. The green line has to touch both green boxes and the red line has to touch both red boxes. The lines cannot be crossed, and that rule will drive you bonkers. In the above example, just visualize connecting the purple box and you''ll probably see that you cut off all possible routes for either the green or red block.

The rules are simple but the strategy is intense. My only suggestion to help you out is to find routes that enable the lines to go around other set colored blocks. Usually this involves taking the long way around. Sometimes that can be the answer for a tricky puzzle.

Click here to play 3D Logic.

Flashy Friday: Bowmaster Prelude

I never liked "Defend your Castle" style games but this one I could not help but enjoy. Bowmaster Prelude has you defending and taking out a base. Your main weapon of choice is, of course a bow. There are different settings you can use to aim; my favorite is an easier setting called point aim where you can just click and the bow will fire.


You don't necessarily have to take out the opposing base in order to win, you just get a lot of points for doing so. The main way to win each level is to take out the enemy waves one by one with your bow and the troops you buy. Each time you kill enemies you get more money to buy powerups and you level up over time to increase your bow power. The powerups are really awesome too. You'll eventually get comet arrows, thunder arrows and a crapload of troops at your disposal.

With all "defend your castle" games this can get pretty addictive. You'll want to get all the powerups to destroy your opponents. What's nice about this game though is that there are different difficulty settings that you can change at any time. So, you can choose to make this a casual game where you take out soldiers and wyverns pretty easy or you an choose to make this game pretty hardcore for a challenge.

Either way, you may hate me for taking away hours of your life to this game.

Click here to play Bowmaster Prelude.

Flashy Friday: Four Second Frenzy

Four Second Frenzy is a silly little flash game was very popular when it came out on addicitinggames.com. Mimicking the fast-paced mini-game style gameplay of the WarioWare series, four second frenzy has you play mini-games that last only 4 seconds long each.

All of the games are simple to play and require only a few keystokes/mouse clicks to finish. The game doesn't give you instructions for all of the games, just a general goal like "finish," "avoid," or "drink." Some mini-games include platformers, shooting, mashing a button real fast, etc. You'll likely lose on some of the games but all of the controls are fairly easy.

There isn't much down time between games as well, so the entire game can get pretty chaotic. The fast-pacing of it however, is what will keep you hooked. There's also a boss in the final section that will give you more mini-games to play if you don't beat him in time.

Click here if you want to play Four Second Frenzy. Watch out though, it is addictive.

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UPDATE: Since it is Friday I also post at WillandBeyond. Click here to see my post.

Flashy Friday: Tactical Assassin

This week's Flashy Friday game comes courtesy of my roommate Garrett. I asked him what one of his favorite Flash games was and after some thought he responded with Tactical Assassin. I have played this one before and admittedly, I totally forgot about it. It's a really well polished game that has a good difficulty curve throughout.


Tactical Assassin is a sniping game. You recieve missions at the beginning of each level. Make sure you read them or else you'll be confused. The sniping scope moves along the screen in conjunction with the movement of your mouse. Since you're looking through a scope though, you'll only see a fraction of the screen when looking around. Strategy then, is often hampered by your tunnel vision, which adds to the gameplay.

The music is cool smooth and catchy. The graphics are stick figures but it feels right in the setting. With the music and mission-style gameplay, I felt as though this game was influenced by Goldeneye 64.

Tactical Assassin is an excellent example of how creators can use Flash to create dynamic shooting games. Check out Tactical Assassin here.

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Flashy Friday: Alien Hominid

Alien Hominid is a run-and-gun game where you are an alien trying to stop the FBI from killing you. The gameplay is similar to that of Metal Slug, where there are endless amounts of enemies and you're just firing like mad.


This game is very well made though, so good in fact, that you can buy a Gamecube, PS2, Xbox or an Xbox Live Arcade version. The consoles levels are completely different and significantly easier. The two-player co-op in the console version is the real major difference, which prompted me to buy the GC version a couple of years ago.

The flash version is relentlessly hard but, once you get a hang of the controls, you'll be taking out FBI agents in no-time. Pressing down and the jump button when you're above an enemy will help you out a lot as you'll latch onto someone's head, freaking out any other FBI agents nearby, giving you a free shot. Otherwise, just keep moving and shooting and you'll hopefully make it through.

To play Alien Hominid, click on this link.

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Flashy Friday: Motherload

This week’s Flashy Friday game is Motherload. Motherload is a mining game in which your whole goal is to make a ton of money. You control a little mining vehicle that can dig through dirt from the left, right, or underneath you. You’ll see different materials in the ground like silver, gold, or Einsteinium even. When you dig through those, you can collect them, bring them back to the surface, and sell them.

The game isn’t that simple though. You have a limited amount of fuel and hull strength and you will die if if either hit zero. Your hull and drill are pretty weak to start with also, so you’ll need to buy better equipment. I suggest getting better drill and fuel tank ASAP and then get a bigger storage unit. You can also buy a variety of items, the most useful one being a device that warps you out from the ground, no matter how deep you are.

The game map is HUGE. You will not be able to reach the bottom in one try and I’ve played this game for weeks and never reached the bottom. Obstacles will get in your way the further you go down and more spots will hurt your hull as well. Thankfully, the game has a save feature that is available above ground.

Check out this game; I highly recommend it. Be warned though; it’s highly addictive. Work will not get done upon clicking this link.

Photo: [1]

Flashy Friday: Portal

I know what you're thinking, Portal is it's own first-person shooter/puzzle video game, not a flash game. That is completely true but, there is also a 2D platforming version available of Newgrounds. The game pretty much plays exactly like Valve's Portal, except now you're in 2D and the difficulty is bordering on insane. Weirdly enough, the flash version of Portal was the first version of Portal I played, which made me play Valve's original masterpiece.

Photo Source

The guy who created this flash game really did a superb job with the level design. Sentry guns (spies keep sappin' my sentry!) are strategically placed where if you don't use a companion cube or create a portal for them to disappear, you're going to get shot, and most likely die. The end-game levels are just ridiculous with moving platforms tat will lead you to death if you don't place your portals perfectly along the way.

Aiming is real nice though, since you use the mouse over the screen and press either Q, E or left click for a portal. There are forty levels for you to mess around with and you are almost guaranteed not to beat this in one day. Don't worry though, this flash game will save your progress and provide you a great challenge.

Click here for a link to Portal via Newgrounds. I suggest playing the game in a pop-up version so your screen was freak out if you accidentally scroll up or down with your mouse. I'm currently stuck on level 38. No cake for me, yet.

Flashy Friday: Duck Hunt

First off, it's Friday, so I made another post on Will and Beyond, entitled Another Controversial Video Game Law, so check that out at his site.

Also, instead of doing a VG Advanced Strategy segment and BC Advanced Strategy segment every week, I'll be alternating one every week on Saturday as I realize that writing those takes up a whole lot of time. In lieu of one of those weekly segments, I'm putting up a new segment, Flashy Friday, that will appear every Friday. Alright, I know it sounds cheesy, but I like alliteration damn it. In this segment I'll just link you a cool flash game that I found that you might find fun to play.

This week's game is Duck Hunt. Sure, you could play this on your NES, but this is a really well-made flash version that uses your mouse instead of a laser gun. You can play in three different modes with shooting one duck, two ducks or using a machine gun to shoot a lot of dogs. Game C, Clay Shooting, for whatever reason, doesn't work. Still, this will keep you entertained for awhile.

Video games have a great quality of still being awesome despite being old and outdated. I can never tell if this feeling is nostaglia for me or if there is intrinsic value in retro-style games. Ah, I'll get into that in another post later. For now, enjoy Duck Hunt through this link.