IndieGames: The 20 Most Addictive Browser Games

Author: by Staff

In a special countdown feature compiled by Gamasutra sister site IndieGames.com, we pay tribute to the developers who are responsible for the most addictive Flash and Java-based browser games of all time, or simply prolific enough to create a library of games which most of us have spent numerous afternoons on. Each game has a link to a special page hosted on IndieGames.com with screenshots, videos, and multiple links (where appropriate) for each of the picked games. There's an index page for the '20 Most Addictive Browser Games' on the IndieGames.com site - and here's links to each of the top 20 picks:   1. Dino Run ["In Pixeljam's Dino Run, players are transported back in time just moments before a giant asteroid crash lands and wipe out the entire dinosaur population on Earth."]   2. Grow series ["There's something about ON's creations that draws in the crowd to his web site. Most of his games are puzzles which players would have to solve by clicking on a selection of objects in the correct order.."]   3. KDice ["Originally conceived by Taro Ito of GameDesign as a single player strategy game, Ryan Dewsbury has taken the concept to new levels by adding online multiplayer, scoring system and chat features."]   4. Kingdom of Loathing ["Kingdom of Loathing as a simple game that had stick figures for character illustrations, seemingly random items and odd combat encounters with inhabitants of the land."]   5. The Last Stand ["The Last Stand is was a very popular zombie survival game in which the player has to stay alive for twenty nights."]   6. Line Rider ["Line Rider is a Flash physics toy originally created in September 2006, but quickly became an internet phenomenon shortly thereafter."]   7. Moai series ["In this series of action games by Takahiro Miyazawa, players are required to move the mouse pointer over as many Moai statues as they possibly can before time runs out."]   8. Nanaca Crash ["There is something very enticing about crashing into the main character, sending her sky high and attempting to get her to land as far as possible from her starting point - only to have it repeated at the whim of the player for their amusement and betterment of their previous best effort."]   9. N ["A perennial favorite among many, N is a freeware Adobe Flash computer game originally created by Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard of Metanet."] 10. Nitrome ["Nitrome is a Flash game churning factory - package a simple gameplay element with good pixel art, include anything from twenty to fifty levels, then ship it out to the delight of their fans."] 11. Orisinal ["Ferry Halim has not released too many Flash games in recent years, but his creations will always have a place in the hearts of those who discovered the Orisinal web site."] 12. Picross ["There are a wide variety of Picross versions to play online, and TONAKAI interactive's Picture Logic seems to be the friendliest of the bunch."] 13. Powder Game ["Powder Game is one of those interesting web toys with no specific challenges or goals."] 14. Samegame ["Collapse, same game; they all point to the addictive puzzler which is easy to learn but a challenge to master. The game involves clicking on two squares or more with the same colour which are adjacent to each other to remove them."] 15. Samorost ["The mark of a great adventure game is when players are left wanting for more by the end of the final scene."] 16. Submachine ["Though Mateusz Skutnik had attempted scrolling shooters, platformers and simple action games in the past, he is still best known for his point and click adventure creations."] 17. Sudoku ["There are attempts to... package this popular pastime into a retail product but a link to at least one of the free versions playable online can always be found in the bookmarks of any Sudoku fan."] 18. Tower Defense ["Players are usually allowed limited resources to erect all manner of defense mechanisms around a winding path, and must ensure that no enemies pass through or run the risk of having to replay the level again."] 19. XSketch ["XSketch is one of the many implementations of the popular word guessing game charades, where a group of people can join any table and attempt to guess what is drawn on the board for points."] 20. Zoo Keeper ["It's difficult to deny the lure of Zoo Keeper. The same gameplay elements have been duplicated, repackaged and resold a thousand times over in nearly all casual game portals - while still managing somehow to turn in a profit for their developers."]