20. Trend|Quiz

While Trend|Quiz might seem like an odd choice to start the list it is also an excellent example of innovation within the web game genre. Utilizing Google Trends data, you are challenged to recognize which topics were popular during specific times. You are given a countdown, two search terms, and then you decide which peaks and valleys match up with one of the two search terms. The concept is super-basic and a lot of fun, especially if you’re killing time with a few office mates.

PLAY TREND|QUIZ

19. Don’t Shit Your Pants

Yes. It is a hilarious premise but Don’t Shit Your Pants will also challenge your typing and language skills, at least that’s what you should tell your boss if you’re caught playing. You’re given a short amount of time to type actions to avoid pooping your pants and it will take you several rounds to finally figure out the correct order of operations. This game also has multiple endings depending on what you do and how far you get.

I met these game developers at IndieCade 2013 and they’ve another great game titled Rogue Legacy that’s worth checking out too.

PLAY DON’T SHIT YOUR PANTS

18. Roll It

Roll It is a classic skee ball game that syncs up your smart phone with your computer’s web browser. You ‘roll’ the ball with your smart phone and the ball goes up the lane on your computer screen. This is a very simple game but a lot of fun too. Most of all, it is a lovely proof of concept and I hope to see more of these experiments in the future.

PLAY ROLL IT

17. Kick Ass (Previously Known as Asteroids Anywhere)

By dropping a button from their website onto your bookmark bar you can turn any web page, even this one, into a game of Asteroids. You fly the tiny ship through the world wide web and destroy any and all text or images you see on a webpage. It’s good for some quick fun and a very cool concept.

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16. Catlateral Damage

This is another silly game but I love the concept and execution. You take on the role of Cat and your mission is to knock every object off of shelves, beds, bookcases, etc. onto the floor. Rack up points while doing it all within the time limit. There’s also a Litter Box mode if you want to explore with as much time as you want.

The developers put out a Kickstarter for their web game and it’s now being turned into a much larger game.

PLAY CATLATERAL DAMAGE

15. Kingdom

Kingdom is a simple side-scrolling tower defense game and is beautifully designed both in balanced gameplay and immersive atmosphere. You rally peasants to either farm or hunt during the day and fight or build defense towers by night. Every evening a swarm of monsters come to pilage and most importantly, they come to kill the king. How many rounds can you survive?

PLAY KINGDOM

14. GunBlood — Western Shootout

Another game that made it onto this list because of it’s innovation within the web game genre. How quickly can you aim a mouse? Like a classic western shootout you’ll need to keep your gun holstered, by hovering your cursor over the chamber, until it’s time to shoot. When the countdown ends you’ll point and click as fast as possible at your opponent.

PLAY GUNBLOOD

13. Necronator

In this game you summon and control legions of zombies and monsters to destroy villages with your units and spells. While this might sound like many web games this one has a lot of charm and with powerful new units and upgrades you might keep playing late into the evening.

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12. How to Build a Better Mousetrap

I love this game because of its politics and my only wish is that it was expanded upon even further. You’re in charge of a factory that hires R&D and factory-level workers. You control the wages, hire the workers, and level-up the quality of product. Pretty quickly your workers will want a raise and your funds will start to go down. You’ll then be motivated to replace your workers with computers and machines that can do the same work but without the pay. As anger mounts in the unemployment line you’ll begin to see why this game is not only fun but offers a critique of the modern condition of the workforce.

PLAY HOW TO BUILD A BETTER MOUSETRAP

11. Super House of Dead Ninjas

Super House of Dead Ninjas plays like a long-lost three-button Sega game and includes voice talent worthy of Mortal Kombat. Travel down hundreds of floors with with ninja weapons, throwing stars and even a little magic. The gameplay is very quick and you’ll need ninja-reflex to defeat some of these enemies. The game developers even created a cool comic to flesh out the game’s story.

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10. Fail Deadly

Control a war where you are secretly arming both sides of the same conflict. The challenge is keeping the balance so that the battle continues in perpetuity. If you arm one side with tanks then you’ll want to arm the other with helicopters to bring balance.

This one would have ranked higher but it has a few issues. For example, you can win easily after a few minutes by dropping a nuke but you’ll want to keep it going to drive up your score. I once played to the point I’d racked up a score of several million, the screen was completely filled with mayhem, and the game crashed abruptly. Also, the ‘launch nuke’ button is hidden up in the buildings.

PLAY FAIL DEADLY

9. Deep Sleep

If you’re looking for an awesome point-and-click adventure game then look no further than Deep Sleep. I highly recommend putting on headphones and turning off the lights to get a fuller experience. Deep Sleep, and it’s sequels Deeper Sleep and Deepest Sleep, have a legitimate story to tell if you’re brave enough to continue piecing it together.

PLAY DEEP SLEEP

8. SUPERHOT

Time only moves when you do! With such a simple premise the game developers created an addicting FPS that is stylistic and challenging. Not to mention being the actual Matrix game we all pined for 15 years ago, the real secret of this game are the tiny design elements, like gun flashes and bullet trails that only serve to heighten the gameplay.

SUPERHOT is one of the best web games out there and would probably be my number one if it was longer. This is the trial version and, thanks to an extremely successful Kickstarter, you can pre-order the full version from their site.

PLAY SUPERHOT

7. Chronotron

Forget that it’s a free web game, Chronotron is one of the best time-travel games ever. The main mechanic of using past and future selves to solve difficult puzzles is literally mind-bending. The levels are clever and very tricky and might just restructure the way your brain considers the concept of time.

PLAY CHRONOTRON

6. Nothing to Hide

Nothing to Hide is another politically charged free web game that asks players to participate in their own surveillance. Set in the not too distant dystopian future, you solve puzzles to reach an exit. Meanwhile, you’ll need to set up cameras so that you are constantly watched at all times.

On top of the interesting premise, the game has an awesome website and opening story. In true nothing-to-hide fashion all of the code is open sourced and available to everyone.

PLAY NOTHING TO HIDE

5. BROFORCE!

BROFORCE! is ridiculously fun and with it’s incredible cast of familiar heroes, destructive environment, and rewarding gameplay you’ll want to play every level back-to-back. This game mixes over-the-top patriotism with every classic action movie hero you can think of including Rambo, Robocop, and Terminator.

Part of the fun is the surprise cameos so I won’t list them all but this is one of the best pixel web games of all time.

PLAY BROFORCE!

4. RSVP — The Dinner Party Game

RSVP is one of those games that everyone loves, even people that don’t usually play web games. It probably ranked this far up my list because I’m a tabletop game designer and respect the simplicity of RSVP. What is essentially a card game played on the web, your task is to line up cards (or guests) so they’re only touching the same colors on all sides.

The first few levels are fairly easy but the later levels challenge the area of your brain tasked with spatial relations. And a warning, like all of these games, you may lose a few hours of sleep on this one.

PLAY RSVP

3. Treasure Arena

Treasure Arena, like any of these final selections, could have easily been my number one. I love this one because it combines everything I’m looking for in a quick, in-and-out web game.

Playing against the CPU is a lot of fun and great for learning but Treasure Arena really shines when playing with other human beings. Collect as many coins as possible in the allotted time while slashing your way through multiple baddies and other players. You’ll have upgrades along the way and each character type has it’s own magical power that adds a ton of depth to the gameplay.

PLAY TREASURE ARENA

2. Kindom Rush

I realize Kingdom Rush will be on everyone’s list of favorites but what can I say, I have a love for tower defense games. But when it comes to free web games this really is THE tower defense game to be measured against.

The designs are colorful, the maps are intuitive, and the gameplay is a blast. While some tower defense games suffer from a waiting period where you set up the troops and watch all the action, you’ll never play that way with Kingdom Rush. The levels are too difficult to sit back and you must anticipate every round of baddies.

PLAY KINGDOM RUSH

1. Abobo’s Big Adventure

This game is so stuffed with old-school NES nostalgia that it would be easier to list the few games that don’t make cameos throughout Abobo’s Big Adventure. It’s one thing to throw a few classic 8-bit characters into a game but Abobo takes it to a whole new level: you actually play new stages that are in the format of Double Dragon, Zelda, and Mega Man, just to name a few. Again, part of the fun is the randomness and continual surprises so I don’t want to spoil too much.

Like most NES games, Abobo really makes you work to complete almost every level. The final level is very tough and you are rewarded with one of the best endings to any game. The game developers really took their time with this one and it shows. Every pixel seems carefully rendered to maximize the joke and/or reference of the scene at hand.

And that’s what makes Abobo and any game great: it is an obvious labor of love. This one stands out because it isn’t just a call-back to the NES games but a love song by a few developers that still cherish their early days in gaming.

PLAY ABOBO’S BIG ADVENTURE