Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux — Mr Rescue! Help! A bunch of people are trapped in a burning building and only you can save them! Now that you're inside, it's time to be a hero. Mr. Rescue is a simple but amazingly charming action game from Tangram Games. You control the well-protected Mr. Rescue himself as you spray water on fires and climb through a burning building to save the innocent people inside. The best part? You rescue them by throwing them out the window! Tagged as: action, adventure, download, free, game, indie, linux, mac, tangramgames, windows

Platform: Flash — When your lightbulb bursts, you might head to the store to get a new one, but that's only because you're not nearly as funky and awesome as the two old ladies starring in this point-and-click adventure. Despite suffering from some bizarre leaps of logic, a unique style and fantastic soundtrack make this short game worth checking out. Tagged as: adventure, browser, flash, free, game, kkonwerski, linux, mac, mlachowicz, pastelgames, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, tkuczma, windows

Platform: iOS, Android, Unity — You know what your average tug-of-war game needs? A table instead of a rope. At least that's what Otto Ojola thinks, and he's turned the idea into Tug the Table, a simple yet wonderful fighting game that manages to be reminiscent of Wrestle Jump while still being unique. Tagged as: android, browser, fighting, free, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mac, mobile, onebutton, oojala, rating-y, tablet, unity, versus, windows

Games featured this week: Dormant Sky; Among the Sleep; Pandora: Purge of Pride; Town of Salem; Alone in the Park; Damned; Road Not Taken; Rom Check Fail; Contraption Maker — Play with a human head! Experience terror as a toddler! Accuse your friends of being murderers before they do the same to you! This week's Link Dump has a little something for everyone... especially if you're just a little bit weird. Tagged as: blog, linkdump, news, previews

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Platform: iOS — A lot of kids who grew up with RC cars turned into today's gamers. That's a dangerous blanket statement to make, but you can't argue there isn't some overlap. After all, isn't driving a radio controlled car around the living room kind of like a video game? And didn't playing with RC cars and video games make your parents mad? Looking to bring those two worlds together, Paladin Studios, the team behind Momonga Pinball Adventures, has released Nikko RC Racer, a wild and untamed arcade racing game that's about as close to driving the real thing as you can get. Tagged as: action, arcade, free, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, paladinstudios, racing, rating-y, tablet

Platform: Flash — The Earth has become too small for Bob the snail. He dreams of space travel, and what do you know, he gets a call from the snail army, asking him to go on an interplanetary mission. Help Bob stay alive as he battles gravity, aliens, and laser beams in this wonderfully entertaining puzzle game. Tagged as: akovalishin, browser, flash, free, game, hunterhamster, linux, mac, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, snailbob, windows

Platform: Flash — Ever been attacked by a giant doily from outer space? At the very least, that's how we're choosing to interpret Connor Ullmann's bullet hell shooter Obsolescence. You'll face ten waves of kaleidoscopic bosses with lots of guns and shields to destroy as you blast your way to their cores. Your laser is always firing, so you can focus on moving around and staying alive... if you can. Tagged as: action, browser, bullethell, cullmann, flash, free, game, linux, mac, rating-g, shooter, windows

Platform: Android — One night, Luke decided to go out and visit the love of his life. But an unfortunate note on the door informs him he's now alone in this world. To console himself, Luke wants nothing more than to stare at the stars. With all the buildings in the way, though, how can he? That's where you come into play. Luke at the Stars is a simple but charming puzzle game that's all about moving buildings out of the way so you can get a good view of the sky. Tagged as: alpacateam, android, demo, game, mobile, puzzle, rating-g, tablet

This means Linux support is happening, along with the new zipping and retracting / extending features of the energy line. If you've been holding off because you wanted to make sure Linux support was in there, you're good to go....

Platform: Flash — 8-bit-lovers worldwide having been searching for the next lost retro work, and Watergate: The Video Game, could very well be that. Now some may claim that this point-and-click adventure game, was only recently developed by Samuel Kim, which is why things get so hilariously surreal. A wry combination of video game parody, pop culture riffing, and political satire, Watergate tries to be a lot of things, and it generally succeeds. Tagged as: adventure, browser, flash, free, game, humor, linux, mac, parody, pixelart, pointandclick, politics, rating-r, retro, skim, windows

Platform: Flash — You are a little white ghost – check. You want to be a big, important demon – check. You must defeat other demons to succeed – check. You can only reach them by beating levels where lots of pixels fly around and try to kill you – che... Wait, what? Ghostly Me is a tricky platformer in which you jump over, under and across moving obstacles on your way to fiendish fame. Tagged as: action, arcade, browser, flash, free, game, linux, mac, pixelart, platform, ppllaayy, rating-g, windows

Platform: Flash — Join Yuri's chirpy hide-and-seek playing bunch of baby birds in the park playground, where they've nestled into every possible hiding spot waiting to be discovered by you. Your goal is easy: click anywhere you think a baby fowl could fit, pick-up and properly use a smattering of objects, and collect all ten chicks before you can find the exit and escape. Tagged as: browser, escape, flash, free, game, japanese, linux, mac, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, weekday-escape, windows, yuri

Platform: iOS, Android, Mac — Money, or freedom. Which will you choose? McBank: The Puzzle of Money and Freedom uses stark, humorous imagery wrapped around a series of quick puzzles that play on the theme of the uneven distribution of wealth and power in modern society. Even though most of the world's money is controlled by a relative few people, the masses continue to support them with their purchases and actions. McBank forces you to to choose with each level you complete, and the results aren't always pretty. Tagged as: android, demo, download, game, honeytribestudios, indie, ios, ipad, iphone, kindle, mac, mobile, narrative, parody, puzzle, tablet

I did a Q&A for The Jace Hall Show. More interviews coming! Shogun Gamer is on deck, and I'll be a live guest on the Colony of Gamers broadcast this Saturday at 7 PM CST / 5 PM PST. And...

Platform: iOS, Android, Flash — Move fast! No, faster! No, even faster! Available in your browser or on your mobile device, Mini Dash is a challenging one-hit K-O platformer full of missiles, buzzsaws, daring jumps, and more that will test your mettle over and over. Tagged as: action, android, browser, flash, game, highdifficulty, ios, ipad, iphone, ipod, mobile, platform, playcreek, rating-y, tablet

Platform: Javascript — Darkness has overtaken the land, bringing with it unspeakable beasts, but one woman is no longer content to cower inside. In this open-source retro RPG adventure demo made in just one month, go on a classic quest to find the source of the dark infestation and get more powerful along the way. Engaging and addictive but challenging too, it's a simple, streamlined experience you can jump right into anytime. Tagged as: adventure, browser, cbellanger, demo, free, game, javascript, linux, mac, rating-y, retro, rpg, turnbased, windows, yubatake

For my January #onegameamonth I was making a game called Techno Zombies that turned out to be way too complex and I was rapidly running out of time to hit the Janurary deadline. So I decided to make an online version of my original Math Forever game instead.

The original Math Forever game was programmed in BlitzMax and is a downloadable executable for PC/Mac. People seemed to like it and so I thought it would be a good idea to bring it to a wider audience by making an online version. This time I used Monkey because it’s a cross-platform language that can output Flash builds, which is perfect for Math Forever 2.

Anyway you can play it here. Can you beat level 10? It gets pretty hard around that level.

Here’s a video of me losing on level 10:

Games featured this week: Tower of Heaven; Never End; My First Quantum Translocator — This week's edition of The Vault is sponsored by... I forget the name. I think it was Opening Science or something like that. Anyways, today we're featuring a selection of Portalesque games. A Portalesque is a puzzle-platformer with a unique mechanic and a sadistic host. There'll be cake after the showcase, I promise! Tagged as: blog, browser, thevault

Platform: iOS, Android — After your rather unceremonious birth, you're sent to the temple of the Silene Monks, where you choose whether to be a medic, a warrior or an engineer. From there, it's up to you to make the right choices to fulfill your destiny and, most crucially, not die. But Trial of the Clone is more than a simple choose-your-own-adventure. Along the way you'll gain stat points, weapons and items, which you can keep track of via a built-in D&D-style Adventure Sheet. These come to play in battles which pop up occasionally and affect the course of the story. Battles are pretty simple: You deal damage to your opponent based on your given stats plus a random number from 0 to 3, and then your opponent does the same — the last one standing wins. Loss in a battle doesn't necessarily mean death; it may just mean being relocated to a different department (say, engineering, where physical strength, ability and charisma are less in demand). Tagged as: adventure, android, game, gamebook, ios, ipad, iphone, kindle, mobile, narrative, rating-r, rpg, tablet, text, tinmangames

Wow! Just wow. We're at $16K right now - I thought it was perfectly possible, before I launched, that $16K might be all we'd raise for the whole thing. I'm over the moon! Which means the gear customization feature is...

Platform: Flash — Short but sweet, this little platform puzzle game stars a ball of blue alien goop that crashes into a strange and sterile place. You'll need to explore and solve a puzzle or two to find your real purpose, and though it's almost more concept than full game, is still worth the few minutes it'll take you. Tagged as: browser, flash, free, game, jjwallace, linux, mac, platform, puzzle, rating-g, windows

Platform: Flash — Though her expedition started out well prepared, our heroine's journey to the temple of the Queen of Snakes hits a snag when her entire crew is wiped out and a rock slide traps her inside. Gorgeous, clever, and visually unique, the Queen of Snakes is a fantastic point-and-click adventure more than worth your time. Tagged as: adventure, browser, flash, free, game, jo99, linux, mac, pointandclick, rating-g, windows

Games featured this week: Hiversaires; OmniDig; Asphalt 7: Heat — Did somebody leave the front door open? Because there's a draft in here. Seriously, stand by the wall there. You feel it, don't you? Maybe just lean down a bit. More. Moooore. HA! Tricked you into reading mobile game news! Tagged as: blog, mobile, mobile-monday, news, previews

Platform: iOS — Douglas Chase, the hero of Tasty Poison's arcade puzzle game Dig!, has it rough. He works as an archaeologist for a failing museum, and in order to save his job, appease his boss and rescue the museum, he has to dig up new and exciting artefacts, pronto. And he has to do all this while mummies, tentacles and moles chase him, which never makes things easy. Oh, and toilet seats count as priceless artefacts, by the way. Have fun! Tagged as: arcade, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, puzzle, rating-g, tablet, tastypoison

Platform: Mac, Windows — When a New York City book critic is murdered, dressed up to look like Frankenstein's monster, and hooked up to an electrical current, it's time to call the one detective who actually prefers the really weird cases: Kate Beckett. If she brings her "consultant," a mystery writer named Richard Castle, along with her, so much the better. Such is the premise of Castle: Never Judge A Book By Its Cover, a tie-in hidden object game that was written as a companion to the television show Castle. It appeals to more than just fans of the show, though, and blends hidden object scenes and puzzles seamlessly. Can you find the Hardcover Killer before it's too late? Tagged as: affiliate, casual, demo, download, game, gunnargames, hiddenobject, mac, mystery, pointandclick, rating-o, windows

Platform: Flash — Stargazers is a minimalist puzzle Ludum Dare entry by Cake and Zeik that's sure to have everyone watching the skies. An interesting variation on connect-the-dots, Stargazers may be short, but it has astronomical amounts of polish. Tagged as: browser, cake, cakeandcode, flash, free, game, linux, ludumdare, mac, minimalism, puzzle, rating-g, simpleidea, windows, zeik

Platform: Windows — There's something in Kraven Manor. The old house provides rest from the storm raging outside, and you soon discover it holds an incredible secret... by assembling a model, you can shift and shape the building's layout to your desire. But you're not alone, and you're not wanted... and it won't let you leave alive. A chilling and masterfully atmospheric free indie horror adventure. Tagged as: action, adventure, beta, demonwagonstudios, download, free, game, horror, indie, rating-o, unique, windows

Platform: iOS, Android — Daddy Was a Thief is a solid little arcade game from Rebel Twins, creator of the gorgeous mobile release Crumble Zone. The story begins with dear old dad losing his job, then picking up a How-To book on robbery so he can nip off to the bank for a bit of thievery. When the action begins dad is making his escape. The only problem is there are hundreds of things standing between his high-rise hijinks and the safety of terra firma. Tagged as: android, arcade, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, rating-g, rebeltwins, tablet

Platform: Windows — The Binary Mill delivers a gleefully energetic and beautifully visualised racing game that's perfectly playable no matter what your skill level. Bounce around the track, crashing into and off of the scenery and other players, as you go for the gold and upgrade your favourite cars. Casual fans will welcome this with open arms as the perfect giddy party game for friends. Tagged as: action, download, game, indie, racing, rating-g, steam, thebinarymill, upgrades, windows

Platform: Windows — It all started as an innocent trip to Italy. Vanessa's grandfather, a member of a mysterious religious order, went missing a few weeks ago, and she is summoned to the order's headquarters. Once there, she finds out that the gates guarding peace on Earth are all but wide open because some cheeky prankster has stolen four runes which keep the gates shut. Vanessa must track them down by jumping into portals leading to other worlds, all the while trying to discover the evil mind behind this nefarious scheme. Tagged as: 8floorgames, adventure, affiliate, casual, collectorsedition, demo, download, free, game, hiddenobject, rating-y, windows

Platform: Flash — FEEEEEEED ME, SEYMOUR! The yellow heads in Eugene Karatev's physics puzzle are starving, and only cheerfully oblivious orange puffles will do! Slice and dice your way through each level to carve a path and get all the bonus stars, and trust us... it won't be as easy as you think. As creepy, maybe. Not as easy. Tagged as: aahura, browser, ekarataev, flash, free, game, linux, mac, physics, puzzle, rating-g, splitter, windows, zaruka

There’s some movies and games where main characters discuss with the player. Usually they discuss with the other characters in-game, but sometimes somebody discussed “outside of the game” (or movie) to the player.

I belong to the clan who thinks this really breaks the immersion, and thus I don’t like it when characters make side comments directly aimed to me as a player.

I’m playing Sword & Sworcery game on ipad and while the game otherwise is really interesting, I can’t but help getting slightly annoyed by certain moments.

What you think of this type of storytelling?

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux — Developed in just one month, a2 is a remarkable achievement of a visual novel that packs a serious punch in its narrative. Sona's just going through the motions trying to run the orchestra her deceased estranged father left her, and Hao has just arrived from China to help conduct and doesn't speak a lick of English. But between these two very different people lies some unexpected common ground, and the end result is a story with real heart, honesty, and humour. Tagged as: adventure, arowana, azurextwilight, download, free, game, gko, indie, linux, mac, narrative, nellie, rating-o, romance, visualnovel, windows

Platform: iOS — Something has gone terribly, horribly awry at Don Eduardo's zoo. Flesh-seeking undead animals are on the loose and you, plucky boy or girl, are the last line of defense in Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte!, a mobile line-drawing defense game from High Voltage Software. Could this be the worst field trip ever? Tagged as: action, defense, game, highvoltagesoftware, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, rating-y, tablet, towerdefense, zombies

Platform: iOS, Android, Flash — Armed with only an arsenal of letters, the Banana Breakers are here to save the day! In this Mastermind-meets-Boggle word logic game, you've got to split the grid of letters into a series of words. You can use clues from submitted words to help you deduce the positions of letters in a word, but your next guess might give you clues somewhere else entirely! Can you solve the grid without going bananas? Tagged as: android, browser, flash, free, game, ios, ipad, iphone, kindle, linux, mac, mobile, rating-g, tablet, windows

Platform: Flash — Red Ball 4 is back with the second volume of physics-based fun! Roll and jump your way through fifteen new levels and eliminate your enemies as you try to protect the planet from being taken over by sinister black blocks. Let the bouncing begin! Tagged as: achievements, action, browser, efedoseev, flash, free, game, linux, mac, physics, platform, puzzle, rating-g, redball, windows

Games featured this week: Gun Monkeys; Cook, Serve, Delicious!; Rawbots; Darkwood; Plants vs Zombies 2; Candy Box!; Welcome to Boon Hill; Monaco; Ray's the Dead; City Quest — A fun and frantic indie restaurant sim gets a tasty free update. The bizarre and delightful webtoy that took the internet by storm gets a walkthrough. A zombie who's been struck by lightning wants your money for world domination. All this and more on Link Dump Friday! Tagged as: blog, linkdump, news, previews

The Energy Hook Kickstarter is officially live!

Platform: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows — Perfection is a simple, casual puzzle game from Dumb and Fat Games, creator of Sling It! and Phantasmaburbia. It tests your spatial resolve by challenging you to slice bits of an object away until it fits inside an outline. There's no timer, there's no move limits, and there are no missions to complete. Just some relaxing music and a great game of self-challenge at your fingertips. Tagged as: android, download, dumbandfatgames, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mac, mobile, puzzle, rating-g, simpleidea, windows

Platform: iPad — Tired of combining elements on a tiny mobile screen? Ready for something bigger, more feature-rich, and Retina-optimized? Doodle God has finally made the leap to iPad with Doodle God HD. The release coincides with a big 2.0 upgrade for the iPhone version, adding a brand new interface, new artifacts, new reactions, new achievements, improved mini-games, and more. Two new modes of play have also been added: Puzzle and Quest. Puzzle challenges you to create buildings, trains and all sorts of massive objects by combining basic elements, while Quest gives you three different story scenarios you must find a way to solve. Lots of great stuff for the Doodle God fans out there! Tagged as: alchemy, doodlegod, game, ipad, joybits, logic, mobile, puzzle, rating-o, tablet

The title says it all. But I'll say it again. Energy Hook Kickstarter Launch Party on http://twitch.tv/happionlabs At 4 PM PST / 11 PM GMT, today. Jakub Koziol (of Little Alchemy fame) will play the game and I'll talk about...

Platform: Flash — In the platformer created by Ludum Dare veteran, Jussi Simpanen, for their 26th competition, the theme of minimalism was embraced in both graphics and gameplay. But don't let that fool you into thinking the story runs the same way. Having committed a horrible act, you must platform your way through dangerous levels to beg forgiveness and prove your worth of it. The fine melding of story and level design will have you invested in the character by the mysterious ending. Tagged as: action, browser, flash, free, game, jsimpanen, linux, ludumdare, mac, pixelart, platform, rating-g, stencyl, windows

Platform: Flash — You can't help but smile when you make these monkeys happy in Pencil Kids' wonderfully interactive point-and-click puzzle game. In each stage, figure out what will make the weepy-eyed simian dance in glee. This means using objects creatively, solving puzzles and even completing a few arcade-type mini-games. Finish all 15 stages to be treated to a coin collecting adventure bonus level. But the joy on those adorable faces is what makes the effort worth it. Tagged as: arcade, browser, escape, flash, free, game, hiddenobject, linux, mac, minigames, monkeygohappy, pencilkids, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, rvencel, windows

Unless there's some catastrophe I'm going to launch the Energy Hook Kickstarter tomorrow. I'm already pretty stressed out and anxious and replaying constructive criticism in my head over-and-over and second-guessing myself about stuff. I know, after it launches, I'm going...

Platform: iOS — Explore a mysterious paper world and help the Paper Titans reunite as they work together in 45 levels to gather up three stars and reach the envelope sealed with a kiss. Fold up these quirky characters then put to collecting, throwing, flying, exploding and shamaning past obstacles in an elaborate 3D world which is instantly accessible via a touch and a swipe on your mobile device. Playing more as interactive art than a challenging game, those who enjoy distinctive visuals and relaxing gameplay can let their imagination run wild in this papercraft playground. Tagged as: adventure, blitzgames, game, interactiveart, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, puzzle, rating-g, simpleidea, tablet, teamlumo

Platform: Flash — The latest installment in the "Test Subject" puzzle platformer series is out, and it's just what you'd expect from a Nitrome game. Test Subject Complete manages to iron out many of the wrinkles from the series' previous installments so that the challenge comes from trying to escape Dr. Nastidious' lab and save the world instead of from trying to make pixel-perfect jumps. Tagged as: action, browser, flash, free, game, linux, mac, nitrome, platform, puzzle, rating-g, windows

Platform: Javascript/HTML5 — You've been abducted, but after hours of travel, you've taken your chance to escape. You need to figure out where you are and quickly. Pursued is an HTML5 puzzle game designed by Nemesis Games, powered by the Google Maps Street View engine. A unique, if sometimes slow-loading, experience, Pursued will take you on a glorious world tour. Tagged as: browser, free, game, geography, google, html5, leveleditor, linux, mac, nemesysgames, puzzle, rating-g, simpleidea, unique, windows

Platform: Flash — Self-Defiant serves up a short and simple but satisfying escape challenge that begins with you getting lost while exploring a clock tower, and ends with you explaining to me how you managed to get lost in a clock tower where the only way to go is straight up or down. Tagged as: browser, escape, flash, free, game, linux, mac, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, selfdefiant, weekday-escape, windows

Platform: iOS, Android — Bart Bonte is back (ok, so he never really went anywhere) with a brand new game, this time on iOS! Factory Balls began as an entry in one of our early Casual Gameplay Design Competitions in 2008. The puzzle game has grown and expanded since then, producing several sequels and finally landing on mobile devices with a stylish visual upgrade. Get ready for a new generation of infuriating, satisfying sphere painting! Tagged as: android, bbonte, factoryballs, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, puzzle, rating-g, tablet