Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I was moving. Let's cap off the week with a fun, yet weird game called Cream Wolf. The objective is simple: you are an ice cream man, so you drive around and deliver ice cream to kids so they like you. But let the buyer beware: at night, you turn into a bloodthirsty werewolf! You must then lure the unsuspecting children back to your house and eat their fat asses up! I don't know what makes that so satisfying, but I ended up playing this game for hours. I hope you have as much fun with it as I did!

There seem to be a lot of games lately that are recreated in a retro style, and VVVVVV is no exception. It has a relatively simple art style, but there is a unique gravity-switching gameplay mechanic that keeps the game feeling current. It also makes it brutally difficult at times, so even though this is technically a two-level demo, it will probably take you a while to complete. If you enjoy it, please consider purchasing the full game to support the developer.

D'oh, almost forgot to switch the styles on the site, better late than never I guess! Happy St. Patrick's Day, have a pint of Guinness for me!

Sorry, I forgot to post a downloadable game last week, I guess the short month threw me for a loop. Well, I'm posting one this week to make up for it. Have you had a chance to play Left 4 Dead or its sequel yet? How about Left 4k Dead, the bite-sized homage? (Get it? Bite-sized? It's a zombie joke.) Well, here is another game inspired by the zombie-killing blockbuster. Pixel Force: Left 4 Dead mixes the zombie slaughtering action with an 8-bit visual style ripped straight from the NES era. You know, because you can never kill too many zombies! (The download links on the game's page make you jump through hoops and wait in queues to get the game, this page has a direct link to the latest version.)

You may have heard that Google is planning on rolling out super high-speed internet to one or more medium-sized communities around the country as part of an experiment in building open fiber networks. Well, I just read today that Saratoga officials are submitting their nomination to be included in this project. If it means cheaper or faster internet service, I'm all for it; here's hoping that Saratoga is selected!

Tuper Tario Tros. is a unique game. At first, it looks like a standard port of Super Mario Bros., but there is a twist. I don't really want to ruin it for you, but it adds a new challenge to an old game. Although for me, it makes the game too challenging, and even after a dozen or so attempts, I'm still unable to beat the "boss" at the end of the first level. If you make it past, let me know what happens!

Here's a fun game I found this week called Alphabet Shoot. Not much to say about it really; you control cannons that shoot letters which can only destroy blocks of the same letter. There are some neat physics puzzles in there, plus they limit your shots, so some of the levels are quite difficult. Good luck.

The last few games have all been sort of similar, so this week I've got something totally different. Mr. Bounce looks like a standard ball and paddle game, but there are a few things that make it stand out. First, the ball is affected by gravity instead of traveling in a straight line, which gives it an interesting trajectory. On top of that you can control how high it bounces, which offers a strategic challenge, especially in some of the later levels. Luckily, you can enable a temporary slow-motion mode if you get into trouble. The game also features a catchy soundtrack which really complements the sound effects, so make sure you have the sound on for this one.

I'm returning to the tradition of posting downloadable games on the first Friday of the month. This month we have Spelunky, a retro-inspired cave exploration and treasure-hunting game. The levels are randomly generated so the game is different each time you play, but I've found that they are always rather difficult. The art style is crisp and charming and the controls are tight, if a bit complex. It's definitely the type of game that could keep you busy for a very long time.

According to the title, The Walls Are Not Cheese. I don't know what they are, exactly, but they do exhibit a slight cheese-like characteristic, specifically in that they crumble when you shoot them. That's just one of the fun game mechanics in this deceptively simple game. It's only a few short levels, so you should be able to finish it in less than ten minutes, but it's still worth checking out. Oh, and if you have a tiny monitor (like me) you can hit F11 to go full-screen so you can see the whole thing.

There's something immediately cool about Canabalt that I can't quite put my finger on. The premise is very simple, just click to jump and avoid the obstacles so you can keep running. What are you running from? It's never fully explored, though you get glimpses that something pretty awful is happening. The art, music, and speed combine into something that is instantly compelling.

Hey-oooh! Wow, sorry for the extended down time, I had some server problems and then I got too lazy to fix it. But then I got motivated again and so now it's back up! Good story, Vincent! Anyway, let me know if anything seems broken or out of the ordinary, I pretty much had to reconfigure everything so I may have missed something. And make sure to come back for new games each Friday!

I just found this awesome game called Red Remover. The name says it all, really: you need to get rid of the red blocks. But the challenge is that you also need to keep all the green blocks, but they can get knocked off the board by the other colors. Then, after the first ten levels there is an added twist that really throws a wrench into things. It's not enough to just finish the levels, you also have to get par and complete the bonus mode to unlock the extra levels. This is really quite addictive.

I know it's only Thursday, but I think most people have Friday off so I'm posting a day early. Here's a fun downloadable game to keep you busy over the 4th of July weekend. Ben There, Dan That! is an awesome and hilarious adventure game reminiscent of some of Lucasarts' best titles. Created by an independent studio, the game manages to simultaneously recreate and lampoon the genre's most famous cliches. You'll traverse a variety of unique locales and amass a collection of items that will be used (and combined!) in improbable ways. The self-referential dialog is extremely well written and really propels the story. I thought this was going to be a short little game but after several hours of playing I'm still not finished. This is one that you definitely don't want to miss!

Meowcenaries mashes up old school gameplay with your favorite internet memes into a pretty solid shooter. You guide a team of kittens through a bunch of missions, rescuing hostages and destroying Evilcat's forces. Oh yeah, and don't forget to collect those cheeseburgers; cats really love those cheeseburgers. LOL!

The Shift series continues with Shift 4. A space squid has brought down your space ship, causing you to crash land on an alien planet. You must navigate through the facility and find a way out. Luckily, you will rescue a companion along the way who will help you escape. I got stuck at one point, but if you get lost, I think the trick is to head back to the room marked in green on the map. Good luck!

Wow, I guess it has been a while since I put up a real post. So to what do we owe the honor? Why, beer, of course! I just saw this article about Dogfish Head Brewery who is working on a beer that is reminiscent of the oldest brew ever discovered. (You may know Dogfish Head from their popular 60- and 90-minute IPAs.) This recipe goes back some 9,000 years, which predates wine by 1,000 years or so. But what's really interesting is the story behind the brew. It was discovered by Patrick McGovern, who is an archeological chemist. Archological chemist? How cool is that?! They have striven to keep the brew as faithful as possible to the original recipe, but they had to make some concessions for the beer to be legal (damn ATF.) On the plus side, that may have the positive side-effect of making the drink more palatable. Anyway, I look forward to checking out this beer and getting in touch with my dipsomaniacal ancestors when it finally hits the shelves.

Let's kick off the month with a first person shooter. .kkrieger is a unique game though, because the entire game is only 96 kilobytes! This is one of the most impressive things that I've seen crammed into such a tiny file. It's a fairly basic shooter, though there are a variety of enemies and weapons spread over several levels.

While you're on their web site, I recommend that you check out .debris as well. It's not a game, it's just a demo, but it shows some pretty impressive stuff done in just 177K. These guys are definitely masters of their craft.

Heavy Weapons is a competent Geometry Wars-style space shooter. This one is a bit more complex though; you collect cash from destroyed enemies which you can use to upgrade your ship between rounds. If there's one thing I've learned from playing games like this, it's that spread-fire weapons always kick ass!

We're going old-school this week with a remake of Lunar Lander. I never played the original but apparently this is a very faithful recreation. If that's the case, then I also never realized just how difficult this game was! It is extremely unforgiving, you have to be going extremely slow or you risk damaging (or completely destroying) your craft.

And if that's not enough, the author also created LunarLander 3D, in which you control the lander from behind as it cruises across the surface. Amazingly, that game was written in just 5 kilobytes despite its impressive appearance. Both games are fun, addictive, and surprisingly deep; they don't make 'em like they used to!