Jay is Games

Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe (Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:29:43 -0500)

[Platform: Download (Windows)] HipSoft has just released Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe, the latest installment in the excellent Build-a-lot series of tycoon-style real estate sims. The series has found the sweet spot between keeping a successful formula the same and adding new elements to bring players back for more. I've already spent some time with this game and it's just as addictive as the previous titles. Look for a full review this weekend. In the meantime, start playing!

Violet (Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:00:00 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] Violet is a richly engaging one-room puzzle game from this year's annual Interactive Fiction competition. The problem? You're a graduate student working on your dissertation, but you haven't gotten any writing done in months. Your girlfriend Violet has put her life on hold, waiting for you to finish, and she's getting fed up. If you don't get a thousand words written today, your relationship is over and she flies home to Australia.

Phantom Mansion II: The Black Sea (Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:49:26 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] Spiky-haired Hector has returned in a new Phantom Mansion series, Treasures of the Seven Seas. Having found a map, complete with a glowing red X, Hector is sailing the first sea, the Black Sea, in search of treasure. Before he can get to the treasure, he must first find his way through a maze of locked doors, moats, and puzzles. The Black Sea offers 20 new and challenging levels and fun for all ages.

Out of Order (Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:56:16 -0500)

[Platform: Download (Windows)] Out of Order is a humor-oriented, mouse-driven adventure game in the style of the old Lucas Arts and Sierra titles. You play as Hurford Schlitzting, an ordinary human being in a green bathrobe and bunny slippers. Late one night he's awakened by a storm and goes to get a midnight snack. And then the game ends... wait, no, it doesn't, or we wouldn't have much of a game.

Alice Greenfingers 2 (Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:22:05 -0500)

[Platform: Download (Windows)] There's nothing quite like a day on the farm: the smell of freshly tilled soil, tender plants sprouting, and honeybees buzzing in search of nectar. Some call it work, but if you've ever met Alice Greenfingers, you know it's more like play. The lovable pig-tailed girl is back, tending her Uncle Berry's farm in Alice Greenfingers 2, a sequel that does nothing but improve upon the original.

Weekend Download (Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:25:40 -0500)

[Platform: Download (Mac, Windows)] I compose this edition of Weekend Download with the sound of leaf blowers screeching through my windows. Not only does half my neighborhood believe leaves in their yard are evil, but apparently creating hours of noise pollution for everyone in the area is an acceptable price to pay to shove them in the street. I miss the good old fashioned, non-air-and-noise-polluting leaf rake...

Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold (Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:37:21 -0500)

[Platform: Download (Windows)] Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold is another superb hidden object adventure game from Artogon Games, creator of The Mystery of the Crystal Portal. Both titles share a unique design among hidden object games where you are presented with contextual search clues instead of generic lists of objects. In essence, your goal is to explore the physical objects in each scene and collect items to solve individual puzzles. It's a new and interesting take on the genre that opens up many new puzzle possibilities.

Link Dump Friday (Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:28 -0500)

With such an amazing week of free browser game releases, it's a wonder anything is left over for Link Dump Friday! Thanks to my armies of trolls, hermits, little bits of aluminum foil and people I've set on fire (you know who you are), we've come up with a nice list of games to keep your Friday from getting boring.

Oiligarchy (Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:06:58 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] You are the CEO of a major international oil company, your job is to make money: Democracy, environment, and global economic health are irrelevant. Explore, drill, corrupt governments, hire mercenaries, engage in covert operations, fix elections (which are clearly broken without you) and most of all: have fun.

Retardo and the Iron Golem (Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:23:47 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] In this brand new point-and-click adventure, the King of Moronia has sent Retardo on a mission to defeat the Iron Golem and restore peace to the kingdom. In return he is promised the hand of the Princess of Moronia. It's up to you to ensure that he accomplishes his mission safely.

Mirror's Edge 2D beta (Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:26:39 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] From The Fancy Pants Adventure creator Brad Borne comes a 2D re-imagining of the 3D action-adventure console game Mirror's Edge. Mirror's Edge 2D uses the Fancy Pants engine and adds a whole host of new acrobatic moves, allowing you to jump, climb, scramble and run across rooftops with surprising fluidity.

Escape from the Starship (Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:39:41 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] Escape from the Starship is an escape game that uses sound to convey the relative proximity of monsters that you must avoid. The starship is composed of a maze of rooms, each of which is composed of homogeneous grey dots. Each dot represents a floor tile on which you may land. The sound you hear, however, ultimately determines whether that tile is safe.

Crypt Keeper (Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:46:00 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] In Crypt Keeper, you find yourself plunked down in the middle of a truly spooktastic graveyard. How and why did you get there? Not important. It's the middle of the night, and there are creepy noises and big ominous tombstones and omigosh you need to get out right now!

IncrediBots (Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:50:20 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] IncrediBots is a brand new physics-based webtoy from Grubby Games, creator of the Professor Fizzwizzle series. Much like Fantastic Contraption and Line Rider before it, IncrediBots gives you a handful of simple tools and sets you free to explore your creative impulses. Draw shapes, connect them with joints, and tweak their basic properties to create living, moving, and functioning 'bots that can perform any task. You can even make movies, complete with text, than can be shared with the IncrediBots community.

Totomi (Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:12:48 -0500)

[Platform: Flash] Your goal is to build stacks of animals as high as you can. Combine identical animals along with their favorite food and they begin to breed, multiplying their number and pushing your totem even higher. Each animal interacts differently with others, so learning their relationships is key to creating massive stacks of animals.