Ten more games that will make you think about life
Continuing our tradition of bringing you thought-provoking games, we present yet more games that will have you pondering on the meaning of it all.
Life, eh? It's all a bit mad really, isn't it? Here we are, the products of millions of years of chance chemical and biological reactions, wandering around on a dying rock as it spins through the vast, indifferent universe with nought but the knowledge of our own inevitable oblivion for company.
A sobering thought. And sobering thoughts will sure as sugar turn you to drink. But you don't want to do that - apparently it can be quite good for you. So spare your liver and sacrifice your eyesight and wrist tendons instead by digging in to our latest top ten games that make you think about life.
Published by Andy Jowett on 17th April 2011
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Top Ten Platform Adventure Games
Turn off the TV, put down your book, stop whatever you are doing, and come play the ten best platform adventure games we could find on the web.
I love the platform adventure genre. It has thrown up so many great games over the years, from early classics such as Metroid and Castlevania to modern brilliancies like Braid and Shadow Complex.
Even for those with tight budgets the genre has a lot to offer. Some of the best platform adventure games are completely free, perhaps the two best examples being the unmissable Cave Story (which can be downloaded here) and the sublime Knytt and Knytt Stories (downloadable here and here). And that's before we come to the slew of platform adventure games that can be played in your browser, the ten best of which (at least in our opinion) we have listed below.
Published by Tasha on 13th March 2011
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Top 10 Dungeon Crawlers
Grab yourself a lantern, some health potions and a sturdy sword, and join us on our quest to play the top ten casual dungeon crawlers.
For today's list of games, we are going down, down into the dark rat-infested depths of the world. And what are we going to do when we get there? Well, we're going to crawl, crawl and then crawl some more, all the time entombed in some of the most dingy, dank and downright devilish dungeons casual gamers have had the misfortune to find themselves.
Yes, we have for you some of the best dungeon crawlers you can play for free on the web. These games might not have the depth or infuriating unfairness of classics of the genre like NetHack and the brilliant Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (downloadable here) but that is probably a good thing. NetHack and DCSS will absorb your whole life. These games on the other hand should each only take an afternoon or two at most to complete. Happy crawling!
Published by Tasha on 6th March 2011
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Top 10 Puzzle Games
Puzzleophiles rejoice. We have collected together ten brilliant puzzle games - all of which you can play for free in your browser.
Fans of puzzles have never had it better. Go back a few years, and they did not have many options. There was chess, draughts, crosswords and Connect 4. That was about it. Okay, I might be exaggerating the paucity of puzzles a tad but back then the launch of a new puzzle was a major event - just witness the media attention lavished on the Rubik's Cube when it came out in the 1980s.
Nowadays, the launch of a new puzzle barely merits a mention. That is because - thanks to the massive growth in computer ownership and cheap readily-available games - we have at our fingertips an unbelievably huge number of puzzle games, everything from puzzle platfomers such as Shift and Continuity and physics puzzle titles like Fantastic Contraption and Wake up the Box to countless word, memory and card games.
Published by Tasha on 27th February 2011
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Top 10 Fighting Games
Unleash your combative alter ego with these ten beat 'em up games that can be played online for free.
I only had one fight at school. I was about five years old and the biggest kid in the class was getting on my nerves for being so big. So I went up to him and hit him in his midriff. Big mistake. I was very soon on my arse on the floor with a bloodied nose. I learnt something important that day. I am not a fighter. I am much better at learning, reading and playing games than beating the living daylights out of people. I never got into a fight with anyone again.
That is probably a good thing but it has left me with a slight sense of inadequacy - a feeling that I have missed out on something that is at the core of being a real man. Perhaps I watched too many John Wayne movies as a kid and have a distorted view of masculinity but I can't help thinking that to be a real man you have to be able to hold your own in a fist fight.
Published by Alex Kearns on 14th February 2011
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Amea
A nicely illustrated dash and slash RPG with an intriguing storyline, loads of weapons and spells and great locations. What more could you want?
Amea is going about her everyday business and the next thing she remembers is waking up in a strange bed unable to recall anything other than her name. Oh, and there is a strange man in the room. I know what you are thinking: Amea really should cut down on those vodka-whiskey-rum cocktails. You'd be wrong. As far as I know, Amea does not drink at all. She does have gruesome visions, however. And it is after one such vision that she finds herself in the strange bed with the strange man.
Thus begins this neat side-view slash-and-dash RPG game from Aussie developer Godlimations (who you might remember for his fun dragon-nurturing game Dragon Boy).
Published by Tasha on 12th February 2011
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Ten Chain Reaction Games
We have collected together the best free online chain reaction games we could find for your playing pleasure.
While sitting down at my computer to write a game review I accidentally knock a glass of water over. The contents of the glass splash over our pet cat, giving her a mighty shock. She immediately leaps through an open window and bounds across a busy road. Spotting her, a driver slams hard down on his breaks, causing the truck behind to crash into the back of him.
No serious damage is done to either vehicle but the force of the impact causes a vial in the back of the truck to crack, allowing a deadly virus to escape. Released from captivity, the virus multiplies rapidly. After swapping details with the car driver, the lorry operator continues his journey, oblivious to the invisible cloud of deadly contagions trailing behind him.
Published by Tasha on 6th February 2011
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Top 10 Goriest Games
The squeamish among you might want to look away for these ten games are among the goriest, bloodiest and nastiest the internet has to offer.
We at Casual Girl Gamer like to think that we are a couple of notches above the average gaming blogger. We take great care choosing the games we highlight on this site, often selecting philosophical or arty games that shed light on the human experience - see our lists of games that make you think about life here and here.
But for this top ten list, we have dropped any pretence of superiority, and plunged down into the dirty underbelly of online gaming in search of the gaming equivalents of video nasties. These gory games won't teach you anything worthwhile. Nor will most of them offer any profound insights into the human condition. They might even make you a little sick. But those who can overcome their squeamishness, and look beyond the blood and gore, will be rewarded by some of the best browser gaming action around.
Published by Alex Kearns on 30th January 2011
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Top 10 Gravity Games
The laws of physics might not work as you expect in our list of the ten best gravity-themed games you can play for free online.
Gravity? I have definitely heard of it. Wasn’t there some bright spark who had an epiphany about gravity after something fell on them? That’s it, I remember now. A young physiotherapist called Isabel Newton was minding her own business one day when a resident of a tower block accidentally dropped their iPod out of the window. The iPod landed of Isabel’s head, and she had a sudden revelation that was to have a huge impact on our understanding of the universe: when things fall on your head, they hurt. That’s right, isn’t it? I never paid that much attention in school so I might have the odd detail wrong.
Anyway, the reason we are talking about such a rarefied concept as gravity is that we have collected together ten of the best gravity themed games we could find, all of them free to play in your browser. Be warned, however. Game developers are a mischievous lot who love nothing more than messing around with the basic laws of physics. So gravity in these games might not work quite as you expect.
Published by Tasha on 8th January 2011
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Top 10 Cutest Games
Like a new born kitten or puppy, these unbelievably cute free online games just make you want to go 'awww'.
This a public service announcement. The headquarters of Casual Girl Gamer have suffered a deadly outbreak of the cuteness virus. You are advised to evacuate the area immediately. Whatever you, do not in any circumstance touch any of the games scattered around the site, no matter how enticing they might appear.
These games are dangerous. They are contaminated with the deadly streptocuteus strain. Anyone who comes into contact with the games will instantly be infected with this highly contagious virus. Symptoms of infection include a dumb wide-eyed expression and an inability to say anything other than 'awwww'. You have been warned.
Published by Tasha on 3rd January 2011
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