Wow, I can't beleive it's been 5 months since I started this project. I can only say thank you for putting up with my rambling posts and also a very big thankyou to Wizzard of Oz and Reverse order for their continued support and to The Webmaster for helping out over the Christmas and New Years period.

I thought I'd bring this one back to the front page to complement the free game Wizzard posted for today, which was a marble game. (I've also changed the name to come into line with the rest of the postings - though I've still to decide which name to change the project to. I'll be keeping the prefix as that will help find posts, but the free games for the weekdays is a little boring, or uninspiring, lol)

many thanks Stephen, if you do find anything along the way :). (sorry for the late response... just didn't get notification of a reply to this thread for some reason, as I normally do from these forums.)

Not quite, though it is a puzzle game. I didn't realize lemmings was free, but if it is I'll definitely be including it sometime. As for elite; I loved that game when it first came out. Looking back on it now when comparing it with some of the space management games, I actually got more satisfaction out of docking with the space station and roaming around in virtually black space back then in the late 80’s, that when I'm playing some of the more recent games of that type, (for example Spaceforce: Rogue Universe which has amazing graphics and so much more). That will certainly be a possible candidate for the future. I'll have to search for both of them. I actually bought a second hand copy of Lemmings Revolution a couple of years ago (released in 2004). You’ve also given me an idea for more search’s, thank you.

Thanks for the link gtoal, it's much appreciated. I've only just started to get into looking for some of the older games, and am amazed at what you can find out there and all for free. One of my favorite games from the early 90's was a game called.......

I'm guessing either Lemmings or Elite? :-)

I liked the BBC Micro Snapper better than the real pacman.

G

I'll check back on some of the sites I've visited. I've actually ignored card games totally, so should start to look some up and add them to the growing list of games. I'll get back to you; hopefully with some links to blackjack. :) - though I'm not promising, as most gambling style games tend to be associated with red sites, which I avoid like the plague (even though some are unjustified)

Regards

Stephen

Thank you so much for your kind words Nola. I'll be emailing you soon. :)

Stephen, I don't comment much around here but I wanted to say thanks for all the time you put into reviewing & sharing those reviews here; I often look for your comments to help decide about downloading something. many thanks for these game downloads & putting this thread together for the weekdays, too! I miss the daily giveaways, but now you're covering that very nicely :). so far I haven't gotten any of the ones posted here but I love that I can come back here *any* day for these or new ones you post about :).

do you (or anyone reading this?) know of a decent free blackjack game? I'm looking for one for my boyfriend (a download that can be played offline, as opposed to going to a games site), but I don't play it myself so I don't know exactly what to look for in deciding what's 'decent'. it doesn't need to have other card games with it or fancy features, etc... just something to pass the time with that's good & also free (and compatible with Vista). thanks, if you or anyone has any advice/suggestions :).

thanks again for all your input on this site, Stephen :).

Hi Stephen, I love Marble Arena (even though I'm not terribly good at it ... yet!!) and the Arkanoids and Plasma Pong are right up my alley too, although I tend to get stuck on one game at a time and play that to the exclusion of anything else till I finish it or get sick of it, so those games will be waiting for a while. I bought Little Gods from Big Fish a couple of years ago and have played it to death, its a fantastic game.

Unfortunately, I'm not really into war games or shooters and being on dial up can't download some of the bigger ones, but I have to admit to enjoying Chicken Invaders and I have got my daughter playing that too.

I am going to have a go at the Crazy games you have posted, but I am flat out typing up my son's uni assignment at the moment, so haven't any free time now for games or downloading or emailing until that is done, and as I have promised him I will have it finished by tomorrow, I'd better get on with it.

However, I just wanted to give you some feedback and to tell you that all of us GOTD members are so very lucky to have you taking such an interest in the games. I, for one, am extremely grateful for the new games, and I realise that this is a huge job for you. You are one out of the box, Stephen, thank you.

Trackball is pretty cool as well, though the ball control seems a little sluggish compared to Marble Arena. I will have two or three more marble games to post in a month or so. (I already have the links, but don't want to post them too close together).

Have a great week. Check out the latest game, called Island Wars

regards

Stephen

Marble Arena is wonderful fun. Best ever of this type I've tried.
Little side comments are a goof too. Haven't quite torally figured
it all out 100% (95%) but in game tips clear up the pegs idea so got
to second level ok before stopping. Didn't fig Save or Menu so guess
demo picks up where ended a level. Said to be a full game tho listed
as a demo at d/l site.
Didn't try the above Trackballs link yet. Thanks.
btw Finally uninstalled that good Around the World in 80 Days after
too stuck on 6th item in Egypt. Couldn't deal with all those locked
pieces. Final straw was when I was too tired late one night to fast
exit the game after failing to win. It made me retry from start of
darn Egypt. If you fast quit game before it reverts to the replay point it won't cost a life or replay the level. But too stuck on locks. Otherwise ok.
Take care all.

Thanks for the link Big Phil, I didn't have that one. :) There’s some extra levels you can add to the game, though most are Linux versions I think.

Music:

http://trackballs.sourceforge.net/music.shtml

maps:

http://trackballs.sourceforge.net/maps.shtml

I'll found another 2 or three marble decent games that I intend to post towards the end of next month. (All together). I discovered them after I'd posted Marble Arena on Sunday night; otherwise I'd have posted them all together. I've decided to keep them for another day as there are only a finite number of good free games around and I want this project to last as long as possible. Hopefully till the daily giveaways return as was promised by the game giveaway team. (I think they promised?). There are thousands of free games available to download, but in my opinion most are either dross, or very poor attempts; though I don't mean to denigrate anyone’s work. Everyone has to start from the bottom, so you'd expect many lame ducks wouldn’t you. Then again what’s my rubbish is someone else’s gold. :).

I've just downloaded all the extra's and most are already installed into the games program, though some are not. Once you've downloaded the files they should be placed in the following folder. I've assumed you've placed the game in the root directories program folder (though I always place mty games on a seperate hard drive in a folder named games (lol) I used to seperate all the genres into different folders, but no longer bother doing that. Anyway here's the path you'll most likely need to follow to plac ethe files correctly;

C:\program files\trackballs-1.1.2\share\levels

The actual program will unpack onto the desktop, so you'll have to manually place the game to where you want it to go, then create a shortcut from the executable. If you're not sure how to create a shortcut I've posted a short tutorial in the games discussion thread:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2594

Hi Whiterabbit,
I would just like to thank you for the time and effort you are putting in to finding us some great games and also for the extended reviews on the main page. Your efforts are very much appreciated!

For anyone that enjoyed Marble Arena on day one, there is a similar and equally enjoyable free game called Trackballs at:

http://trackballs.sourceforge.net/

There are Windows and Linux versions available and it includes a game map editor.

Many Thanks again!

Hi Swan, yeah long time. Hey, I no longer have your site address due to reformats and upgrades. How do I find it as I'd love to visit.

I hope you are much better than I rememeber you saying you were last year? Do you still visit the project daily? I've missed your informative reviews. Yours and Merrils were always a pleasure to read. There's practically no one writing full reviews now, apart from myself. I thought Lockett was going to continue, but he faded away ages ago, and there was someone a couple of weeks ago who posted some really good reviews, but I've not seen any more since.

As for puzzles and match three games, there will be some, though as yet, I've not got many match three - apart from the ones from gametop, but I'm not sure whether to use those links in this project. There's at least five or six excellent match three games available over there at the moment. As for puzzles. I'll post a couple within the next week.

Regards

Stephen
p.s.

It's okay; I just went into your previous posts and followed a link to an image of your stats, which gave the name of your site. So it's now in my favorites again. I’ll drop by soon. At the moments I'm trying to categorize all the games I've tested for this project. It’s a lot of work - but rewarding. I wish I had time to review each one as well, but then it would become a full time unpaid job.

I'm thinking of buying that program called Dragon: naturally speaking. My typing skills have always been appalling. I'm always catching other keys while typing (due to inordinately long nails for a guy), and hardly ever proof read, so end up with lots of mistakes. I’m hoping Dragon will enable me to speed up writing my reviews, and make them more conversational.

Day Five:

I thought it was time for my favorite genre the Arkanoids. To be honest, there’s nothing new on the horizon that hasn’t already been posted over in the free arkanoids thread:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2607

However I will be posting the occasional (or more) game that’s already been posted previously. There are four main threads in the games discussion that cover virtually all of the Arkanoids, Space Shooters, Wheeled games and Match three games that are available free on the net (though I’m sure there are undiscovered jewels out there), which leaves a big hole in this project. My aim is to post links to free games from safe sources from as many genres as possible, so I will be borrowing from these threads at times, but only to highlight what I consider the best of the bunch. Today I’m posting links to three excellent arkanoids, all of which I’ve played regularly over the last three or four years. If you want more arkanoids I suggest you go over to the link I’ve posted above and search thought the many arkanoids available free. I haven’t included the several arkanoids that are available over on the game top site. There are at least six or seven available now; (Including Nuclear Ball and Twinzoid. both of which are very good arkanoids, the former a 3D and the latter a 2D game. Though they have had their names changed due to them still being commercial games that elsewhere you'll pay nerly $20 for. The quality of the games do reflect their commercial status, though the three I’m posting about today come close to the quality, if not the graphics of any of those games. The three games are DXBall, Beatball and Wrekerball Dreams. I do think that all three are available via the giveaways freeware library, but I thought them worth highlighting in this thread today as many of the treads eventually get hidden or forgotten about (despite the arkanoid thread being a sticky, lol)

=========================================================================

DXBall:

http://www.magicwandsoft.com/games/dxball/download.html

You can find some DXball cheats from the following link if you find the game hard:

http://www.magicwandsoft.com/games/dxball/cheats.html

=========================================================================

Beatball: 32Mb or 4Mb

There’s two version of beatball, the smaller version comes without music, so those with slow dial ups shouldn’t have a problem downloading it. Though I’d highly recommend the bigger download as the music does add to the game play.

http://www.imphenzia.com/games/beatball.asp

=========================================================================

Wreckerball Dreams:

This is an unusual 3D arkanoid, that you’ll find rather difficult as each round is timed as opposed to just having to remove your bricks. Also the bat is a little different to what you’re normally used to.

http://www.glinkiegames.com/main.html

========================================================================

Hello Stephen!

Long time no see. ;)

I'll be checking this thread out pretty much every day. Any chance of any puzzle and match3s showing up here?

Take care and know that a friend is thinking of you ...
~ Swan

Thank you cujo70...I'm ticking over. no better no worse??? Good news is I've already got over two months worth of games to post before i ned to search for more. The sourses I've found have loads more to check out, so provided there's more interest shown in this thread, I'll be continuing it for quite some time. At least until the game giveaway returns to daily giveaways. Most of the games I've found so far are excellent freeware and abandonware titles (IMO).

regards

Stephen

Thank you Whiterabbit, thank you for your wonderful effort to give us games junkies a new source of daily fix, after the demise of the GGAOTD it weas getting dull. Hope everything is Ok with you

Thanks for the link gtoal, it's much appreciated. I've only just started to get into looking for some of the older games, and am amazed at what you can find out there and all for free. One of my favorite games from the early 90's was a game called.......

Hmmmm, well I'll leave the name for a week or so as I've decided to include it in the weekday game giveaway. lol ;)

regards

Stephen

Day Four

Hidden and Dangerous (264Mb)

Just check out the images from the link below to see how fantastic this single player first person shooter is; especially for free:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=hidden+%25+dangerous+deluxe&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

You can download the game from:

http://www.gamershell.com/download_3644.shtml

You can also get update patches as well as modifications and other miscellaneous files for this game from

http://www.hidden-and-dangerous.net/hd/files.php

There’s a site dedicated to the hidden and dangerous game, which also includes hidden and dangerous 2 an even better version of today’s free game, though you’ll have to pay around $10 from the bargain bins of computer games shops to get Hidden & Dangerous 2. You can download patches for today’s free game by following the third link above.

Both games are dated by today’s standards, but Hidden and Dangerous Deluxe remains an excellent First Person Shooter, which is worth downloading, especially if you don’t have any from this genre. It was actually one of the first FPS games I ever bought when it was first released in 1999, though it was the original version. This abandon ware version was an updated version from the original release, which has improved graphics. Just look at the screenshots via the first link above to see how cool this game is, especially for the size of the download. It was made abandon ware a few years ago shortly after Hidden and Dangerous 2 was released. Both games rely a lot on strategy, unlike many of today’s FPS games which are basically run and gun games, so I hope you’ll enjoy this game. As it is more graphic intensive than most game I’ll be posting here I thought I’d add the required specifications, though it’s unlikely anyone will have problems running it:

Minimum specifications:

Win 95 or 98 (You may have to play the game in compatibility mode, though last time I installed it I can’t remember having problems running it on XP.
CPU 133MHz
Graphics Memory 4Mb (All computers built in the last 10 years should have a 4Mb graphics chip onboard the motherboard.

If you get stuck at any point in the game a good place to go is the H&D forums which can be reached by following the link below. The game also includes an editor for making new missions; so hopefully if you peruse the forums you may find new missions to download for free (though I’ve not bothered checking out the forums fully as I’ve never had problems playing the game and as I have most FPS games released these days, I’m not bothered about custom missions).

http://www.hidden-and-dangerous.net/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=671528c2a47da5fa7e05b58d1e66345f&board=28.0

Reviews:

Hidden & Dangerous for those that don't know is about the beginning of the SAS during world war 2, you control a four-man squad of soldiers. It is a 3rd person/1st person, tactical action game. The mix of both tactical action and strategy is a must use in Hidden & Dangerous, you can't just pop out and start shooting anything and everything in your way. Some missions you must use 100% strategy and some but very few you can just force your way through by spraying bullets all over the place.
The game has 23 missions in total spread over 6 campaigns set throughout Italy, Germany, Norway and many other countries. Mission objectives vary from rescuing hostages, to capturing german officers and from blowing up bridges, to stealing an enigma coding machine.
Once you start playing Hidden & Dangerous you are hooked straight away. This amazing game sucks you in and doesn't let go. When I first played Hidden & Dangerous I was use to 1st person shooters not 3rd/1st person tactical action games. So I tried to run out thinking I was the man shooter my gun only to suddenly realise I could only take 4 hits, not 104. There was also no extra health just laying around the place waiting to be picked up. You have to study the levels, guard patrol points and the general surroundings before you make your move to kill.
Detailed briefings before each mission as well as a in-game strategy map really make Hidden & Dangerous shine. The mission briefings show you what you have to do and give you tips on how to do it then in game you can use the strategic map to get the job done.
One of the most outstanding points about Hidden & Dangerous is the amazing level environments. The weather effects, the lighting and the sounds all work extremely well together to bring you an animated yet very realistic feel to the game. Hidden & Dangerous has one of the best gaming atmospheres I have ever played in. This is the main reason people get hooked by this game and continue to play it.
The AI in Hidden & Dangerous is a little dated compared to games today but is still very good. Some enemies when they spot you will stay in their current position and fire at you. Others will chase you down and make sure they get you good. When you fire at an enemy he will most probably duck down and try to avoid your fire then return with his own. Different soldiers have different weapons as well as different skills, so watch out!
The graphics in Hidden & Dangerous seem to have a style of their own. It's the most realistic looking game but that's a good thing because after all it's just a game. The game has a animated but realistic feel to it, I used the same definition before under gameplay. What I mean by 'animated but realistic feel' is that you can tell its of course a game but everything is done well that you know what it's suppose to be. Sure some of the levels and objects are a little bit blocky and maybe a bit basic in design but it all works well together.
From the classic start menu music to the Germans screaming "englander" at you. Hidden & Dangerous has by far some of the best sound effects I have heard. The best effects are the weather sound effects. Although some of the weapon sounds are a bit disappointing as well as some vehicle sounds but the environmental sounds just blow me away.
Well the summary is Hidden & Dangerous is a classic game. Still today in 2004, five years after the game was released still manages to score well in top 100 gaming lists all over the world. If you don't have a copy of this classic game I strongly suggest you get one. I agree this game isn't for everyone but those who grasp the gameplay will end up being a fanatic.

Reference: http://www.hidden-and-dangerous.net/hd/review.php accessed 12th September 08

And the following review written after the original game was released:

Hidden & Dangerous represents the new breed of realistic squad-based action games, which demand shooter-style reflexes only in short controlled bursts and only during those dangerous moments when the enemy is actually in sight. Otherwise, high tension and anticipation dominate gameplay, as you carefully edge your way through enemy territory, hoping you aren't detected en route. In Hidden & Dangerous in particular, you'll edge your way through all kinds of German-occupied territory during World War II, commanding up to four soldiers to get in, clear up, and get out of situations that would be completely overwhelming if not for the element of surprise on your side. The game looks good and feels convincing, and although it's unstable and flawed and otherwise every bit as difficult as you would expect, Hidden & Dangerous is nonetheless an impressive and uniquely serious depiction of squad-level combat behind enemy lines.

They couldn't have thought too hard in naming the Insanity graphics engine that powers Hidden & Dangerous, but the developers at Illusion Softworks must have put a lot of time into making it look good. Almost all the nearly two dozen missions in the game are completely different and take place during all kinds of weather conditions during all hours of the day and even on different terrain, from midair to the high seas. You can play from either a third- or first-person perspective, with the former being better suited to maneuvering, while the latter is ideal for targeting, and the game looks good either way. There's a lot of visual variety in Hidden & Dangerous as well, though none of it is too detailed if you stop and stare. Your troops and the enemy, while blocky-looking at times, are finely articulated with realistic motion-captured animation and clearly discernible weapons. Though those weapons sound a little weak, the game's thunderous explosions and other ambient effects, not to mention its booming orchestral soundtrack that responds to the action onscreen, all help to make the game's environments totally convincing. And you'll feel the tension every time you put an unassuming grunt in your sights.

While your reflexes will make all the difference when you square off against the enemy, you'll never even have a chance to test them unless you plan your every step and navigate carefully and slowly. Most every German soldier you'll face has keen vision and incredible marksmanship to match, meaning if he sees you before you see him, you're dead. Of course you'll have three men remaining with whom to accomplish the mission, but you'll probably end up retrying every encounter until all your troops make it home. In order to survive, you need to inch your way forward, keeping out of sight, using binoculars or a sniper scope to make sure the coast is clear. You must be ready to dispatch any guards or patrols quickly, and you must make sure your own snipers have submachine-gun backup in the event of a close encounter. You can also coordinate more complicated maneuvers thanks to an overhead tactical map that lets you sequence simultaneous actions as though you were composing music, but this coordination demands a lot of practice.

Even if you take every precaution, Hidden & Dangerous still demands trial and error. You'll witness your men get gunned down mercilessly time after time, but once you know where the threat is coming from (the camera conveniently zooms to your soldier's killer), you'll stand a better chance of circumventing disaster the next time around. Then again, being able to aim well and shoot first and survive is only half the problem. Before each mission and campaign in Hidden & Dangerous, you need to select your team and their equipment. The idea, apparently, is for you to anticipate the obstacles you'll face and to deploy and pack accordingly, but the execution of this planning phase isn't much fun. Of the three dozen-odd soldiers at your disposal, only a few excel at marksmanship, reaction time, or stealth. Once you realize troops with high shooting scores are perfect snipers while those with good reactions make ideal backup, you'll find yourself using the same soldiers again and again. It doesn't help matters that all your soldiers basically look and sound identical.

Outfitting your team with equipment is an especially cumbersome affair, as the game's completely counterintuitive interface forces you to transfer items and ammo to your men individually and with far too many mouse clicks. In fact, this clunky interface invades the entire game, and you'll feel it worst when you realize it takes about five steps to load a saved game, whereas it ought to take one. Although the game does offer an option for the computer to outfit your squad for you automatically, it may just as well be a self-destruct button since this so-called feature results in a game crash more often than not.

That the computer-assisted equipment selection is broken is the first evidence that much is amiss with Hidden & Dangerous, whose technical flaws are manifest in countless ways. There's little question, for instance, that the game's artificial intelligence has serious problems. Setting point-A-to-point-B waypoints for your troops oftentimes results in their frolicking all about the map as though it were a Family Circus cartoon rather than a Nazi internment camp. Although enemy soldiers are preposterously and unreasonably accurate, they're dumb as rocks otherwise and ignore their dead and fail to work together to stop you. They merely lie in wait or patrol about and do not respond to hostile situations in a convincing fashion. At least they die realistically. And aside from AI and interface problems, the game is chock-full of glitches and crashes and other inconsistencies. Your men perish if they fall so much as three feet. Sometimes they float in the air, or their weapons vanish, or texture maps drop out. And the camera goes wild, the game crashes whenever, and so on. You shouldn't have to put up with problems like these, especially within what's essentially a good game.

Yet such flaws can be tolerable if you choose for them to be. The fact is this game looks good and its missions are big, unique, and complicated, even as the tension continues to mount with each one. Hidden & Dangerous is the only convincing World War II tactical combat simulation out there, and it can be an immensely satisfying experience during those rare times that you successfully coordinate your men to achieve one of the game's multifaceted objectives. Ultimately, if its premise appeals to you, then Hidden & Dangerous is worth all the effort it takes to play. At the same time, you'll feel frustrated that it isn't perfect, since it comes so close in so many different ways.

By Greg Kasavin, GameSpotPosted Aug 16, 1999

Reference: http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/hiddendangerous/review.html accessed 12th September 2008

goodgotd wrote:

if you limit your scope to just the pre-1994 games, it's way less than a hundred megs, no CHD's- pac-man only had like 50k of rom memory- and that range of games a 1 ghz processor is all that's needed to run them at original speed. you can even build your own or buy original-style controllers.

Actually that's way overkill for regular emulation. The original machines were 1 or 2 MHz and a reasonable emulator should need a host no worse than a factor of say 50 faster, so an old P80 would run something like pacman just fine.

I worked on a technique that gives even faster emulation - so you can run on a machine that's maybe only 2 or 3 times faster than the original - it's called static binary translation and you effectively decompile the original and recompile it for a new processor. This gives enough of a speedup that you can actually run programs under emulation using in-browser java with acceptable screen sizes at a reasonable speed. We have one proof-of-concept example on the web that you might want to try out: http://web.utanet.at/nkehrer/Tailgunner.html - it's a fun game.

(We had a little problem with getting the java to run. If it doesn't start first time, hit reload, or click on the URL and press enter again.)

I actually have this game running on my Palm Treo, which is not the world's fastest processor.

Okay, I've made up a video of the sandbox mode for the Plasma Pong game. The only video available on you tube didn't do the mode justice. You will see from the video that the game an sandbox toy are very configurable. So if you've downloaded the game and found it harder than you imagined, go into the options menu and select the game tab. You can adjust the speed of the ball from here.

For those who din't realize, you use the left mouse button to shoot a stream of energy towards the ball to try and steer it into the opponents goal. :)

Anyway, I gotta dash, here's the link to the video:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=irnY2JJuczk

Day 3

I thought I’d post details of two games today (plus a taster for a soon to be released commercial game that I think is brilliant {after Beta testing it}). I was actually going to post a link to quite a large first person game today, but thought I’d save that till later in the week.

The first of today’s games is called Plasma Pong which is definitely a clone of the original, but with a very cool twist that will keep those of you who are into psychedelic colors occupied for hours. Besides the game play there’s also a desktop toy for messing around with color. You’ll see what I mean if you download the game. The video only shows the pong game play which leads me to think it’s a video of the earlier version of the game. I’ve been after this game for a couple of years now following my purchase of a pong/arkanoid clone called Little Gods a commercial game that if you’re interested you can download a demo of it from the following link (this is not today’s game by the way):

http://www.download.com/Little-Gods/3000-2278_4-10432134.html

Anyway, plasma pong was taken off the website for updating which seemed to take forever. Anyway, I was really pleased to find it had been put back up the other day. I wasn’t disappointed with it at all. It’s surprisingly challenging. The second game called Line Rider is a physics based game. Very basic graphics, but I found the game play riveting. I’ve posted a link to a video of this game, together with the soon to be released commercial version of the game called Line Rider 2 unbound, which is in color.

Plasma Pong (7.4Mb)

The following is taken from the download page:

Plasma Pong is a variant of the popular PONG game, with a high tech twist--it uses computational fluid dynamics to drive the environment. As the game starts you will have to duke it out against the opposing paddle, using the fluid as your weapon. You can shoot plasma out of the paddle to push the fluid around, which in turn pushes the ball around. Another weapon at your disposal is the ability to suction fluid back into your paddle. By doing this, possession of the ball can be controlled by the player. Once the ball is fully sucked into the paddle you can blast the ball across to the opposing player's side. After scoring against the opponent, you will ""Level Up,"" and the game mechanics will become more difficult. The ball will be more reactive to the fluid, making it much more unpredictable. Lose the ball and you will lose a life. Lose 10 lives and it's game over.
Version 1.2 includes a total game redesign from the ground up, offline multiplayer action, a new blast meter, and a revamped Sandbox mode.

http://www.download.com/Plasma-Pong/3000-2099_4-10511143.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10535307

Video of Game play:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NDjseVmruH8

Line Rider (~100Kb)

Line is a simple but fun-packed flash based game, you are provided with a simple interface where you have to draw a track, and the line rider will slider on your track according to the law of physics (like you will pick speed on slope), The ability to try different tracks makes this game really fun. You can save and then load game tracks, various users are coming up with different stunts by experimenting with game tracks.

http://www.download.com/Line-Rider-Desktop-Edition/3000-2099_4-10590022.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10590023

Video of Game play:

http://linerider.com/en/movies

http://www.freewareplaza.com/downloads/free_game_line_rider/free_fast_flash_game_linerider.html (You’ll also find a download link of line rider on the same page as the video).

Here’s a couple of videos of the up coming commercial line rider 2 unbound: I’ll be buying that one for sure as I love physics based games)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HQsTXYr5eoM&feature=related

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=27ioS8rTosE&feature=related

Another physics based game I’d recommend which is coming out very soon (well before Christmas) is a game called World of Goo. It’s still in its Beta test stage, but I can say from beta testing it that it’s brilliant and original. You can get an idea as to what the game is going to be like (though only a vague idea from the short freeware game) by downloading the freeware taster called Tower of Goo. I’ve already posted details of this game elsewhere in the game discussion forums several months ago when I first discovered the game. It prompted me to pre-order the full version immediately; and, through that, I was able to sign up as a beta tester. The fist stage was brilliant with some excellent physics based puzzles to solve (though you really don’t need any knowledge of physics apart from a little know how with respect to balance and centre of gravity):

It’s a 1.89Mb download from:

http://www.experimentalgameplay.com/game.php?g=1

I'll be posting each days new game around midnight GMT time which for Eastern US time will be 7pm in the evening of the previous day (lol) Though I'm posting Mondays game a little early because I need an early night tonight as I've got an early appointment with hydrotherapy.

I've decided to keep all the games in one thread, but will consolidate the games on a frequent basis (that is list them with download links) so that you don't have to keep having to search through the thread for gaes that you may have missed.
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Day 2

The next several games I download are going to include SMS (Sega Master System) emulated software. All these games were released around the early 90’s so don’t expect cutting edge graphics (though they were back then, lol) IMO I think that game play is the most important, so you should find some interesting games, (hopefully. I will try to post as wide a range of genres as possible so over a period of a couple of weeks there should be something posted for everyone.

The Master System was a very popular console amongst video games players in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s, and was the rival of the less powerful but more popular NES. This 8 bit forerunner of the Megadrive had limited capabilities compared with its 16 bit descendent, but the playability and ingenuity of the games led to many excellent titles, including a renowned conversion of the platform hit, Sonic the Hedgehog, which is still a popular title. In the early 90s the hand-held version of the Master System, the Game Gear was released to counter the Nintendo game boy, and more games were developed for the portable Sega. The Master System and Game Gear had nearly identical hardware (the Game Gear just used a slightly different palette) and thus most emulators of one system also support the other. Anyway, less of the history lesson……..

I thought I’d post a pool game today.(the link is at the bottom of this post) It’s not the best around by far, (I’ll have a graphically more up to date one for you in a few weeks time if this one gets a positive response), but once you’ve got over the 8 bit graphics and the keyboard only controls - apart from using the mouse to select from the tool bar, the game can be really satisfying. (though there are a variety of controllers that are supported, just go into the options menuand look for 'set config'; you'll should be able to set up controllers from this menu, though I've not tried setting up my X-box controller yet) You can even set up a multiplayer game if you can figure it out, though I think this will only be possible with a local area network. When the game boots up there's a dizzying array of options by clicking on the options on the tool bar, which include 'File' where you can add extra emulation, set up your online play and even turn your emulated sega off and take screenshots of your game. The second button 'Country' is where you set your area of origin. These include USA, Japan and Europe. And the rest include Video, Sound, CD Drive, options and help; though the help only gives you the game credits I’ll let you discover the delights of these drop down menus for yourself. They are only accessible when playing the game in windowed mode. My main aim here is to post free games and not review them, otherwise I'd soon grow tired of doing this as I'm not getting paid for it, lol. Though it would be really nice to see reviews from the community as I don't want to be posting games that no one is bothered about as then I'd be wasting my time and effort. (I was up virtually the whole of last night just searching for games that will be posted over the next five days, so there's going to be a lot of time and effort put in to find games that I think you'll like.)

The main keys you’ll need to know to start playing todays game are:

Ctrl key (menu) ...............allows you to select games and options from the various menus (basically acts as your enter key)

Ctrl key (in game) …………………………….that activates your shot

Arrow/Cursor Keys (menu).......Enables you to scroll through the various game menus and otions screens.

Arrow/Cursor keys ……………….. moves the cursor around the pool table.

Tab........................Resets the game

Esc.......................Full/window toggle

With these keys you can select what game you want to play and then once in game, set up your shot and play. To toggle between full screen and windowed mode click on the Esc key. The larger your computers monitor, the grainier the game is going to look due to the 8 bit graphics, so if you are affected at all by the look of a game I’d recommend playing the game in windowed mode. I haven’t figured out how to find the in depth help yet, so if anyone else does please post details here; thank you.

Still, as the game stands it’s still a worthwhile game to try IMO. There’s something satisfying about being able to pot a shot, especially when it's not as easy as you'd think. to be honest, this ea style of pool game is much more challenging to play than more recent games of this genre. This game definitely requires skill to play, so please don’t be put off by it if you find it hard to play initially. I have several pool games some DVD based and a couple of arcade versions such as DDD pool and I must say that even thought this is the oldest version amongst them, it’s still very playable. The following is the blurb given on the download page:

There’s no need to drag a pool table around anymore whenever you want to play billiards. All you have to do is get a copy of Championship Pool.
Promoting the pool industry on all levels since the 1940s, the Billiards Congress of America takes the game very seriously. Championship Pool for the Sega Genesis comes fully sanctioned by this respected organization.
In Championship Pool there are four modes of play: Challenge, Tournament, Party, and Freestyle. When you choose the Freestyle mode, it's like owning your own pool table. You can invent rules, make up games, and practice trick shots. In the Tournament mode, you can shoot for the 8-Ball or 9-Ball World Championship. The Party mode lets up to eight players join in the fun. The Challenge mode is for one player to practice and test his or her skills such as shooting, speed, accuracy, and touch.
Every kind of billiards game is available including 3-Ball, 9-Ball, 8-Ball, 10-Ball, 14–1 Continuous, Rotation, 15-Ball, Straight Pool, Equal Offense, and Speed Pool.
In all of the modes of play, you can view instant replays, choose the song on the juke box, set the spin of the ball, and decide how hard you want to hit the ball.
Now you can play billiards anywhere with Championship Pool.
Championship Pool features:
• Four modes of play,
• Wide variety of games,
• Support for up to eight players,
• Extensive instruction manual,
• No chalk on your hands

You can download Championship Pool from:

http://www.gamefabrique.com/championship-pool.html

Thanks, LeKanaw, for the link to that article... very interesting!

Thank you, Stephen, for the Marble Arena link -- looking forward to trying it out and seeing what else you bring to us!

arcade isn't a genre anymore, it's a buzzword for 'not strategy' or 'simple- IMHO.

Hi WHRabbit

Just came across this bit of news about BigFish, thought you could be interested in.
Dunno where to post it, putting it here, but I can ask for it to be removed though

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/12/big-fish-games-raises-833-million-for-casual-game-distribution

Bonsoir Goody

Yeah, I know they *were* games we used to put money in!! :D
Was just wandering the current name meant what: Platform, Adventure, Shooter, ...
Like, it took me awhile to figure what Arkanoïd was ...
It's just a LOT of new stuff to take in, in a different language!!!

Before starting to follow Stephen's "teachings" I knew NOTHING about games!!
Only had my (very) old little GameBoy since the mid-80's and 2 Mario games
Hubby game me a modern one 2y ago, the one that flips, when the old one died...
I have a vague idea of playing PacMan on our first Commodore64 :D That was fun, but oh so long ago!

Ciao

arcade used to mean games you put money in- [well, there were earlier meanings] I still have some of those... unique, dedicated hardware for all the early ones.

if you want to play the original games (7000+, I haven't kept up) look up M.A.M.E. (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator [dos]) or MAMEGui (win32) and visual pinMAME for pinballs.

MAME is made to emulate the hardware as faithfully as possible, not for speed. no video acceleration, as the games had none.

the emulators are small, the graphic packs [optional] are pretty dang big, but the real whack on download is the ROM packs. 16+ gigs for the full set of ROMs, and like 250 gigs for the compressed hard drive images for the post 1999 games.

if you limit your scope to just the pre-1994 games, it's way less than a hundred megs, no CHD's- pac-man only had like 50k of rom memory- and that range of games a 1 ghz processor is all that's needed to run them at original speed. you can even build your own or buy original-style controllers.

I've got a set of roms, never got into (never worked on but a few) the ones with hard drives, so I never bothered with a CHD set. tempest, asteroids, sky shark- that's my speed.

I lost Roads to Fantasy, but after writing loads of reviews over at Alawar, and after requesting a discount if I bought several games at once, they actually gave me the game and a good discount of several others.

My search engine is working now after re-booting so here goes some googled screenies of Marble Arena:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=marble+arena&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

regards

Stephen

I can't beleive it's been so long since FWF started that thread. It's such a shame he got banned because he contributed a lot to the forums.

Hi again Stephen

Now, this is funny
Did what you said, searched for Marble Blast
I have GGDesktop installed on this PC.
So, when I do searches, if I ever came across anything related/similar before, it tells me.
Well, what link do you think I got as the top result?
A review you did on 13.11.07 for "Roads of Fantasy"

So, if anybody is interested, you can learn more here:
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/r-o-f/

WHRabbit posts: #4 #5 #9 #10 #22 #23 #25 #32 - Hope I got them all ... ;-)
Wow, and that was on a day you were very tired!
There are LOTS(!!!) of info & links in there.

Also see #31 by Mapsking w a link for a free game.
There may be more links in there from other posters, I didn't read everything.

Hope this helps - Happy hunting :D

Unfortunately I didn't get around to taking any images. It's vaguley similar to Hamster balls and Marbleblast Gold in it's looks, though it's an arena game as opposed to a freeform game. Google Marble Blast to get some idea as to what it looks like. For some reason I can't get my browser to search for images at the moment. The computer needs a re-boot. I'm off to bed.

Oh yeah..... arcade.... it's just a general term for small games such as Match three, arkanoid, and tetris games etc. It originally stems from the use at sea side towns in the UK, where you could go to a gaming arcade to play various games, and later computer based games.

Regards

Stephen