Tontie

Tontie is another imaginative and challenging game from Eyezmaze.com, the creator of Grow. The object of this game is to bonk a variety of little creatures on the head with a "pikopiko" hammer as they pop up out of the grass from their underground chambers (the game board mirrors your keyboard's number pad). Each level introduces a new character and a new challenge -- some folks you can only bonk when they're eyes are open, some you have to bonk twice, some have little spiked balls and chain that, should you mistakenly bonk them, will drastically reduce the blood levels in your upper-screen heart gauges, bringing you closer and closer to death. A little coconut shaped shop with horns growing out of it pops up periodically, and this is where you purchase accessories like wings for your hammer.

Snake

In the later days of the last century, pretty much anyone with a Nokia cell phone had a game called Snake on it. This is the best online flash version of the game we've come across. As you've no doubt picked up by now, we here at Day Job Play Spot enjoy simplicity and elegance in game design and objective. There is nothing more simple or elegant than guiding an old school retro-vibed pixilated "snake" around a square. Don't hit the sides of said square or your snake will die. Don't let your head bump into your tail, or your snake will most certainly DIE! Those are the basic rules. Choose from three different levels: slug, worm, and python. Brought to you by the talented Paul Neave at Neave Games, an excellent source of well designed retro style games, which we'll no doubt feature again real soon.

Nucleus

Nucleus takes quite a bit of hand-mouse coordination. What starts out as a simple concept at first is in later levels taken to its most challenging extremes. Kind of like a combination of jump rope and Duck Hunt, if the rope were electrons and the ducks were their positive and negative charges. Or maybe it's more akin to passing the baton in track and field, but more complicated than just running in cirlces. We lack words to describe the utter simplicity of this bemusing and challenging diversion. If the Duck Hunt analogy held up, the rope (spun Double Dutch in later levels) would be turned by the rascally dog. Fortunately the analogy fails flatly, so the dog will neither giggle nor bark at you when you mess up.

Memory

There is likely no evidence suggesting that playing Memory is a proven method of boosting your IQ, but it probably does anyway. You know the rules. Pick a square, memorize the content and location of that square, then find its match. Each square in this particular version of Memory is a colorful and creative animation, with swirling abstract colors that make it fun to play and pretty to look at. A scoring system lets you gauge your progress as your memory prowess grows and you advance to the highest levels of mnemonic mastery.

WEBoggle

Hmmm, lets see: rope, poor, goo... A web based no download Boggle game! The objective of this classic word game is simple - find words from a 4 x 4 square of random letters. A real time scoring system lets you compete with other online players. Like Planarity, the simple -- even sparse -- interface, in no way detracts from the challenge or the fun of playing. It's just as addictive as the classic board game, but without the jarring cacophonous rattle that sounded every time you shook the letters! Your ears will be happy. Your brain will be happy too.

Flipbook!

A fine fine way to spend the day. Like everyone else, you'll start out drawing simple animations, ones that inevitably end as some poor stick figure's head explodes or yet another pixelated approximation of a furry cute thing meets it's untimely demise. But by the day's darkening and final hours, you'll have composed full length feature animations, with heroic leading stickmen and a stirring score you can whistle in your brain. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Flipbook!

La Pate a Son

What can we say? La Pate a Son is the most amazing game, puzzle, musical instrument flash thingy we've come across. Create amazing musical pieces by dragging various pipes, horns, and percussive devices on and off the checker board. As colorful jelly beans spurt out of the old fashioned steam powered machines, your pipes and do dads will begin to sing. You are a plumber and a composer. Change the key and tempo by pulling and turning levers and dials. A completely fascinating piece of art. Keep it going in the background as the musical accompaniment to your day. From the folks at Le Ciel est Bleu.

Grow RPG

Grow is an intersting little RPG with minimal sound and almost no text. How long things take to grow and when to plant them (and we aint talking about beefsteak tomatoes here) is the key to suceeding in this fantasy world of blue trees that grow pink bombs. In the story, told through visual cues alone, you are the virtuous human who versus the evil red devil. Create the earth, build a town, find religion, create an empire... that is if the evil devil's little monster minions don't kill your grand plans with first. A rousing song of triumpth, featuring trumpets and a snare drum will sound when you win. NOTHING happens when you loose, and why shouldn't it? From the friendly folks at Eyemaze.com.

Sugar Crash

In Sugar Crash you play the roll of Mr. Sugar, a blood shot eyed sugar cube whose sole role in his short sugar life is to bounce the little kid around so he can get his kicks. Sometimes you can turn into bubble gum, and the kid sticks to you. Sometimes you can let the kid take a nap if his sugar gets too high. In level 21, you face the evil and deadly pinata. Like Stackopolis, this game has excellent music. Brought to you by the good folks at Pizmo games.

Planarity

This game is based on planar graphs.The instructions are simple (arrange the vertices such that no edges overlap). The graphics are sparse. But Planarity is a really engaging puzzle. Things get challenging by the fourth level. It is especially good for working your untangling skills. Created by John Tantalo.

Stackopolis

The most addictive game since Tetris. Stackopolis is a block stacking puzzle game with beautiful pixel art evocative of an early 20th century urban metropolis. Great music too. This game is good for your brains, so eat your whole grains.

City Jumper

Hello and welcome to Day Job Play Spot. The purpose of this blog will become more apparent as we start filling it up with content. Right now, please enjoy City Jumper. Brought to you by the good folks at Albino Black Sheep.

Day Job Play Spot

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