Games on the Web

Light Bot Walkthrough

2008-09-12T15:04:00.001-04:00

Light Bot is a fun puzzle game. Simply 'program' your robot to move to each of the blue squares and light it up. You need to learn to be efficient, but each you get two functions along with the main program to play with. So, it's just a matter of learning how to put those repeatable steps into the functions and use those when you can.

If you get stuck, there's a walkthrough below. If you want to try it on your own, play Light Bot at armorgames.

WALKTHROUGH: DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE IF YOU WANT TO DO IT ON YOUR OWN!

In each level, your program consists of three sections. The Main, function 1 and function 2. The programs you can put in are left, right, forward, light, jump, function1 and function2. I don't claim this is the most efficient to any of the levels, but it will get you by.

Level 1:
Main program: Forward, forward, light
Function 1:
Function 2:

Level 2:
Main program: Right, forward, left, forward, forward, forward, forward, left, forward, light
Function 1:
Function 2:

Level 3:
Main program: Forward, jump, jump, forward, light, left, forward, light, forward, light.
Function 1:
Function 2:

Level 4:
Main program: Forward, jump, jump, forward, right, forward, forward, forward, forward, forward, light.
Function 1:
Function 2:

Level 5:
Main program: jump, F1, F1, jump, jump, jump, light
Function 1: Forward, forward, forward, light
Function 2:

Level 6:
Main program: F1, right, F1, light, jump, right, F2, right, right, F2, F2
Function 1: forward, jump jump
Function 2: Forward, forward, forward, light

Level 7:
Main program: F2, light, right, forward, right, light, F2
Function 1:forward, light, forward, light, forward, light, forward, light
Function 2: F1, F1

Level 8:
Main program: Jump, forward, light, F2, right, F1, F1, F2, right, F2
Function 1: F2, F2, right
Function 2: Forward, forward, light

Level 9:
Main program: Jump, left, jump, F2
Function 1: jump, light, forward, light, jump, light, right
Function 2: F1, F1, F1, F1

Level 10 (I found this to be the hardest one):
Main program: F1, F2, left, jump, right, F1, F1, F1, F1, left, F2, F1
Function 1: jump, jump, jump, forward, forward, forward, light, right
Function 2: left, jump, left, jump, forward, right, jump

Level 11:
Main program: F1, jump, right, F1, jump, right, F1
Function 1: F2, F2, left, jump, left, F2, F2, right
Function 2: Light, forward, light, forward, light, forward, light, forward

Level 12:
Main program: Forward, jump, light, F1, F1, F1, F2, light
Function 1: Jump, light, Jump, light, jump, light, right
Function 2: Jump, light, jump, light, jump, F1, F1, F1

Applicate ver.0

2008-05-30T15:25:00.006-04:00

A new game from the creator of the Grow series is out and it's called Applicate. Very short simple game of dropping apples. There's no directions, but it's not that hard to figure out.

The objective of each of the five levels is to get an apple eye guy (see the image... the apples with eyes in them are apple eye guys) to the door. Every time you click on an apple that is already on the screen, you take a bite out of it, dropping a new apple where the arrow is currently located. If you drop an apple on an uneaten apple, an apple eye guy will appear.

Keep in mind, he will always try walking to the right first. You may need to block his way to get him to turn around and go back to the doorway.

It sounds weird, but the graphics are as good as always. If you need any hints, ask below in the comments and I'll try to walk you through each level.

With only five levels, this is a short game to play if you're interested.

Play Applicate Ver.0 at eyezmaze.

Brute Wars

2008-05-13T16:22:00.004-04:00

Brute Wars is a pretty good RPG game just released on kongregate. Pick your team of brutes (animals) making sure to balance your magical prowess as well as your brute force. Then get out there and conquer the castles in an attempt to reach mount Asio.

Really, the story line isn't all that exciting, nor is it all that pertinent to the game play.
Just put together the best team you can. You'll have to take into account several different factors to advance.

First, there's a front and a back line. Keep your power hitters up front, and your distance hitters in back. But if someone's taking a beating, it's helpful to have another power hitter to switch in for him.

You only get so many actions a turn, so replacing someone in the front line may use up all your actions for a turn. Later on in the game, you'll have more actions per turn to play with, making it easier to switch men in and out.

The gameplay is not intuitive, so read through the directions.

Magical spells are stronger if you have more of the same type of character (water, fire, brute, etc...) But it also makes it more likely you could go up against someone who's in a great position to hit you in your weak point. I liked to balance things out more.

You can replace some of your characters by getting to a shop and buying a randomizer. That's the only way to get shadow creatures. This option will not be available right away.

You can travel back over spots you've already fought for to engage in random battles and build up points to buy food, syringes (to wake up those dozing creatures -- they've been knocked out) and randomizers. You also need the points to buy the upgrades (treasure chests on the map).

Play Brute Wars at kongregate.

Meet In Ver.0 Walkthrough

2008-04-28T11:51:00.004-04:00

The famous author of the Grow series is back with a new game after a prolonged sickness (I'm glad to see he's feeling better!). The new game, Meet In, is like his other puzzle games, but also unlike them. It's cute, short and fun, but definitely has the same feeling to it as his other games.

For a complete walkthrough, look below, but in the meantime, go play!

Play Meet In Ver.0 at eyezmaze.

Walkthrough

In the first box, I'm going to label this one dad. The second box (top right) is going to be mom. The bottom left is baby and the bottom right is kid.

Move the baby onto the blue button. Mom is now free to move down into the hedge maze. Move her onto the button at the bottom of the maze.

Switch to dad and move him onto the moving platform that mom just engaged (just head south in the hedge maze). Move the baby onto the other button on it's screen to move dad to the other side.

Move dad to the right and sit on the bottom of the two buttons to change the stone maze the kid is in. Keep switching the stone maze back and forth and moving the kid around until he is free and in the upper left corner. Move the kid up until he steps on the orange button to remove the orange square for dad to pass through.

Dad can step on the green button to remove the green obstruction from the kids way. Have the kid step on the purple button to remove the purple block from the baby's way.

Dad, kid and baby can now enter the room with MEET on the floor. Place each of them on their respective color to allow mom to enter as well. Switch to mom and bring her in and put her on the final T. You Win!

The Life Ark

2008-04-25T14:06:00.005-04:00

A point and click adventure, the Life Ark puts you in charge of developing life on a planet. Develop life through fire, water, alien life forms and big old teapots.

Like Grow, Warbears and Sprout, the objective is to click on the right things in the right order. The actions will take place automatically and you will soon have a green and lush forest along with all the animals (two by two) on your planet to enjoy. But if you click on them in the wrong order, your trees will die off, your little helpers (men) will pass out from the heat, and basically you'll just have to reset and start over.

That is, unless, you were willing to use the walkthrough below.

Play the Life Ark at freeworldgroup.

Walkthrough

Click on the tablet (in the middle of the ground). Choose the right symbol. Note the small circles or triangles or spots or whatever it appears to be that move around the card as you move from card to card. Just complete the pattern. An outlet appears where the tablet was.

Click on the cord hanging from the cloud to get it to start moving. When it's over the outlet, click on the cord again. Click on the outlet. When the cloud gets charged up (turns black), click on the plug to release it.

Click on the cord again to move the cloud over the rock in the volcano. Click on the rock. Click on the door in the mountain. Hit the button in the center until both disks have the fire at the top.

Click on the fire (left side of volcano). The cloud may have floated around. Move it over the mountain again. Click on the steam clouds (circles) floating up.

After the cloud absorbs enough water (turns dark gray), move the cloud out over the pond. Click on the pond to dump some water.

Click on the trees to get an apple to fall. Click on the cave. Click on the apple to get the man to eat it (apple of knowledge). Click on the man (his head) to turn it into an radio signal.

When the spaceship arrives, click on the cave again. Click on the river to get the new man to move the water over to the plant to help it grow. Click on the plant to climb up and get the blue gem.

Click on the fire to change the teapot into another UFO. Click on the picture of the UFO. Click on the read teapot, then on the hatch on the boat. Solve the puzzle (similar to the first one).

Success!

Warlords: Call to Arms

2008-04-16T13:59:00.004-04:00

Warlords is a strategy war game that just isn't all that strategic. Build your army one guy at a time and send him across the board. The bigger your guy is, the longer it takes for him to be sent. The number of men (or demons or elves or ...) you can build is very impressive.

Unfortunately, as I already said, this game isn't that hard to beat. Here's how to do it in 4 steps

1) Always choose the hardest level to beat. While it may make sense to beat the easier levels first, it actually makes it harder in the long run as the difficulty increases with each level. Buying upgrades is nice, but not key to winning.

2) Set your options to auto release. Either that or get used to holding the space bar down.

3) Send 95% of your guys along one row (as you can see from the picture).

4) Select charge when you can.

And that's it. You'll beat every level by overwhelming that one row of attackers. The only exception is when you face off against the troll giants, as they can stomp right along that one row. In that level, just send your speediest guys along every row (in other words, spread out your attack).

By beating the harder levels first, you'll have an easier time completing the game at the end.

I had fun playing this game, it's too bad I figured out such an easy way to beat it. Playing as the demons isn't all that different from playing with any other race, so I'm not sure how much of a
reward they are.

Play Warlords: Call to Arms at kongregate.

Boxhead: The Zombie Wars

2008-03-22T00:21:00.005-04:00

Boxhead, that zombie shooting series has it's fifth game out and this one just keeps getting tougher and better. In Zombie Wars, you have more weapons, more zombies, more of everything waiting for you in this shooter.

This game is tough. The number of zombies quickly gets out of hand. You need to learn how to react quickly, strategize (barrels, barricades, etc...) and more within the first few levels or else you will be dead and buried before you know it.

There are plenty of battlefields to choose from, but it all comes down to your reaction time.

Play Boxhead: the Zombie Wars at kongregate.

Update: Now that I've played this game for a few weeks, I have a few pointers and tips. First, the basics.

There are two scenarios as you start out. On the left side is the basic, and on the right side is defense. They are the same game, it's just the 'defense' is how things should look for you after a five or six rounds (if only a little bit neater). You have a defense set up, with turrets and barricades. You also have access to some more weaponry (as if you had worked your way through the earlier rounds).

The difficulty ratings also place you further along. It's as if you start off at round 10, instead of round 1. You have access to more weapons, but the demons are already out to get you. So if you're a newbie, place at beginner until you can get past the first few rounds. Then up the difficulty. It's as if you're restarting at a later level.

Scenarios. The scenarios don't really matter all that much to me. Different landscape doesn't really affect gameplay all that much. The smaller the field, the faster you have to deal with the hordes that come upon you. Also, you don't want to get trapped behind your defensive bulwarks, so the direction they come at you isn't all that important either.

Basic walkthrough strategy: Set up a defensive perimeter using turrets and barricades. Place more turrets and barricades as you can. Replace those that fall. Other than that, stay outside of your own perimeter and blast away. If you stop for even a moment, the devils will flame you to death. It only takes two quick shots from them to finish you off. Plus, you need to get out there and pick up the boxes to restock and replace your health. With a good defensive perimeter, you can last for a very long time. Once I have a good setup going, the only reason I lose is because I end up setting turrets around myself, trapping myself.

Barrel laying is great. If you start laying out barrels in a trail behind you and set them off (or they get set off by the turrets or by the devils), you can lay waste to hordes at a time. It's also great as a more offensive weapon. Once the barrels are placed behind you, they can set off the next one in line (sort of like dominoes). If you keep running ahead and placing more barrels, you can basically charge into a crowd and clear them out with explosions.

The minigun is great at clearing out a line, but I find it hard to select it. Instead, I usually use the barrels then the shotgun (once it's been sufficiently upgraded). The air strike is fun (it will clear the whole screen). The handgun is actually quite useful for a while, but won't help once it becomes too crowded.

Even More Bloons

2008-03-06T15:34:00.003-05:00

In case you didn't get enough out of Bloons and More Bloons followed up by Bloons World and then by Bloons Tower Defense and Bloons Tower Defense 2, now Ninja Kiwi has released Even More Bloons for your entertainment.

Aim with your mouse, and hold down the left button to set the power. One nice addition is the last shot (power and angle) will be shown so that you can adjust accordingly. One annoying things is how the clouds float by, making it harder to judge where you left your last shot when you have to try again. The later levels can be very, very tough to complete.

I'm not going to post a walkthrough for this one in the comments, but you can certainly ask me if you get stuck anywhere. I'll be happy to help you out, as long as I've figured out how to do it.

I find Bloons to be very frustrating, but I keep going back for more. How about you?

With more bloon types and more levels to work your way through, if you enjoyed Bloons, you will enjoy Even More Bloons at ninjakiwi.

Grow Nano vol 3 Walkthrough

2008-02-20T11:22:00.004-05:00

Asking for forgiveness, the creator of the Grow series has released a small and easy Grow game, Nano Vol3 for us to enjoy.

In this Grow, you are trying your best to heal up the main character who has been injured. Click on the six items to help him out. If you do it in the right order, the items will be maxed out.

So, what are you waiting for? Go enjoy it!

Play Grow Nano Vol 3 at eyezmaze.

I'll post a walkthrough in the comments below.

Vector TD 2

2008-02-18T13:01:00.003-05:00

If you played Vector TD or TDx, then you've played Vector TD 2. In other words, it's not really worthy of it's own review, other than to mention a couple of changes.

There are more types of games, with a normal, time attack, lightning and a puzzle/sandbox mode. Normal mode sends out the creeps as per normal. Destroy each wave, then set up for the next wave. Time attack keeps sending creeps out. Your objective is to keep going as long as you can. Lightning speeds up the vectors (creeps) and the puzzle/sandbox mode gives you 50,000 to start with and two bonuses, but that's it. In other words, you can try out various strategies for each of the new maps.

There are new maps to conquer, and if you liked Vector TD you'll like Vector TD 2 because it's the same game. I guess since they called it TD 2 I was expecting more, but ...

Play Vector TD 2 at candystand.

Protector Tower Defense

2008-02-06T05:12:00.000-05:00

Protector tries to be a RPG and Tower Defense Game rolled into one. While it doesn't really succed at being an RPG, it has enough elements to make it a very good TD.

Place your units throughout the board to stop the oncoming hordes. Let too many get by you and it's lights out. Place your units wisely and you can win any board. Place them poorly and you're sure to lose.

There are five basic units red (splash damage), blue (slow), green (poison), purple (electrocute: debuff), and dexer (high damage land based attach). There are four more advanced units: alchemist (splash damage, land only), archer (high damage against flyers, but not land), necromancer (high damage, but based on number of kills) and paladin (high damage land attack).

Your units earn XP based on how many times they attack and do damage to an enemy. You can't level a unit up unless he has enough experience, adding a new twist onto the level up/money equation. Because of that, it may be a good idea to build up the back of your maze first, then start building up the front. Otherwise the units in front will get all the xp and the ones in back will be very inexperienced in the later rounds.

There are two basic types of enemies: flyers and land based. Keep in mind that dexers and paladins cannot hit flyers.

Basic strategy involves a lot of red mages, with a green mage and/or a blue mage near the entrance. Keep in mind that effects are not cumlutative, so it's not worth stacking a bunch of blue mages. Also, don't put a lower level green in front of a higher level one, because if an enemy unit is still being affected by the lower level mage, it won't take on the higher level mage's effects.

When leveling your units up, you can choose to level up their special attack (recommended at least first two or three levels, otherwise you don't have the special attack) or the general expertise (much stronger basic attack).

Once you beat a map, you can get skills such as lower cost of units, more damage, faster learning (more xp), etc... You can always reset the skills you have chosen, which means you can try building up a superarmy of red mages, then try a more moderate 'spread the skills around' strategy without any penalty. Your skills also unlock the more advanced units.

All in all, this is a pretty good TD game. It can be slow at times, but with many maps (I haven't worked my way through all of them, yet), you should be able to find a map you find challenging. It is probably worth working your way through the easier maps (medium level) first, allowing you to build up your skills for the harder maps.

Play Protector at Kongregate.

Update: It seems a lot of people are landing here looking for a FAQ, walkthrough, or some details on the more advanced units. If you have a question, leave a comment. I'll try my best to answer it.

Multball Madness

2008-02-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

Multiball madness is a mindless time wasting fun game from armor games. Simple game play with addictive "I can do better than that" will get you playing again and again.

Simply keep your paddle under the balls and clear out the path ahead. Reminds me of breakout, but not quite. More like juggling madness.

The longer you last, the more balls will appear. The only way to die is to run your paddle up against a block, so be careful. It's more important to keep as many balls flying around than it is to aim any particular one.

Play multiball madness at armorgames.

Filler

2008-01-23T10:51:00.000-05:00

I've been playing Filler for the past few days and despite it's simplicity, I'm still having fun. The objective is simple enough, fill in 2/3 of the box with your balls and you get to move on. Get hit by the balls flying around and you lose a life. Lose too many lives and it's game over.

To play, hold down the left mouse button. A 'filler ball' will begin to expand at that point until you let go of the button. Don't get hit by the 'flying balls' (ever play jezzball or qiz?). You can move your filler ball around by moving the mouse around while it is expanding.

If your filler ball hits another filler, it will stop growing. Walls do not stop the growth, while the flying balls kill it off. (I think the flying balls hit the filler balls too soon. It can be very frustrating, so err on the side of caution.) Once the filler ball is finished (you let it go), it will drop down to the bottom of the screen. The filler balls are not static and will bounce around, or be pushed off to the side. It's very hard to build up a 'wall' that you can work behind. It can be done, but it's not easy and it really isn't worth trying since the wall will just fall down a few moments later anyways.

Another tactic may be to just build hundreds of small filler balls until you get to the 66.6% mark, but you only have a limited number of filler balls to make. Once you run out, the game is not over, but you lose a life for every ball you create from that point on, so it's not a great strategy.

Instead, try to make your filler balls as big as you can when you can. Smaller filler balls can be used later on in each level to fill up those spaces, or just to make room. A great strategy is to work in the upper corners. Create a ball, let it drop away and then start making a new one. The first one you built will act as a shield allowing you to build the second one. As long as you wait a moment for the first one to start dropping away, you should be fine.

Play Filler at Kongregate.

Flash Element TD 2

2008-01-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

Normally, when I'm disappointed or bored after a few minutes, I don't post about a game I've been playing. But given that this is a tower defense game and I normally like these games, I'm willing to talk about Flash Element TD 2, even if it is disappointing.

Like most tower defense games, your job is to place towers along the pathway to fire down on the creeps as they pass by. Your objective is to protect the goal, whether it's a castle or a city or whatever. This time, you're protecting your elements, the objects you need to build the towers in the first place.

There are five elements (green, purple, yellow, red and blue) that you use to build your towers (arrow, splash, sniper, fire and ice, respectively). If you've played other tower defense games, you understand what each tower does. There are two levels of towers for each element. The second level is a whole lot better, but they are also a lot more expensive.

Once placed on the field, each tower can be upgraded to level 5 allowing it do more damage (or slow the creeps down more). Each tower also has the ability to build up experience (up to level 4), giving it a slight edge.

There are 50 levels on the easy map. The best part of this game is the quips the creeps give just before they come forward and just after they die (I like the 'meep meep' from the yellows). After each level, you get interest payments, so you should try not to spend all of your money.

You can also sell your towers at 100% buy back, but only in between levels. If you sell them during the fight, you can only sell them at 80%. Which means you can totally redesign your tower placement in between levels at almost no penalty (you lose the experience your towers build up).

But despite some changes in the game play (experience, being able to sell the guns at 100% buy back in between levels), I felt bored. The levels weren't that challenging. It seems the creators want you to play again and again in an effort to build your score up. After playing Flash Element TD, I expected more from the sequel than what we've been given.

Play Flash Element TD 2 at casualcollective.

Warbears: An A.R. X-Mas Walkthrough

2008-01-02T15:20:00.000-05:00

Warbears, an A.R. X-Mas Adventure lets you take charge of the Warbears once more, but this time it's serious. Kla is on a shopping adventure and Steve is on a mission to pull the ultimate prank.

Like the other warbear adventures, this is a point and click adventure with a little bit of wit and weirdness thrown in to keep things interesting. Click on anything and everything to work your way through the adventure. Don't forget to open up your inventory (top left) and combine the various items and try them out on other objects to move along. If you get stuck, there's a walkthrough below:

Play Warbears: An A.R. X-Mas at warbears.com

Walkthrough (Spoilers below!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Pick up the gift. Click on the fur scan on the far right. Go talk to Bob. Click on the fur scan again.

Go up and grab the batteries and the neon wires. You can't find the wires, though. Open up your inventory and click on the present. Click on the goggles and then on Kla to put them on. Click on the goggles (up in the inventory) to turn them on.

Click on E-dude, then on find item. Grab the wires.

Cut Scene

You are now Steve. Open Kla's wallet. Grab the taser and the BTE map. Give both to Bob (one at a time) to buy them. Go outside. Go to the far right to go off screen. Click on the bank (green highlight on the map).

Walk into the bank.

Play as Kla. Click on the far left to get the red thread (behind the cliff). Click on the blue thread (looks like a box to me?). Click on the virtual tree across the way. Talk to e-dude and get him to cut down the tree.

Grab the green thread after it bounces out of the tree. Go up the cliff, then jump down onto the tree. Head on over to the right side.

Play as Steve. Leave the bank screen to the right. Click on the park.

Talk to granps. Try Plan A and Plan B. Click on the locker. Look at the circuit panel. Head back to Bob's shop.

Talk to Bob: click on I want to order and choose the nuclear device. Open up the toolbox while Bob's gone (Be quick about it). Repeat the process (order another nuclear device) to get Bob out of the way long enough to grab the screwdriver. GO back to the park.

Open the circuit board with the screwdriver. Use the taser on it circuit. Talk to granps and select plan c. Use the taser on the circuit again. Head on over to the bank and talk to granps.

Go back to Bobs and grab the hacking device. Give it to Bob to purchase it with your reward money. Use the hacking device on the door upstairs (panel next to the door). Go in the door.

Play as Kla. Place the threads into the boxes below the tree in the following order (red, green, and blue) as the tree lights up in those colors.

Play as Steve: Pick up the wires, batteries and neon lights. Connect the wires to the neon lights. Connect those to the batteries.

Kla defeates the evil spirit of X-mas. Click on Get out of here.

The end (or is it?)

Vector TDX

2007-12-21T09:57:00.000-05:00

Vector TDX is the very worthy follow-up to Vector TD. Like the first version, this one is excellent. But the developer has made this one a lot more difficult. If you can get to level 33, you're doing great. If you get to level 37, consider yourself an expert. Anything beyond that and you're probably cheating. ;-)

For those who haven't played Vector TD, Vector TDX is a tower defense game. Place your towers somewhere in the maze and let them shoot down the vectoids (creeps is what they are called in tower defense lingo) as they come through. Upgrade or place new towers to eliminate them all. If 20 creeps reach the end of the maze, it's game over.

The trick to getting very far is to learn to spend as little as possible on each level to get through it. With interest payments at the start of each round, that 3% can add up.

Hints, tips and tricks

Every 10 levels you get a bonus, I recommend increasing the interest payments.
One level 1 green tower (properly upgraded and placed) can get you pretty far, but won't cut it later on.
Remember to start the creeps out (release vectoids button), then place or upgrade your tower. That way you get the interest payment first.
The first blue tower is very useful in slowing the vectoids down long enough for the other towers to blow them away.
The orange regener creeps are easy enough to start with, but will destroy you later on.

Play Vector TDX at candystand.

Ballistic Wars

2007-12-12T17:23:00.000-05:00

Ballistic Wars is pool balls meets war game. Play all 15 levels over at JIG's Design Competition site to get the full effect. While I missed it when it came out (apparently there were a lot of design issues and bugs), I'm glad I played it eventually.

Basic gameplay is easy to grasp. Send your soldiers (pool balls) flying into the bombs to damage them. You only have three types of soldiers, basic, tank and specialist. The specialist can fire at targets or run into them.

The only complaints I have are minor. Scrolling is slow and can be tough to manage. And the music is quite repetitive (I eventually turned it off, leaving the sfx on). But other than that, the graphics are fun (note how the soldiers move when the ball is rolling!) and the dialogue is also fun.

I only had to reattempt a couple of levels more than once. The puzzle aspect of this game is fun, but linear.

Play Ballistic Wars at fizzlebot.

Warbears 3 Walkthrough

2007-11-21T13:25:00.001-05:00

Warbears, those wacky, smart-aleccy agent bears are back again, only this time it's a real mission. Save the hostages, take out the guards, pop some bubbles, stop the bad err... fish.

If you've played warbears or warbears 2, you know what to do. Follow along and pick out the right moves at the right time by holding your mouse over each bear and trying things out. Or, if you get sick of failing all the time, follow the walkthrough below.

Play Warbears 3 at warbears.

Walkthrough
From Checkpoint 1:
Look at the string using agent Lucas (looks like an eyeball, but not the grenade). Pull the string to 'free the hostages.'
Kla scolds Lucas. Get Kla to launch his robot rocket. Select manual and move the rocket above the device lowering the hostages. Drop it on top, then move it quickly back to the left and then back under it to the right and shoot back up into it. If you do it quickly enough (while the red lights are still flashing), then it will tilt. You have saved the hostages! Oil pours down one of the poles, giving Ryoh, once he's free from the hamster ball, access upwards.

Move the rocket back upwards to the red rocket outline. Click on the dot when the rocket gets highlighted blue to land the rocket. The WBOT will deploy. Use KLA's PDA once again to control the WBOT. Move him around using the left mouse button (click where you want him to go), but keep him within the blue outer line, or he will fall and the mission will fail. In the upper left corner, there is a green square. Move onto it and activate the toolbox. Move to the upper right hand (you have to go back down and to the right then back up) to move the chain around. Lower it once, then raise it once, then lower it to 73.

Move the WBOT back down and to the left (just to the left and down from where you started) to the green squares. Raise the crane until you can move it into position 5, then lower it until the boat lifting strops are hooked. Raise it back up and move it to position 1. Then lower it all the way down (the hooks will be below the boat). Get out of controlling the WBOT.

Lucas should now toss his grenade at full strength but half power. Click and hold on the arrow when it is full, then hold it down until the grenade is half full. Ryoh will be set free by the pirhanas!

Move Ryoh up-left (arrow) and when he reaches the top of the pipe, use his katanas to slice the pipe open. Go up the pipe again and start sliding down. As he slides, click on the arrow to get him to jump onto the platform on the right. Use his katanas at full power to cut the chain, starting a fire to attract the pirhana. Have Lucas throw a grenade at half strength (arrow half full, grenade full), but full power to kill them off.

Get Ryoh back onto his bubble, then have him go left (arrow) to attach the boat hooks. Click on the PDA to get the WBOT to raise up the boat (up on the Crane panel).

A couple of notes: the rocket to free the hostages was a pain. Even knowing how to do it, I had to try several times to get it right. Also, having the WBOT fall off the crane several times, I have to say his maneuvering abilities are awful! Then of course, there's throwing a grenade at the hamster wheel. The interface was not very good at keeping track of when I was releasing the grenade, so I kept killing off Ryoh.

Checkpoint 2:
Click on Lucas. He will shake dust off onto the guards. Move right to test the door. Move Kla left and get him to try his PDA. It has short circuited.

Get Ryoh up by clicking on the arrow (move your mouse around near the bottom right). Fight the guard. Move left, then click on the katana to slash the pipe. Look at the gauge. Move the slider to #2. Drag the wheel to the right to fill it up (gas leak will start). Slide over to #3, then drag the wheel to the left and quickly push the handle down. If you get it right, a fire will start.

Move Ryoh left, then up the stairs. Use his katanas to break the laser. Head back down to the gauge and wheel. Move the slider to 3 and get it up half-way. Notice how the screen on the machine next to the lase goes from off to on as its gauge moves into the green. Move Ryoh left and hit the button. Then move upstairs again. If you want, you can hit the button on the panel to send a box out now or wait until after the circuit has been reset.

Move Lucas downstairs. Move right and open up the toilet dispenser fuse box. Take out the fuse. Move right and put the fuse into the crane fuse box.

Have Kla open up his PDA again. Get Ryoh to move a box out. Important! Don't drop any boxes onto Steve! Get Kla to pick up and move the boxes up. Green to turn the magnet on and off. Blue to go pick up a box. Yellow to reposition it when it is up (i.e. don't drop one on Steve!). Move Steve left and up as needed to keep him moving up on the stacks. Keep sending boxes out using Ryoh. Lift them up using Kla, then get Steve up onto them (Again, don't drop any on Steve!). The fourth box will go out upside down. Move Ryoh downstairs and hit the button to get it out of the way. Then reset the conveyer belt and send out another box. Get Steve up into the boat.

Move Steve right into the boat. Pick up the object on the table to the left. Hit the bottom left corner of the poster on the right. Find the 3 pieces of paper and then get the crowbar. Open up the box.

Once in the boat look to the left and pick up the weird object on the table. Then hit the bottom left corner of the poster on the right so steve remembers about the pieces of paper he put the code for the safe on. Then find the 3 pieces and collect the crowbar. Use the crowbar on the box. Grab his clothes off the table.

Get Lucas to move the fuse from the crane to the elevator. Bring Lucas back up to get the 'shiny thing' and the CDGs.

Move Ryoh back down to the gauge and wheel and move the gas into #1. Move Lucas right and up the stairs. Throw a grenade (1/3 power, 1/3 blast). Get Steve to shoot the laser. The remaining guard will run. Open up the water tank, take a shower, then move right.

If you haven't already, get the elevator to work by switching the fuse out of the right most box and into the left most box using Lucas. Move Steve right into the elevator.

Checkpoint Three (short and sweet)
Once Steve is out of the elevator, shoot the guards in between ducking behind the panel. Do it quickly for a bonus. Move left twice to check out the office. Go right to find the door is locked. Go back into the office to get the key. Go back to the door and head downstairs. Take out the guard.

Fight the big guy by hitting near the bottom left (on the blue band) of his helmet. The blue band at the bottom will eventually be damaged.

The machine has been activated. Move the red block so that they are in order (I, II, III) from left to right on the middle row. Have Steve shoot the middle. Move block I to the top left and the III block to the bottom right and shoot the bottom. Then move block I to the bottom left and block III to the top right and shoot the top. You win! (well... sort of...)

Coffee Shop

2007-11-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

Coffee Shop is the latest lemonade stand look alike from armorgames. (That's not to imply that armorgames comes out with look alikes every week, but that I've seen other lemonade stand look alikes before. And if you don't know what I mean by the lemonade stand game, then you must be under the age of 5.). This one is graphically pleasing, with lots of fun animations to find and enjoy.

Like lemonade stand, the challenge is to find the best mixture possible between coffee, sugar, and milk, while still having enough cups each day to serve everyone. After that, it's just a matter of finding the right price to charge depending on the weather.

If you're reputation goes up high enough, maybe even the pope will stop by for a quick drink.

The better your coffee, the more you can sell your coffee for. But for a laugh, on day 14, make the worst cup of coffee you can and sell it for as much as you can. Everyone will still stop by and since you're closing shop tomorrow, it doesn't matter if they all start puking their guts out on the sidewalk.

Play Coffee Shop at armorgames.

Cursed Winds

2007-11-15T17:38:00.001-05:00

Cursed Winds from freeonlinegames is a fun sailing shooter. Take your pirate ship out and attack the other 'cursed' pirates in 15 levels of mayhem. Either take out the ship below them by blowing it to smithereens or board the vessel and take the crew on (make sure you can take them, or they may just take your ship!). Either way, make sure you plunder their ship before it floats away.

The best strategy is to upgrade your reloading capability first. This applies on every level until its fully upgraded. Then go for upgraded damage and boat speed (avoiding their cannon fire is a priority).

A great way to start a level is to move into the up-right corner. Unless something comes out from the right side (it does happen occasionally on the later levels), you should have a free shot until they turn around and make their way back across.

If you can get above the enemy ships, you also have a free shot, but the slide upwards very quickly, so you may get stuck in a boarding action when you're not ready for it.

If you can get past the second level, you should be alright, but I would still save between every level. Spend all your money in between levels to upgrade your ship.

Play Cursed Winds at freeonlinegames. At admiral level, I had a final score of 854805. Have you beaten that?

N3wton

2007-11-07T14:26:00.000-05:00

More fun than it first appears to be, N3wton is a short and sweet game applying Newtons Laws of Physics. You control a simple tank. Shoot at all the black tanks that are either firing at you or are firing at predetermined angles. Knock them off the platform or get yourself knocked off to lose. Just be careful of the recoil.

To play, move around with the arrow keys or with aswd. Aim and fire with the mouse. The longer you hold down the left mouse button the harder your shot will be, but that also increases the amount of recoil you should expect.

The levels do get harder, but there are only 25 of them. You should be able to finish the game fairly quickly.

Play N3wton at kongregate.

Strategy Defense

2007-10-25T14:57:00.000-04:00

While Strategy Defense looks like a tactics game, it really isn't. There's very little strategy involved in one 'hero' taking on anywhere from 4 to 8 (until the last battle) enemies whose only strategy is to charge forward, shoot at you and then run away.

But it's still a fun game. I found that by treating it as a puzzle game I could enjoy the challenge that came with each level. While getting stuck on certain levels was extremely frustrating when I couldn't solve it, I did get by eventually.

Ever hear of moving in a diagonal? Apparently the maker of this game hasn't.

Tips:

Kill everything to build up your experience. While you get more money for finishing levels in fewer rounds, the xp counts for more. Instead, make sure you are at full health (or close to it) in order to build up your money supply. Building up money supplies is important. Don't waste any chance to end with a higher hp.
Don't worry about buying things at the store. If you don't use it, you can sell it back later at the same price.
Sometimes its best just to get shot and use your retaliation to fire back. Take a health potion on your turn instead of firing back and getting shot in retaliation. The best time to shoot one of your attackers is only if they will die with that shot. Otherwise, they get to hit you twice (once on your round in retaliation, and once on their round when they shoot back).
If you can, stay out of range of your attackers and hit them with the magic arrow. Especially on the earlier levels and against the towers, this can save you a lot of time.
Magic (except for the arrows) becomes useless within four rounds of when you can start using it.
If you can't avoid your attackers the best strategy is to minimize the number of attackers who can hit you in a single round. Then heal yourself on your turn. Allow your retaliation to take care of them.
Enemy knights are easy to avoid, so kill everything else while avoiding them.
Keep in mind that you can run a lot farther as a knight, and you can switch right back to whatever else you want when you get there.

Update: Oops! As the anonymous commenter pointed out below, I never told you where it was.

Play Strategy Defense at crazymonkeygames.

Bloons Tower Defense 2

2007-10-19T14:13:00.000-04:00

Bloons Tower Defense 2 has everything you ever wanted as a kid, bloons, towers, and uh... dart throwing monkeys.

The follow-up to Bloons Tower Defense, the sequel has improved the original slightly. You still have balloon popping, dart throwing (yes, they are all right-handed) monkeys, but now you have to use some of the different towers. For instance, unless you have a cannon, you can't blow up the lead balloon that start coming in level 20.

There are also some nifty tools, like monkey glue and road spikes that you can use for a temporary reprieve.

The sequel is harder than the original, but I have faith that if you beat the original, you can beat at least the medium level. Again, the super monkey is the best dart thrower out there, but without a cannon, you won't be able to finish the game.

Play Bloons Tower Defense 2 at ninjakiwi.

StormWinds

2007-10-17T17:32:00.000-04:00

Stormwinds is a new turret defense game that is pretty generic in nature. If you like games like Bowmaster or Battle, you'll enjoy this game. Just don't expect too much.

Place your turrets in your cliff fortress and fire away at the oncoming waves of enemies. The first few levels are very easy, but they do get tougher. There are 25 levels in all, with each one getting progressively more difficult (not completely linear, but a general trend of increased difficulty is there). The boss is not too hard to defeat once you get to him.

No sound effects is a detraction, but the music is good. Repetitive after a while, but it does set the stage nicely. I wish the hot keys would work for me. Switching guns is a pain, the hotkeys would be nice.

Basic guns are the heavy turret (good for taking damage) and the machine gun (good for long distance fighting). Place your heavy turret in the first slot to take the most fire. The sniper gun is useful for quick take downs. One strategy is to have two snipers and one heavy turret. That will get you pretty far. The lightning gun is fun, but slow to recharge.

This game is pretty basic in nature, fun, but like I said, don't expect too much.

Play StormWinds at herointeractive.

The Battle

2007-10-02T17:36:00.000-04:00

The Battle is in Beta, so anything I say here could be different in the final version, and really, that should be a good thing.

Similar to Bowmaster or Bowmaster Prelude, you have a big gun that you can fire at the opposing troops (but not their base) as they try to invade your base. You can also recruit troops to attack their base or defend your position.

On the field in between the two opposing bases are turrets which you can take over (or attack if they are already occupied) and oil fields. You want to defend the oil fields in order to build up your money supply.

The money you collect can be spent on troops, research on better troops, upgrading your weaponry, or shooting at the bad guys.

What I like about this game: the introduction of money into the strategy is certainly interesting. Also, different weapons, upgrades, the cost of firing your own weapon, the 'surprise' ending on level 15 all make this enjoyable. Figuring out where to place your troops to maximize their effectiveness adds a nice bit of strategy to the game.

What I don't like (and I hope they fix in future versions):
Overall, this game is way too easy. You can shoot your way to victory on every level without recruiting more than a couple of men (who go out and occupy the turrets and oil fields). It's also way too easy to take the turret (when available) that's next to the enemy base and let it destroy the enemy base.

The research is a nice idea, but it's too easy to research everything by level 5. Then you're left with a lot of money which means you don't have to worry about spending at all.

The point system leaves a lot to be desired. Perhaps a bonus for time to finish or something. If you want to maximize your score, just kill everything the other base creates and he runs out of troops. Destroying the other base gives you a nice bonus, but not enough to make it worth your while to do so.

Also, if you have two different methods to end the level, there should be some way of marking your progress with either method. You know what the enemy base hit points look like, why don't you know how many more troops he can recruit?

Why can you stop some of your troops from running off the far side of screen and not others? Also, once you run out of population, you need to commit suicide in order to build others. It would be nice if you could sell them off instead.

Anyways, I still had fun with it. Bowmaster is way better, but if you like that, you'll like The Battle (lousy name, btw).