Selections from The Vault for this week are 3 of my all-time favorite games, and I'm thrilled to be able to share them with you again. All three of these gems have long-lasting appeal: a puzzling platformer, a short yet challenging point-and-click adventure, and a remarkably futuristic turn-based strategy game. Individually, each of these games represents a tremendous achievement in browser-based casual gameplay and if you've never played them before, you're in for a real treat.

• Saltacol - You're just a lonely snail in this very unique puzzle-platformer that dates back to 2003. Find your way through each of the 6 caves by first locating and tripping the switch that opens the door, then reach the exit. It's easier said than done, though, because snails are roundish and you often have to reach ledges and platforms without rolling off. Persevere through this high-difficulty game and be rewarded by experiencing its fantastic level design. A recent collaboration with the author has produced a special version made exclusively for the JIG community with an all-new level never before seen anywhere else!
• Chasm - With the appearance of a Saturday morning cartoon, Chasm whisks you away to a little forgotten town with a water problem. Your task is to help Joe, the purple protagonist from Chasmton, figure out how to get the water flowing again in one of the most fantastic (and bizarre) puzzles I've ever seen in a Flash game. Although there may not be a lot to this game, what's there will definitely take you some time to figure out. Several years old and still one of the best Flash games of all time.
• Spybot: The Nightfall Incident - Originally created to promote a Lego product by the fantastic (and former) gameLab studios, Spybot is a fun and futuristic turn-based strategy game in which you play a S.M.A.R.T. Agent hunting down infocrime and other problems throughout the Net. You'll travel around a network of 'nodes' collecting special programs by engaging in data-battles. The game includes a tutorial to get you started, so don't worry about all the crazy terminology. It's easy to get into, but difficult to leave! Spybot is still one of the most ambitious, well-conceived and well-designed browser games ever made. It requires the Shockwave plug-in, and if you're on a Mac I suggest you use your Windows partition to play this one due to Adobe's abysmal Shockwave player support on the Mac platform.

While we welcome any comments about this weekly feature here, we do ask that if you need any help with the individual games, please post your questions on that game's review page. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and rediscover some awesome!

It's time for some more fun! Over the weekend, Berzerk Studios unleashed Berzerk Ball for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. The game is a follow-up to the browser game Homerun in Berzerk Land released earlier this year. If you're not familiar with it, think Nanaca Crash but ten times as hip and with upgrades galore. If you are familiar with it, you've already started drooling!

Apart from actually getting to play the game, there's another fun bit to announce. We've teamed up with Berzerk Studios to offer you a chance to be a part of Berzerk Ball! Not only that, you can win one of four iTunes Gift Cards, each worth $25! You know the geek you smack around who makes snarky comments as he walks back for more punishment? Well, you can be one of those comments. All you have to do is sign in below with your Casual Gameplay account and leave a comment along the lines of something you might see in the game. An example: "Noob shot. Didn't get that far lolz." Be funny. Be unique. Be awesome.

All entries will be judged by our staff and the Berzerk Studios team. All entries must be received by Monday, December 27 at 11:59 PM (GMT-5). Multiple entries are allowed. Keep in mind that this is an all-ages site, so make your captions profanity-free (but include all the internet attitude you like!).

Plus, some extra notes from our legal department:

• You must sign in with a Casual Gameplay commenting account below to ensure we have a valid e-mail address.
• All entries submitted to this contest become the property of Berzerk Studios and Casual Gameplay.
• You must be at least 13 years of age to enter.
• Void where prohibited.

We'll be getting a hold of the winners via e-mail. Now, warm up your funny bone and get to work!

Picture the Internet User personified, and imagine making a game for this stereotypical entity. If you're like me (and who isn't?), your creation would likely feature space rangers, robots, cats, elves, zombies, pirates, ninjas, and nostalgic appeals to growing up circa 1987-1994; which, I believe, pretty much covers everything the platonic Denizen of the Web could ever crave. Minus the ninja-pirate elf-zombies, Cat Astro Phi, a retro-styled action adventure, is exactly that game.

You play a plucky astro-pilot with an ill-defined though doubtlessly heroic agenda, who keeps crash-landing onto planets with hostile, labyrinthine space bases, losing your steadfast feline companion in the process. You move with the [arrow] keys, and fire, when you find a weapon, with either the [spacebar] or [alt] keys. Your job is to recover enough power cells and find your missing kitty before blasting off for the next planet to crash-land upon. You'll also need key cards to open doors and boxes to push into obstacles, if said boxes are not obstacles themselves.

Players will likely recognize the familiar handheld game console that Cat Astro Phi is mimicking, and the game looks the part. The green-tinged, four-bit graphics smell of pixilated authenticity (a good smell, I promise), and the music sets the era and is awesome besides. As an exercise in nostalgia Cat Astro Phi succeeds, and lucky for us, it is also a dandy little action game. I wish some aspects of the game were better explained, like how to neutralize the fatal "acid mud," or that the impossible space-shooter mini game between each level is really just a device to get the player to crash and experience more planetside gameplay. But the level designs are clever, encourage exploration, and feature all kinds of neat, surprising little things to do in your mission to recover your cat and be spacebound again. Cat Astro Phi is a nice, short action game with retro appeal, and even players who aren't the targeted allegorical Internet Citizen will find something to appreciate.

Check out the excellent soundtrack for Cat Astro Phi, composed by Rich Vreeland. Listen to samples, or buy the entire soundtrack to download for a measly $3. For a free download of the soundtrack, use Casual Gameplay account to leave us a comment, telling us how far you'd go to rescue your space-cat (or other space-pet, real or imagined). Submit your comment by December 24th, and we'll give one deserving commenter a free download of the game's soundtrack.

Play Cat Astro Phi

WOW. That's exactly how everyone here at JIG felt about the response to our Bejeweled 3 netbook giveaway! So many people sent in so many gems, it was great to see everyone having fun solving riddles!

After checking all of the entries, we sat down for that fateful moment when the magic of randomness chose who got to walk away with a Bejeweled-themed netbook. Once the numbers settled, only one name was left:

• Samata K. of Foster City, CA

Congratulations, Samata! We'll be in touch soon with all the fun details about your prize!

While we had our random number mojo going, we also chose three gem matchers to receive free copies of Bejeweled 3:

• Aaron H. of Redmond, WA
• James W. of Lemoore, CA
• Jon R. of St. Paul, MN

Enjoy your free game! We'll be in touch with you three as well!

Everyone did such an amazing job in this contest, finding all of those gems and sending in complete rosters of perfect matches. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in the scavenger hunt! You can bet we'll be doing giveaways again in the future, so don't be surprised to see more riddles. Only this time, they won't be so easy to solve!

And, as promised, below you'll find a list of all the hints and games used for the contest, in chronological order.

In space, there is no McDonalds. However, there is Bennie's Mac and Cheese. There is an uncanny warmth to the story that unfolds in Zebulon by Matt Slaybaugh. Crafted in the style of classic text-based 'choose your own adventure' games for the 9th Casual Gameplay Design Competition, Zebulon features the exploits of a somewhat wayward space crew. Unlike most fiction set in a science-fiction universe, the atmosphere is neither too grim nor too jocular. The story itself is relatively simple; you're the captain of a small ship that runs regular courier missions for Asmico, a delivery and service IT company. With you are your shipwright and communication officer; your shipright Hariett is a straight-laced, by-the-book stick in the mud while Reynolds, the communication officer, is unlikely to win 'Employee of the month' anytime soon.

The controls are extremely simple. For the most part, Zebulon requires you to read chunks of the story. The game was written using the Choice Of scripts and tools; at certain intervals, you'll be presented with multiple choices, each of which might lead to entirely different endings. Once you've selected your response, hit the next button and life will continue. There's no right or wrong answer here, really; it's all a matter of how YOU want the character to interpret his situation. Different choices will of course lead to different results, and you'll likely want to come back to the game again to find out exactly what changes depending on how you treat people or how you react to certain situations.

Analysis: More than anything else, Zebulon is likeable. In many situations, interactive fiction is often a straight forward matter that doesn't quite engage the reader. In Zebulon, it is easy to picture a good-natured Dungeon Master lurking behind the screen and penciling in your adventures. On certain levels, the jokes feel a tad bit forced but the overall atmosphere of the game is delightful.

While the writing might not win the Pulitzer's prize for its creator Matt Slaybaugh anytime soon, it is more than sufficiently compelling to hold most attention spans till the end. Small touches like being forced to brush your teeth, mentions of Spacebook and a space-bound goldfish are responsible for truly bringing Zebulon to life. Though 'choose your own adventure' games are the province of the past, the inclusion of almost RPG-like elements to the game will make it approachable even to the younger generation. What I like most, perhaps, is how both the protagonist and their crew seem to play equally important roles. In between training, negotiating disagreements and working your ships, there's a lot to weigh and consider. That's also the reason I would happily sacrifice a chocolate bunny (I seem to like sacrificing confectionary rabbits, don't I?) for a much needed statistics system in the game.

In terms of the game's interpretation of the competition theme of Friends, I'm somewhat undecided about its performance. While I'm extremely fond of the characters that power this soap opera, I can't help but feel that their personalities are somewhat stereotypical. It almost feels as though they were plucked from a predetermined roster. Now, this isn't a bad thing per say and I cannot imagine having to conceive fully realistic characters within such a short time frame but you know, I'd like to have been able to second guess my analysis of the people we meet in Zebulon. Still, the predictability doesn't weigh down the fun read nor the imaginative play on the genre; it's definitely something that could be easily remedied in an upcoming sequel. (Hint, Hint)

Play Zebulon

Deck the halls with bloons filled with tack-shooting holly, fa la la la la, la la la la! Forty-eight new levels, by golly! Fa la et cetera. Yes, it's the Bloons 2 Christmas Expansion Pack, a gift from Ninjakiwi. Take control once again of the dart-throwing monkey (now in jaunty Santa cap) and clear the bloons, now arranged in Christmas-themed patterns that will test your puzzling skills anew.

In this mouse-controlled game, simply maneuver your cursor around to aim, click and hold to control the launch speed, and release to throw your dart at a bunch of balloons, keeping in mind the effects of gravity. Did you pop anything? Well, good, keep going until you pop the required number of bloons for the level. Occasionally you'll pop a special bloon with its own rules, such as a bee bloon, which releases bees which follow your cursor and should be guided by same into popping other bloons. If you've played the predecessor Bloons 2, you'll recognize the new specialty bloons, some with clever seasonal reskins. For example, the monkey in a biplane is now flying a sleigh, and the pin bloon is now a sprig of holly. The music uses the familiar Bloons style in a medley of two Christmas favorites, "Jingle Bells" and "Joy to the World". Both take a while to repeat, and the way they switch back and forth also keeps the annoyance factor down. Separate mute controls for the music and sound effects are available, however.

While most of the game is focused on being fun and visually amusing rather than hair-yankingly difficult, there are a few levels towards the end that rank right up there with the best or worst (depending on your point of view) the series has to offer. You get five "super monkeys" to use over the course of the game (basically, your monkey turns into an eye-beam shooting machine of death, which is very satisfying if you've been trying to beat a level for fifteen minutes), as well as three "solutions". If you use a solution, the game shows you the level being beaten in-game. Interestingly, the solution doesn't always show the monkey beating the level perfectly, even on levels where this is possible. Once you use up your solutions and super monkeys, you have to pay to get more. However, don't forget about one more totally free option for getting through a level: on the level select screen, you can put on "unlimited darts" mode.

A lovely seasonal twist on the smash hit, the game doesn't break any new ground, but when the established ground is this good, it doesn't need to.

Play Bloons 2 Christmas Expansion Pack

A truly epic Mobile Monday this week, as we've got some huge iPhone game releases along with the results of our drawing last week! The name "Myst" will perk anyone's eyes up, and recently that game's sequel, Riven, was released on the mobile platform. And it's excellent! Combine that with a new game from the creator of Hook Champ, a hilarious browser game hitting iOS, and one of the best freemium city building App Store release so far, and you've got more than enough reasons to stay curled in bed playing iPhone games all morning long.

And now, free game time! The creator of Clock Blocks was kind enough to supply us with a few free copies of the iPhone puzzle game last week, so we randomly chose a few commentors for the prize. Congrats to jolson42, glowtmickey, and Malorion for winning! We'll be in touch with you shortly to give you your prize, and be sure to check back soon for even more game giveaways!

Riven - Needing no introduction and no praise from us for you to know it's an amazing game, Riven: The Sequel to Myst has been released for the iPhone. And, as you would expect, it's beyond stunning. The game received the same touch screen overhaul as its predecessor Myst, and every bit of the original game was stuffed into a single package, cramming five discs of data into a 1.01 GB download. It's a massive game, for sure, but oh so worth buying, whether you've played it before or are new to the experience. Over a dozen years after its initial release, Riven still manages to awe players with its rich world and tough puzzles, and the storytelling is as engrossing as ever.

Hook Worlds - Ready for more hook swinging action? From the creator of Hook Champ and Super QuickHook comes their best-looking and most playable game yet. Take control of four heroes, each with their own ability and own worlds to traverse. Everyone's got a hook, of course, and you use it to swing from ceilings to keep your momentum going so you stay safe from the baddie chasing you. But the secondary ability is what makes things interesting, allowing you to reverse gravity, rocket jump, or fire your gun, depending on the character. Each world has its own setting and storyline, and levels are randomly generated and endless, meaning you'll never run out of things to do. Unlockables and equippable items make the experience even more enticing, and Rocketcat Games is well-known for providing lots of tasty updates for its games!

QWOP - Oh that's right, the hilariously uncontrollable runner is back, with all-new visuals and a brand new control scheme that's guaranteed to produce epic failures. Use the left and right diamonds to control the runner's left and right legs, sliding them around to manipulate the tiniest muscle movements. Most of the time, you'll end up flat on your face (or back, or chest, or bum), and if you do manage to get forward movement going, you'll probably look like a kangaroo doing an impression of a lemur on a pogo stick at a disco. But QWOP isn't about running. It's about giggling uncontrollably at your iPhone.

Trade Nations - A very well-tuned freemium building game along the lines of We Rule and Smurf's Village. This one, however, offers a greater degree of customizability and has a more simulation feel to it, along with a gorgeous art style. Build cottages to attract villagers, build places to harvest wood and grow food, then assign each villager a task. Harvest resources so you can make your village a sprawling town, then trade goods and services with your friends to grow even more. You can speed up tasks by purchasing magic beans, otherwise you'll wait for things to happen in real-time, as Trade Nations is active even while you aren't playing. There are tons of buildings and decorations to play with, and the friend sharing is a more integral part of the game than in other building titles on the iPhone.

NOTE: Games listed may not be available outside of North America. Prices are subject to change and are therefore unlisted. Please see the individual game pages for purchasing info.

Puzzle Dimension is a great-looking and extremely well-made 3D puzzle game from Doctor Entertainment. Your goal is to collect the sunflowers on each level. Roll the satisfyingly-solid stone block across the floating tiles, leaping over single-spaced gaps when necessary, and touch each flower to nab it. Now, factor in ice, vanishing blocks, and loads of other ingenious puzzle contraptions and you've got a satisfying and challenging game that never seems to get old!

Rolling the stone ball and jumping are your two main moves, but you'll also control the camera to get a better view of the surrounding landscape. You'll need it, as some of the stages feature wrapped terrain, curved surfaces, and other obstacles you'll need to peer around. The controls are fully customizable, but the default [arrow] keys to move and [WASD] to change the camera work quite well.

Most tiles are solid and can be rolled across and jumped upon however many times you please. However, this wouldn't be much of a puzzle game if all you had to do was find your way around a scattering of blocks, would it? (Isn't that called a "maze"?) Unique block types are what makes Puzzle Dimension challenging, and when you encounter weak tiles that crumble after landing on them a few times or patches of ice that slide you along automatically, you'll see how devious some of these levels can be. It requires a lot of thought (and then a bit of dexterity) to plan and carve your way across a level while leaving a path back to the exit!

The set-up will be familiar to anyone who has played path-related puzzle games before, so the learning curve is minimal. Even still, Puzzle Dimension offers a stellar tutorial that manages to walk you through the basics without spoiling the content. The first few levels introduce you to some of the mechanics you'll see in later stages, and as the challenge gradually increases, you'll get quicker at making decisions and better at playing the game.

Analysis: Puzzle Dimension relies on perspective and logic to provide its challenge, and both are smartly implemented. You can tell the developers at Doctor Entertainment spent a lot of time integrating every idea into the game, as the performance is seamless and each puzzle is more brilliantly concocted than the last.

Logic-based puzzles of this nature are usually fertile ground for frustration, but Puzzle Dimension takes extra precautions to ensure you never want to pull your hair out. The group level select is the biggest feature, unlocking entire groups of levels you can play in any order. Collect enough flowers in these stages and you unlock a new group, so if you're ever stuck on a puzzle, it's very easy to skip over it and come back later. Thank you, Doctor Entertainment!

The visual presentation must be mentioned, as not only is it crisp, inviting, and interesting, it's also customizable! Once you collect enough flowers, you start to unlock new tile skins that change the appearance of the levels. The default blocks look great, but soon you can experiment with jungle and volcano themes that add a nice change of scenery. Best of all, these skins can be swapped no matter what level you're on, which is far more convenient than you might imagine! The tiles also start off with a more blocky kind of look until you run across them, which creates a cascade visual effect that's pure pleasure to look at. And pay close attention to the music as each level progresses. That's a treat unto itself!

You'll have a difficult time finding a game as well-made as Puzzle Dimension. Everything about the title is smart and player-friendly, something far too few games take into consideration. Challenging, customizable, unique, and always refreshing, it's a puzzle experience you're not allowed to ignore!

Windows:
Download the demo (via Steam)
Order the full version (via Steam)

Mac OS X:
Download the demo (via Steam)
Order the full version (via Steam)

Everyone gets junkmail. Coupons we'll never use, offers for bank loans we don't need, scams that are pathetically easy to see through... but today you've received a very different sort of letter. One mailed decades ago, begging for your help, and warning you against great danger. Mystery of Mortlake Mansion is a stunning new hidden-object adventure game that takes you on a journey full of talking beasts and shadowy places, and friends and foes... it's telling them apart that's difficult. Combining magic and mystery, this is a game that will appeal to fans of Dream Chronicles, or even anyone looking for a good story and some fun gameplay.

Upon receiving this letter from the past, you decide you're intrigued enough to investigate. Thoughtfully, the game allows you to decide whether your character is male or female, and the spoken dialogue changes accordingly. Whatever your gender, you'll soon find yourself at a deceptively run-down looking manor in search of the mysterious "R", who sent you the letter and claimed to need your help. It isn't long before you find yourself embroiled in a very dangerous battle whether you like it or not, and you'll have to do your part if you ever want to get home.

Part hidden-object, part old fashioned adventure, to solve the Mystery of Mortlake Mansion you'll need to scour both sides of the strange old building, solving puzzles and gathering items both ordinary and magical. Keep an eye out for a changing cursor that marks something you can interact with, as well as any glimmering areas that mark puzzles or hidden-object scenes. (Keep in mind that it seems like the game's terminology is British, so "football", for example, is more likely to mean "soccer ball" than the American pigskin.) While you usually won't be given much instruction for any puzzles you find, a little experimentation will go a long way, and you always have the option to skip particularly difficult ones if you wait a few minutes. Likewise, you also have a hint button to guide you in the right direction that only takes a handful of seconds to recharge. The map you gain access to will also show you areas that have uncompleted tasks in them, and allow you to instantly hop to any place you've already been. Handy!

Analysis: Games these days are very pretty. With how graphics have advanced (and continue to advance every year) that's almost a given; you no longer get any points for that. I bring this up because Mystery of Mortlake Mansion is gorgeous, but I made a mistake in assuming that's all it would be. The game is visually stunning, with hand-drawn artwork and the sort of rich colour palette that's a welcome treat in today's realm of computer generated visuals. It strikes a fine balance between creepy and mystical as you wander back and forth between the two realms that the mansion occupies, so that exploring never feels stale as you keep uncovering hidden mechanisms or new spells.

But Mortlake is more than just a pretty face. It took a while for me to really become invested in the story, since talking birds and Grim Reaper robes aren't as impressive as they used to be, but before long I found myself genuinely interested in the story you piece together through journal entries and other clues you stumble across. There are so many hidden mechanisms and puzzles and minigames on offer that you're never just wandering around without an objective, making this the rare sort of game that engages you constantly.

It's just unfortunate that it occasionally feels as though the game is more concerned with presentation than clean gameplay. There are a lot of little flourishes, such as the "victory" shower of symbols for puzzle completion, certain area transitions, or the map that pops up every single time you change areas, that look nice, but don't really add anything to the experience, and after a while they actually became a little annoying to me when I was seeing them every ten seconds and some of them actually hold up the gameplay to play out. The option to turn off the voice acting would also have been welcome; since the game always offers subtitles, you wouldn't miss anything, and to be frank not everyone delivers the a great performance. (Fortunately you can click through text as it pops up.) The end result is a game that's visually stunning, but winds up feeling a little cumbersome.

The gameplay itself isn't actually that difficult. While you may have some issues spotting items in hidden-object scenes initially, once you get used to the distinctive artistic style you'll probably fly through them and most of the challenges the game tries to offer. It decidedly feels like a more casual experience, something for you to sink into and easily enjoy without hitting any brickwalls or getting frustrated. Mystery of Mortlake Mansion is an absolutely beautiful game that's easily enjoyed by just about anyone. It's a solid adventure game that manages to perfectly capture that otherworldly spirit and atmosphere, and any aspiring magicians should definitely check out the demo.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.

Very few people think creating a soap opera is a complex and time consuming process, but PlayFirst's new time management game, Soap Opera Dash, simplifies the formula even further. Assemble your actors, do their hair and makeup, make sure their wardrobes are set, and shoot each episode one scene at a time. It's a bit different than other games in the Dash series, but it's every bit as well-made and engaging!

Step one in making a soap opera: choose parts for the actors. From the available roster, you'll select the jealous best friend, the supportive pal, set who the quarreling lovers are, etc. Once the roles are cast, the real work begins. Actors appear on the left side of the screen and take a seat. Each wants a script of a certain color, and it's your job to deliver it. Once they've read their lines, actors will want their hair done, then need a trip to wardrobe, and probably a visit to the makeup department. With each step, you'll move the actors by clicking and dragging, then give them a hand by dashing Rosie over to their positions to get the work done.

Once the actors are ready and on stage, it's time for a quick prop check. Need a table on the set? Drag one from the props area to the right. Fill all the shadows with the right equipment and you can finally start shooting! Drag the camera man over to his position and the actors get to work. Once the scene is complete, a volunteer clears the stage and you're ready for the next round!

Soap Opera Dash also incorporates color-based combos that function much like Airport Mania: First Flight. Red actors, for example, will turn a gray makeup chair red after they've used it. Drop another red actor in the chair after that and you'll get a tidy bonus, a number that keeps increasing the more same-color actors you utilize. The key to reaching the expert goal in each level is to spam combos like there's no tomorrow!

Analysis: Another game in the Dash series, another excuse to perform a menial task that's somehow made fun! Creating a television show isn't as simple as, say, serving a burger or parking a car, but it's still a greatly simplified version of something much more complex, and it's every bit as engaging as the other time management games. Only now, instead of worrying about baked goods, you've got persnickety actors to deal with!

Soap Opera Dash doesn't take any chances when it comes to its design. Just about everything you encounter hits right up the middle for this genre, providing everything you would expect and not much more. That may seem like a down side, but it really isn't, as the game doesn't need to innovate in order to be entertaining. And because of the set-up (actors, makeup, stage props, etc.), the game doesn't play like the other Dash games before it, so the experience is new without having to reinvent the formula.

One shortcoming worth mentioning is the easy at which you'll play through Soap Opera Dash. The game doesn't offer too much challenge, and aside from some hectic levels where you're managing a dozen things at once, you probably won't even break a sweat.

Thankfully, you don't have to be a fan of soap operas to play or enjoy Soap Opera Dash. It's a good looking and easy to play time management game with high quality everything. And without the cheesy soap opera storyline!

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Order the full version

It's the last weekend before Christmas, so a lot of people are out shopping for presents and such. Not us. We're sitting inside playing games. All. Weekend. Long! Take that, thinly-veiled incentives to buy gifts!

Gravity Garden (Windows, 21.9MB, free) - A fully-stocked puzzle game with astronauts, flower pots, Russian scientists, and some crates. It's... Gravity Garden! Working to become the next Russian space hero and one-up the U.S. in the space race, you are put in charge of a device that can switch gravity with the touch of a button. Your goal is to move a fragile flower pot to the teleporter at the end. However, since gravity affects everything on the screen, swapping the flow can crush your plant if you're not careful. A very challenging game with 25 dastardly levels to complete, and a sense of humor any child of the internet will appreciate!

Dacey in the Dark - Prelude (Windows, 9MB, free) - A short prelude for what is planned on being a multi-chapter tale, Dacey in the Dark is an adventure game that takes place in a stylish 2D sidescrolling world. Dacey has a fight with her father and leaves home. Going beyond the gates of her front yard won't be a simple task, as she needs a few supplies before striking out. A mysterious golden butterfly appears and seems to be guiding her somewhere. But, can you really trust it?

Stargirl and the Thief from the Exploded Moon (Windows, 2.7MB, free) - From the creator of A Game with a Kitty and Treasure Hunter Man comes another polished (and awesome) platform game! Some thief guy stole Stargirl's Starscooter, and not nobody is gonna stand for that! Even though she's a bit chubby (and boy does the game not let her forget), Stargirl is determined to recover her Starscooter, no matter how many platforms she has to platform upon! The game plays much like the item-lifting Super Mario Bros. 2 or Lyle in Cube Sector. Pick up blocks or enemies with [ctrl] and give them a toss. Work your way through 17 blissful levels of platforming awesomeness provided by one of the best creators of indie platformers!

Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows 7 and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!

Wow, Christmas came early, didn't it? Gam.ebb.jp has given us the best christmas present ever, another dismantlement game, Dismantlement: Smartphone. It's dismantling time for the umpteenth time!

For those two or three hardy souls out there who have never tried a dismantling game the concept is simple: take apart an object using only your screwdriver and your wits. Why your wits, you might ask? Because whomever designed these neat little gadgets has decided to copy protect their proprietary hardware in the only way they seem to know how, by creating mind-bending puzzles to slow you down in the process of deconstruction, with a nasty little booby-trap surprise at the end to thwart any would-be reverse engineering knock-off.

Taken as a whole the dismantlement series has been one of the most popular on the site, a basic concept that you might find in another, longer game — taking an object apart — and turned it into its own little genre and art form. Dismantle a radio? We're tuned in. Dismantle a fan? Let's give it a whirl! Dismantle a Burger? Omnomnom...wait, what? Yes, we have taken apart many things in our eternal quest to reduce common objects to their basic components, even something so esoteric as a Tea Canister. Does Smartphone live up to the standards of those that came before it?

Well, yes and no. The initial puzzle is definitely a tricky one, no question. Unfortunately, it goes a little downhill from there, the puzzles becoming progressively easier. The emphasis in Dismantlement: Smart Phone seems to be more on the graphics this time around, and the puzzles do suffer a bit for it. Still loads of fun, but not as difficult as some in the series. Tougher than Dismantlement: Burger, certainly, but still...

This is still a dismantlement game, though, thus a whole lot of puzzle solving fun wrapped up in a neat little package. And for us older folks who are sometimes confused by this newfangled technology stuff, who have trouble with touch screens or tiny little buttons, or who JUST WANT TO MAKE A DARNED PHONE CALL WITHOUT ACCIDENTLY SETTING OFF A CAMERA FLASH RIGHT IN THEIR EYES...um, well, for us this is sweet revenge, to say the least. So get dismantling!

Play Dismantlement: Smartphone

Thanks to Cyberjar88 for the heads-up about the new release!