Here's a game I had some fun with recently:
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/strategy-defense-3/
It's called Strategy Defense 3. The objective is to defend your own castle while attacking the enemy's castle. You can build two defensive towers, and lots and lots of offensive/defensive soldiers. The enemy (always a computer player) gets an identical setup on the other side of the screen, and the game is on.
There are three routes between you and the enemy: a land route, a sea route, and an air route. As the game progresses, you'll be able to to build ships and planes in addition to soldiers, and to attack on each route. Your soldiers will first attack any enemy units they encounter on their road, then the enemy towers, and finally the enemy castle. Remember, this works both ways.
As games go, this one is exceedingly simple. But it was fun. The graphics are pretty good, and some of the units you can build are pretty creative. I like that ships and planes are not ready as soon as you select them; they have some construction time involved.
One thing the game lacks, however, despite its title, is any sort of strategic component. This is strictly a "go out there and shoot 'em up" battle game. On that level, I thought it succeeded. Try it out for yourself.
So you know I've been playing lots of Tower Defense lately. I gotta admit, I like the genre. I like strategy games, I like science fiction, I like shoot 'em ups, and Tower Defense games manage to combine most of that in one package. It'll sometimes throw in some serious whimsy, too, but I haven't reviewed those games yet. Maybe next time.
Anyway, today's game is called Vector Tower Defense. You can find it here:
http://www.candystand.com/play.do?id=18047
I really liked this game. It had the shoot 'em up action that I like, with pretty good shattering effect when creeps are blown up, combined with a very fast pace. It did include an option that I thought was very good: two buttons near the top of the screen, to either send the next wave, or send the waves automatically. If you want constant action, send them automatically; if you want to catch your breath between waves, choose the manual option.
So far I haven't won this game yet, but I have discovered a few bits of strategy. First, sell off the old towers and use the proceeds to buy the more powerful towers. You'll never get past level 31 or so otherwise. Also, combine the fire-booster bonuses.
Other than that, I won't spoil the game with more advice. Make sure you scroll through the various maps before you play. The difficulty ranges from hard to nearly impossible. Enjoy!
I wrote once about a game called Escape, in which you play a cop who has to get out of a rather nasty cell, find the evidence against the badguy, and reach the endgame. It's a puzzle game, of course, but it starts out as a simple room escape game.
In room escapes, you start out locked in a room. You can use the mouse to point and click your way around the room, and see everything that's in there. Clicking on an object will usually show a close-up view of it; if an object is not clickable, it is usally of no value. Make sure that you click on absolutely everything you see. Sometimes, even clicking around the room at random can help.
It easy to spend a lot of time trying to figure out these games. They're fun, they're addicting, and once you get stuck on a puzzle, you won't be able to sleep until you solve it.
These games are usually evilly clever. If you like the puzzles in the old text adventures, like Zork or Enchanter, you'll love these. If you didn't like the text games, then these room excapes are not for you. One point of advice: do not play these games at work, if you want to get any work done in your lifetime. Or at least, get your boss hooked on them first.
You can find a good collection of room escapes here:
http://www.freewebarcade.com/room-escape-games.php
Enjoy! And don't forget to eat before you go in that room!
By now, you've all seen my love of tower defense games. It's an endless love, because it's an enless genre, but they are some pretty cool games. Here's another one for you to try:
http://www.freewebarcade.com/game/vr-defender-y3k/
In this one, the creeps are viruses, and you're defending your firewall to prevent a system crash. You can set up various types of towers, from the basic machine guns, to flame throwers, to plasma cannons, to voids that suck up anything in their range. All towers are upgradable, and the creeps grow stronger with every wave. Much stronger. So far, I haven't been able to get past about the 30th or 32nd wave. That's not a bad score, though, and I like a challenging game.
As with any tower defense game, the key is figuring out where to set your towers for maximum effect. Each tower has a specific range, shown as a circle, but upgrades can (though not always) increase the range. Some towers fire slowly, and others have specific effects. Some work well in combination with others.
I won't give any secrets, but that's mosly becaue I haven't hit on a winning strategy yet. And I also haven't moved off the easy map, yet, either.
That last, by the way, is probably my favorite feature of this game. You can choose what path the creeps take on their way to the target. The maps range from easy, which is very twisty with a lot of turns, to impossible, which is a short, straight line. This game is definitely a keeper, for me.
