Comments on: Have flu. Need game.

Question: Have flu. Need game.

mudpuppie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:23:23 -0800

I need a good time suck. Recommend free games, either online or downloadable? I loved Dwarf Complete. Something like that would be ideal. WinXP, by the way.

By: foodgeek

foodgeek — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:35:18 -0800

I've wasted an absurd amount of time playing Fantastic Contraption...

By: heresiarch

heresiarch — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:40:48 -0800

Try wandering around Kongregate for a while. I'm sure you'll find stuff to taste. If you "Badges" section you'll sees a list of things you can get points for playing; those are usually the better games.

By: plasticbugs

plasticbugs — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:46:40 -0800

My friend Anthony has a video podcast in which he recommends free and cheap downloadable games every week (mostly PC, some console). It's called Bytejacker and this week he's got the a top 10 list of free retro-inspired games - all downloadable, all free. Watching these shows will also help to eat away some sick time. Get well soon!

By: plasticbugs

plasticbugs — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:48:23 -0800

Also, forgot to mention that the links to the games in each episode are right below the videos. Should save you from having to hunt for decent games.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:52:14 -0800

In addition to kongregate, check out armorgames & jayisgames. A fair amount of overlap in those 3, and JiG has a bunch of sponsored for-pay stuff, but once in a while you find something on one of them that you won't see on the other two.

By: porpoise

porpoise — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:57:16 -0800

How about rogue-likes (Which Dwarf Complete looks like at first blush) such as Dwarf Fortress?

By: mullacc

mullacc — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:01:14 -0800

Ahem. IRC.

By: gemmy

gemmy — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:13:38 -0800

Desktop Tower Defense and Peggle. Seconding Fantastic Contraption, which is really fun. In a similar vein is Armadillo Run.

All of these are awesome timesucks.

By: dolface

dolface — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:24:54 -0800

I've been wasting time today on Light Bot

By: still_wears_a_hat

still_wears_a_hat — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:37:42 -0800

Games at reflexive.com have lately been eating all my spare time, and a lot that wasn't spare.

By: dolface

dolface — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:21:07 -0800

foodgeek, I hate you, I've just wasted every minute since my last post on that damn thing!

Also, 2nding mullacc's suggestion for IRC; #metafilter is a great place to start, I swore off it a couple years ago because of the time-sink it became. But it was a FUN time-sink!

By: Lemurrhea

Lemurrhea — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:27:43 -0800

Nethack has eaten many days of my life. Many, many days. I almost beat it once. Well, I almost got the Amulet once.

If you don't mind pirating old video games/abandonware, I recommend that you grab some emulators and run through Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross/Star Ocean 2/Final Fantasies/Super Mario RPG (it's surprisingly good!). That should last you a good 200, 300 hours of playtime.

By: a robot made out of meat

a robot made out of meat — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:06:37 -0800

ADOM.

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:46:30 -0800

nth-ing Nethack.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:12:16 -0800

oohhh fantastic contraption is good.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:49:26 -0800

OK, I just finished Dwarf Complete and the game you are looking for is called An Untitled Story.

By: taz

taz — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 05:16:17 -0800

Have you ever played Reflections, in which you place mirrors and other devices to get your laser to light up the bulb? I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I've mentioned it to you before.

This is one that I love, but as with any kind of game, if you like that sort of thing, well, then that's sort of thing you like. I do. I go back to this again and again (after waiting a few months or a year or whatever after the last time I had to play through every level like a mirror/laser crack addict)... and now...uh-oh! Oh, look! Your post is making me play once again!

I also adore Dark Room (jayisgames review, with link), which is another one I replay. Not one of those escape-the-room games, though the name sounds like it.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 12:36:58 -0800

Thanks for the suggestions, y'all. I have some playing to do.