My favorite part of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" came when they figured out the paradoxes of time travel and, simply by saying "Must remember to bring a trash can!" one appears in Ted's hands and he stuffs it over a bad guy's head.

Not that you can do any of that in "Chronotron," but the idea is the same, think in the present, giving orders to yourself in the past. Sort of. In Chronotron, the idea is to Clone multiple versions of yourself, using a time machine, to get through a puzzle level. The catch — all past versions will spawn and recreate your actions, so you need to think in chronological order for each step of the puzzle, and leave enough time for your final self to get through the gates and ride the risers to your objective.

It's a hell of a fun flash game — my co-worker showed it to me yesterday, so I can vouch for its productivity killing effect.

Chronotron [Addicting Games]

Bowja the Ninja 2: In Bigman's Compound [Pencilkids via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

It touches on all manner of interesting topics, such as character design challenges ("We go to the bar.") and plans for the future ("...the next version will also allow people to create and submit levels.") that Puzzle Farter fans will find rewarding. If not, maybe you'll just give the game another go or for the very first time.

Inside ‘Puzzle Farter’ [The-InBetween]

While I have enough work to kill an ox this weekend, I took some time last night to play with this delightfully silly side-scrolling WoW sendup. Here's one introduction to a quest: "Now that you've begun to get the hang of that most fundamental of skills - killing shit - and started to properly become a bit more class conscious, we can tackle a slightly more disturbing problem." Karl Marx even makes an appearance (never mind the Mario appearance pictured above). It's worth checking out if you've got some extra time to waste this holiday (in the US) weekend.

WTF?! [via Grand Text Auto]

Meet In ver.0 [Eyezmaze]

Well, it is a joke. And I don't want to say too much about it, because dissecting a joke always makes it unfunny. Part of it is this really silly idea, and part of it is this statement about how games are too hard and complicated. It's also a subtle reference to how some games are kind of patronizing toward the player, like too easy.

But I never set out to make it this way, it kind of turned into this with time. It started out as an attempt to make a game that spoiled the whole experience for you before you played it. Funnily enough, people really don't read instructions...

It's a nice little interview that touches on a lot of stuff (and no whining about the state of game blogs!).

Kian Bashiri (You Have To Burn The Rope) [IndieGames]

Compulse [jmtb02 Studios]

Well, now it's online under creative commons license, which means you can do as you please with it. There are three tracks: "Cave," "Lethal Intro" and "Busta Buss." If anyone cuts a ringtone from any of these, let me know.

(Also, this is not the Flash Game Cookie Break. There will be a regular one of those later on.)

You Have to Burn the Rope - Behind the Music[Reachground]

The new deadline for the Flash game design contest, which challenges designers to create a game about teen dating violence prevention without violent content or a violent theme, is May 15.

First prize is $1,000 and judges, besides myself, include Simon Carless, director of the Independent Games Festival; Stephen Totilo, of MTV and huge brain fame, Dr. Ian Bogost, Ph.D., co-founder, Persuasive Games, and Dr. Elizabeth Richeson, a psychologist, Texas Psychological Association Board member, and my mom.

2008 Game Contest [Life. Love.]

Magic Pen [Fizzlebot via Jay Is Games]

You're still proud of yourself for figuring it out.

Someone stick a walkthrough on Gamefaqs, please. I'm busy posting.

You Have to Burn the Rope

For those of us who don't know how to program, the monthlong UGOPlayer.com Online Game Fest is another useful site for goofing off at work.

Entries will be evaluated by a panel of experts, which will select 10 finalists. All entries will be available at the UGOPlayer.com site during the April 8 to May 5 contest period.

As for the development gig offer, a company release hedges by saying it's "a chance to become a game developer." Obviously they can't go guaranteeing jobs sight unseen. But I'm thinking that if you take time write an awesome side-scroller in your spare time without asking for an hour of OT, or any promise of compensation, you'll be very desirable to the video game industry and find work soon enough. If you're not already working for teh man.

There are tons of indie flash games out there— my faves are Boomstick and Chaos Theory. (Admittedly, that last one is more than a year old, but it's still a great time killer) UGOPlayer.com is smartly corralling writers together, and likely appealing to the egos of those with a following, and then getting the best submissions under their brand. Still, even if your coding skillz stopped at hypercard stacks, the site might be worth a look for latest-and-greatest games once the contest is about a week in.

Side note: You think this one could crack the top 10?

UGOPlayer.com's Online Game Fest [UGOPlayer.com]

Unlike previous competitions, all the games are available for perusal right now, and they're not doing individual blog entries to introduce the titles. Still, there's a nice spread and variety, so if you've got some time to waste, wander over and check them out.

Casual Gameplay Design Competition #5 [Jay is Games]

Questionaut [BBC via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Fancy Pants Adventure World 2 [Armor Games]

Gaming brainiac, and one-time Kotaku Editor fill-in, Ian Bogost points out that Scholastic, now in deep withdrawls from the Harry Potter series, has been casting about looking for new was to make billions of dollars. Their latest idea? A series called The 39 Clues which will feature ten books and be written by different authors including Gordon Korman and Rock Riordan.

The series seems to hint at the fact that it will include mention of video games and in fact have flash-based video game tie-ins.

An online game will allow readers to search for the 39 clues themselves, while solving puzzles and playing mini-games that will be refreshed daily. Mr. Levithan said the site would include blogs written from the points of view of characters, and maps, treasure hunts and videos, many with historical and geographical content.

Each book will come with six collectors' cards that can be used to find further clues in the online game. Players can also win cash and other prizes.

The publisher hopes that reluctant readers will be drawn to the books by the game. "Reading the books will make you better at the games, so that is the incentive," said Suzanne Murphy, publisher of Scholastic's trade division.

More interesting, though, is Scholastic's seeming disapproval of an author (and maybe a developer) retaining the rights to their hard work:

The series is also Scholastic's attempt to create a branded franchise for which it owns all the rights. Ms. Rowling retained the rights to the Harry Potter series, which meant that she could pursue separate deals for film and other licensed products, effectively cutting out Scholastic.

Damn Rowling and her clingy desire to own the product of the life time of work, damn her to hell.

Scholastic Defiles Self, World with Game-Book Tie-ins [Watercooler Games]

NetDevil, the guys behind Auto Assault and currently working on LEGO Universe MMO, announced today that they are working on a remake of LEGO Racers, based on the toy of the same name. The web-based flash game is being developed under a new Web Games division at the company and will be rolled out with several other casual web-based games in 2008.

"NetDevil has proven a valuable partner that truly understands what the LEGO play experience is all about," said Kelly J. McKiernan, Internet Content Manager on LEGO Racers. "The company's high-quality work on the LEGO Universe MMO made them an easy choice for LEGO Racers, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with them to give fans of LEGO a whole new way to interact with some of our most popular franchises."

LEGO Racers will have kids trying to beat out other LEGO Racers to become the best LEGO racer and will allow players to own up to five cards from ten teams, each with unique attributes. Players can modify and upgrade their car with parts and the racers will be shown live online. The game will also support offline racing.

"Having a dedicated focus on casual game content is something that we've thought about for a long time and we see it as a natural extension of our team's experience and capabilities," said Scott Brown, President of NetDevil. "We see casual game content as a key growth driver moving forward, and feel we are in a great position to bring some the world's most recognized brands and entertainment properties to new audiences."

It's cool to see a Colorado developer growing so quickly. Now we just need to get a couple of studios from EA, Ubi and Activision. Then I'll launch my plans to have E3 moved here. :)

In a new interview with Kongregate games director Chris Pasley, who moved over to Kongregate from Turner's game group, says their goal is to "make Flash games a legitimate business, by letting developers make a living off of [them]."

Sounds good, but I'm just not sure that what games — or anything else — needs is another upload-your-content-plus-community-features ghetto. Especially the community features.

It makes sense for Kongregate of course — community is an easy way to keep people somewhere. That's why Kongregate provides financial incentives for developers to build in their community features, like chat and achievements. But really, do we need to congregate at Kongregate? Their claim that Flash games are "easy in, easy out" would seem to suggest that people don't really want to go somewhere special to get them.

Is the only way to "make a living" to couple one's work to an aggregator's community? What about a business model that allows broader distribution, like MochiAds tries to do? Do we really need a community site for everything?

Something tells me these won't be the topics available for debate in Argue (About Everything), one of the games funded in Kongregate's first indie funding round.

Developed by Adam Schroeder and Roger Bankus, Argue (About Everything) is a multiplayer real-time strategy game that allows players to pick either side of an argument and duke it out on the field of battle. Featuring customizable characters, customized arguments and a web-page-embeddable argument status widget, players can attack with Passionate statements, refute their opponents with Facts, or rely on Reason to win fast, five-minute battles that will determine the final answer to any argument.

In the game, players control their ships, but the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units attached to their fins. Real-world telemetry data provides the position and movement of actual great white sharks in the game, so every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in the real world.

Ships in the game move in real-time, so players receive email and/or SMS alerts during the day when their boat is within range of an encounter. Players login, choose crewmembers and an approach technique, and then collect various data from the nearby sharks.

This reminds me to set the TiVO.

Sharkrunners [via Wonderland]

Compatible with PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3) and Wii, MEGA Series may be delivered via the broadband connection of each console and is accessible through the device's Internet browser, which both use custom Flash players from Adobe. MEGA Series programming will be based on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim shows. MEGA Series content is designed to be played simultaneously with streaming video and delivered episodically over time, providing a real-time immersive experience for fans.

The service wil be launched at the latest early 2008, and there better be a karaoke MC Pee Pants game or I'm going to be very disappointed. I WANT CANDY! Kim Phu

Cartoon Network to Deliver Digital Games to PS2, Wii [Games Industry]

Not only does flasher The Legend of Zelda and the Lampshade of No Real Significance have Link and a lampshade, but it has has Samus and Kirby. What's more, Samus is eating a burger and Kirby is shooting stuff! Delightful flash game. Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Chimp Media Thanks, Chilly!]

Why are they so big?! OMG tangerines!!!

Tangerine Panic is a nifty little flash game that ate up a chunk of my morning (and I hope it will do the same to yours). Tip: Find a good spot to dodge tangerines to minimize movement. Above is my high score. What's yours? Brian Ashcraft

Tangerine Panic [Official Site]

You play against an AI opponent with various prizes on the line, like a Mario Slam Basketball (European 3 on 3 title) wallpaper. Woot?

Not too fond of the drawing interface with a mouse, but as Kotakuite Jme points out, it makes an excellent Wii browser game, and a more fleshed-out, multiplayer version would be perfect on the DS. A fun game whether you're looking for a quick diversion or just really hate baby chickens. Michael Fahey

Chick Chick Boom - Thanks Jme!

Here's the set-up: You're in an office, and you've got just five minutes to kill yourself. Hence the game's title, Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself). It's gruesome, morbid and surprisingly, hard I had to play through it several times, before I could do the deed successfully. That's my best score above. What's yours? Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Adult Swim via Gay Gamer]

The door is bolted, and all the clues and items you need to open it are hidden in the room. Sphere is a neat point-and-click puzzler that so screams DS port. I wasn't able to escape. You? Brian Ashcraft

Play Sphere [Official Site]

One of my favorite Flash games lately has been a great little platformer calledFancy Pants Adventure over at ArmorGames.com. I'd written about it here previously and then today on casual game's site JayIsGames I saw the announcement that creator, Brad Bourne has released a demo of World 2 in his now "episodic game", to use the parlance of our times. The style has gotten a bit slicker and more complicated movements have been added. The unfinished demo level is available to try out and comment on at Kongregate and hopefully we won't have to wait too long before Brad finishes the rest of it. Flynn De Marco

The Fancy Pants Adventure: World 2 demo

Do we really need to say more? I mean, a flash game with Moai heads... Your goal: In thirty seconds, try to click on 100 Moai heads. The game's creator, SKT, has some other Moai games, including this one in which you try to save Moai heads on the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here's another version of that Moai spotting game (with a monkey) to check out as well. Brian Ashcraft

Moai Games [Insert Credit]

JayIsGames, that purveyor of all things casual gaming, has been accepting entries recently for it's second Flash Game Design Contest. While the graphic indicates that it is a January-February contest, entries have been appearing on the site as late as yesterday. The entries have all been created surrounding the "grow" style of games personified by the highly addicting Grow Cube. While it might be too late to enter that little game you've been tinkering with for the last few months, if you are a fan of flash based games, there is sure to be a few of the entries that will interest you. Head on over to JayIsGames to check out all thirteen entries including my favorites, Sprout and NOBuzzle Tree. Be sure you have some time to spare because nothing eats up your time quite like a really fun flash based puzzle game. Flynn De Marco

Besides, our hero Ebee Dbee wears cool-ass headphones! Did Sonic ever wear headphones? I don't think so.

So yeah, completely ripping off Sega's mascot here. It's almost as if they took the same sprites and just recolored them to look like an obnoxious kid. The saddest thing? It's still more faithful to the series than the new 360/PS3 game. Michael Fahey

School Food Trust Snack Dash [Thanks Greg!]

Clicking on "Action!" launches a web-based version of the demo that at least gives you a sense of what the game is all about... which is music and men with big hair dancing to said music.

Now Go! Go! Go!

Elite Beat Agents Brian Crecente

Another wee flash game to fill the long minutes between popsicles, Toon Crisis is a marketing effort by Walkman, but makes up for it by featuring the fantastic music of Gogol Bordello.

From Killer Viral comes this excellent rail shooter, an advergame for the Sony mp3 Walkman Flash—but don't let that turn you off. Each shooting stage is wonderfully integrated with video footage of London streets, with the above mentioned Gogol Bordello providing suitably manic background music. The enemy cartoons in question are also well integrated with the background scenery, moving behind and over background objects and in and out of doors and windows as they try to take you out.

The game equips your with a walkman and a shootin' finger, and nasty little cartoons attack from various hiding places and jump at your terrified face. Pew pew pew! Eliza Gauger

More Here [Jay Is Games]

I take it back, what I meant to say when I denied that Sid Meier was the Merchant Ivory of video games, is that Shmorky is the actual Merchant Ivory of video games.

I was going to link the awesome new Flash Tub directly into our hallowed, greeny-pink halls, but I figured it would be more polite to direct the clicks their way.

At right is a screen from Something Awful continuing feature, the Flash Tub, in which Shmorky n' friends showcase their oddly skillful flash creations. Simply titled "Tub Adventure", this rollicking point-and-click romp takes you through a challenging empty room, marriage to a fat lady, and into a plesiosaur's vagina for a five-star dining experience. It was loosely based on a novel that Florian wrote about our first date, which has been described as both "synaesthetic" and "coprophilic".

This may not be the best Flash Tub to demonstrate this, but my favorite thing about the series was hard to put my finger on until my good friend Sizzlepig pointed it out yesterday: Flash Tub is created with actual animated drawings, as opposed to the simple moving shapes used in most flash cartooning.

That, my little airborne simians, is raw class. Next time someone tells you video games are artless drivel, you sit them down for a nice game of Tub Adventure. Eliza "I'm on a penny" Gauger

Tub Adventure [Something Awful]

There are few things more instantly satisfying than a tiny, well-made game. Exquisite bonus: getting to choose the color of your lightsaber.

The creator of Jedi Trainer has a nice little website that hosts a slew of his games, a note about game sponsorship, and the requisite bragging about his girlfriend. I spent way too long on his Cupid game, so I can vouch for the pure playability.

To get the full effect of Jedi Trainer, first pull your Sun Chips-encrusted Threadless t-shirt over the front of your head in the Reverse Cornholio maneuver. Then utter your battlecry ("FOR THE BORED!") and rock that high score.

I knew you could do it. Eliza gauger

Jedi Trainer [LostVectors, via Digg]

You're the bouncer of a popular nightclub, which means one thing: keep K-Fed out and throttle him good. While this flash game is truly tasteless (there's baby punching), K-Fed does actually put up a pretty good fight. Especially when he's hiding behind Britney. Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Dragon Gamez] via Ettf

The arcade classic Space Invaders gets reworked as a frustrating 3D shooter. Whatever made the game cool in the first place (the timing, the patterns) has been sucked out in the name of an extra dimension. Puns aside, they can have it. I want my 2D shmup. Brian Ashcraft

Play Here [Spiked Humor] Thanks, Mel & Jesse!

Why should gamers and industry bigwigs care if it's tough for the little guy? Because back when games were cheaper to make, the independents came up with the ideas that moved the business forward. Richard Garriott peddled Ultima, the first major role-playing title, in plastic bags. Sid Meier's Civilization and Westwood's Dune II cracked open the strategy genre. Id Software's John Carmack and John Romero created the pioneering first-person shooter Doom. Will Wright gave us SimCity and open-ended "sandbox" simulations.

The article goes on to examine the fates of the early pioneers, and gives hope for a new generation in the form of Manifesto Games owner Greg Costikyan. Costikyan plans to bypass the bloated distribution vectors entirely, by selling his games online. In turn, Costikyan's site links to the Independent Games Festival, which might be a good place to monitor indie delights like Dad n' Me, which I think started me well on my way to carpal tunnel just now, and delayed this post far longer than it should have. Perhaps all is not yet lost. Eliza Gauger

Why There Are No Indie Video Games [Slate]