A couple months ago 1up.com did a piece on 101 Free Games, and through that I found Little Rocket, located on the site Animals Play Games.
I got frustrated with Little Rocket really quick. I just didn’t enjoy flying the rocket around. It veers off almost uncontrollably and I didn’t have enough patience to stick with it and get to the puzzles and fun stuff. Maybe you will.
But the other two games on the site are awesome.
Hop the Gap
In Hop the Gap you use a protractor-like tool to determine angles at which you launch a stick man across gaps to get to the red flag at the end. It’s very analytical. “Oh, that angle led him to his death, so let’s try a little higher this time. Yes! That worked. So if that worked, and the jump was that long, that means this next jump should be at this angle here….” That’s my inner dialogue anyway, and I find it strangely logical and unique.
Avoid! (The Game)
The last game is Avoid! (The Game). You’re given instructions at the beginning of each mini-game in a series of mini-games. They mostly involve you controlling a small blue ball with either the arrow keys or the mouse to avoid objects on the screen. It’s super simple and entrancing, and some of the games really test your hand-eye coordination. Glancing away from the screen for a second could mean trouble.
All the games have great minimalist design and play some nice trancey background music. And I love that at the bottom they have a few links, “supporting evidence,” that animals do indeed play games.
Aww, I kind of expected this to be a post about Nerd Pride Day. ):
I didn’t like “Hop the gap” that much (launching little men in abysses makes me sad
) but “Avoid” was pure awesomeness. I could spend hours playing that 
What a great gaming site! There are so many quirky little games to explore – I am already addicted to Grayscale ( http://komix-games.com/game.php?game=Grayscale ). Thanks for blogging & posting the link ! I have been looking for some fun games to fill in my “waiting for Cataclysm” time. There is going to be a Cataclysm …. right? …. not just a myth?….. /sigh
I’ve actually just finished Little Rocket. Not that hard to beat, especially given that there is only one level. I guess that being used to Newtonian physics helps a bit
I also enjoyed Little Rocket the best of the bunch, but it was really frustrating until I realized the planets had gravity. Thanks for the heads up, that was a delightful diversion
Ah, I remember the days when even a rock could amuse me. Now, with all these complex video games out there, people can forget the simplistic pleasure of such games. I already beat Little Rocket and Hop the Gap, what fun!