One of the greatest parts of computing and the internet is the ability to play games at any time. I know, I should talk about all the scientific breakthroughs computing has brought the world, but this article is more related to my immediate quality of life concerns. All day, every day, life runs us around doing menial tasks. Taking a break and playing a game can be good for the mind, body and soul. This is for the ‘me time’ a person needs between saving the world and creating a better tomorrow.
For me, flash games are a great distraction. They are quick, fun and a great way to clear the mind. Most flash games are rather simple, of course some are quite complex as well. The ones I like to play are short with a clear ending. I like card games, and strategy games and you will see this reflected in my list below.
Below is a list of several of my favorite games. I put them in no particular order, I play them all.
Hearts card game is an “evasion-type” trick-taking playing card game for four players, although variations can accommodate 3–6 players. The game is a member of the Whist family of trick-taking games which also includes Bridge and Spades. Hearts card game is unique among Whist variants in that it is an evasion-type game. In evasion-type game players avoid winning certain penalty cards in tricks, usually by avoiding winning tricks altogether. A standard deck of 52 playing cards is used to play hearts card game. The objective of the game is to have the fewest points at the completion of the game. Tricks containing any Heart and the Queen of Spades give points to the winner of the trick. There is no trump; the highest card of the suit led wins each trick. Play Hearts
Chess is a two player strategy game, it can be played online several ways. You can play against a computer, an online opponent, or someone sitting next to you using the same computer. You will need a different version of the game to play each of the methods. In chess each side starts with 16 pieces. The pieces are: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. Chess has six different types of pieces, and each piece moves in a distinct way. Pieces are used to attack and capture the opponent’s pieces, with the objective to ‘checkmate’ the opponent’s king by placing it under an inescapable threat of capture. Playing this game on the computer is a great way to advance your skill level and it is a fun game to play. Play Chess
The goal of tower defense games is to try to stop enemies from crossing a map by building traps to slow them down and towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities, costs, and upgrade prices.
When an enemy is defeated, the player earns money or points, which are used to buy or upgrade towers, or upgrade the number of money or points that are earned, or even upgrade the rate at which they upgrade. Play Tower Defense
Mahjong Solitaire is a tile matching game. The tiles come from the four-player game known as mahjong, that is a variant of rummy. There are 144 tiles: 108 Suits (4 each of 1-9 of three suits: bamboo, characters, and circles), 16 winds (four each of: east, south, west and north) and 12 dragons (four each of:Red, Green and White), four flowers and four seasons.
The 144 tiles are arranged in a special four-layer pattern with their faces upwards. A tile is said to be open or exposed if it can be moved either left or right without disturbing other tiles. The goal is to match open pairs of identical tiles and remove them from the board, exposing the tiles under them for play. The game is finished when all pairs of tiles have been removed from the board or when there are no exposed pairs remaining. Play Mahjong Solitaire
Spider Solitaire is a two deck solitaire game. The main purpose of the game is to remove all cards from the table, assembling them in the tableau before removing them. Initially, 54 cards are dealt to the tableau in ten piles, face down except for the top cards. The tableau piles build down by rank, and in-suit sequences can be moved together. The 50 remaining cards can be dealt to the tableau ten at a time when none of the piles are empty.
The scoring in Spider Solitaire changes based on the version you are playing. The game can be played with all four suits, or simplified by using less suits. Play Spider Solitaire
Crescent solitaire is a card game played with two decks of playing cards mixed together. The game is so called because when the cards are dealt properly, the resulting piles should form a large arc or a crescent.
First, one king and one ace of each suit are removed to form the bases for the foundations. The kings are placed on a row, while the aces are placed below the kings. The ninety-six remaining cards are dealt into 16 piles of six cards each, faced down. If the player chooses, the piles should form a large arc, as mentioned above. After the cards are dealt, the top card of each pile is turned face up.
The object is to move all the cards from the semicircle tableau to the foundations. The kings are built down by suit up to aces and the aces are built up, also by suit, to kings. Play Crescent Solitaire