Cosmic Crush by Bill Northcott

Cosmic Crush is a game set in deep space where you control a single object amongst endless others. The game was created by Bill Northcott who has created lots of other original games.

The premise of the game is to avoid the gravitational pull of larger objects and planets by consuming smaller objects and becoming larger, and larger. The game has a large playing space and it is addicting to play to see how big your planet can get.

Explore: Bill Northcott, Play Cosmic Crush

Street Fighter Flash by Julien Philippe

Julien Philippe created a flash version Street Fighter a few years ago and nobody has beaten it yet. 's games were listed on http://flashkof.free.fr/ but the site seems to be down now.

The game has the look and feel of the original games we played on consoles or at arcades. It also has kept the controls similar meaning the special moves aren't too easy to execute but are very effective once you have mastered them. To make it even more appealing you can choose from 10 original characters and play in 2 player mode against a friend.

Explore: Play Street Fighter

Game: Line Runner

Line Runner is a fast arcade game with addictive game play and excellent graphics and sound to match. Your character is running across a moving screen with obstacles and power ups flying at him, you are in charge of drawing a path for him with the mouse.

Explore: Play Line Runner

Drakojan Skies by OmegaDragon3000

One of the most popular categories of flash games is the classic arcade style shooter games. The format should be well known to everybody, a side scrolling space game with waves of moving enemies and tonnes of weapon upgrades to collect.


OmegaDragon3000 who's real name is only listed at M.W., is the creator of the Drakojan Skies series of games. The series which spans 3 years and 5 releases ends with the final release Drakojan Skies Acolytes. The real appeal of the games are that they take the best of the game format and wrap it up in an intense plot and stunning graphics.

Explore: OmegaDragon3000, Play Drakojan Skies, Play Drakojan Skies Acolytes

Bloons by Ninja Kiwi

NinjaKiwi.com is a growing flash portal which creates and releases a hit game every once in a while. Their most impressive release has got to be Bloons which is a cute puzzle game with a built in level creator. The game has lots of levels of mazes with balloons or 'bloons' and you have a limited number of darts to shoot to pop all or some of the bloons. The game is instantly addictive.

The built in level creator spawned 2 additional bloons games based on user submitted levels, their is also a Bloons Tower Defense series of game.

Explore: NinjaKiwi.com, Play Bloons, Bloons Tower Defense

Final Fortress by Youdagames.com

Youdagames.com specialize in creating large involving games that are released as free demos with the option to buy a full version for $10-$20. They previously operated through totallygame.com but now youdagames.com is their primary site which showcases their own content along side other flash games; it also has a busy game forum.

Their game Final Fortress is a fun strategy/action game where you control a single large cannon that is under attack from waves of invading armies. They have used creative 3D graphics to give the game a console feel so it doesn't play like a regular flash game.

Explore: Youdagames.com, Play Final Fortress

Zoo Keeper by Shockwave Japan

Adobe Shockwave are the originators of the format all flash games are produced and played under today, and under the separate site shockwave.com you will find some of the most professional and graphic rich flash/shockwave games. We will be writing about many of the games produced by shockwave.com in the future.

Lets starts with something from Shockwave Japan. Zoo Keeper is a simple 'match3' style of game that uses animals as the symbols. Each level has a quota so you must swap a certain number of each animal, this is what makes this game so addicting. Shockwave Japan have successfully created a cute and fun game by using animals, sound effects and excellent graphics.

Explore: Shockwave Japan, Play Zoo Keeper

Danny Miller's Boomshine

Danny Miller is an 'interactive developer' based in Atlanta, USA. He specializes in web development and flash game design, all of his games can be viewed on www.k2xl.com.

The game of his that really caught the attention of the masses is Boomshine which is a 'chain reaction' based game with a very relaxing design. The game play involves clicking once on the screen with the aim of setting off a chain reaction of expanding dots.

The simple game play and relaxing visuals make this a very unique game.

Explore: Danny Miller, Play Boomshine

Bumper Ball by Oxmond Interactive

Oxmond Interactive is a Danish design studio specializing in web design and flash production. They created a game called Bumper Ball which is a combination of bumper cars and soccer, with each player trying to knock a ball into the other goal using the bumper car.

The game was an instant online hit which took the designers by surprise and resulted in their web hosting account being disabled. Bumper Ball also has a two player mode which makes the game extremely addictive and gives it a high viral effect.

Exlore: Oxmond Interactive, Play Bumper Ball

IriySoft Limited - www.iriysoft.ru

A couple of hundred miles north of Moscow is the small city of Bryansk, the home of flash game house IriySoft Limited. The company was founded in late 2005 by a group of experienced programmers who had just finished working on a project for another company.

IriySoft became well known in the US when it teamed up with MiniClip and AddictingGames to release games such as Mountain Bike, Stunt Dirt Bike, Dune Buggy and Motocross FMX. All of these games have been extremely popular and are likely to generate millions of page views each in the long term. The tilt and drive dirt bike style of games have proven to be very effective in terms of audience retention, and IriySoft have executed these games very well.

Explore: IriySoft Limited, Play Mountain Bike, Play Stunt Dirt Bike, Play Dune Buggy, Play Motocross FMX

Flash Developer: griN bvba, www.UNDERdog.be

griN bvba is a multimedia creation company based in Belgium that has a strong reputation for producing high quality 3D games via its 3D games portal www.UNDERdog.be.

They are especially adept at creating 3D racing games based on their own racing engine which is better than any other I have experienced online. A lot of their games are available to license or sponsor and they also offer previews of some games in beta.

Explore: www.underdog.be, Play 3D Racer

Game: VR Defender Y3K

VR Defender Y3K is one of hundreds of defense style games playable online, this one has a futuristic theme and feel that makes it stand out from the rest. It is set in the 31st Century where digital viruses threaten to destroy everything, the graphics are old school vector style.

Produced by DizzyWeasel who's modest profile on newgrounds.com suggest he is just a hobby flash game developer. So if you have a few hours to waste then give this game a go and feel free to leave a comment.

Explore: DizzyWeasel, Play VR Defender Y3K

Flash Game Developer: Taro Ito of GameDesign.jp

This will be the first of a few posts about game creations belonging to Taro Ito of GameDesign.jp in Japan. Every few weeks or months he quietly releases a game from his studios and it is always simple looking game with a touch of genius behind the game play.


The games from GameDesign.jp have a mature feel to them, often being a strategy-puzzle type of game and always gave a sleek and simple design. DiceWars was created in 2006 and is a unique turn based strategy game roughly similar to Risk. Around 6 months earlier Taro Ito probably created the best online tennis game ever, the simple graphics hide a very complex and realistic game engine.

Another game which is telling of the way GameDesign.jp likes to produce games is the White Jigsaw - its a jigsaw puzzle but without an image, just white.

Explore: GameDesign.jp, Play DiceWars, Play Tennis Game, Play White Jigsaw

Flash Game Developer: Dimon Zerg

Sometimes an unknown flash developer can release a game that raises their profile to the highest level just because that one game is so great. Well Dimon Zerg aka dz2001 on Newgrounds is probably well qualified to be one of those previously unknown developers. From somewhere in Moscow, Russia he launched Momentum Missile Mayhem which is a defense style game with tonnes of unique game design features. He referred to it as a "collision-physics based defence game" and it has some features taken from a pinball game with crashing units and bouncing off walls. Four months later he launched Momentum Missile Mayhem 2 which he says is the ultimate edition rather than a sequel.

Both games are very popular and have gained him thousands of fans in the flash game world.

Explore: Dimon Zerg, Momentum Missile Mayhem, Momentum Missile Mayhem 2

Flash Game Developer: Dan Paladin

Dan Paladin of synj industries is part of the creative talent that produced the hit game Alien Hominid which has been a favorite of newgrounds since it was released. Alien Hominid has had over 16 million views on newgrounds alone and even made the rare transfer over to the console gaming scene with versions for PS2, Nintendo GameCube, XBox, Gameboy Advance and XBox 360. The console versions where a completely new game compared to the original flash game and has won many awards for creativity and art.

So we salute Dan Paladin for showing us that flash game developers can compete on a technical and artistic level with any other type of game designers.

Explore: synj industries, Play Alien Hominid, Play Dad n Me

Flash Game Developer: Alan Rawkins

Alan Rawkins is a web and flash designer who created a game called Dolphin Olympics and the sequel Dolphin Olympics 2. These games are super addictive and will appeal to people of all ages, even your parents. The games are based on controlling a dolphin and performing tricks to earn points, the results can be spectacular once you know what you are doing.

The game is known for its combo-scoring abilities where your score can multiply as you perform series of tricks. Check out his site and watch the videos of people scoring hundreds of millions.

Explore: Alan Rawkins, Play Dolphin Olympics

Flash Game Developer: jmtb02 Studios

The story of John Cooney of jmtb02 Studios starts with college student playing with flash animations as a hobby and eventually takes us to now where he is a well known and successful flash game producer with his own company.

The creation that took the flash game world by storm is Ball Revamped II: Metaphysik which was created in 2005. The game is a stunning skill/arcade/physics game like no other out there. He has since created a few sequels and is now part of Armor Games, you can check out his other creations on his Newgrounds profile.

Explore: John Cooney of jmtb02 Studios, Play Ball Revamped II: Metaphysik, Play Ball Revamped 5: Synergy

Flash Game Developer: Paul Neave

Paul Neave and his site Neave.com are well known in the flash game community for re-making some classic arcade games into free playable flash games.

His most famous remake has got to be Pacman which is probably the most played online Pacman ever. If you head on over to the games section of his site you can lay his other remakes including Space Invaders, Asteroids, Snake and Frogger.

Although these games may appear simple, being able to recapture the feel of a classic game is very difficult and he has done it better than anyone.

Explore: Paul Neave, Play Pacman

Some flash resources

Here are some sites useful for getting to know about the latest games and news in the flash game scene:

Newgrounds.com - hugely popular flash portal with tons of flash movies and flash games. This is the place where flash game developers come to launch their games and get feedback.

Kongregate.com - another popular flash portal with cash prizes for game developers and game players.

Jayisgames.com - probably the most famous casual games blog on the net. Hear about upcoming games and get in depth reviews of hundreds of games.

ArmorGames.com - the site itself isn't anything spectacular but ArmorGames themselves sponsor and support many independent games and is a significant source of cash for flash game developers.

Welcome

Welcome to the Flash Game Developers blog! This blog will be dedicated to recognizing and celebrating the many flash game developers that create unique and addictive flash games for the rest of us to play online for free.

Many of us may be fans of games but often don't get to hear about the people and businesses behind the creations. This is where the Flash Game Developers blog comes in, I will post games every day and provide links to the game owners/developers sites where you can explore some of there other creations.