VOGONS


First post, by xjas

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Thought this would be a fun thread. What are your favorite 'time killers' when you just need a 15-minute game break?

As much as I love my legendary DOS classics and modern indie games, most of them are hard to pick up & go with in the middle of a boring work day or on the bus.

I've probably played more of KNetwalk than any other game of this type. Sure, it's just a pipe dream clone, but that's a classic formula and works fine. I don't know why I like it, it's simple but really satisfying to go through and solve.

About a decade ago I was on a several-month-long fieldwork project with only a REALLY bare-bones laptop with OpenSuse on it (I'd literally gotten it and set it up the day before leaving - no time for big complicated game installs!) Well, KNetwalk was on there along with a bunch of other default KDE games, so that's what I played. 😀

I was actually kind of distraught when it broke due to a dependency problem on the latest Linux Mint. Fortunately that seems to have been fixed & it works again (with some finagling as I'm running the 'wrong' desktop.)

knetwalk03.jpg
Filename
knetwalk03.jpg
File size
118.6 KiB
Views
1443 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

If I just have my phone on me I almost always fire up Sand, by the maker of the incredible Android DAW Caustic. (I have the "premium" registered version - two bucks well spent.) I don't even know what this is - drawing program? Particle engine? Bad physics simulation? But it's creative and fun. Neat idea, well executed.

sand.png
Filename
sand.png
File size
141.22 KiB
Views
1443 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

I know you guys have some embarrasing shame here - give. 😜

twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!

Reply 2 of 16, by clueless1

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Mobile game: Auralux. Each level typically takes about 30 minutes, but it has a Pause feature, which means you can play it for short periods then resume later.

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 4 of 16, by DosFreak

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Don't really play time waster games but:

Tetris on a gameboy in the 80's.
Gorillas.bas and the other basic games and also the MS entertainment pack back in the 90's.
Played Angry birds for 5 mins when it came out to see what the big deal was but it looked like a ripoff of gorillas and it was boring.
Most recently was visiting some relatives so was roped into playing a card game which I'd never done before.

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Make your games work offline

Reply 5 of 16, by Zup

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Moorhuhn 2 (Win)
Gems of War, Puzzle Quest (Win/Android)

I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...

I'm selling some stuff!

Reply 6 of 16, by gdjacobs

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
DosFreak wrote:

Most recently was visiting some relatives so was roped into playing a card game which I'd never done before.

So much this.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 7 of 16, by dr_st

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
DosFreak wrote:

Played Angry birds for 5 mins when it came out to see what the big deal was but it looked like a ripoff of gorillas and it was boring.

More like of "Crush the Castle", but they did some nice more advanced physics/mechanics there. But it does get somewhat repetitive, and getting the higher scores often requires wreaking maximum havoc, which in turns, depends greatly on luck.

There is a similar phone game - Bunny Shooter - where you shoot bunnies with arrows. It has significantly less explosions and other randomness, which makes it more of a puzzle game than Angry Birds.

https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/ - Random content on hardware, software, games and toys

Reply 9 of 16, by oeuvre

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I used to play a crapload of Java and flash games in the early-late 2000s. Addictinggames, freearcade, some freeware stuff on gamehippo...

oh and subspace continuum

HP Z420 Workstation Intel Xeon E5-1620, 32GB, RADEON HD7850 2GB, SSD + HD, XP/7
ws90Ts2.gif

Reply 10 of 16, by JayCeeBee64

User metadata
Rank Retired
Rank
Retired

I don't do mobile games. Period.

If I need a quick break, I fire up DOSBox and play a pinball table or two - Epic Pinball, Pinball Fantasies, Extreme Pinball, etc. Sometimes will start Windows 3.11 to play SkiFree.

My personal favorite time waster though has to be Morphose, a DOS game from Softdisk Publishing.

MTdJrIM.png

P9YQ2EM.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIhJY2U2Ndo

Ooohh, the pain......

Reply 12 of 16, by shamino

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

The PC games I play are generally the type that require long sessions.
But I will play short games on the NES or Genesis sometimes. Recently I've been playing Shadow of the Beast, which takes maybe 15mins or so before I die (haven't beaten it yet). I also sometimes like to play shooters which are a good genre for playing in short bursts. Every time I play I get a little further so there's a sense of progress each time, but an individual game doesn't take that long to play. If I run into a difficult boss or some area of a stage where my game falls apart, then it's fun to plan how I'm going to get past it next time, and then try to execute.

Reply 13 of 16, by RaVeN-05

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

i don't want to annoy anyone or blame, sorry its just my vision ok?

don't play time killers/casual games because life is to short for bad games, better look at mobygames you can find something better or read here forums (or re-read), in another words - explore something new for yourself, for example i am always read assembler book on mobile while i have to wait someone or have ~15 min's of free time.

But this is philosophic sorry, everyone choose own path to waste time, the games itself (any game) is pointless waste of time, but we love it so much =))) hehe.

for me only one casual game is apply's this is Crush Crush =)

550?cb=20170416213657

https://www.youtube.com/user/whitemagicraven
https://go.twitch.tv/whitemagicraventv

Reply 14 of 16, by WildW

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Errius wrote:

The anti-Flash jihad has made a lot of fun old games unplayable on modern browsers.

I seem to remember playing flash games in some stand-alone image viewer program, perhaps Irfanview. Used to play a lot of Vector TD tower defence.