Today’s diversion at work was Swords and Sandals, a quirky gladiator sim built in Flash.

You can build your own character, name them, change their stats, buy equipment, and then head for the arena for a fight to the death RPG-style.

The game definitely does not seem totally balanced at the moment, but then what Flash game ever is? Regardless, it is quite a time waster and lots of fun.

My co-workers are still schooling me in our little mini-league we have set up for the game, but every once in a while I am victorous.

Now if I could only get that theme song out of my head… “Swords and Sandals… gladiators…”

This expertly made Flash game fell out of nowhere for me. I had seen traditional arcade style beat-em-up games done in Flash before, but this one takes the cake.

Guardians of Altarris: The Sinless Blade is a free web-based game that is available at shockwave.com. The gameplay is very similar to classics like Final Fight or Streets of Rage. You get to pick your character, and then punch, kick, and butt heads with the invading enemies. The art style is top notch, with a mix of cell-shaded 3D and new Flash 8 visual effects. The design and gameplay really can’t be beat as far as games like this are concerned.

The only thing that is a shame is that like most games of this calibur: it is quite short, almost a demo of sorts. Regardless, you owe it to yourself to try it out.

I found this gem of a game the other day via Jay is Games. Called Dolphin Olympics, it’s a simple-but-complex game built entirely in Flash. Using a combo-type scoring system similar to the Tony Hawk games, its quirky gameplay is fun and quite addictive. The visuals and audio are also above the norm.

The controls are very simple, but take just a bit of finesse in order to really grasp them. It took me a couple of tries to realize that you could add spin moves with the down arrow. It is also important to make sure to land in the water at the correct angle to keep up your speed.

Also just like in Tony Hawk, once you learn how to combo moves and perform flashier tricks, you’ll be putting up some big numbers and huge leaps. You’ll be leapfrogging your own scores in almost no time at all.

Some funny things to look for in the game are items such as how the background changes depending on when in the day you choose to play the game. Also try to catch a fish or two inside of a combo, and then leap high enough to reach some fireworks.

If you have a chance, be sure to check it out.

After finishing my novel and getting all the shopping and holiday stuff done, I’ve had more free time to do what I usually do: play video games.

I purchased 14 (yes fourteen…) on the dreaded Black Friday. Some deals I just can’t pass up, and that day was a perfect example of my weakness for “cheap” games. Been a blast playing them all: Sly Cooper, Katamari Damacy, Time Crisis 3, etc.

Oh yeah, Half-Life 2 is awesome too. Go play it.

And forget Happy Holiday… Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night… or something.

With no weekly photos to keep the content flowing, the site has started to get stale. I had planned on adding more content, but I’ve been busy these past months with something that I haven’t been able to talk about until now.

I’ve been a Alpha tester for Blizzard’s upcoming game World of Warcraft. Now that the Alpha NDA is listed, and the Beta has started, I can finally start talking about the game if I wanted. Needless to say, WoW has been an extremely fun time sink for the past few weeks.

So I haven’t been keeping up with the updates, eh? My excuse…

Neverwinter Nights

That is all…