For the first lesson of the flash development workshop we looked at different games, applications and webistes developed with flash from a site called www.thefwa.com. It is interesting to see how far flash has come in the past decade, with the advent and integration of HTML5 in recent years, flash has really come into its own as both a commercially used promotional tool and a game development environment.
Here is a sample of the different sites I checked out, most of them are related to games due to the nature of the course but all of them demonstrate a scope and ambition that is usually reserved for the more professional games development tools.
DRAW A STICKMAN
www.Drawastickman.com
This quaint and eccentric little adventure struck a chord with me as it combined two of my greatest loves in life: Drawing and Gaming.
MACHINARIUM
www.Machinarium.com
Machinarium is a one in a million game. The first time I played it was after purchasing the “Humble Indie Bundle” of 2010 and I remember being awe struck by the amount of detail and charm that had been put into it. After playing it for nearly 4 hours I accidentally clicked the right mouse button only to be greeted with a familiar sight in the dropdown box; “About Flash Player 10″ Up until that point, I had associated the phrase with poorly drawn games on Newgrounds. For me Machinarium was the first in a tirade of professionally made and hugely ambitious games that opened up new possibilities in Flash.
DONNIE DARKO
www.donniedarkofilm.com
This ARG (Alternate Reality Game) was created as a promotional interactive game for the release of Donnie Darko. I remember stumbling across this game on a forum nearly 5 years ago. The abstract yet minimal art direction is in keeping with the theme of the film and the hidden hints and non-linear paths through this ARG have kept me playing it on and off for 3 or 4 years now. Not to mention the fact that Donnie Darko is one of my favourite films.
FIRST PERSON TETRIS
www.Firstpersontetris.com
This is a strange take on the ultimate classic; First person tetris plays like some kind of nauseating, anti gravity version of the original, complete with retro electronic music and photo background. The sight of the NES and the old school television set brings about a warm sense of nostalgia, aswell as rising bile due to the constantly turning screen
