Computer Gaming

The world of computer gaming has always been a competitive one with thousands of sites across the internet offering users new and exciting games to test their logic. There are multiple types of games available on the internet that offer different gaming experiences, such as flash games, RPG, gambling, racing etc. Sites such as http://www.miniclip.com/games/en/ offer users thousands of games at a single click and sites like these mainly make money from advertising and the number of visitors they get to their site.

I often used sites like Miniclip when I was younger to play online games so I am familiar with the different types of games available. But now rather than playing the games, I am more interested in looking at how they were made and why they are so popular.

I went on multiple gaming websites:

http://www.miniclip.com/games/en/ : Miniclip

http://www.shockwave.com/home.jsp : Shockwave

http://www.addictinggames.com/ : Addicting Games

http://www.bigfishgames.com/online-games/index.html : Big Fish Games


The first game I tried was Hot Air. The idea of this game was to use the mouse as a fan to blow the balloon to the other side of the screen, or to where ever the final platform was.

Even I found this game a bit tricky especially using a trackpad on the computer! I imagine if this game was designed for a younger audience then even they would have a tough time playing it! I did however like the way the speed of the wind changed the way the balloon moved depending on how far away from the balloon the mouse was when you clicked it. This made the game slightly more realistic.

The graphics in this game were quite good, they were simple and had a pixelated feel to them but i think this was done in the style that the creator of the game, Nitrome, always uses and the colours were really bright and attractive to younger children.


The second game I played was simply called the sheep game. This game was very simple to use and barely needed any instructions.

The idea of this one is to heard all of the sheep into the pen using the mouse, the sheep move away from the mouse as you move it towards them so you have to carefully try and move them into the pen without them running too far away from the mouse. This game was surprisingly enjoyable and it was relatively easy to complete. The score is based on the time it takes to get the sheep into the pen and the number of sheep you catch. Again the colours are very bright and the graphics are really simple.

Miniclip have a special 5-minute game section so i thought I'd have a look on here to see if there were any games that would give me some inspiration for my own game as the idea of mine was to be quite short and easy to complete. I found a game called Traps, Mines, and a Sheep that I thought was quite fun to play. The idea of this game was to blow up all the mines and the traps whilst ensuring that the sheep doesn't stop moving.

This game is quite different to the others that I played. The graphics are very very simple and the main colours are black, white and red. It doesn't have much to attract the users but the game works and is quite  addicting after the first play, I found myself playing it a couple of time trying to beat my own score. 

I think from all the games i've played i've definitely found some inspiration for my own game. I know that I need to make it colourful and bright to instantly attract the user to play it. Having a game that stands out from all the rest is definitely important as there are thousands of games available on the internet. A catchy title always helps as well. Most of the really simple games I played had one purpose for the user, normally to complete something within a time limit, but this also made them more addictive as you always want to beat your best time.