Yay, a second weekend download! Woo hoo! There were so many games to feature this weekend, we had to split it into two parts to accomodate them all. Also, I had to clone myself, and if anybody asks, that was a necessity, not a fun weekend project.

Trilby: Peril at the Static Art of Rocks'n'BOMB is our featured game this weekend. Or... something like that. Gameplay involves placing bombs on the screen to guide a gentleman thief through each level (stealthily) while finding hidden objects along the way. Don't forget to grab an emerald while hopping through the confusing mass of animated static!

Link Dump Friday = Kaboom!

Weekend Download is here! Caution: Weekend Download may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. Weekend Download contains a liquid core which, if exposed due to rupture should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at. If Weekend Download begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head. Weekend Download may stick to certain types of skin. When not in use, Weekend Download should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Do not taunt Weekend Download.

A healthy smattering of link dumped games this Friday, many of which are from developers you already know and love. The creators of Warp Forest, Bloons, and Submachine each have a new game available to play, and as luck would have it, they're all different genres than the titles that the developers are famous for!

Did you know that today is the 328th day of the year? You only have 37 days left to ponder the events of 2007 before you leap into the future and begin living the life of a 2008ian. Hope you have your hoverboots ready.

Woozy from the post-holiday food rush in the U.S., Link Dump Friday attempts to set its mind on other things. Namely, free online games. Trains have nothing to do with food, so they're fair game for today, as are Japanese numbers, being dumb, and brains. Well, brains could count, but not really. Something's missing, though. Just one more game to complete the day. How about... AH! This skydiving game has nothing to do with food, this Lamb Chop — oh, wait, nevermind.

This edition of Weekend Download serves as a firm reminder that some video games used to be painfully difficult. None of this coddling, tutorialized hand-holding gameplay you find today. Back then you were tossed in a blocky four-color world and had to fend for yourself. Brutally difficult games may be a thorn in the side of modern-day casual gamers, but it will help you appreciate the experience programmers have collectively gained over the decades.

The holiday season is approaching so everyone knows what that means: hoards of enemies that never seem to stop coming, training new troops, adding new turrets to your base, cannons with legs, stealing crops from your local agriculture community, and messing with the forces of gravity... All the usual stuffo. Oops. Did I say the holiday season? I meant LINK DUMP FRIDAY! Wooty-tooty!

By far the biggest, most first-paragraph-worthy news of in the downloadable world this week is Sam & Max are back. Not only are they back for another season of episodic adventure games, but the highest rated release from season one is now free. Free as in download it now. No excuses. We've also got a healthy portion of other great games to download, including an almost-too-cutesy casual game, Nanda's Island, that came out of nowhere to steal my afternoon. Don't you just love games that are... good?!

Friday is a day of much rejoicing as it signals the end of another work week and the arrival of a glorious fun-filled weekend soon to come. It is also an indication that a Link Dump Friday feature may appear at any moment on JIG, and it doesn't get much better than that. Commence fun and frolicking.

Are you good with pixels? Are you good at creating eye-popping, awe-inspiring graphics and icons? Do you live and work in the US? If so, we have some freelance opportunities for you. Please inquire at the email address to the right. Thanks!

This edition of Weekend Download is the most love-filled edition ever. There's so much love below, you might think it's Valentine's Day. But it's not, it's just a whole lotta love. For example, tons of people love Dwarf Fortress. Tons. That collective love is now focused here on this very page, and if you download and play, you'll experience some of that love, too. Dr. Daisy Pet Vet is all about the pet love. Just look at those cute animals! And the kitty, she's reading a magazine! The energy orbs in Ballhalla love each other so much all you have to do is click them and they get all cozy with each other. And to top it all off, Mr. Heart just straight-up loves you. Very much, I hear.

This week's introductory paragraph was eaten by my dog. Of course, I don't have a dog, so that makes my excuse a bit awkard. Hopefully the game feast below will distract you from my folly.

The department of Media Management at the University of Ilmenau in Germany is conducting an online survey about online games and they need your help. The survey should take approximately five to 25 minutes, depending on the types of games you use. Your participation is of great help and importance for their academic research of online games.

It's time for adventures in Halloween Land! The ghostly holiday is just a few days away and we're pouring on the spooky games. This special installment of Weekend Download showcases a handful of adventure games that get the Halloween atmosphere just right. Paired with our Halloween-themed Link Dump Friday and sprinkled with a few Halloween-style reviews in the coming days, you should have no excuse not to don that Super Mario costume and head out on the town.

Gene is shorter than Bruce but taller than Imhotep. Imhotep is taller than Gene but shorter than Lord Scotland. Lord Scotland is twice the height of Gene and Brutus combined, but only 1/10 the height of Millsy. Millsy is at a constant height of X-Y. If Gene stands exactly one nautical mile away from Lord Scotland, how tall is Imhotep? Find out in the games below! Or... maybe not.

Hello, faithful readers, and welcome to a special spookified edition of Link Dump Friday! In honor of the season, I've chosen a few of my favorite previously-reviewed games (including a few new ones) with a spooky edge. We've got ghosties, beasties, sleepy vampir-ies, tentacle monsters and, naturally, Garfield! So get out that bowl of candy corn, put on the "Monster Mash" and settle in with one of these fun titles.

On behalf of the Ballistic Wars team, I would really like to thank you and your reviewer-judge panel for giving us the opportunity to show our potential in casual gaming. On top of that, you have ranked us in third place, so I really can't thank you enough.

Four times we have made a call for entries to a competition that celebrates and rewards excellence in casual gameplay, and four times we have been, ourselves, rewarded by the Flash game development community and the exceptional level of quality within the entries submitted. Choosing a small group to represent the best of those submitted, whether for the selection of finalists or for the top awards, is not an easy task. We wish we could reward everyone who submits an entry, but for every competition there must be a winner.

Three new hidden object games have recently hit the web, each one with a different setting and storyline wrapped around familiar seek-and-find mechanics. They don't go out of their way to bend the rules of item hunting, but if you're one of the many people who can't get enough of these games, these should keep you busy (and entertained) for a while!

It may surprise you to know that each and every Weekend Download article is written by a team of highly trained elves adept at both gaming and making waffles. This week, however, the elves have been replaced. By gnomes. The gnomes do a comparable job with words, links and images. But let me tell you, the waffles aren't nearly as good. It's like that old saying that neither I nor anyone else has ever heard before: If you want waffles, better get the elves.

We're sorry to announce that today's Link Dump Friday is delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. We hope you don't mind waiting. In the mean time, here are some other links you can try...

Total from voting... $652.89!Wooty! We have exceeded the donations record set by CGDC #3!!! Thanks to everyone who voted. Thank you for your kind support of these competitions.

Since beginning the Casual Gameplay Design Competitions in August, 2006, each competition has presented us with an impressive collection of entries, as well as a few challenges to deal with, too. This time the unprecedented number of entries received was unexpected, which has forced us to take steps to reduce that number to facilitate the next two stages: community voting towards the Audience Award prize, and the final round of judging to determine the winners of the competition.

Today is a special day for the Flash game development community, as it is the day that MochiAds throws open its doors to everyone. Previously an invitation-only closed beta, anyone with a Flash game and a dream can now sign-up to begin earning ad revenue with MochiAds.

Got a little bandwidth to spare? We've got a fresh batch of downloadable games to clutter up your hard drive and eat up your precious weekend time. Most of the games have what we like to call a "classic" look or feel that hails back to the days when polygons were nothing more than scribbles on your high school math notebook.

This special edition of Weekend Download highlights two games that are a bit less accessible due to their large download size and lack of a playable demo. We feel they deserve some attention, however, as each one pushes the envelope by delivering an immersive gaming experience that's both fun and engaging. We've spent a lot of time with them and are ready to sing praise from the roof (in the form of short mini-reviews), so read on to see if one could be your next slice of delicious gaming pie.

Two major events, the 13th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition and the 10th annual Independent Games Festival, are underway, sending a deluge of top-quality games right into our collective gaming laps. Interactive fiction continues to blossom as authors push the boundaries of gaming with better stories, deeper gameplay, and more rewarding gameplay using nothing more than words and creativity. Most of the IGF games aren't available for download just yet, but you'll recognize some of the games/authors and immediately jump for joy.

Whew! After rolling out tons of amazing competition entries over the last two weeks, it's time to take a little breather to see what the rest of the casually-oriented internet has been up to. A small sampling of what we found: a new Nitrome game, prawn, exploding cats, aliens fighting humans, and a guy reading a newspaper. In other words, business as usual!

Now that all the entries are up, I think most everyone will agree that nearly 50 entries is quite a lot to include in a competition like this(!) And while we want everyone to have the opportunity to receive the valuable feedback and constructive criticism the JIG community is so good at providing, we must also take steps to reduce the field to a more manageable size.

The final entry(!) to the 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Will Emigh, Ian Pottmeyer, and Rory Starks of Studio Cypher. Entropic Space is an action game of colliding planets to collect the debris they leave behind while avoiding black holes and supernovas. The "ball physics" theme is well represented and integrated within the gameplay.

The next entry to the 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Guilherme Töws of Brazil, another fresh name to the CGDC. Bisection Dominion is an arcade-style action game that uses gestural input to split bubbles, which incorporate the "ball physics" theme, in two until they are so small they are eliminated from play. Please leave your kind feedback and constructive criticism for Guilherme in the comments.

The next entry up is from Aqui Griffin of Washington (US). You might remember Aqui from our "grow" themed competition back in March with his entry, enQbate. Bug Bug in Sky Tower is a platformer in which the "ball physics" theme can be seen within the player character itself as well as in other elements of the game. Please leave your kind and constructive feedback for Aqui in the comments.

The next entry up is a game designed by Andrew Paradise with art and characters by Georg Pedersen. The authors are from Massachusetts (US). Fluke Ball is a turn-based strategy game in which players take turns throwing common office objects toward a microwave and the strange phenomenon that surrounds it. The game includes a creative interpretation of the "ball physics" theme.

The next entry up is from Gareth Thomas ("Gaz") of the UK. Gaz may be new to the competitions but his games are familiar here at JIG: Avalanche having received a review from us, and Square Divide making an appearance in a Link Dump Friday. Particle Blaster is an arcade style geometric shape shooter that implements the "ball physics" theme within the gameplay.

The next entry up is from Wildsnake Software of Russia. Although new to the CGDC, you may remember reading about another Wildsnake Software game here in a recent review of Shuffle. Chap Hai - Way of the Dragon is an action strategy game of skill in which "ball physics" plays an important role in gameplay also similar to pool.

The next entry to the 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Dom Camus of the UK. You may remember Dom from our 3rd competition with his entry, The Turtles of Time. This time Dom delivers a pinball game with a twist in Ballrooms, an entry that incorporates the "ball physics" theme in a straightforward implementation. Please leave your kind and considerate feedback for Dom in the comments.

Next up is an entry from Carl Foust of Indiana (US). You may remember Carl's highly imaginative entry from CGDC #3, the Super Earth Defense Game! Balancing Act takes the theme of "ball physics" and translates that directly into gameplay in which you must keep balls (and other objects) in a state of balance. Please leave your kind and considerate feedback for Carl in the comments.

The next entry to the 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Aaron Cox and Graham Jans of British Columbia (Canada). Ballonius is an action arcade-style game of collecting energy while avoiding bubbles with elastic "ball physics" properties. Please post your kind and constructive comments for Aaron and Graham about their game.

The next entry to the 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is a game from Tom Methven of the UK, participating in a CGDC for the first time. Sky Blocs is a block tumbling, chain reaction puzzle game that includes an implementation of "ball physics" within elements of the gameplay. Please leave your kind and constructive feedback for Sky Blocs in the comments.

The next entry up is from Sean Hawkes of Louisiana (US). You may remember Sean from our first competition as he was responsible for 3 of the entries: the prize-winning Clack, Weight and Houses. Contour is an action puzzler in an isometric pseudo-3D perspective that integrates "ball physics" within the gameplay. Please give Sean your kind and constructive feedback on his game in the comments.

The next entry to the 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is a game from Eduardo Omine of Brazil, another newcomer to our CGDC festivities. Rmvblls is a goal-based action game in which the objective is to remove the required number of balls from play. The "ball physics" theme is present here in a straightforward implementation. Please provide Eduardo your kind and constructive feedback on his game in the comments.

The next entry to the 4th Casual Gameplay Deisgn Competition is from Zach Archer and Miles Johnson from Oregon (US), both new to the JIG competitions. Space Kitteh is a platform game of planetary jumping and saving kittens that implements the "ball physics" theme in an outer space adventure.

The next entry to our 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Phillip Reagan of Texas (US). You may remember Phillip as he is a prize winner from our very first competition with his game, Thief. Osmosis is a unique game that relies on gestural input to control sheep that roll and react to various "ball physics" properties. Please leave your feedback and constructive criticism for Phillip in the comments.

The next entry into our 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Monsterkodi of Germany. You may be familiar with one of Monsterkodi's games previously mentioned here, Kiki the Nano Bot, so please give him a warm JIG welcome. Koogel is a unique game that leverages the "ball physics" theme visually as well as integrates it within the gameplay.

The next entry comes from Ali Maunder of VarStudios in the UK. You may know Ali from his games previously reviewed here, Neon and Abstract Sea. Kaichou is an 'experimental' shooter created expressly for this "ball physics" competition. Please offer up some feedback and constructive criticism for Ali in the comments.

The next entry comes from The Netherlands and a team of two game developers: Robert Berrier and Roland Ariens. Angular Momentum is an action puzzle game in which momentum plays an important role in the gameplay, as does the "ball physics" theme. Please give Robert and Roland a warm welcome by posting your feedback and kind constructive criticism in the comments.

Another long time JIG visitor participating in his first Casual Gameplay Design Competition, Bart Koning from New Zealand reels in the next entry for you. Stranded is an action game of catching fish by tossing stones into the water and knocking them out. While the "ball physics" may not be all that obvious, I'm sure it's in there somewhere (the stones must be ball-shaped.)

The next entry up for your review is a game by Dan Black of Ohio (US), also new to our competitions. There seems to be a lot of new people participating this time, and we are very excited. So please join us in giving Dan a warm welcome. The Perfect Shot uses "ball physics" and some gestural input as the basis for its gameplay. And as always, provide Dan with some awesome constructive criticism and praise in the comments.

The next entry into our 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is from Rob Gray of the UK, and this is his first CGDC so please give him a warm JIG welcome. Save the Planet is a projectile shooting game in which the "ball physics" theme has been implemented as gravitational force applied to spherical bodies in orbit around a planet. It's a simple idea with mesmerizing effects.

The next entry is from Mateusz Skutnik of Poland. If you enjoy point-and-click Flash games, then you are most likely familiar with Mateusz' work, as he is the creator of the popular Submachine series, as well as the Covert Front and Daymare Town games. Mateusz also creates many other types of Flash games, and his competition entry, Mr. MothBall, is a platform game that includes "ball physics" within the player character.

The next entry up is from Rob Allen of the UK. You may know Rob's work from the incredible Hapland series, or from the banner game that graces the top of the JIG homepage. He was also part of our very first competition with his entry, Keys. In Day of the Bobteds, Rob delivers an action puzzle game based on bobteds and... "ball physics". Go figure.

The next game up is an entry from Ben Gillbanks (UK), and we wish Ben a warm JIG welcome as this is his first competition with us. Roll takes "ball physics" seriously in an action puzzler that injects a variety of surfaces and contraptions into the gameplay. That's all I'm going to say, the rest is up to you to discover and discuss in the comments.

The next game up is an entry from Bart Bonte (Belgium). Factory Balls presents a twist on what you might think of when considering the phrase "ball physics." It's a clever play on words and, well, the rest is up to you to discover. Not only is Bart familiar with our competitions, this is his 4th CGDC as well!

We have a lot of entries to share with you, and we're going to start rolling them out as we have done before, one every few hours, so that each game has a chance to receive attention and feedback from the JIG community. It will take us about a week to publish them all, so please be patient with us.

This is it! We are down to the last few hours before deadline for our 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition. Entries have been pouring in all weekend and today, and we have already surpassed all previous competitions in terms of number of entries received, so we are very pleased!

Stuck at work on the weekend? Tired of spending your Saturday/Sunday doing homework? Or are you one of the lucky folk who have two days of (relatively) work-free bliss? In any case, we've got a boatload of distractions for you. No matter if you're hopping the company firewall to grab a few games or just relaxing at home, consider this your excuse for not doing anything especially productive.

October is almost here, and you know what that means! It's time to celebrate Apple Day! Yes, the holiday everyone looks forward to all year long is finally near. Now you can eat as many apples as you like without worrying about people teasing you. And if you live in Japan you're doubly lucky, as Health and Sports Day is also in October, making sure you'll be in top condition to burn off that apple fat at the end of the month.

We are down to the final 5 days before the deadline for our Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4, and we're getting very excited to see and play all the games to have incorporated the "ball physics" theme! All entries must be in by October 1st, 2007 at 11:59PM. That is this coming Monday night. Please see the competition announcement page for full details on entering.

DJ Sultan is in the house! His just-released Yoshitoshi Montreal collection is one of the most amazingly uplifting, feel-good mixes of songs I've heard in quite a long time. So good that it warrants interrupting the flow of game reviews to share with you the wonderful positive energy it contains. If you enjoy good dance music, you won't be disappointed by this absolutely spirit-lifting mix!

Everybody panic! There are less than 100 days left to complete your Christmas shopping! You'd better start now! Begin by purchasing a silly clown outfit by the end of October. After that, be sure to grab a large bird to cook by the middle of November. After that, the rest should be a breeze. But before you spend hundreds of dollars on Halloween candy, be sure to check out this sugar-coated Link Dump Friday!

John Cooney recently put together a site that aims to help developers, particularly those using Flash, protect their intellectual property. His site, FlashRights.com, provides information and links that explain copyright, licensing issues, and ways to protect your Flash game and your rights as a developer. While it may not cover every issue surrounding intellectual property rights, it is a good place to start understanding the basic concepts, terms, and issues facing Flash game developers today.

We are just two weeks away from the deadline for Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4, and I have to say we're getting pretty excited about what is shaping up to be our biggest competition ever. With over $6000 in cash and prizes to give away, we're also looking forward to reward the best game designs that incorporate the "ball physics" theme.

Fret Nice is a unique platformer game for Windows with one of the strangest control mechanisms we've ever seen. Instead of using the keyboard, you use the guitar controller from Guitar Hero. The game is breaking boundaries across the globe, and game designer Lars Doucet sat down with the creator to get the inside scoop on the making of the musical platformer.

A smattering of games for the weekend, begging you to answer just one question: exactly how much is a 'smattering' anyway? Serve yourself up a helping of Sauerbraten if you're in the mood to shoot some baddies, and puzzle fans can delight in not one but two games to send their neurons in a tizzy. Always careful to cater to my adventure gaming bretheren, you'll also find a fun little adventure title full of pirates!

Finally, after months of no rain, early this morning I heard the sweet sound of magic sky-water falling from above. This magical collection of Link Dump Friday games encouraged the clouds to release their water. As you work your way down the list, keep an eye out for strange events such as birds falling from the sky, strangers on the street offering you large sums of money, or finding a really good coupon in the newspaper.

Just a quick reminder that there is still plenty of time to come up with an idea and to get your game design underway for Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4. The theme is ball physics and up for grabs are cash and prizes worth over $6000. The deadline is October 1st. Please see the competition announcement page for full details on entering.

I have this lamp in my room with a lampshade from which I hang all sorts of stuff. The top and bottom of this lamp is littered with clothespins to hold things in place. Yes, it's all a huge fire hazard waiting to happen, and a lot of random, all in one place; but it also reminds me of LINK DUMP FRIDAY!!!

Manuel Fallmann of Mindistortion had to move his site's domain recently. Previously at Mindistortion.net, the site, his animations and his games can now be found at Mindistortion.tv. If you have linked to any of Manuel's animations or games before, please make sure you update those links to point to the new site. Manuel thanks you for it. :)

Just a quick reminder that there is still plenty of time to come up with an idea and to get your game design underway for Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4. The theme is ball physics and up for grabs are cash and prizes worth over $6000. The deadline is October 1st. Please see the competition announcement page for full details on entering.

From Kyle Gabler comes an experimental massively multiplayer online word association "game". To play, all you have to do is read the word (or words) on top, then type in the first thing that pops in your head. Human Brain Cloud collects these associations and dumps them into a database viewed with an interactive squishy set of blobs. It's a fascinating experiment that just so happens to be an addictive game to boot.

Hello. You've reached Friday. I'm not around to take your call at the moment, so please leave your message after the beep and I'll call you back. While you're waiting, try one of these scrumptious links offered for your approval, which can mean only one thing: IT'S LINK DUMP FRIDAY!!!

The bird that flies away with your newspaper in the first Haluz chapter is back and gets caught up in the electricity to your house causing the lights to go out. And it's your job to make things right again. Travel through stunning scenery and solve puzzles in this charming and delightful new graphical adventure.

We are just two weeks into the development period for Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4, and I am pleased to report that we have even more prizes to give away(!) Sierra Online, lead sponsor of the competition and publisher of the amazing new casual game, Switchball, will be awarding a free copy of the game to all 5 prize winners!

It's another edition of Weekend Download! Join us as we pose the important questions in life: What would happen if you could rewind time with the touch of a spacebar? Who owns Majesty Manor? What would happen if the rolling rocks from Indiana Jones got a mind of their own? And just what does Linus Bruckman see when his eyes are closed?

I'm not much for long introductions. It's the end of the week and that means good times and the weekend just around the corner. And because it's the end of the week, that also means: It's LINK DUMP FRIDAY!!!

Just a quick reminder that we are just 1 week into the design and development period for Casual Gameplay Design Competition #4, and there is still plenty of time to come up with an idea and to get your game design underway that incorporates the theme: ball physics. Up for grabs are cash and prizes worth over $6000, and the deadline is October 1st.

Oh dear, where did the summer go to? Everyone's heading back to school, and I didn't get half the things I wanted to do done! Maybe some delicious Link Dump Friday would cheer everyone up!

Together with Sierra Online, we are pleased to announce our 4th Casual Gameplay Design Competition at Jayisgames.com! Up for grabs are more prizes than ever before: over $6000 in cash and prizes, including Adobe CS3 Professional licenses and a Nintendo Wii! Our thanks to Sierra Online, Free World Group, Armor Games, Arcade Town, Adobe and Nitrome for helping us bring to you our biggest competition yet! Update: Entries are all in!!!

It is difficult enough to design a game that is fun to play; harder still to design one that keeps a player coming back to it again and again. It seems that so many games today are one-off, disposable experiences offering little reason for a replay. When we chose the word "replay" for the theme of this competition, we were looking forward to seeing games with excellent replay value...

We have been working hard these last several weeks to bring you even more opportunities to show off your game design talent and to win fabulous prizes. And before we release the results of the 3rd Casual Gameplay Design Competition, we would like to take this opportunity to announce some exciting news.

The parade of frogs plays trumpets to confetti as the apple moon flies in at 5:67pm. A stitch in time won't save the fairies because no elephant turns on a dime. We are going to the newspapers! We are going to the newspapers! Chocolate! Chocolate! Fax the memo to us! It's LINK DUMP FRIDAY!!!

Now that we have seen all the entries for the 3rd Casual Gameplay Design Competition, it is almost time for the voting to begin for the coveted Audience prize.

Whew! What a crazy week this has been, and another one just now starting... where did the weekend go? With the deadline for our 3rd game design competition now officially here, all the development and preparation for it seems to have been time well spent. Thanks to the participation and cooperation of some of the best Flash game design talent from around the world, we are now looking at nearly 20 sparkling new creative game designs to share with you. And we can't wait to begin to roll out the entries.

When you run, what do you think of? What questions do you ruminate? What perplexing puzzles do you ponder? Do you wonder why people park in a driveway and drive in a parkway? Do you wonder if it really is that important for all the matches in a matchbox to face the same way? I got up this morning and started running and thought, how awesome it would be if today was...LINK DUMP FRIDAY!!!

What does a muscular bunny rabbit, a pegasus roller coaster, and a bouncy rubber ball have in common? They all enjoy the musky aroma and cherry/strawberry fusion flavor of JIG Cola! That, and they happen to star in games featured on this week's Weekend Download. While you recover from your 7/7/07 party bonanza, let these games soothe your soul and tickle your brain into casual gaming submission.

Which is better: Hard candy or chocolate? Bare feet or soft socks? A beautiful flower or a stunning sunset? A delicious cake or scrumptious pie? Soaring through the mountains or chilling on the beach? An earth-shattering solo or a unified band? Well at least some questions in life are easy... like how about another LINK DUMP FRIDAY!!!

Mat from Nitrome sent word of a YouTube video they put together to show Hot Air 2 in action, including a Balloon Maker with which you can customize your own balloon to use in the game! The release is coming very soon now, so here's a little movie to whet your appetite.

There are three words in the English language that end with the letters "gry." They are "hungry," "angry," and I forget the last one, but worrying about that isn't really going to help you through any of the games in this week's Link Dump Friday!

Game-Pure has released an update to their Oshidama series, this one is a collection of levels for the month of July. There are 6 fresh new levels to play and you can compare your relative success with them against others who have tried. As with the June collection, mousing-over each screenshot in the level select menu shows how many have tried the level ("challenger") and of those, how many were able to clear it.

Do any of these games grab you by the fingers and yank you to a world of casual gaming fantasy? Or are they all yawn-worthy duds? Let us know which link dump games you feel are worthy of a full fledged review!

We have gone and done it again! After rounding up support from Adobe, Arcade Town, and Nitrome, we are pleased to announce our 3rd Flash Game Design Competition at Jayisgames.com, and you are invited to participate! Up for grabs is over $3000 in cash and prizes, including Adobe CS3 Professional licenses! We look forward to seeing more creative and original entries as we have seen with our past competitions. Update: Entries are all in!!!

A simple man once said, "I will not let words get in the way of my message." He then proceeded to smash a grapefruit on his head, prance around wearing socks too small for his hands, and draft a declaration of independence for the ocean and all the little fishies. So as to follow the words of this great man, here is your link dump!

Two updates to the orb-nudging arcade game Oshidama have been released. Oshidama Plus adds a wonderful Time Attack mode that lets you race against yourself for a better score, while Oshidama Monthly goes episodic with regular releases of extremely challenging puzzle-type levels. More Oshidama is always a good thing.

By now everyone should have received the latest stylesheet featuring the pixelrific goodness of Nitrome. The banner and supporting graphics were all created by the very talented Mat Annal, and we couldn't be happier with the way everything turned out. Thanks Mat!!

They start with nothing, and in just three days time, a completed game sits before them. The second Toronto Indie Game Development Jam (TO Jam) was held earlier this month from May 4-6. Over 60 intrepid participants dove into the creative corners of their minds and pulled out unique games the world has never seen (and in some wacky cases, should never see).

The weekend is upon us and that means another Weekend Download for your perusal. Featuring a mixture of freeware and demos, we have scoured the Web to cherry pick the finest download games that have recently become available.

Earlier this year we ran a series of poker night tournaments in which players would compete for a chance at the final table. We gave away lots of prizes including t-shirts and free downloadable games. But that's not all. As promised, today is the drawing for a brand new Nintendo DS Lite among all the weekly champions of tournaments.

For this Link Dump, I beg your indulgence for a simple quiz: I fly out of London's Heathrow airport travelling at 800mph departing at 7am (GMT), and at that exact same moment a friend leaves New York's JFK but they are on a slower flight travelling only 400 mph. At what time will the planes cross (and for a bonus point, over which ocean)?