Nada, Zip, Zilch

Zilch is a cool new game I encountered recently in Kongregate.

The games is nicely designed, simple to play and very addictive. Very useful if you feel like killing some time in the office, or just have some fun. All you need is a bit of luck and a bit of strategy. Enjoy!

15 Typing Games, Tests and Lessons to Help you Type Faster and Better

Touch-typing is a very important skill, and not only if you are a secretary or a typist. Every blogger, chatter, content manager - and anyone who does business online - knows that fast typing is a crucial computer skill. Fast typing can really help you save time, money and energy when working or socializing online. There are quite a few FREE online ways to help you improve your typing skills.

So, here are 15 games, tests, lessons and resources, to help you type faster and better. Improve your typing skills with these cool sites and tools.

I personally think it's the best way to improve your typing speed AND have fun. If you are an advanced typist already, you'll enjoy these games even more. After the games, I listed some free typing tests and typing lessons. Have fun!

1. Typer Shark - very challenging and cute game by the masters in PopCap games. The game gets real hard after a while. Plus, it has this real nifty Jaws theme music bit, every time a shark gets too close. I wonder if they paid royalties for that...
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Typing Ninja Hunter - Good game for beginners. Advanced typists might find it a bit boring. Still, ninjas are always cool.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Alpha Attack - great and addictive game on MiniClip.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Fingerjig - This typing game also has a Facebook application.
   
   
5. QWERTY Warriors - This game can get really intense. You are surrounded by enemies that shoot you, and have to kill them by typing the word next to them. It's basically type fast or DIE!
   
   
   
   
   
6. A collection of typing games on FreeTypingGame.net. They also have typing tests and typing lessons.
   
   
7. Another collection of typing games.
   
   
8. A typing test on Powertyping.
   
   
9. Another speed typing test.
   
   
10. How fast are you - a short and quick typing test. At the end you'll see how you ranked and also get a code for a button to show off in your blog or site.
    
    
11. Yet another free typing test.
    
    
12. Peter's Online Typing Course - looks a bit old-school, but offers an in-depth typing course, and it's free.
    
    
13. Free QWERTY Typing Lessons.
    
    
14. VisiBone Touch-Typing Tutor.
    
    
15. Firefox Add-on: Addictive Typing Lessons. Yes, they have an add-on for that, too. Firefox rulez!
    

A Sunday Brain Teaser

Most casual games aren't really meant to make you think. They are good for passing time, mostly with no brain challenge at all.

Z-Rox, a sweet little game I have discovered in Kongregate today, is a bit different. It looks simple and unsophisticated, but it's a real brain teaser that makes you think out of the box (even if you don't have a box).

The purpose of the game is to guess which letter, shape or number are presented to you. It sounds simplistic - but it's not that easy. The music is also pretty cool, and so this game is a refreshing new perspective on casual games. Try and enjoy!

Racism in a Miniclip Game?

I just found myself in front of Miniclip - something that I haven't done since my addiction to Sushi-Go-Round. Not that Miniclip is a bad site or anything. It's just that sites like Kongregate and Armor Games are more to my taste.

Anyway, I went to see what's new in the casual games arena, and came across a game called China 2008 - a quick Olympics game for those who miss this genre of games (like me). The game is pretty cool, but that's not the point. After a quick game, I went back to the opening screen, where you have to choose your player. The game presents you with 4 athletes with stupid names, but the thing that caught my attention was this. The only Afro-American player of the four, was curiously named "Outsider". Hint? Coincidence? Racism? Who knows. Here's a screenshot, so you can see for yourself:

Play, Play, Play: 10 of the best online-gaming sites on the net

One of the best things to do on the net is play stupid, addictive, time-wasting games. The coolest things about web-based games, is that you don't have to download anything, it's usually for free, and the games are relatively simple to master and enjoy.

There are many game sites and game lists out there. Here are some of the best:

• Kongregate: A huge selection of games, and a thriving community. Home to some of the most addictive flash games known to man. Don't forget to try the chat-rooms - there's a lot of fun going on there.


• Miniclip: Tons of games, mostly simple and short. You can embed the games in your site or blog.


• Orisinal: Probably the cutest game site ever made.


• One More Level: A collection of many flash games from various sites.


• friv: A huge, graphical list of 200 games. Nicely done.


• Crazy Monkey: Cool, smart games. Boxhead is the main hit, naturally.


• Online Retro Games: For the grown-ups who miss their gaming past.


• Oldgames.dk: Another excellent retro site.


• Yahoo Games: Sounds corny, but Yahoo still has some of the best flash games out there - including Yahoo Pool and Backgammon.


• Popcap: Some of the most addictive games known to mankind. Beware.

Have fun and remember - the minimize button is your friend! ;-)

The Best Addictive Flash Games

CNET has published a list of The Ten Most Addictive Flash Games, in their opinion.

Their list is as follows:

1. Bejeweled
2. Chimgan (WTF?!)
3. Bow Man
4. Desktop Tower Defense
5. Hasee Bounce (Neopets)
6. Line Rider
7. The Last Stand
8. Portal
9. The Helicopter Game
10. Yeti Sports

While I agree with some of CNET's nominations, I would like to add some of my own:

1. Chuzzle - Basically, anything that PopCap makes is well done and addictive. Chuzzle wasted huge amounts of my spare and not-so-spare time, and I still play it from time to time.
2. Zuma - see above :)
3. CastleWars - the main advantage of this game is the ability to play it with interruptions. You can stop at any given moment, pretend to do some work, and then go back to it without losing a move. Kongregate's chat room adds to the fun.
4. Sushi Go-Round - This is truly dangerous. No only is this game highly addictive, it also hurts your mouse hand and gives you horrific Sushi craves.
5. Maganic Wars - Another war-of-cards game - not as simple as it looks, can be very frustrating and guaranteed to waste hours of your time.
6. Boxhead 2 - Oh, yeah. Just try it.