The nice thing about bringing a laptop to class is it lets you stay organized. It lets you keep digital copies of notes, look up relevant topics online and arguably, and most importantly, it lets you play video games and waste time while your professor or T.A. drones on about stratigraphy.

It would be obvious however, if you were to boot up ‘World of Warcraft’ during a lecture, and you can’t really bring a 360 into class and play ‘Halo.’ So, here are some great games that are online-only, free and actually worth your time – while your wasting time in class (or at home).

‘Portal: The Flash Version’

Simply awesome. The team at WeCreateStuff.com actually recreated the wildly popular and critically acclaimed game ‘Portal’ in flash. The original ‘Portal’ was a part of game developer Valve’s ‘Orange Box’ release for PCs, the Xbox360 and the PS3, and was considered one of the most original games released in 2007. Your goal is to navigate a room using portals launched from a gun. You release a portal on any surface. Open another on a separate surface. And then you can walk/jump/fall into one portal and end up exiting out another. Sounds simple until you factor in turret guns, energy balls, crushing platforms, energy fields and some devastatingly complex levels that Valve thought up toward the end of the game. While the original version was criticized for being too short, that factor is less significant in a flash game. Plus, this version saves your progress too, just in case you have to close your laptop when a professor walks by. The only con is you’re playing a 3D game in 2D, but who cares – you’re getting one of the best games out there for free.

Play it at: http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/

‘Winterbells’

Basic math tells us that cute bunny + cute music + addictive gameplay = not paying attention in calculus class. Though some may be sick of the snow, don’t let that deter you form playing this decidedly seasonal point-and-click reaction game. The game is simple enough: you’re a bunny and there are floating bells and birds for you to jump on. You jump on as many bells and/or birds as you can, climbing higher and higher with each leap until you mess up and go plummeting back to your cute little bunny home. The controls are easy to master, as you click once to jump onto a bell and then use your mouse to change direction to keep jumping higher. When you find yourself trying to make the third double-bonus-score bird though, you may end up cursing your mouse or trackpad. I’ve only mustered approximately 190,000 on this game, but I’ve heard that true addicts have accomplished more than double that.

Give it a try yourself at: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g3/bells.htm

The ‘Escape’ Series

One of the oldest game premises (well, at least as old as point-and-click adventure games) is the single-room escape game. Many different franchises have tried it, and it’s even been expanded into games like ‘Myst’ and ‘Rivven.’ Well, Afro-Ninja Productions is reviving the old-school game style a bit with their escape series. These games take only about 5-10 minutes to complete, but there are several, so it’s fun to do. One major downside though is the individual games lack re-playability. Afro-Ninja has done ‘Escape from the Phonebooth’ and ‘Escape from the Closet,’ both fun games, but frustrating. If you want long-term click-adventure games, try ‘Click Puzzle’ and ‘Escape from Rhetundo Island’ (not related to the Afro-Ninja series).

Escape at: gprime.net/game

AJ Chavar wants his professors to know that he doesn’t play videogames in YOUR class, just that other professor’s class, the really boring one. E-mail him the notes he missed, or comments on his column at ajchavar@syr.edu

SIDEBAR:

Other fun games

Keybr

Improve your typing skills and have fun.

Project monochrome

An old-school Galaga-style shooter.

The Impossible Quiz.

It’s not, but it may feel like it.

Super Mario Rampage

The game that dares to imagine: ‘What if Mario had a rifle?’

Qwerty Warriors

Spell things correctly to blow things up before they attack you.

All sidebar games can be found at Gprime.net, except Keybr which is at www.keybr.com

Published on January 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm