No, you see, this is part of my research. Into, err, the psychological effect of games.

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've been ludicrously busy. Not quite so busy, though, that I haven't had time to keep up with the wonders of the Internet. Just in case you find yourself without much to do, I strongly recommend pointing your browser in the direction of Crazy Monkey Games. They have a lot of extremely fun stuff to play with (if you're looking for 30 seconds' distraction, Curveball is absolutely awesome), but the best part is less the gameplay aspect, and more the brilliant design you can find.

In particular, I'm referring to Wink. If you've never played Wink, go and play for a few minutes right now - you can save your game and go back to it if you really have to be doing other things. It's a cartoony sneak-em-up, where the emphasis is very much on stealth. It has to be, really, given that you start the game outside a large castle with no weapons at all. The whole game, then, involves tiptoeing through shadows, crawling along the ceiling, attacking without being seen, and generally being as ninjalike as you can.

Wink is pretty much brilliant in all its forms. The controls page - always incredibly important if you don't want players to give up in disgust 30 seconds into your game - is well laid out and clear, while not giving away everything, and the controls themselves are superb, allowing you to access every single control key without moving your hands. The graphics design is extremely cute, while still being undoubtedly ninjalike (the game's quite surprisingly violent in some aspects), while the sound design is just inspired. I defy you not to start giggling the first time you hear the "tiptoe while hiding in shadows" sound effect.

The weapons, too, are very entertaining (the huge grin you'll get when you first try out a lightning staff makes the whole game worthwhile, regardless of any other factors), and the storyline is tongue-in-cheek and amusingly narrated. If there are any problems with the game, they have to centre on its being too easy, and really a bit too short.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and do the work that I should have been doing while I was finding all the hidden areas...