2 - Dino Run

Graphics as old as the Dinosaurs themselves.

Ahh, the halcyon days of chunky pixels and beautifully cheap animation. There’s nothing quite as surprising as seeing a wonderfully animated block of squares, and still understanding what it is you’re looking at.

Dino Run, by Pixeljam Games is one such throwback. A fantastically retro looking treat that takes you back to an age where people didn’t care about polygons, and paralax scrolling was the in thing. Old school music, old school graphics and old school gameplay, all wrapped up in a new school format.

Dino Run is deceptively deep. What first seems like a run-of-the-mill run and jumper turns into something heart-stoppingly exciting, and crys out for multiple play-throughs. You are a Dinosaur, rushing through a prehistoric landscape as the apocolypse chases you with ever-increasing speeds. Dodging falling trees, traipsing Stegosaurs and tar-fastened Diplodocus, it’s your task to get from A to B while avoiding the big black darkness that is death.

With a multitude of options, a fantastic multiplayer mode, and a collection of trophies, speed-runs and other achievements, you’d be mad not to fall in love with this. A real modern classic, served up on a free table. 

1 - Desktop Tower Defence 1.5

"Wouldn’t it be easier to just walk around the maze lads?"

Ever since Warcraft Tower Defence stole our lives way back when, there have been a multitude of clones, spin-offs, add-ons and rip-offs of that time-honoured classic.

The basic idea of a Tower Defence game is simple enough. You buy towers, generally ranging from simple turrets, splash damage turrets, elemental damage to anti-air gunners. Strategic placement of these turrets is the aim, in order to stop an ever marching group of enemies, known collectively as "Creeps" from reaching the exit mark.

More often than not, you’re presented with a maze, and you’ll generally place your turrets around this maze. DTD1.5 goes one step further, in that your turrets create the maze. Not only is this a unique twist on the Tower Defence staple, it opens up a world of tactics. Creating a maze that focuses on the outer edges will keep the creeps running longer, but will they catch the flying creeps who ignore the boundaries of your maze? Should I upgrade turrets in the centre, or the outer edges?

This isn’t a game you can play for 5 minutes. It’s not that the game won’t allow you to play for 5 minutes, it’s that the game won’t allow you to play for 5 minutes. It drags you in, you begin to hone your play style, vying for a high score, climbing the ranks of the DTD playing field. This game is an evil, evil creature, one that seduces you with it’s simple charm, and won’t let go until you’re blue in the face and out of breath. An out-and-out winner.