Browser Round-Up: End of Summer Edition

Summer is quickly coming to an end. It won’t be long before fall arrives. For many, school is already in session. Those stuck at the office  can only look out the window as the summer sun sets and fall winds begin to blow. The time for going to the beach and lounging by the pool is almost over.

For those that are already in class or for those looking to find new ways to pass the time at the office, the end of summer features the arrival of some great new free-to-play games.

Bubble Blast 3 – Developed by Dragonsnare

Those looking for a quick puzzle title will discover that Bubble Blast 3 is more than happy to kill 60 seconds of their time. The idea is take two same-colored bubbles and pop them with a left-click once they’re side-by-side. There are special bubbles that will help you rack up higher scores and combos, such as a bomb bubble that bursts every bubble of one color and a gray bubble that turns everything on the screen into black bubbles.

In the game’s main Normal mode, the player must pop 100 bubbles in 60 seconds Unfortunately, beginners and veterans alike will quickly discover that there’s no challenge here to speak of. Advancing to later levels only slows down the speed of the oncoming bubbles, which can quickly lead to boredom. The Normal mode should be experienced once, but don’t expect to come back to it a second time.

Players looking for a much better time are advised to stay in the game’s Speed mode, which requires the player to rack up as high a score as possible within 60 seconds. The challenge of trying to get a high score within the time limit is a great way to pass the time and is a lot more suited to players just trying to kill a few minutes. Speed mode makes Bubble Blast 3 a great time-waster.

Upstream Kayak – Developed by Spilgames

There’s nothing more fun than kayaking in the summer. Anyone stuck at school or work probably daydreams of kayaking up the nearby river. Spilgames tries to alleviate some of their pain with Upstream Kayak, a game that has you control an extreme kayaker.

The object of the game is to reach the goal before the time limit expires. As you jump over rocks and try to collect fruits for your turbo boosts, the 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys will all let you perform tricks. The controls take some time to get used to. Much like actual kayaking, you need to keep the kayak steady and keep yourself level in order to stop yourself from landing upside-down or banging head-first against a rock. After getting the hang of it, though, you’ll be bouncing off toucans in no time.

With a charming art style, a good learning curve, and eight levels, Upstream Kayak is worth at least a couple of playthroughs. Anyone with a few ounces of patience should really enjoy this game.

Rhythm Rockets – Developed by CoolioNiato

If you’re trying to keep your ears open for your boss or for a moment when your professor’s lecture might actually take an interesting turn, you may want to avoid this one. If you want to play with fireworks to the sound of techno music, turn to Rhythm Rockets.

Rhythm Rockets is a game in which you highlight rockets as they fly by, all to the tune of one of five pre-set songs. Each song is an uptempo tune that adds to the frantic gameplay. Players need to move quickly to catch as many rockets as they can, with high combos leading to bigger multipliers and scores. The best feature of the game, however, is the ‘Import’ feature, which allows you to upload your own MP3 from your personal music library to play along to. The background visualizer will adjust itself to whatever song plays in the background.

A word of warning, though — because so many objects come at you at once while simultaneously running music in the background, a slower processor is not recommended. A few seconds of lag is more enough to kill your chances at a high score. Aside from that, however, Rhythm Rockets is the best way to end your summer with a bang.

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