The Goreletter » Online Gizmo of the Month http://www.gorelets.com/blog Michael Arnzen's Weird Weblog Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:19:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 en Dr. Unheimlich’s Disease Registry http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/dr-unheimlichs-disease-registry/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/dr-unheimlichs-disease-registry/#comments Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:16:47 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=453 Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with
Arnzen’s Disorder Cause: cursed Japanese video Symptoms: itching, thirst for human blood, redness of nose, polka-dot saliva Cure: expensive biofeedback devices
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:

]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/dr-unheimlichs-disease-registry/feed/ Dead Cat Bounce http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/dead-cat-bounce/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/dead-cat-bounce/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:56:47 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=444 If shooting a frail little kittie out of a high-powered cannon is your idea of fun, then just wait until you try Dan Fleming’s “Kitten Cannon” game — where the aim is not only to watch the fuzzball fly, but to make that feline soar as far as possible by ricocheting its body off of trampolines, bombs, and TNT stockpiles…but look out for the Venus Fly Traps and metal spike pits!

I’m a cat lover and I can’t seem to stop playing this game long enough to finish my letter to the ASPCA.  Ah well, maybe it isn’t so bad: this tortured tabby has wayyyy more than nine lives.

My best distance to date:  1182 ft.

http://www.burststudio.com/kitten.html


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/dead-cat-bounce/feed/ Ragdoll Avalanche II http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/ragdoll-avalanche-ii/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/ragdoll-avalanche-ii/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:57:51 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=420 It’s a dance with death! A simple idea, “executed” quite nicely beneath a rainstorm of blades.

http://www.ragdollsoft.com/ragdollavalanche/


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/ragdoll-avalanche-ii/feed/ Face Dances http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/face-dances/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/face-dances/#comments Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:47:55 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=390 Mono-1.com (a progressive advertising agency) has posted a fun “mix and match” game where you can assemble all the elements of the human head into a freaky photorealistic picture, called Monoface. They say there are 760,000 possible “monofaces” you can make with the various random mash-ups of eyes, noses, mouths, and hair/shoulders. Create your own mutants and have a ball.


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/face-dances/feed/ Ye Olde Gore http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/ye-olde-gore/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/ye-olde-gore/#comments Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:20:54 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=362 In Armor Games’ free online simulation, “Dark Cut,” you play a medieval surgeon, summoned by your king to perform offbeat, primitive surgical procedures — like removing an arrow or lancing a nasty boil or dispensing with a…well, I won’t say.

It’s a relatively easy operation, because you’re given instructions virtually all the way through it and the “game” doesn’t involve much challenge — all that’s required is a steady hand and a dark sense of humor. What makes it worth wasting your precious time is the disturbing surprise of each patient’s symptoms and the anticipation invoked by each repulsive-yet-cute cartoon graphic that goes along with it.

http://www.armorgames.com/games/darkcut.html

If this sort of thing is your cup of glee, you also might have some fun with this medieval surgery mad lib. It was designed to be educational, but I recommend printing it out and using your own randomly chosen words!


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/ye-olde-gore/feed/ Surreal Flights: High and Low http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/surreal-flights-high-and-low/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/surreal-flights-high-and-low/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:08:28 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=337 While surfing the web looking for online games that involve clubbing baby seals and other juvenile diversions of that ilk, I somehow stumbled across a delightfully gentle and whimsically surreal game — “Fly Guy” by Trevor Van Meter. It involves an ordinary bloke standing at a bus stop, who spontaneously develops the ability to fly, and zips off into the sky. You steer “Fly Guy” around in the heavens (and if you can figure it out, outer space!), interacting with various floating oddities just to see what they’ll do with (or to) him, trying to avoid getting shot back down to reality. It’s a simple, serene, light-hearted touch of irreality, artfully done.

http://www.trevorvanmeter.com/flyguy/

Oh, okay, from the sublime to the ridiculous. In a Mario Bros. clone called “Dolph: Operation Thule” you will club seals, bash hippies, and get impaled by falling icicles while being cursed at in Danish. It’s worse than crass, but also surreal in its own way. (Click on “Start Spil” to begin).

http://www.dr.dk/spil/dolph/


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/surreal-flights-high-and-low/feed/ Rock and Roll Apocalypse http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/rock-and-roll-apocalypse/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/rock-and-roll-apocalypse/#comments Thu, 17 Aug 2006 04:47:26 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=313 Here’s some wacky nonsense that for some inexplicable reason addicted me for hours. The idea is to restore the fabric of space and time — and heavy metal itself — by swinging a strange swinging object around a series of constellations before the universe implodes. The opening introduction is not to be missed and I dare say this crazy game is quite a challenge!

Rock and Roll Apocalypse

This ridiculopathic treatment is brought to you courtesy of humorist Mark Arenz. Check out his funny site at ridiculopathy.com

[This game requires the Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Flash Player. If you haven't updated your Flash Player in awhile, now might be the time to do it.]


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/rock-and-roll-apocalypse/feed/ It Wants You to Eat It http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/it-wants-you-to-eat-it/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/it-wants-you-to-eat-it/#comments Wed, 24 May 2006 18:16:13 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=295 Most free movie-inspired online games are trite gimmicks, and Slither: Hunting Season — based on James Gunn’s 2006 campy horror film Sliver — is certainly one of them. But Hunting Season is astonishingly well-made for a simple 3rd person shooter that has you do little more than point and click to shoot at random on-coming targets while offbeat sound bytes from the film randomly play over the speakers. The game puts you, a desperate cop with a rifle, slightly off the center of the screen, generating a sense of helplessness as the camera peers straight down from above in an bird’s eye view. The player’s job is to keep on the lookout for approaching monster worms, targeting the cop’s rifle at them as quickly as possible. As if pinned to the hub of a wheel, you don’t get to move. Instead, things come crawling at you — and the better you are at picking them off, the harder and harder it gets to shoot them all. The game play is excellent, because it truly succeeds in making you feel “surrounded” by the enemy… which wants to jump in your mouth, wriggle down your throat and infest you with its slimy body. You’ll get a gratuitous gore clip when you get killed in the game, which makes the impossible survival of the onslaught sort of worth it. (”What kind of animal WANTS you to eat it?” one sound byte from Slither asks. The answer? Hollywood.)

Bring on the worms: http://www.slithermovie.net/hunting/

Hunting Season requires the latest Shockwave Player (installed automatically as a browser plug in). It may also require a fast internet connection and a decent graphics card in your computer, because the design is richly competitive with most modern shooting games for the PC.


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/it-wants-you-to-eat-it/feed/ Knife Throw http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/knife-throw/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/knife-throw/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2006 02:39:01 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=273 You’ve seen it in every carny movie ever made. Now’s your chance to throw blades at the person tied to a spinning wheel. It’s simple, childish, time-consuming fun — like darts for the demented.

http://quickflashgames.com/games/knifethrow/


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/knife-throw/feed/ Trapped in a Well http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/trapped-in-a-well/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/trapped-in-a-well/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2005 17:29:52 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=258 Trapped in a Well is a cruel way to experience the existential horror of starvation. What a lovely idea. Thankfully, it ends quickly.

[The game is really just a joke by the new humorists at awesomefunny.com. But I think it's actually quite profound.]


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/trapped-in-a-well/feed/ Exmortis http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/exmortis/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/exmortis/#comments Sat, 10 Sep 2005 05:05:10 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=245 Exmortis is an excellent haunted house game, reminiscent of the “Silent Hill” series of twisted “crawlers”. You click your way around a creepy abandoned house, picking up clues (and weapons) as you try to solve the mystery of where you are, why there’s a head in the microwave, and why there’s blood all over the furniture. Try to solve the symbol puzzle before you die in a horrible fashion.

Sure, you’ll spot a lot of familiar horror images and feel like you’ve been here before. But there’s something about the way this game is put together that makes it really creepy. Combining nice art and a moody score, Exmortis is effectively chilling, even if it tests your patience as you try to figure out what to do next (a link to a helpful “walkthrough” is included below for the frustrated).

Play Exmortis (warning: the game is a 5 mb file that downloads when you load the game)

Brought to you by Ben Leffler Web Design

Need help? The Exmortis walkthrough can assist, as a last resort.

[Note: Exmortis requires Macromedia Flash, which is probably already plugged into your web browser]


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/exmortis/feed/ Skeleton Marionettes http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/skeleton-marionettes/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/skeleton-marionettes/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2005 01:04:56 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=228 Manipulate the actions of skeletal figures using virtual wires and other devices. Weird “x-ray machine” fun from Andries Odendaal at Wireframe Studios.

Dance, Skeleton, Dance!

Also see….
Wireframe’s Portfolio and Odendaal’s Whizzball

***
[Requires Macromedia Flash, which is probably already plugged into your web browser.]


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/skeleton-marionettes/feed/ The Zoomquilt http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/the-zoomquilt/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/the-zoomquilt/#comments Thu, 05 May 2005 15:44:29 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=219 You may have already seen this one, but if not, you’re in for a treat. This collaborative art project is mesmerizing as you fly through a surreal tunnel of cascading bizarre art. For some reason I was reminded of The Phantom Tollbooth as I scrolled through its infinite recesses, but I can’t explain why. (The “flash” version is best…check it out!).

The Zoomquilt

[Thanks to Judi Rohrig for mentioning this one.]


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/the-zoomquilt/feed/ Mrs. Pac Monster http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/mrs-pac-monster/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/mrs-pac-monster/#comments Sat, 29 Jan 2005 03:33:28 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=196 Fans of Jeff Strand will really dig “Grave Robber.” In this quirky Frankenstein-Meets-Pac Man game by Sam Bellman, you play a lonely scientist who’s out to create the perfect woman. You race around a graveyard, digging up body parts and dodging mindless zombies, all while doing the “Monster Mash.” It’s not easy…I haven’t been able to survive it yet. But it’s addictive and hilarious.

Grave Robber
Sam Bellman’s game portfolio
Grave Robbers Wanted (No Experience Necessary), by Jeff Strand

[Requires Macromedia Flash, which is probably already plugged into your web browser.]


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/mrs-pac-monster/feed/ German Corpse Tossing http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/german-corpse-tossing/ http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/german-corpse-tossing/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2005 18:53:46 +0000 Michael Arnzen http://www.gorelets.com/blog/?p=188 A German television company, Vox.de, has a pair of fun (and morbidly funny) online games inspired by the HBO television series, Six Feet Under, hidden on their website. Both are twisted javelin competitions, where you must throw gross things for as long a distance as you can muster.

In one of them, you play a mortician who is removing the pacemaker from a body cavity and throwing it away. Since the instructions are in German, here’s how to play: use the spacebar on your keyboard to drop the device, and then hit the spacebar again to bounce it off the trashcan and send the pacemaker flying across the room. (The bloody thing can bounce off of sponges, which you can arrange with your mouse). Click on “neustart” to play again.
Six Feet Under: Our Second Game

In another, easier, game, you play a hearse driver who is tossing coffins. Accelerate the hearse by hitting the right arrow key rapidly. Once you’re off the asphalt, press the spacebar to brake just before you hit a brick wall…and then see how far you’ve hurled the body.
Six Feet Under: Our Game

Both games require Macromedia Flash, which is probably already plugged into your web browser. (Special thanks to my wife, Renate, who translated the instructions!).


]]> http://www.gorelets.com/blog/online-gizmo-of-the-month/german-corpse-tossing/feed/