Filed under: Kids

Ricochet Kills 2 is a splendidly violent physics-based puzzle game. In the game, you need to kill all the "bad guys" on the screen in each level. Nobody moves, including you, and the only way to do them in is to shoot them directly, ricochet a shot off of something else, or influence an object to fall on or explode near them.

The early levels of the game are very easy, and in my opinion, the game takes a little too long to ramp up in difficulty. It's worth it, though, once you get to the harder levels. The game offers just the right amount of difficulty and satisfying (yet very simple) graphic effects and sounds when you do manage to kill the baddies.

This isn't a game that I would introduce my children to, but as far as physics games go, it's actually a pretty good one. I scored 279 on my first playthrough. I have no doubt you all can do better, so let us know in the comments!

When Lee posted about Fantastic Contraption back in 2008, I literally lost multiple days playing through it, mastering it, and then retrying levels in interesting and creative ways. It was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite physics-based games.

So I was delighted today when a friend sent me a simple link over IM, and when I clicked it to find out what it was, I was greeted with its sequel, Fantastic Contraption 2. Now, I'm not going to claim that it's new, but it's certainly new to me, and we haven't posted about it before.

I recall that there was another attempt at a sequel that was far too complicated to be fun. Fortunately, though, Fantastic Contraption 2 retains the simplicity of the first one while introducing a new gameplay mechanic: magnets.

I've only just dipped my toe into the fantasticness that is Fantastic Contraption 2, but I can tell right now that I'm going to be losing hours to this thing all over again. Yes, it's that good.

Swerveball is part of a new game called SuperMe. If you think it sounds a bit new-age self-helpish, don't worry: it is. With the rather hopeful headline of 'Be better at life', SuperMe is a collection of mini-games, quizzes, inspirational interviews and 'cheat codes for life'. And, despite it being angled at teenagers, I think there might just be something for everyone on SuperMe.

Anyway, because this is a Time Waster slot, I ought to talk about the actual game: Swerveball. Chances are you've played something like it before, but Swerveball adds another element: reflection. Without giving away the 'trick', not only is the game fun, but it also teaches you a little something about life. The game itself actually gets quite tricky if you fail the 'reflection tests' at the end of each level!

As a Time Waster, Swerveball is great -- but if you want a little more, connect your Facebook account to SuperMe and dive in! And if you have a teenage son or daughter, sit them down and force them to play.

The UK Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop), in association with a bullied and submissive Facebook, has launched a new app that aims to safeguard the burgeoning population of child surfers. The app's called ClickCoep and it takes the form of a bookmark or tab on your Facebook profile page.

According to the BBC, Ceop and Facebook have been at loggerheads for some time. Facebook, claiming its built-in reporting system was enough, initially resisted Ceop's panic button app -- but after a 33-year-old utilized Facebook to rape and murder a 17-year-old, it seems they've finally allowed Ceop to have its button.

As for the app itself, I'd be lying if I said it was very good. Basically, you get a Facebook page that links through to the Ceop Report Centre. I can't see any obvious integration with Facebook, but perhaps it happens behind the scenes.

In fact, the Facebook implementation seems to pale in comparison to the Chrome, IE8 and Firefox add-ons that are also available on the Ceop site. They provide the same 'report centre' functionality, without the need to faff around a Facebook app.

OpenDNS is a great service for a number of reasons, and today there's one more. If you're a concerned parent, they're now making it super-easy to block porn from all the computers in your home.

The new offering is called FamilyShield, and it's just as easy to get working as the original OpenDNS service. Full instructions are provided on the official site, and they'll walk you through setting up FamilyShield either on your computers or on your router. Opt for the router method if you're comfortable -- it's really not too complicated, and instructions are provided for 18 different brands of routers and dozens of different models.

Once you've configured the OpenDNS FamilyShield servers, they take care of the rest -- constantly updating their files to block additional sites. As they point out on their official blog post, it's fairly difficult to get around FamilyShield's access-blocking abilities.

That's not to say it's impossible -- there's always a way, but FamilyShield is certainly an excellent first line of defense if you're looking for a way to keep porn off your computers.

Technology provides today's school with numerous avenues to provide quality education to kids while making learning fun. With schools increasing the use of technology to deliver learning, parents are faced with embracing technology to provide learning and fun experiences for kids growing up in a technology saturated world after school.

As a concerned parent, I want to do my part in making sure that my kids have the ability to play games and learn at home while away from school. Linux games for kids often provide a low cost/no cost alternative for parents willing to install the latest Linux operating system to provide a low cost alternative for educational tool for kids. Because finding Linux games can sometimes be difficult for Linux newcomers, I have compiled several great Linux games for kids that will provide your child with hours of learning and fun:

1. Ri-Li (pictured) is a wonderful game for children ages 3 and up that love trains. The kids get to control toy wooden trains through various levels while attempting to pick up coaches to win. This fun and engaging game has great graphics that are bright and colorful while teaching keyboard-mouse skills and following rules.
   


2. KTuberling or Potato Guy is a great children's game available on the KDE Desktop that even captures the attention of some adults. Kids can dress the potato guy with different outfits and facial features and there is even an ability to save your art for your aspiring Da Vinci. This game is a must have for the 2-5 year old range.

I'm a sucker for physics-based time waster games. Cover Orange is one that's new to me, and it's unique in that the goal is to protect your little orange and green pumpkins (or are they apples?) from acid rain.

You can't move or control your little guys. Instead, you need to creatively place objects within each level to protect them. Sometimes this just means building a shelter for them, but more often than not, the solution requires a bit more out-of-the-box thinking.

One of the things that frustrates me about most physics games is that I often feel that the game ends just as I'm starting to feel like I've got a handle on it. Cover Orange doesn't suffer from that problem. The game uses user-generated levels and seems to just keep going and going. While the user-generated levels are of varying quality, they're good overall and make the game worth continuing.

By now I would hope you've all seen the amazing, adorable and humbling video of a two-year-old interacting with an iPad for the first time. If not, go watch it now (it's after the break, too).

In just five minutes I had my entire world view shift; I started humming Children of the Revolution; I got to pondering the possibilities of a future where babies interact with computers before they learn to walk. You won't ask about a child's first word -- it'll be about a child's first click. A report just in from Gartner predicts that, by 2015, 50% of all computers bought by under-15s will have touchscreens. Gartner cites the 'iPhone phenomenon' as the starting block, but I'm sure the iPad will be the nail in the coffin for dull, mouse-driven interfaces.

You see, like guns, computers are equalizers -- you only need to master a few tactile movements to use a gun, or a computer. Once on a computer and behind the anonymous veil of the Internet, age, appearance and background are inconsequential. When I was 13, I would parade as a 20-year-old in chat rooms; no one was any the wiser. Will we begin to see children, via early exposure to technology and increasingly easy-to-use interfaces, parading as adults?

In fact, how can you even define what an adult is or isn't? In a world that is becoming increasingly dependent on computers, and thus motor skills that do not require physical maturity, how do we draw the line between child and adult? With the barrier to entry of mouse and keyboard manipulation removed, and no sensible way to tell young or old apart, where does that leave us?

This is an interesting problem for almost all levels of media production and consumption: how do you tailor your content when young humans are exploring computers, and thus the Internet, from the age of two? If Apple can craft a UI that a baby can use, will other vendors follow suit, or simply ignore a huge number of 'early adopters'? [hah!]

Seriously, I have no idea if Apple's intention was to revolutionize computer interfaces for the next generation -- the Children of Cyberspace -- but if the iPad takes off as both a toy and educational aid, Apple may have just struck gold. Again.

When I think of air combat games, the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not turn-based games. However, SteamBirds is a turn-based game that manages to make the game both suspenseful and action-packed.

In SteamBirds, you command one or more "steambirds," which are fusion aircraft that were invented in 1835. Oops, did I forget to mention that SteamBirds is based on an alternative historical timeline? Right, I'm sorry about that.

In SteamBirds, each level is a mission, and can contain various bad guys with various abilities. The planes you command also have a few special abilities, such as the ability to pull a 180 degree turn in the sky, or to become invincible for a turn through the use of shields. Using a special ability will prevent that aircraft from shooting its guns on that turn, and it takes a turn to recover the special ability again.

The visual style and sound design of the game are quite compelling, and from a gameplay perspective, the air combat is challenging without being impossible. SteamBirds is a fun game that you can pick up and put down as needed due to its turn-based play.

Jetpack Jackass is a Flash game by Adult Swim. The object is to get your character, Sam, to the moon so that he can prove his love to Stacy, who thinks he's just an idiot. He blasts off with a jetpack, and in order for him to go higher, you must aim him toward the various objects in the sky that he can bounce up from.

Some objects, such as falling buildings or satellites, give Sam a bigger boost than the regular brick and wood bars. He can also collect fuel cans, which fire him up into the air with the click of your mouse if he gets into trouble. Also, if he collects all of the letters in Stacy's name (which are floating around in purple hearts), he suddenly gets a huge boost from a big pack of purple helium balloons that temporarily shows up.

The game is fun, but if I have a knock against it, it's that it's too easy. Worse, if you beat it once by getting a score that's higher than 100,000 KM (called "shooting the moon"), the game basically just starts over again. If you can do it once, you can do it over and over, and nothing new is introduced. Your total distance is aggregated, though, so it should be possible to get a truly ridiculous score. I quit trying at around 250,000 KM.

Even with the flaw of being a bit too easy, this is a fun game to play. To challenge yourself even more, try playing it without ever using the jetpack (fuel can) booster. How far can you go?

Shuriken Showdown is a classic shooting physics game, where the object is to hit various targets. In this case, you must hit all of the targets first, clearing them, and then hit the gong. However, you have a limited number of shurikens (ninja stars) with which to do it.

There are also other objects that you can hit, such as one that gives you three more shurikens, and others that shoot out bullets that will break targets and hit the gong. Unfortunately, these are also considered targets, and even if you don't need their help, you must hit them before hitting the gong.

One challenge you'll run into is that your ninja can only face one direction on each level, and the range of motion of his arms limits him from throwing stars at targets that are behind him. He can arc throwing stars up and over behind him, but not straight out from the back, which can make some levels more difficult.

The game is nicely put together, and makes a solid coffee-break time waster.

Have you ever tried to draw a picture with a spilled liquid? For me it's coffee; I seem to spill coffee far more often than an adult ought to, but when I do it turns into a little sketchpad. Gross? Yeah, a bit. But admit it, you've done the same thing.

If you'd like to have the same experience without getting wet or making a mess, head on over to Blobs Redux, a Flash site that simulates playing with liquid on a flat surface. You can either start with the little picture of a man that the site initially loads, or click the clear button to start with a blank slate, and a small source of blog material at the bottom center of the screen.

My kids love playing with Blob Redux, but if I'm honest, so do I. It has that same zen feel as playing with an Etch-a-sketch. I wouldn't recommend it for laptop users though, unless you enjoy a warm lap and a quickly drained battery.

I love the genre of physics-based puzzle games, but in particular I love the clever ones that really stand out.

Home Sheep Home is one of those standouts. In Home Sheep home, your goal is to get your three sheep, Shirley, Shaun, and Timmy, back to their barn. To do so, you must navigate them through 15 increasingly challenging levels.

You can only control one of your sheep at a time, and each is unique: Shirley is the biggest and slowest, and can't jump too high, but is heavy and strong. Shaun (hat tip to Aardman) is the middle one; he can leap high into the air, and is very fast. Timmy is the tiny one who can fit through tight spaces, but isn't particularly heavy or strong.

I liked this game so much that I was disappointed that there are only 15 levels. The game concept and execution could easily have supported double that.

You'll probably be able to complete Home Sheep Home in about 20 minutes, and I bet like me you'll be wishing there was more.

If ever there was a time waster for which the concept of a sequel seems ironic, it would be This is the Only Level. This is the Only Level's whole raison d'etre (sorry, I'm watching the winter games closing ceremony as I type this) is to play with the concept of what a level is. The game features one "level", if you define a level as how it is laid out on the screen, but you can complete many stages. Stages are versions of the level where you need to get your character from the beginning to the end of the level, but are given an additional challenge of some kind.

This is the Only Level Too is a sequel to This is the Only Level, adding even more levels, oops, I mean stages to the game. As always, the fun in this game is in figuring out the clever and sometimes infuriating puzzles that don't always stay within the confines of the game itself. If you liked the first one, the sequel brings more of the same brain-bending goodness.

Age of War is a side-scrolling strategy game where the goal of the game is to destroy the other side's base. You start out in the stone age, and evolve through five distinct ages until you're doing war with futuristic hovering vehicles and super soldiers.

You earn both money and experience for destroying the other side's units, and you have to carefully decide on a balance between stationary turrets to protect your base, and units to attack with. Since both sides are continually evolving, a turret that is strong soon becomes less so, so it's often a better bet to put your resources into units early in the game.

You can only place turrets on your home base, and the same holds true for your computer opponent. This makes the game frustratingly well balanced, because as the battle moves towards either side, that side gets a boost from the turrets coming into play. You pretty much have to evolve to the final age before you can mount an attack that is sufficiently overwhelming to claim victory, or at least I did.

How quickly can you beat Age of War? How'd you do it?