Friday afternoon is not the time for a complicated Time Waster. What could be easier than racking up points by falling?

Guy walks over gap, gravity kicks in, guy falls. Down. And then down some more. Oh, snap! Guy scores massive points and takes over first place on the leaderboard! That's as complicated as it gets in Plumet (clearly the old Anglo-French spelling).

As you fall, you'll level up and unlock additional features - like a slew of additional characters so you can retry your epic descent as a ninja, Santa Claus, or an alien (among others).

The controls are simple, and easy to do while you pound your celebratory week-ending Guinness: left and right to move and down to roll. Yes, rolling is sweet and extra sweet if you're a ninja, but it can get you into trouble. Time it wrong when the scenery starts speeding by and you'll be squashed against the top of the screen in the fetal position.

A while back we shared the Flash version of Doom with you as a Time Waster. What could be better than Doom in your browser? How about single-page access to Doom, Heretic, and Hexen?

Yep. All three demo games have been open sourced, and some heartless bastard decided it was a good idea to roll them into a single Flash-powered ball of awesome that we can play in our browsers instead of getting any actual work done. They're Flash 10 only, so make sure you're up to date before you try to play.

Thank god these are just the demos and not the full games, or this would quite possibly become the biggest Friday Time Waster ever.

There's no music, and you may have trouble getting some cheat codes to work (not that you'll try, of course), but who cares? You'll notice some gripes in the comments about control as well, but come on - Hexen in your browser while at work? 'Nuf said.

[via Inquisitr]

Who hasn't had the occasional daydream about fending off waves of attackers using only your speed, cunning, and a trusty bow?

Ok, I haven't had any either. That might change now that I've played Medieval Rampage.

You control an archer, and you're on your own. Fight your way through the enemy hordes collecting money and upgrades as you go. Boost your speed, skill, armor, and health, purchase bigger and better bows and arrows. Certain arrows require certain bows, so be careful when making your selections at the shop.

Use WASD or the arrow keys to move your character and 1-5 to switch weapons. You'll also uncover cheat codes throughout the game which can be entered by pressing shift+R.

Hone your skills in campaign mode. Once you've bested all 25 rounds, try the survival mode out. After all that practice, you'll be the kind of archer that (wait for it...) makes enemies quiver.

Oh, come on. You all saw that coming. Now go shoot some medieval baddies.

While I'm not normally one who gets wrapped up in click-and-find Flash games, I couldn't stay away from HeadSpin Storybook. The artwork is fantastic, and I love the concept.

The game centers around a pop-up book. Your goal is to create a perfectly mirrored reflection of the objects on the left-hand page by clicking items on the right. You'll have 30 seconds to complete each level.

It sounds simple enough, but as the number of objects increases and their details become more subtle the game turns into a real workout for the eyes and mind. Since it's like a pop-up book, you'll also have to do a bit of guessing from time to time since some objects will be hidden behind others.

At 6:30 in the morning, Storybook gave me intense cravings for sharper eyesight and a much larger display than my 12" notebook screen to play on. The short time requirement and break between levels makes this a Time Waster you can come back to all day long.

I don't normally preface Time Wasters with a warning, but I'm going to make an exception this time.

If you've never played Death vs Monstars before, you may wish you weren't reading this post right now. It is, in two words, awesomely addictive. Once you start playing, you may just kill your entire afternoon, the time you planned on spending at the pub, and the rest of your Friday night festivities.

Controls. Dead simple. You're already shooting all the time, so just fly around. Use your momentum to circle your crosshairs and change aim.

Secret weapon. Death bloom. Double click to unleash a circular firestorm and become invulnerable for a short time.

Power ups. Check. As you defeat enemies, they'll leave behind cash that you pick up to purchase more firepower and better stats in between levels. A little short for that next upgrade? No problem. Replay a level to stuff your pockets.

Bad guys. Lots of 'em. They pop up all over the place and attack in swarms. Sometimes you've just got to park yourself in a corner and keep your aim fixed as waves of the little buggers come at you. Don't stay put too long, though, or you'll miss out on all the booty.

Death vs Monsters has everything I want in a casual game. It's just too bad I found it while I was at work, because I'm way behind on my service work now. These are the sacrifices we make to share Time Wasters!

Hail can be a real bugger. In real life, we usually only have to put up with a few dents in our vehicles. In Effing Hail, on the other hand, the frozen menace is capable of a whole lot more destruction.

The goal is to harness the power of wind to increase the size (and destructive force) of hailstones and redirect it toward various targets: homes, skyscrapers, planes, weather balloons, satellites, and even pedestrians. It's trickier than it sounds, and surprisingly addictive.

For big damage, you'll guide a stone as high as you can - into the Effingsphere, if possible - to create a gargantuan ball of icy devastation. For the record, a 32-meter sphere is just about enough to bring down an airplane or satellite in a single blow. Pedestrians are tricky targets, and you'll really have to work to hit them.

At the end of your session, you'll get to see your accomplishments displayed as a chart on an imaginary newsclipping. Sweet.

Thanks, Hazard!

Clearly fed up with the penguin's generally soft and cuddly image, the lead character in Penguinz is Hell-bent on changing that perception. Antarctica's a dangerous place, after all, and he's kicking ass and taking names.

Ok, fine. There may not be polar bears in Antarctica. Nor are there Eskimos. But if you're put off by either of those things, chances are good that you're not likely to play a game where a penguin defends himself with an Desert Eagle, M-16, or chainsaw.

On easy mode, Penguinz isn't much of challenge. Still, it's a good way to get your feet wet before trying the harder modes. Make sure to collect all the booty that appears to recharge your health, top off your ammo, and pad your wallet. Cash is important, as it allows you to purchase a total of nine weapons and dozens of upgrades like a laser scope and grenade launcher.

Apart from the different enemies you encounter in normal levels, there are four boss battles to test your mettle.

Handy tip: backing away from oncoming foes and firing will get you out of a lot of sticky situations.

Trajectory games have always been a great way to waste time. Combine a classic concept with an awesome new cartoon, and you've got an uncomplicated-yet-fun casual game. Enter Air Voltar, courtesy of YTV's League of Super Evil.

The League's three human memebers (Red Menace, Dr. Frogg, and Voltar) are out to challenge the mighty Skullossus for his title as Champion Villain Punter. You'll be controlling Red Menace to "initiate the launch sequence." Set your trajectory by moving the mouse and click to start running, then keep your eye on the boot's power meter. Click again at just the right moment for maximum power, and send Voltar hurtling through the atmosphere.

Once airborne, you gain a little control over Voltar - you've got three...er...jet boosts...at your disposal to gain extra distance or propel him into floating obstacles. You'll rack up points or get added distance from hitting them, so use your boosts wisely!

One of the best things about great Time Wasters is that the developers keep giving us more. Take Assembler, for example. Jay first wrote about it last year, and now we've got even more physics puzzle fun and frustration to enjoy with Assembler 3.

The concept hasn't changed: move objects around the play area, stack them up, wedge them, balance them. Do whatever it takes to get the target shape aligned with the goal area.

There are plenty of different ways to pass a level, so you don't have to follow the tips if you don't want to. Balance? Screw that, I'll just wedge this sucker in here so it can't tip anymore and drop the circle in place, thank you very much.

Assembler can turn into a real time sink, so be prepared to flush your afternoon straight down the toilet if you decide to give this one a try. There are custom levels to play, and you can always try to beat your best times in free play once you've beaten story mode.

I'm a big fan of the fast-pasted silliness of the Wario Ware games. The frenzied action and wide variety of minigames are always good for an unwinding session on the Wii.

Unfortunately, most of us aren't lucky enough to have 1) a Wii in our offices or 2) enough space to swing around the remote without drilling some unsuspecting coworker in the pie-hole. The good folks at Tinymania have a solution: Tinytrials.

The concept is the same: "microgames" are thrown at you in rapid-fire succession with minimal instruction. They're all fairly simple and intuitive, however, so it doesn't take much time to pick them up. You'll get to do everything from knocking bananas away from some crazed monkey to doing laps in the little red racecar.

My favorite: mash on all the keyboard keys. I rock at that one. Tinytrials even keeps tabs on your progress so you can see where you rate against other players.

[ via JayIsGames]

Hey Wizard is fun little Flash Time Waster, though getting a decent screencap was a bit tricky. You'll need both hands to work the controls, which led to several untimely deaths as I tried to snag an action shot.

As you already guessed, you control the short bearded fellow with the wand and pointy hat. Though your tiny mage can't jump, he gets by just fine. Aim your wand at the ground, hold the left mouse button down to charge it up, and release it to fire. You'll go rocketing off like a plastic bag in an updraft.

You've got other spells at your disposal, too, including a flame attack (which doubles as a way to hover) and the mysterious - but very useful - necrohand. Each spell has a recharge time, so don't get caught wandering around firing off willy-nilly. Levels are somewhat open-ended, so there's plenty of adventuring to be done and no shortage of monochromatic baddies to dispatch.

Getting used to the controls and the game's somewhat screwy physics can take time, but Hey Wizard is still a big slice of Friday fun.

[ via JayIsGames ]

Your office might not be the ideal place to whip out a USB guitar and start wailing away at Guitar Hero. Jam Legend, however, is a bit more subtle and can be just as much fun.

You've got two options for controls - tap only or tap and strum. If you're into a more relaxed gaming experience, forgo the enter-key strumming. You can also choose wield your keyboard like an instrument and utilize keytar-like controls, which is either cooler or colossally more nerdy depending on your perspective.

If you want to show off your chops head-to-head, click over to Showdowns and test your skills against another Jam Legend player. Perform well, and your name could wind up on the Legends list.

I'd highly recommend not playing JamLegend on a netbook - the Atom processor had its share of trouble handling the Flash goodness, and my score (as you can see) took quite a nosedive from my earlier round on a Core2-powered notebook.

JamLegend is a ton of fun, and who knows - you might find some great new music to listen to while you're playing.

Space Game is a fun, addictive RTS where your goal is to extract minerals from asteroids while fending off attacks from nasty space pirates.

There's quite a bit of depth to this one compared some Time Wasters we've shared so I recommend reading up on keyboard shortcuts and enemy ship weaknesses.

Set up your network of mining and power equipment and build up defenses - you'll need them once the red alerts start. Basic lasers and missile launchers provide your firepower, just make sure you've got them strategically placed so you're ready for pirate attacks from any direction.

With nine missions and two addition play modes, you could easily blow the rest of your day playing Space Game. If you'd rather not be totally unproductive, the early levels set on slow speed are easy to play whilst tabbing back-and-forth to applications you use to get real work done.

Not that any of us would do that at work.