The last few years have been something of a golden age of casual gaming. Widespread development tools plus low cost distribution platforms like Flash made it possible to make games for the web. Many developers combined an indie vibe with an interest in mass appeal to create intentionally casual games. I love me some great sprawling, complex games but sometimes it is fun to just play a short game with easy-to-understand rules and have a diversion for a few minutes. Here are some of my single-player favorites from the last few years.
Desktop Tower Defense
Perhaps no game in this list combines simple rules with extreme strategic depth. This is one of the grandaddies of casual gaming and there are several versions available. My favorite is still version 1.5.
Dice Wars
Dice Wars
A very simple Risk-like strategy game in which luck plays a huge role. Games only last a few minutes making this a nice diversion when time is tight. There is also a multiplayer version called KDice.
Hedgehog Launch
Hedgehog Launch
A wonderfully fun and silly game in which you try an launch your hedgehog out of earth’s orbit. With each toss you collect money with which to upgrade your equipment for the next lauch. The entire game is short and sweet and oddly satisfying. There is also a Hedgehog Launch 2.
Castlewars
Castle Wars
A card game in which you try and knock down your opponent’s castle before yours is demolished. You collect resources based on specialists and use cards to affect one of the castles or add to specialists or resources. This is objectively the least dynamic of the four games in this post, but I find it strangely addicting.