Freeware Downloads

Here you can download several freeware video games (or incomplete demos) created either by me or my cousin. If the term "freeware" isn't obvious enough, you don't have to pay anything for these, and in this case that's not piracy, it's just how they're being distributed. (As with Arpeggio, this is often due to copyright issues, i.e. use of Mario content that I don't legally own.) Most of these take the form of executable (.exe) files, which your computer may warn you not to download, and while I can assure you that they're not malware, the advice may nevertheless prove wise with respect to the games' quality. Whether or not you want to risk it is entirely up to you. (But even if you do, I can't guarantee that any of these will run on your particular operating system.)

• Gnats ~ Not so much a game as a pseudo-screensaver, stemming from my experiments in... chaos theory? It's got a bunch of particle swarms of different colors, which move around differently based on small variations in similar coding. If you're of the right mind, it's mesmerizing to watch, but there's nothing else to actually do (other than press F1 to bring up an explanation of how the swarms are programmed).
• A Simple Game ~ Created by my cousin, known then as Orphic Okapi but now as the author A.D. Jansen (though the game identifies him as The Third Man.) Essentially an inversion of the arcade classic Asteroids, you use the mouse to move a circle and click to push squares away. Push them offscreen to score points, or push them into each other to combine them into bigger squares, which are worth exponentially more points. But if your circle touches a square, it's game over.
• Eidolon ~ This one's not an executable, but a sort of text adventure thing made by my cousin, using a program called Twine. It's classified as "interactive fiction," or in other terms, a story with links. Click the bolded word to continue, but when there are multiple bolded words, you'll have to choose between them, which serves as your means of input to advance the story in the direction of your preference. I'm making it sound a lot more complicated than it really is, so just try it. It's complete, but may have a few glitches.
• Jumpy and Speedy ~ Functionally a Mario and Sonic crossover platformer with the serial numbers filed off, by which I mean that I changed the characters' names to "Jumpy" and "Speedy" and made intentionally terrible replacement graphics. This isn't done to get around copright, as official Mario and Sonic sound effects and music are still used, so it's more of a joke parodying such attempts. Despite this odd approach, the game itself is complete and runs pretty well, a few questionable design choices notwithstanding. It has a total of 42 levels throughout 9 worlds, with 9 levels being obligatory two-player where both players share the same keyboard. The two-player levels are optional unless you're going for 100% completion, though, so don't let that turn you off. Unfortunately, the game doesn't support USB controllers.
• Dr. Zeus's Green Eggs and Spam (Demo) ~ A bizarre platforming, shooting, action RPG sort of thing that was once my greatest ambition, though this measly demo isn't much to show for it. As it is, you'll have to get through what little I had finished of the story mode (which isn't easy due to several poor design choices—hint: when you're ambushed by the Spam Soldiers in Elisa's house, you can make them fly into the torches on the wall to kill them quickly, effectively skipping the fight) before being given access to my testing rooms, which weren't originally intended for the public. They include a room containing most if not all enemies and objects together, as well as a room allowing you to fight all of the game's bosses, which are fully programmed (but I think it crashes after you beat one, so you'll have to reload to fight another one). This game is the origin of this set of enemies, and while the story is extremely convoluted, I do still cherish it and hope to somehow, someday, find some way to bring it to fruition.
• Super Smash Bros. Fisticuffs (Demo) ~ A very rough demo of one of my attempts at making a Super Smash Bros. game, notably featuring characters from Jumpy and Speedy and Green Eggs and Spam. This is designed with characters having only the equivalent to B attacks (their individual special moves), not A attacks, so it plays pretty differently than a proper Smash title. The actual game physics are decent, though again two players must share the same keyboard, and there's basically no content other than the ability to fight single one-on-one matches or train against Sandbag. It does have the equivalent of trophy descriptions for all of the included characters, though.
• Nimkip (Demo) ~ Yeah, this one's pretty bad. The name is "Pikmin" spelled backwards, but in terms of gameplay genre it hardly resembles Pikmin. The idea is supposed to be that you move the ship as it flies above the planet's surface looking down, which translates to moving your camera, and that in turn means that you have to move the camera separately from the characters that you can control (the various Nimkip), which is pretty annoying. You can only control one Nimkip at a time, and even then there are only about three rooms, which are all pretty much tutorial or testing areas. Furthermore, with the concept being a parody of Pikmin, most of the actual ideas presented are patently ridiculous. I include this one not so much on the merit of its gameplay or design, but its dialogue between the captain and his ship, which, while not the most sophisticated comedy ever put to computer screen, can be somewhat entertaining.
• The Atom Game ~ A complete joke and the oldest product on this list. When you run the game, a blown-up sprite of an atom is shown, and as soon as you press any key or click any mouse button, the game ends. Before that, though not displayed to the player, the score continually counts up, so you get a score based on how long you waited before doing anything. And that's all there is to it. This was a joint project between me and my cousin, so attribute unto us equal blame. (Though to be candid, I did most of the heavy lifting.)