For those who get tired of shooting balloons in the Bloons series, Ninjakiwi has just released a new Tower Defense game based on the Bloons world.

Use the dart, tack, ice, bomb or superman towers to stop any balloons from escaping the maze. You can upgrade your towers or sell them for 80% of what you paid for them. Beware of the larger balloons that move faster and contain smaller balloons inside!

There is no real innovation in this game, but Bloons TD is challenging and you will probably need patience and practice to reach the 50th and last level of this game!

Have fun!

Stephen Harris, the creator of the Bloons series, has just released a first compilation of levels created by players, thanks to the level editor integrated in Bloons World that is once again down for maintenance at the time of writing :-(

This Player Pack 1 contains 50 levels created by fans from all around the world and offers more than enough to fill an entire afternoon!

Have fun!

Bloons World is live! After Bloons and More Bloons, the folks at Ninjakiwi have launched Bloons World yesterday, a site dedicated to Bloons fans, with a special version of the game that allows registered users to create their own levels!

Over 1200 levels are already available at the time of writing! Be warned though, some levels contain mature themes or offensive language and are not really appropriate for a young audience.

Have fun!

Found today at Ninja Kiwi: “By popular demand, More Bloons is here. Play 50 all-new challenging levels, and a new special balloon type! Some of these levels are very hard, and should keep most of you busy until Bloons 2 is released…”

If you never played Bloons before, I recommend you start with the original before you try More Bloons. Just use your mouse to aim and throw. Click and hold to choose the power, release and pop as many balloons as possible!

Stephen Harris did again a great job here, and I can’t wait for Bloons 2. That being said, More Bloons is definitely much harder than Bloons!

Warning: this game is just as addictive as the original!

Have fun!

Have you ever seen a monkey playing darts? Bloons is the latest game released by Stephen Harris. And in this little puzzle/skill game, you, as a monkey, will have to play darts and pop as many balloons as possible in each of the 50 puzzling levels.

Use the mouse to aim and throw. Click and hold to choose the power.

After the initials easy levels, the difficulty increases nicely as you progress through the game and you will soon need the help of the special balloons to complete the different challenges.

A few levels are probably a bit too difficult and you will probably find yourself frustrated from time to time as you try to complete them. Fortunately, the game automatically saves your progress, so that you can return later and start again at the level you left off.

Minor flaws aside (darts sometimes fly through bouncing blocks), Bloons is a very nice and very addictive game, with an interesting and original gameplay.

Have fun!

Splitter 2 is the sequel to Splitter, a physics-based puzzle game created last November by Eugene Karataev.

The goal of the game remains unchanged: help the little smiley reach the brown exit in a limited number of cuts.

To do so, use your mouse to split objects and joints and let gravity do its thing. You can split joints and wood objects, but not metal and brick objects.

Splitter 2 features 32 new levels of increasing difficulty, plus a level editor to build your own levels and share them with the community.

I’m looking forward to playing “Splitter 2 Pack 1” a la Bloons: the concept of the game is simple and brilliant, and with the help of the fans, I have no doubt that a Pack series would be very successful!

Have fun!

Splitter 2 video walkthrough (original levels)!

Update: The Player Pack 1 is now available
with 21 brand new levels!

Shuriken Showdown is a Bloons-like game where you have to hit “all of the targets on the screen, but the ‘Gong’ must be the last target hit.” Use your Mouse to aim. Click & hold the mouse button to charge your throw.  Try using shields and kunai to reach other targets. Have fun!

Boombot is the latest creation from NinjaKiwi. Your goal here is to use explosions to get your Bot to the exit point in each level.

There are boxes, TNT, exploding Gel, and burning oil barrels to help and hinder you. Click and hold your left mouse button  to make a bomb and release to explode and move the robot.

Boombot features 50 levels of increasing difficulty and offers an unlimited bombs mode, just in case…

Not as good as the Bloons series, but still highly enjoyable!

Have fun!

Update: Boombot video walkthrough!

Hog Pop is a new Puzzle / Skill game strongly inspired by Bloons created by Jean-Philippe Sarda aka JP, the French game developer behind Pepere.org.

Just like in Bloons, your goal in Hog Pop is to pop a certain number of balloons, but instead of using darts, you play here with a little hedgehog.

Hold down the mouse button to freeze the camera and adjust your shot then release the mouse button to launch the hedgehog.

You have a limited number of moves to pop the targeted number of balloons, but unlike in Bloons, you can rewind to the beginning of each level (if needed) by using the “Esc” key.

Hog Pop features 49 levels of increasing difficulty and a nice soundtrack: a lot of Bloons fans should be pleased with this game!

Have fun!

c BounceMusic Bounce is a new puzzle game created by Rowland Rose. The object of the game is to use bouncing balls to clear all the blocks on a stage.

“Each level has a maximum amount of ball gates you can open. The trick is to find which gates to open and at what time. Once you find the right configuration, you will clear the level and can move to the next.”

Music Bounce is hosted at LetsMakeAGame, a new site aimed to release games including each a level editor, so that you can create your own levels and submit then them to the community.

LetsMakeAGame, BonusLevel, Bloons World, it seems like everyone is launching their own social games site lately.

Have fun!

From Kaiparasoft, the company behind Ninjakiwi founded by the Harris brothers (Bloons world), here is Sinta: Escape from Ixerron Keep, a cute platformer.

“With you trusty bow and arrow in hand, make your way through dozens of fun and action packed levels from Ixerron Keep. Collect magic items, find hidden rooms, and slay the villainous wizard himself.

Use arrow keys or W,A,S,D to move, pressing UP or W to open doors or activate switches. Use your mouse to aim the bow and click to shoot. Gather more stars for more points, and keep lives intact for even more points. If you run out of lives you can continue the game from the great hall. The game saves your last games progress so you can play over several sessions if you like.”

A level editor is expected to be launched soon. My kids love this one!

Have fun!

A big thank you to everyone that cast a vote in the 2007 Best Developers of the Year.

We are pleased to announce that nearly 5000 votes have been cast since you started voting for your favorite developers.

Without further ado, here are the 12 finalists you picked as the Best Developers of 2007 in their category, ranked by total votes received!

Paskapet (Russia) – Best Developer 2007 (Room Escape games)

Paskapet is a very prolific Flash game developer from Russia, who has released six Room Escape games in the last eight months! After the release of Escape Library, Paskapet made five games in the “Colored Rooms” series, Escape Pink Room, Magenta Room, Green Room, Orange Room and Turquoise Room.

Rodrigo Roesler (Brazil)

Rodrigo Roesler is a Web designer and a Flash game developer from Brazil. He released Trapped – The White Rabbit last September, the first installment of a very promising trilogy of Point’n’Click adventure and Escape games. The second installment, The Dark, is now live!

Shawn Tanner (U.S.A.)

Shawn Tanner is the author of several popular flash games and the Webmaster of Afro-Ninja Productions. Shawn released three Room Escape games this year in his very popular Escape series: Escape the Car, Escape the Closet and Escape the Phone Booth.

Bernd Mattiebe (Germany) – Best Developer 2007 (Adventure games)

Bernd Mattiebe is a German artist and designer. He is also the man who gave life last year to Wogger, a cute red alien. Since then, he has created over 100 chapters for the Wogger Mini series that more and more people enjoy playing every week.

Federico Rutenberg (Argentina)

Federico Rutenberg released the first chapter of Esklavos last April. Esklavos is a Point’n’Click Adventure series involving two young aliens. Since then, he has created 9 more chapters and Esklavos is quickly becoming popular series.

Mateusz Skutnik (Poland)

Mateusz Skutnik defines himself as a Flash games architect and a graphic novel artist. His best known adventure/escape series so far is Submachine (with two new chapters this year, Submachine 4 and FLF). He also started two new adventure series this year, Covert Front and Daymare Town. The author is now developing “Submachine 5: the Root” that should be released in January.

Bart Bonte (Belgium) – Best Developer 2007 (Puzzle games)

Bart Bonte is a Flash developer from Belgium who has already developed successful games. More well known for his Room Escape games (the Bonte Room series, A bark in the Dark, Loose the Moose), Bart released several puzzle games in 2007, such as Fields of Logic, Chicken Grow and more recently, Factory Balls.

Yoshio Ishii (Japan)

From japan, Yoshio Ishii has been designing Flash games for several years now. He is well known for his Neko Series, a series of games involving cats. In 2007, he decided to focus on creating puzzle games, and released some very creative games such as Plupon, the amazing Hoshi Saga series, and more recently, Slidon.

Stephen Harris (New Zealand)

Stephen Harris is the author of the Bloons series and many other successful games. The original Bloons game was released last March and became an instant hit. Since then, Stephen has created Bloons World, a site dedicated to Bloons fans, two “Bloons” Tower Defense games, and a few other puzzle/skill games!

John Cooney (U.S.A.) – Best Developer 2007 (Action/Skill games)

John Cooney is very well known in the Flash gaming community for his Ball Revamped and Four Second series. He released many new games this year, such as Scribble 2, Luminara, Ball Revamped 5 or Ocean Explorer to name a few. Now working full time at ArmorGames, you can expect more creative games from this guy!

WeCreateStuff (Israel)

WeCreateStuff defines itself as a group of (young) nerds with way too much free time. They released Portal: The Flash Version last October, a awesome Flash 2D version of the first person action/puzzle game developed by Valve.

Joel Esler (Australia)

Joel Esler is a Flash game developer from Australia. Last September, he uploaded at Kongregate his first game, a physics-based platformer named Manifold. Even though Manifold was only a demo, it was an instant hit. After a few weeks, Joel released Fold, a full version of his previous game with much more challenging levels!

Here at FreeGamesNews, we love free browser-based games. The end of the year is coming soon, and it’s time for YOU to cast your vote for the Best Developers of the year in our first annual FreeGamesNews Awards.

Here are the 10 nominees in the category Best Puzzle games Developers of 2007, in alphabetical order:

Bart Bonte (Belgium)

Bart Bonte is a Flash developer from Belgium who has already developed successful games. More well known for his Room Escape games (the Bonte Room series, A bark in the Dark, Loose the Moose), Bart released several puzzle games in 2007, such as Fields of Logic, Chicken Grow and more recently, Factory Balls.

Damien Clarke (Australia)

Damien Clarke is a Flash game designer from Australia. Many of his games are co-sponsored by several major games portals, which is a sign of quality. The author has released two excellent puzzle games this year, Silversphere and Bloxorz.

Creative Units (Germany)

Creative Units is a German development and games design company that created Excit earlier this year. Excit is a very nice viral Flash game that borrows from RoadBlocks and its clone Orbox B heavily, but it takes the original idea to a whole new level!

GamePure (Japan)

GamePure is a Flash game design studio from Japan. GamePure has released many action games this year, such as Speed Cluster, Oshidama or the very cute Bound Bear series. They have also created a very unique Collapse-type game, Micro Art, impressive on many levels.

Stephen Harris (New Zealand)

Stephen Harris is the author of the Bloons series and many other successful games. The original Bloons game was released last March and became an instant hit. Since then, Stephen has created Bloons World, a site dedicated to Bloons fans, two “Bloons” Tower Defense games, and a few other puzzle/skill games!

Yoshio Ishii (Japan)

From japan, Yoshio Ishii has been designing Flash games for several years now. He is well known for his Neko Series, a series of games involving cats. In 2007, he decided to focus on creating puzzle games, and released some very creative games such as Plupon, the amazing Hoshi Saga series, and more recently, Slidon.

Taro Ito (Japan)

Taro Ito, the game designer behind Gamedesign, has released many games over the years, and this year was no different with four new puzzle game titles, Porolith Flash, The Four Color Problem, School Wars and Chat Noir.

Michael Le

When Michael Le from Canada released his puzzle game Jelly Blocks last summer, he certainly wasn’t expecting instant success. Jelly Blocks is so simple and absorbing that people can’t stop playing. And with 100 levels available to play, it can take a while to complete it.

Preloaded (U.K.)

Preloaded is a London-based Web design agency. After CDX, a multi-episode adventure released last year, Preloaded is back in 2007 with LaunchBall, a new addictive Puzzle/Physics Flash game created for the Science Museum in London their new Launchpad gallery.

Adam Schroeder (U.S.A.)

Adam Schroeder is the creator of the very challenging and delightful puzzle game Sola Rola. He also released the third (and final?) installment in his Asteroids Revenge earlier this year, and is now co-working on Argue (About Everything) with a fellow developer, a multiplayer real-time strategy game set for release next year at Kongregate.

Zeba is the latest Puzzle game created by Stephen Harris, the creator of the Bloons and Bloons Tower Defense series.

Your goal here is to clear all the blocks on each level. To do so, use the arrow keys to guide Zeba the little dragon and push the blocks of the same type together. Press the spacebar to shoot the block Zeba is facing and burn all connected blocks of the same type.

You start each level with a limited number of each breath type, and they don’t carry over level to level, so use them carefully. Walk over the extra breath tokens to get them.

Zeba is an interesting puzzle game, but it suffers from a lack of difficulty and the moving/turning controls are a bit annoying. A limited number of moves to complete each level would certainly add to the difficulty, and an undo button would be a simple but very useful addition.

Hopefully the author will release a sequel including a level editor and the gaming community will help create challenging levels to enjoy this game to its full potential!

Have fun!

Hotcorn is the latest game designed by Stephen Harris, the creator of the famous Bloons series.

Hotcorn is a skill game in which you have to pop popcorn as quickly as possible while leaving as few unpopped kernels as possible! Use your mouse to control the fireball character. Avoid butter that slows you down, and water that stops you!

Hotcorn features 50 levels and is a challenging game: some levels are very hard to complete! Your progress is automatically saved and your score is carried over from session to session, so you can go back and replay earlier levels to try and improve your total score.

Hotcorn is definitely not as good as Bloons, but still another amusing game from Ninjakiwi!

Have fun!