Three new free browser games: a drunken fist brawler, kart racing on Jeju, and checkers
New games this week from Oreum Games, no download, right in your browser
· Oreum Games
Oreum Games, a very small indie studio in Korea, put out three new games this week. They have nothing in common except that they are free and start in your browser with no download and no sign-up: an arcade-style brawler, a 3D kart racer set on Jeju Island, and checkers.
Drunken Fist: Sochan, a brawler that gets stronger when you drink
Drunken Fist: Sochan is a side-scrolling beat 'em up. A young brawler named Sochan fights his way from a mansion gate through a market street, a beggars' alley, a gambling den, a ferry dock, a mountain path and a magistrate's office to a martial arts tournament. Every stage has its own boss, from a bandit chief with a broadsword to a gambling-house owner who throws iron dice.
The hook is the drinking. One bottle loosens him up and his hits get stronger. Two bottles and he is drunk, hitting more than twice as hard. Fill it to three and the drunken fist comes out: for five seconds he floats on his back and hits every enemy that comes near, and nothing can touch him. It is not a button you press whenever you like. You earn it by smashing jars and knocking down enemies until you have the bottles, which is why it feels so good when it goes off. After a drink, press punch and kick together and he throws up on the enemies in front of him, and he can also land a hard-hitting upside-down kick.
Jeju Kart Racing, where tangerines and stone statues fly
Jeju Kart Racing is a 3D kart racer. A cat, a bunny, a panda and a fox race 12 courses on Jeju Island: a coastal road at sunset, stone-walled tangerine farms, a beach, green tea fields, a silver grass crater, a sunrise peak and a harbor at night.
We made it because we missed item races in kart games, but every item comes from Jeju. A hallabong tangerine arcs through the air and bursts into orange juice, a pony bolts out from the roadside into the kart ahead, a red tilefish lands in front of a rival and sprays a puddle, and a stone statue drops from the sky. Hold Space to lock on to the racer ahead, and let go to throw.
Win all four cups and you reach the ending. Two players can race on one screen split top and bottom.
Checkers, the classic most Americans already know
Checkers is the classic game on an 8x8 board, with American rules. Pieces move one square diagonally, jump to capture, and become kings on the far row. The rule that makes it interesting is the forced jump: if you can take, you must. The computer uses that, giving up one piece so it can take two or three back.
The computer opponent has 27 ranks, from 18K to 9D. 18K is gentle enough to beat if you know the rules, and every win moves you up one. Two people can also take turns on one phone or PC.
Which one is for you
If you want to knock people down, play Drunken Fist: Sochan. If you want to sit next to a friend and throw tangerines, play Jeju Kart Racing. If you want something quiet that makes you think, play Checkers. All three run on PC and phone at the same address, and your progress stays in your browser.
We will keep rounding up new games here as they come out. Everything released so far is on the games page.