Free Games - Cafe.com Online Game Blog

Global Game Jam 2009

Today marks the beginning of the 2009 Global Game Jam, a world-wide game development marathon. At sites across the globe, developers working in randomly assigned teams will have 48 hours to design and execute an entire game. The prize? A no-cost trip to the Game Developers Conference this March in San Francisco. Wow!

Good luck to all the competitors, and I'll be looking forward to meeting the winners at GDC.

Crazy 8 High Scorers

Cafe.com's latest game, Crazy 8, has already racked up some way high-rolling scores. Currently at the top of the list is PookeyDoo with an outstanding 246,710 points, followed close behind by Yola with 242,230, and SuperBad6 with a respectable 228,100. Start playing now to try and bump them down the list!

Things That Ruin a Snow Day

Well nurtz. We had a great snow day going here in the Northeast, a big thick blanket of perfect snow over everything - and then along came a nasty all day drizzle that totally ruined it.

On the other hand, I did get a moment of inspiration. Temple of Mahjong Christmas had lots of lovely snow scenes, so I'll just chase my rainy day blues away there. It's a win win!

Give a Gift

A few days ago, I mentioned that the gifting system was now active on Cafe.com. But did I take a minute to explain what it is? No? Whoops, silly me.

Now you can send virtual gifts like flowers and candy to anyone on Cafe.com. To get started just click the "gift" link on your info bar at the top of the page (under the navigation header, between "cafecoins" and "favorite games") to sort through a selection of nifty little tokens of affections. Choose an item, include a message to the recipient, and your cafecoins will automatically be charged. Easy peezy!

Of course, with Valentines day coming up, this might be a good time to take a look at some of the sweet gifts available...

Time To Start Gearing Up

It's two months away, and people (well, anyone who hasn't already) are starting to gear up for the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, March 23-27. Student Scholarship recipients are being selected, potential Conference Associates are being notified, and unlucky industry-types everywhere who weren't selected to go are making last-minute pleadings to their bosses to be allowed to join the single largest yearly kegger-- um, professional gathering -- of game developers in the US.

For those who don't know, GDC is, well, the single largest yearly professional gathering of game developers in the US (world? I'll have to check on that). Neither an expo for new products and games (see E3) nor a cosplay and Halo-tournament site (see any event ending in "con"), the GDC doesn't hold as much interest for your average gamer: instead, its where developers come together to exchange new skills and ideas, attend classes and workshops to keep themselves up on the technology curve, discuss current industry trends (like who's the hottest free online games provider, but we already know that don't we) and consume mass quantities of alcohol. Wait, did I say mass quantities of alcohol? I mean't "meet and network with other industry professionals". Yes, network. That's it.

The face that the vast majority of these networking events take place at some of the hottest clubs and bars in San Francisco is completely coincidental and anyone who says otherwise is a slanderous lie-spreading rumour-monger.

In any case, this gal will certainly be attending, so I'll keep you guys up-to-date on Conference goings-on when showtime rolls around.

You Don't Need a Super-Delux-Mega-2000 Computer

Sorry for the late post today folks, but I'm having some computer troubles. Don't you just hate that? You're all ready and set to get down to work, you've got a hot cup of coffee next to you; some good music is on; your fingers stand poised above the keyboard, ready to translate random jumbles of thought into priceless pearls of language and wisdom - when suddenly from nowhere, a whirring of the hard drive, a flash of blue across the monitor... and another victim of the Blue Screen of Death sits frozen before her terminal, cursing the gods of technology.

So I'm writing from my little backup laptop today. It's not too powerful, which is a bit annoying, and its very old, which is worse... but you know, it makes me grateful for one thing (besides the fact that I HAVE an extra computer on hand): Cafe.com's games are built especially to be compatible with all kinds of computers and browsers, no matter how old or low-powered. That way, you know you can play all sorts of great games that look good and load fast, no matter whether you're using a 20" Samsung and custom rig; or a 15 year old 800x600 box hooked up to a machine thats been around since before Steve Jobs discovered the turtleneck.

So no Halo or Fallout 3 for me today, but at least I can still challenge my friends to Absolute Solitaire!

New Version Live

The newest version of the Cafe.com game portal is live as of yesterday. Not a ton of  updates this time around, but they include:

- New 4-player html waiting rooms for Bubble Bubble and Temple of Mahjong
- Gifting system now available
- Allopass payment now available (France only)

As always, refer any bugs or issues to the help desk.

Something For Everyone

It's another gorgeous, crisp winter day here in the Northeastern US, but yours truly is stuck inside with a bad cold. I guess it's not so bad... I've got my favorite apple cinnamon tea to keep me warm, and really how often do I get some spare time to sit around and surf the web?

So here's something kinda interesting... with all this free time, I decided to go poking around Cafe.com to see if there were any games I hadn't played yet. You know what I found? Cafe.com has over 50 unique and completely free games. Did you know that?! I didn't know that. And there's something for every mood too. Into puzzle games? Together Jigsaw and Arctic Quest will feed yours jones. Word jumble more your thing? they've got at least 4 differently themed jumbles to keep things from getting dull. Most games can even be played single OR multiplayer, so you can pick up a quick game of Mahjong during your lunch break, or challenge people all day long.

I think I'll stick with Busta Fruit for a little while. Still trying to break a 9x combo!

Welcome, President Obama

Today at 12pm Eastern Standard Time, Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.

Cafe.com welcomes the new US president, and eagerly looks forward to a future of hope, change, and prosperity.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when we celebrate the life of a man who was the driving force behind the Civil Right movement of the 1950's & 60's, a man without whom the world would be a much darker place.

We salute you Doctor King, and know your dreams and ideals will live on even though the man has passed.