Flash Flash Revolution

And the Lord said: Let there be much button-mashing

Although it took us an hour to get the feeling back in our right hand after playing it, we heartily recommend Flash Flash Revolution—and its smorgasbord of music-driven reflex tests—as one of the best time-wasters on the Internet. While it’s just not the same as stomping on a dance pad, it’s the closest you’re going to get to the Dance Dance Revolution experience at the workplace.

Start with the original Flash Flash Revolution, and once you’ve worked up a stinky finger sweat, try graduating to the ever-so-fast Flash Flash Revolution Resonance version—the songs are better, but nearly seizure inducing.

White Chamber

Escape from your very own chamber of horrors

White Chamber imitates your cube-farm existence by placing you in a room that you must escape. By searching the room and clicking objects, you collect items you use to solve various puzzles. Once you make your escape, check out the two previous chapters of the game, Crimson Room and Viridian Room.

Virtual Police: The Genome War

Yippee ki yay, ready to play John McClane while on your lunch break?

It’s truly amazing that what was state of the art in coin ops in 1994 can be played in a flash player today. Sure, Virtual Police isn’t as graphically intense (if you can still call it that) as Sega’s coin-op hit Virtua Cop, but the game captures the flavor and feel of the original in the same way a graphic novel can capture a feature film. It’s somehow the same yet different.

Unique IQ Tests

Goose your gray matter

There’s nothing like the daily grind to make you feel bored and burned out. And, really, after years of tedium you probably are a little brain dead. To know for sure, launch Unique IQ Tests. This collection of timed puzzles will test your mental acuity and then spit out a score that neatly sums up your intelligence.

Tarot Card Reader

It’s like having a grizzled gypsy at your beck and call

For centuries answer seekers have turned to tarot cards for mystical insight. And why not? Looking for direction in the cards’ symbol-laden imagery is no more outlandish than consulting a horoscope or hiring a life coach. Tarot Card Reader marries that ancient art with the ease and immediacy of the digital age. When confusion over life’s big or little issues hits you, turn to the old, wise woman that is the web. Once in the browser-based Tarot Card Reader, choose the Romance, Career, or Friends category; type in your pressing question; and then carefully select the three cards that will spell your fate. You will have fun mulling over the cards’ meaning, and you just might come to count on their wisdom.