There are some odd system requirements for all of these, given that the games were designed with DOS (and standard SoundBlaster variables) in mind. Either install them on an older system, run them in Windows 98 or before, or find some emulation tools to help you out. The games might technically function under just about any conditions, but that doesn't mean they'll work well. If they don't, then it's not my fault.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of server space, I'm not able to upload the good games. So you'll have to deal with the merely not-entirely-awful ones. Yes, I feel there is some distinction.

• Crullo: Adventures of a Donut
  A sidescrolling platformer where you take the role of a doughnut in love. If you know anything about Deluxe Paint, you will be greatly offended by the graphics.

  One of six games I developed for a certain Recreational Software Designs, the designers of the toolsets and engine that I used for my games. They were kind of limited, but for what they were and what they cost -- and for the time, particularly -- they weren't half bad for their purpose.

  Early on I somehow struck up a rapport with the president of the company (perhaps not coincidentally the father of the lead programmer). He seemed impressed by what I'd done so far with the material at hand.

  After a year or two of beta testing I was offered the deal to design a bunch of content for an upcoming CD release. (These were the pre-"AOL coaster" days, when CDs were still considered impressive and valuable.)

  Crullo is an early one of those games. It's a little rough, as I was using a comparatively primitive version of the tools during its design. Some retroactive tweaks to the menus and a few other features were provided by Gregory Stone, the lead programmer. I'm not as crazy as I could be about the changes; I'd have preferred that I were asked to provide them myself, once I finally got the alpha version of the new tools. But there they are; this is the finished game.

  Don't ask me why I used cheesy synthesizer noises for all of the soud effects in the game. I honestly couldn't tell you, at this point.

• Friction
  A semi-interesting puzzle game, involving the use of ropes and poles. Some of the character movement is a bit off, although that's more the fault of the engine than my design. The graphics also are very simple, but hey -- they work.

  Although for some reason the files (and related reviews!) have now been removed, Friction is one of two games which mysteriously wound up on ZDNet Downloads. And through whatever weird machinations produce our daily dose of surprise, both games were given three (out of five) stars! Wak, indeed.

  All right, so it's not the most glowing score in the world -- but it's certainly adequate, especially considering how out-of-the-blue it was. But now it's gone, so I have to waste web space on the file. Oh well.

• Zoom the Super Bear
  Mostly a sidescrolling platformer of sorts, although there are some ill-functioning vertical shooting segments. A side-story (or gaiden, if you prefer) to the A-J's Quest series which I took as the namesake for my "company" at the time. I think this is actually a bit better than the main series, with the exception of the incredibly complex third game (far too large for me to post here).

  This is the other game I mentioned two paragraphs ago. As with Friction, this was on ZDNet from around 1998 through 2000 or 2001 or so. Maybe it had something to do with C|Net's buyout? I honestly didn't pay much attention to that deal.

  And also as with Friction, this game managed to gather three stars (out of a possible five) by whatever internal monkey did the official reviews for these things. I don't think too many people actually downloaded either game, which might be a second explanation for why they're no longer around.

• Octolris
  Hey, look! I had a little more space to spare.

  Another sidescrolling platformer, in which the last slime octopus is trying desperately to reach the ocean. There's nothing really particularly noteworthy about this game, except perhaps that I actually did some work on the registered version. Since no one ever registered a single one of my games, I rarely had the motivation to bother dealing with the full version of any of them. Generally once I had my initial idea down, I'd get bored with the concept and move onto another game.

  In the case of Octolris, I still didn't finish the registered portion -- but I did start it. I've got it sitting around somewhere, and I seem to remember that I had a few halfway interesting ideas. Nothing really thrilling, but I think bits of it were more engaging than parts of the earlier stages.

  Just to mention, I kind of like the sound effects in this game.