Carve a Virtual Jack o' Lantern

Hey Halloweenies. Just two days to the spookiest holiday of the year. Get into the spirit with a little online pumpkin carving!

Online Magnetic Poetry

Today we have another great recommendation from our long-time reader and occasional west-coast correspondent, Kate F.

This is one of those things that falls under the category simple but addictive (we should probably have a tag for that huh?). Magnetic poetry is awesome, so why not do it online. And you're not the only one moving things around: you don't have your own individual page, so any changes any one else in the world makes will show up on your page too. So maybe you'll start a poem and someone in Korea will finish it. Pretty cool.

Curveball

Curveball is basically just a 3D version of Pong. But like many of the simplest games it's highly addictive.

Incredibox

For you long time readers you may remember the signing horses from way back in June 2007. It's remained one of my favorite posts and today's site is a similar but more developed concept.

On Incredibox mix a song by selecting up to 7 loops from the 14 available. When you've used a certain combination of loops it opens "bonuses" which are basically musical break downs with an accompanying visual.

Keep in mind when playing with Incredibox: the order in which you select loops effects how the loops that come after it sound. To get rid of a loop just tap on the guy performing it.

Mad Men is Back (and so is Web Diversions!)

This week brought the season premire of what we here at Web Diversions think is one of the best shows on televison: AMC's Mad Men. And today is the premier of Web Diversions triumphant return to regular updates!

The AMC website has two great games to celebrate Mad Men's return. First, "Mad Men Yourelf", which allows you to create your own Mad Men-style avatar.


Then, test your 1962 knowledge with the Mad Man 1962 trivia quiz.

Predict the Election Outcome and win $1,000 for Charity

This is a fun game and also an interesting way to follow how voters are feeling about the election. 

Peritus Pundit asks you to guess who will win, Obama or McCain, in which states by filling in a map of the US. 

After the Closing Date, all eligible entries will be compared against the Final Results on: 1) the winner of the popular vote of the Election; and 2) the winner of the popular vote of the Election in each state. The entry that contains the most answers that are closest to the Final Results will win first prize. The entries that contain the second and third most accurate answers will win second and third prize respectively.
First Prize: Peritus Pundit donates $1000 to a charity of choice (Chosen Charity) and send you a crystal bowl (retail value $225).

Second Prize: Peritus Pundit donates $500 to the Chosen Charity.

Third Prize: Peritus Pundit donates $250 to the Chosen Charity.

One of the coolest features is a map showing the average predictions. Obviously it's impossible to know how accurate or inaccurate of a sample population it represents, but it's still pretty darn interesting.

Sarah Palin Bingo

Make sure you catch the vice presidential debates tonight: not only is it your civic duty to care, it's also hilarious to watch stupid people try to sound smart.

To keep things interesting, download your own Sarah Palin Bingo card and instructions here!                                                     

Name That Accent Game

Can You Guess Where My Accent is From is a fun little game/quiz. You watch clips of people reading part of a Rudyard Kipling poem and try to guess where they're from based on their accent. You may be surprised how hard it is. I was!

Car Racing Game

Obama Race For the White House Game

This game is a little outdated since it's Obama vs. Clinton rather than McCain (although it would be really easy for the game-makers to repurpose it if they wanted to). Still, it's incredibly fun.

Obama Race For the White House is sort of Obama snood (Snoodbama?); Shoot little balls from your cannon and knock them down by joining 3 of a kind. The different balls represent different, unspecified political promise: education, defense, religion, finance, and then, media, culture, and tech. Achieve goals in these areas in different parts of the nation and see how the election comes out.

New Building Game: Fantastic Contraption

If you liked Magic Pen (admit it, you did!) this game will similarly rock your adorable little socks (admit it, they are!) right off.

Like Magic Pen, Fantastic Contraption is a flash game where you create things in an attempt to get a ball into its goal. Instead of drawing though, you build machines with wheels and rods.

Report back and let me know what level you've reached!

World's Smallest Pacman Game

The world's smallest Pacman is... well it's what it says it is. Play Pacman online, just really, really small.

Spicy Town

People seem to just love uploading pictures of their heads to things. Well here's another chance to see your face on a funny little digital body.

Spicy Town is mini (very, very mini) Second Life meets fighting game made by the folks at Slim Jim. You upload your head and the game generates an avatar for you, your "spicy side" (I was very impressed with the speed and ease of the uploading/avatar process. it takes about a minute or less). Then, now that you're all spicy, you can wander around in Spicy Town, chat with other people there, and try to find and collect beef jerky. 

Mainly though, Spicy Town is a fighting game. Challenge other people to real-time "Rumbles" and get down with your violent side. As you earn points in the game (by fighting and collecting Slim Jims) you get more "moves", like being able to throw fish at your opponent. 

So check it out. I'm "Nuts Ryan" by the way (you don't get to pick your own "spicy" name). If you see me, let's rumble!

Online Magic 8 Ball

Having trouble making a big decision? Why not put your faith in a cheap plastic ball filled with liquid? Better yet, put it in a digital rendering of a cheap plastic ball filled with liquid!

The online magic 8 ball is just what you need to decide on your next move. Will you enjoy it? My sources say yes.

Crazy Baseball Movie Game Thing

If I spoke whatever language this is in it would surely make a lot more sense to me. Makyu Royale seems to be some sort of flash baseball "game" where you decided what kind of pitch to throw to get the final out. It also seems like you can create your own player stats or something... There's a lot of things you can click around on but over all I can't really decipher what I'm supposed to be doing....

But the design is incredible. The animation and especially the color is superb. It takes awhile to load and you may have no clue what's going on (although you'll probably have some) but it's definitely worth a look. 

It's not Tetris: It's Tetrix!

Off-brand Tetris anyone?

Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama Fighting Game

Alright Web Diversions fans, here's your chance to get out your rage at the never-ending primaries with a little good old fashioned fighting game. Pick your candidate, Hillary or Obama, and then use all you've got to pummel your opponent.

Friday Drive In: Choose your own adventure!

I was totally addicted to the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid: Do you want to open the gate and go into the graveyard or do you want to turn around and go back into the haunted mansion? 

So, I was excited to find this choose your own adventure video series on youtube. Below is the first installation but you really should go to the youtube page to get the full experience.  

Boohbah

File this one under WTF. In the great tradition of children's media being made by people on LSD (see H.R. Pufnstuf, Teletubbies, etc.), Boobah appears to be PBS's attempt to totally freak out small children. I guess these are supposed to be "games" although I think they're better classified as "nightmarish seizure inducers". What do you think?

Name That Theme Song!

Think you're a real TV buff? Play Name That Theme Song and put your pop culture knowledge to the test! This game has the added bonus of a 2 player option. See you on the High Scores list...