Great online games to play in your lunchbreak

When Adobe Flash (then Macromedia Flash) first came on the Internet scene, one of the telling signs of its acceptance came when amateur coders started making independent games using the technology.

Some were crude, most were juvenile, but there were a few gems that even caught the eye of developers and launched the game design careers of their creators. Crucially though, it gave a reason for people to download Flash and install it.

So it's good news for Microsoft to see the amateur gaming coders picking up Silverlight, Microsoft's new Internet based multimedia application, and seeing what they can do with it. Of note:

• Dr. Popper. A Hectix-like puzzle game where you have to clear a board of bubbles by bursting two or more of the same coloured bubbles in a row. Like Tetris or Hectix, it's better to experience than explain, so take a look. My High Score: 192
• Zero Gravity. A really polished maze game that really shows the potential of Silverlight. Handling animation, sound and video in a way that the clunky first generation of Flash-based games really struggled to achieve, it's the best example that Silverlight really could compete with Flash in the amateur development arena.