A selection of Java games.
© Wayne Dawe
I recently received a nice letter from someone who complimented me on my Snakes and Ladders - Java version and I thought that it might be time for a few more Java games.
My kids think Checkers is a great game so I'm going to start off with two different java based Checkers games. Java Checkers has drag and drop pieces, JAVA Checkers has adjustable skill levels. Unfortunately neither version supports double jumps but that may be an asset for younger less experienced players. Try them both out and see what you think. Java Checkers - Play Online at thinks.com has a nicely rendered board and highlights the squares that are legal moves when you drag your piece over them. It also has adjustable skill levels and prompts you when it's your move. Be sure to check out the other java games and puzzles at this site.
Chantessy's Gameroom has a nice collection of java applets for you to keep the kids busy. Be sure to explore this site too, there's lots to do and see. For those of you who remember Pacman you can try out this classic game at this site. If your a Star Trek fan you don't want to miss Firs t Contact java game. This game is similar to that old standard Asteroids except that the asteroids shoot back. This game has very nice images and sound effects and is already a Suite 101 Top 5 site. If your not a Star Trek fan this game is still worth a visit.
One thing to remember with all these java based games is that you may have to be patient while the game downloads, I don't know why but it seems that the newer versions of both Explorer and Netscape take even longer to get applets running. I think it's important for java developers to give some type of status indication while the game is starting just so we know that the thing hasn't gone off into lala land.
That's it for java games for this week but before I go I want to invite you to visit Lawrence Goetz's programming kit which allows you -- be you kid or adult to easily program in Javascript. If your interested in other programming sites for kids you can refer to Programming for kids, an article I wrote back in April. It has been a few months so some of the links may be out of date.
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