Until its death in 2020, many game developers cut their teeth on the wide world of Flash games. Running off of the Adobe program of the same name and running in the browser, Flash games were, by-and-large, free to play and widely available on the internet, but gained widespread followings.
In many cases, developers went from making Flash games to more professional titles. In a few cases, however, games initially released using Adobe Flash were re-released later on, available on other platforms or ways to play. Several titles still popular to this day saw their origins as Flash games, even though those forms are now lost to time.
7 Super Meat Boy Has Humble Origins
For a platform game considered one of the best ever made, some might expect a more grandiose origin for Super Meat Boy. Nonetheless, the hugely-successful, subversive, and deeply-challenging game is derived from a much earlier version released for free on Newgrounds, entitled simply Meat Boy.
Meat Boy was immensely popular, being played millions of times. When its co-creator Edmund McMillen was asked to create a game for the Wii and the Xbox 360, he started work alongside developer Tommy Refenes on an updated and improved version. Super Meat Boy consequently received rave reviews and sold millions of copies over the years.
6 Hollow Knight Began As A Very Different Game
Hollow Knight is an immense gaming success, a 2D Soulslike Metroidvania that has made its mark on gaming as a whole, and has fans eagerly awaiting news of a sequel. Its origins are from a very different, yet familiar game, and one that began as a short Flash gaming project.
Made at a ‘Game Jam’, where developers attempt to create games in a handful of days, Hollow Knight began as a project named Hungry Knight. Everything about it was different, being a top-down game about a bug knight who had to eat food every ten seconds. Nonetheless, the very core of the successful game was there – including the main character’s design – setting the stage for the full game.
5 VVVVVV Shows Flash Games’ Innovation
The free-to-play and independent nature of Flash games often allows for them to get very experimental, doing new things with genres that a bigger studio might be reluctant to try. One of the best examples of this is VVVVVV, a platformer released for Flash in 2010, where the player can alter the flow of gravity, but cannot jump.
The game’s first iteration was a paid Flash game, with a free trial on the popular game website Kongregate. Another version was released in 2011, with several improvements and Linux support. From there, it went on to be ported to the Nintendo 3DS. It remains a highly-rated game, praised for its innovation in the platforming genre.
4 Bloons Tower Defence Was A Flash Classic
One of the iconic Flash game series was Bloons Tower Defense, a series that allows the player to place monkeys to hold the line against a near-endless tide of hostile balloons. There have been several installments in the franchise by Ninja Kiwi, beginning in 2007 with the eponymous original game released on Flash.
Since then, the series had had another five additional mainline games alongside several expansion packs and spin-offs. The series has always been well-received, played by many across the world, and highlighted by critics for being both cheerful and undeniably addictive.
3 Trials’ Flash Versions Disappeared
The Trials series is the premiere 2D bike-racing game, letting the player race motorbikes along complex courses, and is acclaimed for its developed and realistic physics. There have been several releases on consoles and PC, but the series also spent significant time as a Flash series under the name Trial Bike.
Developer Red Lynx was bought by Ubisoft, giving them access to more resources and a wider release. However, afterward, the Trial Bike games were taken off of popular Flash games sites. The core gameplay still exists in the console versions, however, considered some of the best racing games in existence.
2 Towerfall: Ascension Was Developed From A Flash Prototype
Towerfall: Ascension is another acclaimed game that has its origins in a Flash ‘Game Jam’, with creator Maddy Thorson attempting to create something similar to the Legend of Zelda series, casting the player in the role of an archer with legendary prowess. Little of the original prototype, a single-player Flash game, lives on, but it remains a pivotal step in its development.
After coming up with the original concept, Thorson had friends playtest the game. Over weeks of playing, they decided that it worked far better as a multiplayer game than a single-player one, and so development shifted in that direction. Following a release on the ill-fated Ouya console, it has since been ported to Windows, Playstation, the Nintendo Switch, and more. It has since become a quintessential party multiplayer game, beloved for its rapid and tense action.
1 The Binding Of Isaac Is An Indie Darling
One of the most popular and widely-known indie games ever made is The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, as well as its several expansions. The game pits the players in the shoes of Isaac, a scared young child running from his religious fundamentalist mother. The game plays out like a Roguelike, with randomly-generated levels, a focus on exploration, and challenging combat.
However, Rebirth, as the name suggests, is not the first version of the game. The original The Binding of Isaac was a paid Flash game made by Edmund McMillen. After the first expansion, Wrath of the Lamb, McMillen felt that his plans were exceeding the limitations of Flash, and, as such, worked alongside developer Nicalis to remake it from the ground up. Since then, it had become a massive critical and commercial success, heralded as one of the best Roguelikes ever made.