Welcome the fourth issue of Weekend Wasters. I apologize for that 20-month delay, something came up. But hopefully, I'll be able to continue this for at least a few more consecutive weeks. I'll start off with two of my personal favorite time-wasters, both of which are extremely well-known, before moving onto the more obscure games again.

SO YES, BUBBLE TANKS.
For those who completely and utterly ignore the flash game scene, it's a top-down shooter. You control a tank. Made of bubbles. You battle enemies built in a very similar fashion, who disassemble when they're defeated. You absorb their bubbles into your frame to grow larger and more powerful, and earn upgrades. Very straight-forward.

There are really only three main upgrade paths; "Speed," "Balance," and, "Heavy." It's what's in-between those that really makes this game shine. There are somewhere between 8 and 15 forms between each of the extremes, representing some mixture of the two they're between.


I really don't have anything witty to say here. It's just the upgrade screen.

Going down the Speed path will result in a light, speedy tank with very versatile secondary abilities(one that jumps to mind is the ability to deconstruct yourself temporarily, turning into a mass of floating bubbles that can't be harmed), but a weak, if speedy primary weapon. Balance results in a tank that's...y'know. Balanced. Not too fast or slow, and a good mixture of rapid-fire, power, and semi-versatile abilities. Heavy, predictably, results in a large, bulky tank with extremely powerful primary cannons, and some sort of secondary ability built for head-on combat, such as your tank giving off a large blast, vaporizing anything near you.


Except maybe this guy.

Like most shooting flash games, there's no real ulterior goal here. You just shoot things. I have no real issue with this, but because it presents no creativity, and is indeed VERY repetitive, it gets stale after a bit, and the only real motivation is seeing which neat guns you get next. But by the time you get to this point, your weekend should be almost over, and this article will have accomplished its goal.

All in all, I think the sheer replayability presented by all of the possible final forms balances out the repetitiveness, and, at the very minimum, presents you with an interesting game to play while you procrastinate from whatever it is that you procrastinate from on weekends. A solid 7.5 out of 10, or B+, or just a, "I approve, and I only approve of good things, so go play it."



(should I post this here, or in the PC gaming section?)

I heard the sounds on skype the whole time you were playing it. I'll check it out in the morning to see if this game is as you say a weekend waster.

Good god Terra, you're do out of touch.

BUBBLE TANKS ARENA MOTHERFUCKER. GO PLAY IT

I'VE BEEN PLANNING THIS SINCE BEFORE ARENA CAME OUT, AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF SOME BIG-SHOT "NEWER VERSION" STOPS ME.

No but seriously I haven't had the chance to play Arena yet, but I was aware of its existence.

Wonderful read.
I guess this was your turn?
I'm down to start doing these again, I'll get on that shit, yo.