Similar to Ramza3D's Cube Kingdom, Q-Block is a Flash-based application that can be used to create and share 3D models made out of coloured square blocks. Wallpapers and icons are easily generated at the press of a button, and models can be shared using permalinks or through your own Twitter account as well.

The drawing tool is extremely simple to use, yet offers enough diversity for pixel art veterans to quickly design something in just a couple of minutes. You can even draw a model layer by layer with the handy canvas feature, which comes with editing options like copy, paste, and an extrude button to automatically apply one layout to every other layer of the block.

X-0ut returns with a brand new shooter entitled Gravitron, though this one requires a little more tact as it is actually based on Thrust. Instead of transporting pods into the skies you now have to destroy reactors while saving any spacemen wandering on the surface of the planet.

Switch to mouse controls by pressing the tab key when the main menu is shown. Activate the shields next to a fuel pod to fill up your tank. Progress is saved using a pass phrase, plus the nifty level editor facilitate user creations quite well. Expect more content to be posted in the near future.

OMEGA's Every Extend is quite the departure from standard shoot 'em ups. The objective of the game is to detonate your ship in the midst of your adversaries. Enemies appear in random patterns, hence positioning and timing are both important in setting off a huge chain reaction and earning a healthy combo bonus. Every time this ability is used, one extend is deducted from your total although it's possible to replenish this counter by getting high scores for each detonation.

Hurrican is a freeware jump and shoot game created by Poke53280 that is based on the Turrican game series. Blast your way through nine action-packed levels filled with different enemies and powerups.

An Untitled Story is a shareware platformer which was recently released as freeware by Matt Thorson, developer of the popular but frustratingly hard Jumper series. The game world is expansive but players with anything less than incredible reflexes would find it difficult to progress very far, since most of the challenges revolve around precision jumps and a knack for perfect timing.

Switching between full screen and windowed mode is only possible once a new profile has been created. Press the space key to bring up a pause menu, then choose the options tab to find this well-hidden feature.

Karatekamania is a music rhythm game created by the developers of Mogura 2, where players are rated based on the timing and accuracy of their key presses while a song is being played in the background. Inspired by Nintendo's Rhythm Tengoku, this fan made version features slightly updated graphics, customizable settings, and even comes with an editor to facilitate the sharing of user creations.

Use the enter key, left or right mouse button to control the actions of the martial arts practitioner. Tap the space key to punch at a thrown object. Hold the same button to assume a stance, then press the up arrow key to execute a roundhouse kick. Mouse and gamepad controls are also supported.

The current build (1st style 1.7a) contains only four default levels and two songs, although new stages created by other contributors can be downloaded from Krobon Station's message board. Simply click on a link to any zip file, unzip it into the music folder and the song should be available to play from the song selection menu.

Storm Assault is a horizontal shooter created by the Storm Project development team as a tribute to Konami's early Gradius series. Everything from the classic power meter, upgrade capsules, and boss ships with specific weak points have been transferred and updated with slight changes for this loose remake.

There are two stages to play in version 0.2 and upwards. The second level features battles with Moai statues, which was originally never included in earlier releases. Joystick and gamepads are automatically detected, but you can use the keyboard to control your ship as well.

Fractal Fighter is a new vertical shooter by cactus which features a limited palette of only two colors. Each boss consists of different weapon parts that the player has to destroy in sequence, randomly created using a tree generation code. A commendable effort especially when considering that the author spent less than a day to create the entire game from ground up.

In Missing, you play the role of an ex-cop in search of his missing wife and child with only a handful of clues as leads. Most players will struggle with the controls at first but persistence is rewarded with one of the best stories this year. It's important to note that save games are only allowed in your room and nowhere else.

Tension builds up rather quickly after the protagonist settles into bed for the first night. There's a mystery to solve and a few twists in the story that will keep you playing right till the end. Full marks for one of the best games of it's kind.

Note: Try setting your monitor refresh rate to 60 Hertz if the game doesn't display correctly the first time.

Passage is an experimental project by Jason Rohrer which attempts to represent life in the span of five minutes. The choices that a player makes is crucial, and there's no right way to play Passage or interpret it.

Use the arrow keys to move the character up, down, left and right. Press the F key to toggle fullscreen mode, and use the B key to adjust screen blow-up factor. Press the Q key to quit.

In Passage, players can search for and open treasure chests. Not every pursuit leads to a reward - most of them are empty. Over time, though, you can can learn which pursuits are likely to be rewarding. Each treasure chest is marked with a sequence of gems on its front, and this sequence indicates whether the chest contains a reward. During the course of the game, you can learn to read these sequences and only spend your precious time opening worthwhile treasure chests.

Passage represents life's challenges with a maze. The screen geometry only allows you to view a narrow slice of this maze at any given moment. You can see quite a distance out in front of you, but you can't see anything to the north or south. You may see a reward up ahead but not be able to see a clear path to it. After a bit of exploration, you may discover that a seemingly-nearby reward is in fact unreachable. As you go deeper into the maze to the south, the path becomes more convoluted, though an obstacle-free route is always available to the north. However, treasure chests are more and more common as you go deeper into the maze. You can spend your time in pursuit of these hard-to-reach rewards, or you can explore and enjoy the scenery that unfolds before you to the east. As you grow older, your view of the territory in front of you shrinks, and navigating new areas in life's maze becomes more difficult.

The world in Passage is infinite. As you head east, you'll find an endless expanse of constantly-changing landscape, and you are rewarded for your exploration. However, even if you spent your entire lifetime exploring, you'd never have a chance to see everything that there is to see. If you spend your time plumbing the depths of the maze, however, you will only see a tiny fraction of the scenery.

You have the option of joining up with a spouse on your journey. If you missed her, she's in the far north near your original starting point. Once you team up with her, however, you must travel together, and you are not as agile as you were when you were single. Some rewards deep in the maze will no longer be reachable if you're with your spouse. You simply cannot fit through narrow paths when you are walking side-by-side. In fact, you will sometimes find yourself standing right next to a treasure chest, yet unable to open it, and the only thing standing in your way will be your spouse. On the other hand, exploring the world is more enjoyable with a companion, and you'll reap a larger reward from exploration if she's along. When she dies, though, your grief will slow you down considerably.

The rewards in Passage come in the form of points added to your score, and you have two options for scoring points - treasure chests, which give 100 points for each hit, and exploration, which gives double-points if you walk with your spouse. There's a pretty tight balance between these two options, there's no optimal choice between the two.