Website of the Week

Click … click … SPLAT! That’s orisinal.com. A lot of clicking, not much mind work and some hand-eye coordination is required. It may seem a little early to be playing games on the net, but hey, when was a little distraction a bad thing? If you’re looking for something to do between that econ problem set and pile of polisci reading, orisinal.com is full of these short, easy time-fillers designed by Ferri Halim. One of my favorites is “Chicken Wings,” where you try to save little chickees falling from the sky by clicking and opening umbrellas. No, there’s no blood or gore involved. If you don’t help them in time, they make a tiny squeak.

If you’re feeling a bit of tension from shopping period, try smushing people with giant snowballs in “Snowbowling.” There are a couple of other games such as “Swordsman” and “Critical Zone” that won’t elicit oooh’s and aahh’s in the same way that “Bubble Bees” or “Bum Bum Koalas” might, but they all have the same type of twinkly music and pastel-like animation. Your fingers will get tired with all that clicking, especially in “Hold the Rope;” but once you get started, it can be addictive.