While it may be a burial ground of indie animation and gaming today, Newgrounds was once where popular YouTubers like Egoraptor and Jazza and games such as The Binding of Isaac got their start. All platforms have their inevitable decline, but Newgrounds' end came swifter than most when Adobe officially ended support for its Flash Player, making most games on the site unplayable.

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That isn’t to say that Newgrounds' admins haven't attempted to bring the site back to form. In 2019, they introduced their proprietary Newgrounds player. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of work to be done to resurrect the site, as many of the best Newgrounds Flash games remain unplayable on modern browsers.

10 The Company of Myself

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Sometimes, there’s beauty in simplicity. Flash games during the Newgrounds era didn’t need massive open worlds nor an abundance of game mechanics to keep players entertained. Developers — often working solo or with a small number of collaborators — had to stick to making something short and sweet. That, of course, didn’t stop them from making compelling titles.

A three-person team consisting of designer Eli Piilonen, musician David Carney, and artist Luka Marcetic (who played a role in Kate Upton’s Game of War commercial), created The Company of Myself. Similar to the indie game Braid, this puzzle platformer utilized time and a bittersweet narrative to create a memorable gaming experience.

9 Aether

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Before The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy, producer Edmund McMillen worked with programmer Tyler Glaiel to create Aether: a physics-based game that has players controlling a cute squid who travels by swinging on clouds. Despite its seemingly simple controls, however, this game is packed with plenty of depth.

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Traveling through the galaxy, players discover new worlds with an eccentric cast of characters. Will players be able to solve various puzzles to restore color and balance? Or will they remain lost in space? Sadly, due to the death of flash, most modern gamers will never get a chance to find out.

8 400 Years

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Some may recall 400 Years from Markiplier’s Let’s Play, which currently has over 13 million views on YouTube. After playing several of developer Scriptwelder’s games, Markiplier certainly sang the game dev’s praises. Seeing as Scriptwelder's extensive roster includes everything from point-and-click adventures to card-based strategy games, it's really no wonder why.

400 years has players control a slow-moving stone golem whose greatest strength is the ability to stand the test of time. Passing seasons bring changes, and so to solve some puzzles, it’s best to just wait it out.

7 I wish I were the Moon

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This title can be beaten in a matter of seconds —and that’s without even trying to speedrun the game. However, the concept of taking a photo and reinserting the image back into the world is compelling enough to have players replaying it multiple times to explore every way the story can unfold.

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While it’s possible to play a remastered version of I wish I were the Moon on Newgrounds today, there are a few minor changes to both the gameplay and endings. Luckily, designer danielben (Daniel Benmergui) has plenty of other games that are still playable in their original form via Steam.

6 The Majesty of Colors

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Partially inspired by the aforementioned I wish I were the Moon, Gregory Avery-Weir’s The Majesty of Colors is a take on Lovecraftian themes that focuses on compassion rather than fear. Controlling a curious being from the depths, will players’ choices be seen in the eyes of humanity as the acts of a divine protector or those of a monster?

Gregory and their partner Melissa Avery-Weir started Future Proof Games, which both restores Weir’s Flash roster and focuses on creating new socially conscious projects. Fans should be sure to check out both developers’ Twitch channels, where they play both indie and tabletop games alike.

5 One Chance

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What if the ends of times were to come from a simple mistake? Would it be possible to save humanity with less than a week to spare? One Chance explores the life of a cancer researcher whose cure brings about the end of times. It’s up to the player to make the protagonist’s last chance count.

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Developer AwkwardSilenceGames (Dean Moynihan) has no shortage of gut-wrenching games in their roster. With hauntingly beautiful music and an emphasis on social consciousness, it’s best to keep a box of tissues handy when playing any one of these titles.

4 Level Up!

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Fans of Oblivion’s fun (and often broken) skill system had a free browser alternative. Every action from jumping to taking damage allowed players to level up and unlock more areas of this lightweight Metroidvania game.

Now part of East Side Games, designer titch007uk (Duncan Saunders) works on licensed mobile games of popular TV show IPs including The Office and Doctor Who. Writer KaynSD (Keith Evans) hasn’t left the game development space either and continues to publish indie titles on Itch.io. Artist GigasDragon’s last post on Newgrounds is from all the way back in 2010, making them tough to track down, but perhaps they continue to work on new games somewhere.

3 Acorn Story

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Limbo inspired many back in 2010 with its eerie monochromatic design. A strong silhouette is often all it takes to create a compelling character. Creators such as Acorn Story’s Geovizz (George Kobyakov) seem to think so at least, using the iconic style in their puzzle platformer.

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With only the ability to hop and push boxes, a young boy seeks to uncover the whereabouts of a magical acorn that came to life from his very garden. What he finds at the end of his journey, however, may be far different from what he had originally imagined.

2 Colour My World

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This hand-drawn point-and-click game takes players through a monochromatic world where their actions can paint the surrounding landscape despite the signs around urging against it. As games such as Portal have taught players in the past though, it's sometimes best to ignore rules when disobedience leads to a world of wonder.

Developer SilverStitch (Matthew Lucis) — whose latest project is a Nier fan game, Nier:Cognito — created an awe-inspiring world that’s a joy to explore. Conversely, liluxiaorealnew (also known as Coin) created a gorgeous piano soundtrack, although their subsequent internet footprint would require a seasoned Witcher to track down.

1 Elephant Quest

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One of many titles created by Armor Games CEO John Cooney (under the moniker of jmtb02) and artist James Pearmain (Jimp) was Elephant Quest. Utilizing a cute blue elephant as its protagonist, this was a short and simple Metroidvania game that continued the iconic humor from previous entries such as This is the Only Level.

Released in 2011, Elephant Quest was one of the latter titles to grace Newgrounds’ roster. With newer sites like Itch.io on the indie gaming scene, it may be too late for Newgrounds to return to its former glory. The next time a platform reaches the end of its life cycle, though, hopefully, the platform’s best games will be better preserved.

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