Do you remember my favorite Flash game?

March 22, 2011 1:51 PM

Which Flash game was this?

A while back (I'm thinking this was in 2009), someone posted a link in the Blue to a Flash game where you had this grid of "gears" on different colored backgrounds. You'd click a given gear, and it'd rotate, and interact with the others around it, sometimes starting a chain reaction, such that the color of the background would change, and the goal was to make the whole background one solid color, possibly in a limited number of moves. Does this sound familiar, and if so, is there an active link for it?

posted by kimota to MetaFilter-Related at 1:51 PM (57 comments total)

I'm pretty sure you're not talking about QWOP, but I'm going to link to it anyway because it is the best.

It is the best thing.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:53 PM on March 22, 2011 [26 favorites]

QWOP reminds me of Elasto Mania, only I can't seem to get the hang of QWOP.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 2:02 PM on March 22, 2011

QWOP is extra fun if you hum the Chariots of Fire theme.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:04 PM on March 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

QWOP is only fun for me because I hate people and generally suggest it when they ask for awesome games.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:07 PM on March 22, 2011 [5 favorites]

Huh, seems like I've been trollllled.... curse you, Cortex! (Elasto Mania is kinda fun, tho.)
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 2:12 PM on March 22, 2011

Oh sweet Jesus. Is it actually possible to reach even 2m? Are the calf buttons even useful at all?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:17 PM on March 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

kimota: This sounds familiar, I remember a game where you had to rotate sections of pipes in a grid so that all pipes were connected and there were no unconnected pipe ends. Is that the game you're thinking of? Sort of like Pipe Mania except all the pieces are there already.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:19 PM on March 22, 2011

QWOP always reminds me of the pneumatic bicyclist at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego. Of course, that exhibit didn't make a wet, bone crunching thud when you failed.

Memories....
posted by m@f at 2:22 PM on March 22, 2011

I take it back, I got to 2.5m using an unorthodox one-knee crawl/shuffle that did involve the calves.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:23 PM on March 22, 2011

it's actually easy, if time consuming, to get an arbitrarily high score in qwop.

Just kind of bang on the keys until you get one leg extended behind you and the other leg ahead of you. Then just kind of tap any key to gradually drag yourself forward on your front leg. It make take you a few times to learn how to balance it properly, but it's really super easy once you do.
posted by empath at 2:26 PM on March 22, 2011

I've seen screengrabs of people winning QWOP, but I've always believed them to be masterful shops. Since that seems way, way easier than actually winning.
posted by skynxnex at 2:26 PM on March 22, 2011

Man, it takes a mod to derail a topic so expertly, efficiently, and permanently. cortex, my hat is off, buddy, that is professional experience in action.
posted by Errant at 2:32 PM on March 22, 2011 [8 favorites]

Flagged as derail. Really, can't we do without these thread-poisoning first comments?
posted by kafziel at 2:35 PM on March 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

Getting QWOP to start running is easy: tap O a few times to get started leaning forward, then alternate QP and WO to make strides.

The hurdle at 50m, on the other hand, continues to trip me up.
posted by joedan at 2:37 PM on March 22, 2011

No kidding, Errant. Man, I just went back to read the OP's description, and QWOP is hilariously and so obviously not even remotely the right answer... yet cortext brilliantly trolled us all by hedging ever so slightly and saying "I'm pretty sure you're not talking about QWOP...." Pretty sure, huh, cortex?
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 2:37 PM on March 22, 2011

It could really honestly be GEARS.
posted by misha at 2:50 PM on March 22, 2011

cortex, that was kind of lame.

(The QWOP runner, not the derail.)

(OK, the derail, too.)
posted by Rhaomi at 2:53 PM on March 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

The guy who made QWOP recently did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) post on Reddit. "I have been surprised and thrilled by the amount of rage it seems to elicit in people," he says.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:59 PM on March 22, 2011 [5 favorites]

Just kind of bang on the keys until you get one leg extended behind you and the other leg ahead of you. Then just kind of tap any key to gradually drag yourself forward on your front leg

From the Reddit link:
Q: Are you supposed to just do the splits and drag yourself along on one knee?
A (from the QWOP creator): You are free to do that, just as you are free to cheat at solitaire, or to eat your own faeces. I recommend you try to have some dignity, though.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:09 PM on March 22, 2011 [6 favorites]

Everyone's a winner!
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:09 PM on March 22, 2011

I'm pretty sure you're looking for Grid Game. I loved it enough that I saved the .swf once upon a time...
posted by miratime at 3:09 PM on March 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

Can we get a mod in here to clean up the early threadshitting?
posted by clearly at 3:13 PM on March 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

misha, it wasn't GEARS. For one thing, it wasn't nearly as polished, and I don't remember any advertising around it.

EndsOfInvention, I'm kinda thinking that in the end, you didn't have one contiguous 'thread' connecting all the gears/wheels.
posted by kimota at 3:15 PM on March 22, 2011

From the Reddit link:
I made it to the hurdle once. About the time I saw it I said, "Fuck everything about this," crab-dragged-hobbled my qwoper over to it and shot my monitor with a .45

It was the humane thing to do.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:15 PM on March 22, 2011

It was extremely similar to Grid Game, but that's not it, either.
posted by kimota at 3:15 PM on March 22, 2011

Sorry, I really and truly love the shit out of QWOP and long to share it with as many people as possible, and I am confident that someone will see the Metatalk post itself, know what the game kimota's thinking of and pop up with the answer regardless of how much QWOP-related foolishness might pop up in the thread in the mean time.

That said, it was maybe a dickish thing to do, so, kimota, sorry about that if the instant distraction was frustrating to behold.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:31 PM on March 22, 2011

For whatever it's worth, I thought it was hilarious, and executed to perfection.
posted by Errant at 3:32 PM on March 22, 2011

Here's that pipe game.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:45 PM on March 22, 2011 [3 favorites]

Flagged as derail.

Me, too, just for chucks. Which makes me wonder--have there ever been any instances when a mod has racked up a whole bunch of flags? I want stories!
posted by phunniemee at 3:49 PM on March 22, 2011

It's cool, cortex! That pipe game's not it, either, but thanks, Chocolate Pickle.

I'm thinking that it was a lot of white L and T shapes on a round, colored discs. I think the colors were red, orange, blue, green, and purple.
posted by kimota at 4:14 PM on March 22, 2011

I was late for work one day last week because I had to beat QWOP.

I'd say the day went downhill from there, but I spent most of the day re-watching the QWOP video and giggling like an idiot, so actually it was a really good day.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:44 PM on March 22, 2011

It is the best thing

I'm only able to go backward -3 meters
posted by francesca too at 7:06 PM on March 22, 2011

Ah. This answers all my questions about where the weird-ass pictures of a running guy falling down are from.
posted by grapesaresour at 7:22 PM on March 22, 2011

I nearly peed myself laughing while playing QWOP. But I want to see this gear game. It sounds cool.
posted by slogger at 7:27 PM on March 22, 2011

Holy crap, there really is a hurdle at 50m!
posted by slogger at 7:39 PM on March 22, 2011

I don't know if you were talking about the Codex of Alchemical Engineering, because you don't change the color of the background. But it's a pretty badass gear-based game.
posted by Eideteker at 8:14 PM on March 22, 2011 [2 favorites]

I loved it enough that I saved the .swf once upon a time...

Wait, you can just do that? Fuckin hell, that's great.
posted by doublehappy at 10:53 PM on March 22, 2011

I think Metafilter needs a designated QWOP day once a year.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:37 AM on March 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, a 20 metre threshold for making comments and a 50 metre threshhold for posts. I changed how I spelled threshold in this comment because I'm not actually sure how it's spelt.
posted by doublehappy at 2:32 AM on March 23, 2011

This is an old one, but possibly Geartaker by Tony Pa?

(Also, QWOP is awesome)
posted by whir at 4:39 AM on March 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

WOOHOO 4.6 METERS, I RULE

I can't help but think that QWOP would be even more hilarious if there was a Celebrity QWOP. I want to see Johnny Depp or Phyllis Schlafly doing this.
posted by AugieAugustus at 5:00 AM on March 23, 2011 [3 favorites]

Some of those Tony Pa games seem stylistic similar, but none are it; I almost wonder if that wasn't the site, but he's pulled it or something....
posted by kimota at 5:46 AM on March 23, 2011

So, suddenly there's a surprise roaring-back-from-the-brink-of-spring snowstorm and I have QWOP in my life. The universe hates me and wants me to know it.
posted by COBRA! at 7:20 AM on March 23, 2011

I have the opposite problem, COBRA!. The universe wants me, but hates me to know it.
posted by owtytrof at 7:24 AM on March 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Clearly, you need to achieve transcendence through a QWOP bender. And then, once on a higher plane of existence, have a meaningful heart-to-heart with the universe about its emotional difficulties.
posted by COBRA! at 7:37 AM on March 23, 2011

I don't know what this has to do with clearly. I just hope he's listening.
posted by owtytrof at 8:43 AM on March 23, 2011

Some of those Tony Pa games seem stylistic similar, but none are it; I almost wonder if that wasn't the site, but he's pulled it or something....

Hmm. My first thought was that it was a Tony Pa game, but I didn't see anything that fit your description there either. Maybe email him?
posted by Rock Steady at 8:45 AM on March 23, 2011

QWOP is the only drinking game that can get you sober. "Every time you clear a hurdle..."
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:48 AM on March 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Every time you clear a hurdle..."

There are hurdles?
posted by AugieAugustus at 9:37 AM on March 23, 2011

Just as there is a summit on Everest, yes.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:51 AM on March 23, 2011

How do I pick up the pole for the vault at 150 meters?
posted by Splunge at 1:08 PM on March 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ctrl+E picks up the pole, but remember to Ctrl+E again to drop it afterwards or you'll sink when you get to the swimming section.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 1:17 PM on March 23, 2011 [1 favorite]

Holy shit I just beat QWOP. If you can manage to do get into a split (this is the hardest part), the trick is to only use the thighs. Q W W Q W W, over and over. 20 minutes later, success! (Also, I dragged the hurdle for about 10 meters like a champ.)
posted by phunniemee at 1:23 PM on March 23, 2011

Holy shit I just beat QWOP. If you can manage to do get into a split (this is the hardest part), the trick is to only use the thighs. Q W W Q W W, over and over. 20 minutes later, success! (Also, I dragged the hurdle for about 10 meters like a champ.)

Jesus babyfucking Christ, it worked!

Unless those people talking about poles and swimming are not liars.
posted by kafziel at 2:14 PM on March 23, 2011

Man the hammer throw is a bastard. I keep hitting myself in the back of the head.
posted by Splunge at 3:58 PM on March 23, 2011

I frickin' LOVE QWOP!!
posted by Mister_A at 7:23 PM on March 23, 2011

I frickin' LOVE QWOP!!

Just wait to you get to the hard events, like Rhythmic Gymnastics and Fencing.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:21 AM on March 24, 2011