Picture it: you’ve just come home after a long day at school. You grab a Yoo-hoo or a Capri Sun from the fridge, along with a bag of Doritos that is supposed to only be for school lunches and fire up the family PC. For just a little while before your dad comes home from work, you’re free to play games on some of your favorite websites! And man, are there a ton to choose from!

Back in the late 90s up until around the early 2010s, flash games were all the rage. They were designed to be played directly in a website’s browser, so the playability was more or less instant (except for the pesky wait on your internet provider’s dial-up) without the need of downloading software. These flash games were huge draws for most popular websites, especially ones dedicated to younger audiences, and featured everything from stick figures to popular cartoon characters. It wasn’t only used by popular networks, either. Even restaurants, celebrities, and brands had these flash games available on their websites.

For many, myself included, these flash games were a huge part of childhood and a source of a lot of nostalgia. There was something so special about impatiently waiting for the game to load while watching the cartoon on the TV. It was simple and rewarding when the game was finally ready to play.

These games used a plug-in called Adobe Flash Player to work. What is that, exactly? Well, it is a language used in programming for graphics and animation. While this technology allowed for some incredible games and early internet animation, there was a huge issue with it that would ultimately mean its demise: cyber security. Most browsers today have disabled Flash support, and even Adobe itself urged users to uninstall the program to protect systems. As of December 31, 2020, Adobe ceased updates and distribution, ending the flash era.

While flash is dead, there are still ways to play these classic games! With emulators and websites dedicated to hosting flash game archives, you can still take a trip down memory lane. You can also download Flashpoint, download the flash games of your choosing, and play them offline for your own archive.

What were some of your favorite flash games? Let us know in the comments below and share this article on your socials to keep the conversation going!