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A new year, a new set of browser games. 2009 was a pretty stunning year for the medium and I have high hopes for 2010. Now that art games are a significant part of the industry, a lot more creativity and style have started popping up in Internet-based titles. This has made the field considerably more crowded, but hopefully this competition will encourage innovation. It's still early in the year, so we'll have to wait to see if 2010 will be as strong a year for the browser game.

All told, January was something of a light month for browser games. I suppose the work-averse holiday season had something to do with that. Still, a few truly interesting offerings hit the usual channels. The thin stack of exemplary games means that several different genres get represented this month. There's a unique puzzle game, a simple and balanced shooter and a clever strategy title on the slab. Let's dive right in.

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For the past few years, there's been a lot of discussion surrounding the capacity of video games to be art. Of course, this requires defining art itself, but in general when we attach the "art" label to media that are designed primarily to entertain we usually mean that the entertainment has taken a backseat to the style or some kind of commentary. When it comes to video games, though, being less entertaining makes the game in question inherently less interesting, if only because of the interactive element. A game has to be fun, first and foremost. If it has a particularly unique style or manages to be emotionally resonant, then it leans toward art. The following are three very creative, fun games that came out in September.

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