Summary
It was the eve of 2020, as the world was fully locked down when Adobe officially discontinued Flash Player. Months later, Flash would also lose official support. Along with that came essentially the death of Flash games.
Many popular Flash games have now been relegated to archives and emulators if not lost to time (RIP Cuboy, you are gone but not forgotten.) Thankfully, a bunch of the finest titles made their way to the safe embrace of Steam. Whether via direct port or a remake, here are some of the best Flash-to-Steam games you may play today.
10WorldBox
More Worlds To Conquer
WorldBox is a sandbox game that lets you create worlds or become the destroyer of them. Often, you’ll find yourself becoming both just for giggles. It’s fascinating spending time just watching civilization grow and upend itself again and again.
It all started as a Flash prototype that would then be expanded and released on Newgrounds in 2012. The journey to Steam would take over a decade, with the full game released on the platform in 2021.
9Bloons TD 5
No Monkey Business Here
Bloons TD 6 surpassed all of its predecessors in popularity by a huge margin, but Bloons TD 5 is still one of the best entries that put the tower defense genre on the map. It was released on Steam in full HD, but its origins lie in the vast collective of Flash gaming websites that once populated the interwebs.
This era was the height of in-game ads and mobile gaming becoming more explosive thanks to advancements in Android and iOS. Switching to a paid format on Steam lifted the Bloons series from its freemium setup, eventually contributing to its popularity versus other games in the same genre.
8The Binding Of Isaac
Endless Runs Await
The Binding Of Isaacis one of those tentpole games that both newer gamers and the “oldies” can enjoy as a staple of PC gaming. Unlike other games that simply found new life on Steam, Isaac was truly built with a Steam release in mind; it still had a Newgrounds release that helped a lot of its early buzz, though.
Now, you may play both the original and the Rebirth on Steam. It doesn’t come as a surprise that one ofthe best roguelike shooterswould come from the same mind that thought up Super Meat Boy.
7Fireboy & Watergirl: Elements
Better Together
Fireboy and Watergirl are familiar faces to anyone who played local co-op flash titles with their friends on Windows 7. Elements is the fifth game in the series, released almost a decade after the first Fireboy & Watergirl.
The game was released on Steam in 2019, keeping it alive even as Adobe Flash steadily barreled toward obsolescence. It still holds up as a puzzle co-op adventure that retains practically every aspect of its original essence, so you just can’t play together from different devices, but this is from the era of games that worked best with friends hanging out with some soda in tow.
6My Friend Pedro
The Fruit Says Shoot
A murder-hungry banana gains sentients and urges you to do its bidding, a stunning premise that lends itself to the endlessly engagingMy Friend Pedro. The stylish side-scrolling shooter is perhaps the most different from its original Flash form, but the game didn’t just get ported one-to-one.
The OG release was published by Adult Swim Games, and even before Flash died, developer Victor Agren already started on its final iteration. No words can fully illustrate the vibe this game exudes, except maybe ‘bananas’.
5The Fancy Pants Adventures
Perfect Pants For Platforming
you’re able to’t talk abouticonic Flash gameswithout mentioning Fancy Pants. Platforming feels so good in the world Fancy Pants Man inhibits, and it’s a testament to how you can make a character memorable even as a stick figure with no face.
Every great website that hosted games had the original game series on it, with the final game, Super Fancy Pants, coming to Steam. With Flash Player gone, you could only play the original trio on mobile until The Fancy Pants Adventures was released on Steam in 2024, and the collection introduces quality-of-life improvements for modern hardware, too.
4The Last Door
Open The Door To Horror
Horror point-and-click gameswere a staple of Flash gaming. In a genre that was populated with glorified jumpscare collections, The Last Door created a compelling story with engaging puzzles. Its grim pixel environment also felt elevated thanks to the masterful soundtrack by Carlos Viola.
The developers used Adobe AIR to build this game, which shares a codebase with Flash Player. Hence, the first chapter’s popularity in Armor Games, which you may get the whole collection on Steam (along with its follow-up.)
3Hollow Knight
Close Encounters Of The Insect Kind
Yes, thatHollow Knight, the immersive and highly-praised platformer has its roots in a Newgrounds Flash game called Hungry Knight. The original game, made as an entry for Ludum Dare, can no longer be played on a browser.
Thankfully, the devs felt there was something more to this world of insects and created the game you know and love. With expanded lore and new souls-like gameplay, its lasting impact can’t be denied, so long live the Hollow Knight, decidedly less hungry.
2Machinarium
Puzzling Machinations
Machinarium is a game that sticks with you, if only for its fully realized world and style. It doesn’t hurt that the protagonist is a lovable robot and the puzzles are fun.
The game has won plenty of awards for its aesthetic, and it still plays and looks wonderfully today compared to its 2009 release. It has been on Steam since its start, but the developers updated the game engine in 2017 to run on DirectX instead of Flash.
1The Henry Stickmin Collection
The Stick, The Man, The Legend
The Henry Stickmin Collection came to Steam in August of 2020, just months before Flash would say bye forever; Henry Stickmin has been an internet mainstay, fathering memes and enabling multiple endings for adventurous players. Plenty of games that exist just for the “lols” can trace the genre’s success back to your favorite prison-breaking stick figure.
Whether or not this game was part of your childhood, it’s a good time. Who knew getting ‘game over’ scenarios could be anything but bad? The Stickmin games always find a way to make failure fun again.
