Ocular Ink

Once you get past the preposterousness of a rolling eyeball that totes a magical paintbrush, the gameplay in Ocular Ink quickly becomes entertaining and challenging. This stylish, if unpolished, freeware game earns a top rating for its original design, smooth mechanics, and amusing story.

From a top-down view, your anonymous hero strives to save his village from a megalomaniacal pirate. Your paintbrush can move objects, spawn explosions, and transport you home. As you progress through the levels, you'll learn more of the story and gain powers for your fancy brush. A mouse-gesture system controls your attacks. Drawing a tight, small circle creates a strong local explosion, while scribbling a large circle leads to a wide, weak blast. While difficult to explain in words, the controls are intuitive and easy to learn. RSI victims beware: There's a lot of mouse movement and clicking.

The villains' names all feature amusing eyeball puns (Samur-eye, Eye-clops, and so on), and the whole story is infused with a wackiness akin to the classic Earthworm Jim series. There's no chicken gun, but the walking arms are freaky enough for us. In a day when originality is rare, this unique action game deserves a good look.