One of my gripes with all games of this genre is a cliché complaint with a cliché game mechanic: they need to think outside the box. Just because it's an “escape the room” game doesn't mean in has to be indoors, and Walking In Circles (circa 2002) is not only a rare example of this spinoff concept, but it also accomplishes it spectacularly well for its time. Instead of spinning in one location surrounded by four walls, you instead get the slightly less claustrophobic option of, you guessed it, walking in circles around or through a barren bar. This gives the false illusion of a vast game filled with freedom of movement and makes it feel much larger than it actually is. Not to mention it has characters! And some nice cel-shaded graphics as well.

So what's it about? Well, there's a guy who had wayyy too much to drink, a perverted alien stalker who has no arms and is depressed that he can't fondle girls' breasts, a tranny bartender woman who may or may not have breasts, and two hidden female staff members who are slightly less tranny. And on top of all this is a slightly Portal reminiscent style of dialogue, as well as a tempting promise of what lies at the end of the game. Portal boasted cake, this game brags about a hot tub! These refreshingly goofy qualities should be enough to get you clicking, but don't be fooled by its sophomoric setup.

This incredibly old flash game also features a PDA tool that lets you communicate with other players – yes, similar to GTA IV, but much more clever and far earlier in gaming's timeline – and even day and night sequences that impact when certain events occur within the game. Once you get stuck you can either use your PDA to chat with other currently online "walkies" or tough it out and solve a puzzle on your own, which is often rewarded by one of the game's characters sending you a related PDA message.

If you can find a flash adventure game that has more to offer than Walking In Circles (refresh the homepage until there is a "Walkies" button and press it), then you had better email me so I can post it in the coming weeks! Although, due to how much it packs into a small flash game, and how old the URL is, you may experience some rough bandwith or bad bauds depending on which decade you currently live in.

P.S. This is the last night to vote on last week's football themed Game Series Debate to the Death!