Way Of The Stick

Way of the Stick was one of those games you'd find in the later days of Flash, a straightforward fighter built for a browser. It didn't try to be more than that, which was part of its appeal when you had a few minutes to spare. The game had a certain clarity in its presentation, using simple stick figures against plain backgrounds to keep the focus entirely on the action.

You control a lone stick figure warrior, moving left and right across a single plane to face opponents. The objective is to reduce your enemy's health bar to zero before they do the same to you. Moment to moment, you're running, jumping, and executing a small set of moves like a double punch or a spin kick. The controls are responsive, letting you chain actions together, though the timing is tight. It moves quickly, and a few mistakes can end a round. The game feels direct and physical, a test of simple reflexes against an equally simple foe.