If you've used the web over the last ten years, you will recall how long it took for a typically graphics-laden site to load. Notice how quickly the typical Flash site loads in comparison now. Flash, which is a vector graphics technology used to develop high-impact and low-bandwidth web sites, is ideally suited for developing online games.

A lot of people who use computers only for work and surf the internet only for information think that game playing is a waste of time. Game playing, however, improves hand-eye co-ordination, provides much-needed entertainment between bouts of hard work and enables novice users to learn to enjoy working with the computer.

AV1 Designs has developed Flash games for two clients, XtraIT and Fireworks Arcade. If you go to the Fireworks Arcade home page, ( http://www.fireworksarcade.co.uk/ ) you will notice the blackjack game, where the winner can take home £250 worth of fireworks this November. Begin by betting £5 and see if you, or the dealer, can get closer to the magic 21.

On the XtraIT site, which caters to IT consultants and clients from all over Europe, there is a section ( http://www.xtra-it.com/html/consultant/game.htm ) that features downloadable Flash games. You will find Flash versions of popular games such as Pac Man, Space Invaders, Tetris, Pong and Tic Tac Toe . To play any game, just click on the image on the screen to download and start playing. Check out this site each month for a new game.

Resources:

• Useful Information on Flash
  
  This resource provides insightful information on Flash.
  
  
• Flash MX Tutorial
  
  This is a comprehensive Tutorial in Flash MX.