See how much hot air you are full of when you try your luck with Hot Air, trying to guide the balloon as efficiently as possible.

I initially found gaining mouse control of the balloon in Hot Air to be quite a challenge. Given that I play a lot of free online games quite easily, I did not suspect mouse control would be a problem. But with Hot Air it was definitely more difficult to focus with mouse control. So I tried until I succeeded, which I thankfully did pretty soon enough. What you have to try and do in Hot Air is guide the balloon (via the fan which you move around with the mouse cursor and left mouse button) to the end of each level. But it's not so easy as your balloon can get punctured very easily (which was what kept happening to me in the beginning). Even when you have gained control of the balloon and fan, there is still more to do if you want to do REALLY well in Hot Air. Because you should be trying to collect as many stars as you can in each of the 25 levels. The more you collect, the better chance you have of being able to unlock the secret level. In the first level you have to get the balloon to blow over from its green launch pad to the red target pad, but while doing so, make sure you avoid the spikes and traps. One skill that I realized I had to develop before getting anywhere was how to easily blow the hot air balloon around the screen. Once you have achieved that, then in my experience, you are definitely on your way to successfully going through all levels in Hot Air.

I had never been much of a racket ball player. In fact, I vividly recall (with great embarrassment) those university days when I decided to take up badminton. Everyone had a hard time with the shuttle cox in the beginning, but even after 6 lessons I still had not managed to hit it!

Nonetheless, there was something about the game Balance that I found at www.miniclip.com/games/en that really appealed to me. I guess I wanted to prove to myself that I could hit a ball (even if it would be virtually). Since Balance came up on the screen when I entered the site, I decided to give the game a try. Well, I figured; what could I lose? There was no downloading necessary and it was free! At first it was really frustrating and my game would be over in less than 10 seconds, but once I got the hang of balancing the ball on the racket in order to aim it just like in a real game, it was really a lot of fun. The more I played the better I got at getting the bat and ball together and that was what kept me coming back to the game. And each time I wanted to play it was just so easy as there was no downloading involved. All I ever needed was an Internet browser page opened and I could start balancing the ball on the racket! Plus, especially in those early days when I was clearly so bad at it, no one was there to embarrass me (like in the days I remember from university). So I could practice, get better and ultimately enjoy the game without any pressure at all.

I used to think I was pretty well coordinated. At least when it came to fun on line games. I pretty much thought I could control a ball or an icon or a car or something. But then I discovered Gyroball and all my confidence was shattered! But at the same time I saw that I was really enjoying myself.

In Gyroball you are the ball. And the ball is placed on something that looks a bit like a skateboard rank or something. What you have to do is maneuver the ball up and down the bumps on the grid until you get to the end. I have to admit (although I am a bit embarrassed to say this) it took me many, many games until I managed to gain any sort of control over the ball. While I enjoyed the music, I often put the game on silent as it seemed to just frustrate me even more. And I found that the more I concentrated on my moving of the ball around the grid thing, the more successful I was. What I found most difficult was getting the ball to turn a corner. I also found that (after a while of trial and a whole lot of error) that the slower I went, the steadier I became. It was like I was learning to walk again, except I wasn't, I was trying to move a ball around a grid! There are 5 levels (not that I have yet made it past level 1) and you get a minute before your time is up if you do not get anywhere in the first level. So I'm not quite sure what happens after you do progress beyond level 1, since I've not managed to get past it myself! I think Gyroball is a great game for anyone who loves addicting puzzle games and is up for a REAL challenge!

It's so great that I discovered a really cool site where I can download free online games. At www.download-free-games.com I have access to a ton of games I used to play with my parents and 2 sisters growing up but in those days they didn't seem nearly as much fun! maybe it was because I felt pressurized as everyone (especially my younger sister) was so competitive! Or maybe it was just because I found regular scrabble, for example, boring. But as soon as I downloaded scrabble from this site (and I am still not sure why I did, given the experiences I had when I was younger), I could see that I was going to have a great time with it.

It is pretty much like the real game (getting 7 letters to begin with to make up word, and then if you cannot form a word, picking another letter) but what with the graphics in the game, it just seems more fun. I can either choose to play against another player (I am not quite ready to tell my sister about the site and play with her; I still want to improve on my skills), or Artificial Intelligence (the computer), or even on my own (which I did a lot of when I first found this game, just to gain the confidence). Unlike the real scrabble I used to play growing up, this version of on line scrabble is so much fun that I want to keep coming back for more! I am pretty sure that when my free time is up for this game, I will be purchasing the full version of it!