Basho Kioku is the latest puzzle game from prolific designer Yoshio Ishii. You are faced with a grid of 36 squares, and your goal is to click on each of them in turn. Each round, a random combination of these squares lights up orange, and you must choose one of them. There is no indication of which squares you've previously selected, but if you pick a square more than once, you lose a life. It's a nearly flawless koan that plays on the tension between the randomness of your choices and the solidity of your strategy.

Cursor*10 is a simple-looking puzzle game just released by Nekogames. You are a cursor in a tower trying to reach the top. Each of your ten lives is time-limited, and when one ends the next begins on the bottom floor. But you're not alone. As you start the next life your previous actions are replayed in real-time, creating a fun "cooperate with yourself" atmosphere.

Brand new from Yoshio Ishii of Nekogames, creator of Hoshi Saga, comes a simple mahjong-based puzzle game called Slidon. With a little mouse-based grace, your only goal in Slidon is to push tiles around a grid to form matching pairs of two or more. When like tiles meet, they vanish. You have a limited number of moves to complete each stage, so keep your tile shoving in check and study the board carefully.

Yoshio Ishii has just released a sequel to his enormously popular and quite elegant puzzle game Hoshi Saga. There are 36 new levels in which to find the star. Nothing very difficult, just exceptionally creative interaction design like the first one. This one is sure to please.

Hoshi Saga is a simple game of discovery. One part point-and-click and one part puzzle game, the objective in each of the game's 36 stages is to find the star. How you go about doing that is different for every stage. The task is up to you to figure out how. Just right to get those brain cells jumping with inspiration and excitement on a Monday.

We here at Casual Gameplay have been fans of the work Yoshio Ishii has been doing in Shockwave and Flash for several years now. He may be best known for his Neko series of games (neko means "cat" in Japanese), though he has also created some of the best Panzo games as well. His latest effort is this beautiful and delightful game that will give your brain some stimulation as you play.

Yosio Ishii's love of cats is the basis of the Neko series, an adorable (if a bit bland in appearance) collection of games starring cats (pronouced "neko" in Japanese). And while his previous work was exclusively Shockwave games, it appears that he has made the switch to Flash with his more recent efforts.

Panzo Invaders, like Gel Invaders before it, is a Shockwave arcade game similar in gameplay to a combination of Space Invaders and Breakout. Toss a steel ball up at floating enemies in the sky, but don't get hit by them when they fall to the ground! Grab coins for points and power-ups to extend play. Colorful and delightful.

A brand new Panzo game was released a couple of weeks ago, and this one is enjoyable and addictive like the other panda games before it. The action arcade Shockwave game is a cross between Breakout and Space Invaders. The object of the game is to throw a bouncing ball around...

After playing many "me-too" casual games that offer nothing other than a new skin to old gameplay, it is refreshing when a game comes along that forces you to think differently. And though Mamezo is not the first game to offer such a gameplay mechanic as drawing lines to bounce an object around the play field, it is a game that will provide a unique experience for many.

Panzo the Panda bear got more than he bargained for in this Shockwave remake of Pang from Japan. Geru Geru Panic roughly translates to Gel Gel Panic, a reference no doubt to the gelatinous goo that the aliens appear to be made of. Although it may seem odd, you don't need to speak Japanese to enjoy the amazing good times packed into this little gem.

Barbados is a Shockwave action arcade game with instantly familiar gameplay. The objective of the game is to collect all of the dots by moving your ship around the concentric circles of the play field while avoiding the enemy. Easier than it sounds. Great arcade fun wrapped in a tight little package.

Swivel Sweep is a unique and original concept Shockwave game by veteran Japanese game designer, Yoshio Ishii. The game features a top down view of a play field that swivels by moving the mouse around it. The object is to bounce the ball around, inside the play field, to hit and knock out all of the squares in each level.

From Japan, Yoshio Ishii possesses an exceptional game design and development talent. Many of his games feature a cat ("neko" in Japanese) and are rather plain looking, while other experimental designs are some of the most beautiful creations I've ever seen.

From Japan, Yoshio Ishii possesses an exceptional game design and development talent. Many of his games feature a cat ("neko" in Japanese) and are rather plain looking, while other experimental designs are some of the most beautiful creations I've ever seen.