Jardinains (http://www.jardinains.com) is a fantastic little game, similar to
Breakout, which runs on the
Direct-X 7 platform.
As the website puts it, Jardinains is:
"Like Breakout, But With More Gnome Bouncing"
In the game, you control a paddle at the bottom of a game space. You have a ball, which can bounce off the paddle, and there are bricks in the game grid, which you distroy by hitting them with your ball. By hitting all the blocks you advance to the next level.
Complicating matters are the Nains. These little Gnome-like creatures live in the bricks, and don't take too kindly to your distruction of their homes. They pop up, watch for a while, then throw Flower-pots at your paddle. If you are hit, you loose 250 points, and are frozen for a while.
As revenge, if a ball strikes a Nain, or the block they're on top of, they are knocked off, and you get to bounce them off your paddle. Every bounce is worth double the points as the bounce before, until you hit 800 points, at which point the Nain explodes, and turns into a Powerup.
There are several Powerups, including Lazers, Extra Lifes, and Exploding Balls. Some powerups speed up or slow down gameplay, some shrink or increase the length of your paddle.
The sound effects and music are catchy and fantastic, and the game is Highly Caustic to Studying Time. At NO point should this game be installed on a work PC, as it will swallow your time like a 2 dollar hooker swallowing a load.