If you like action puzzle games that you can play online when work’s a bit slow or during one of your breaks in the middle of the school day, you may want to check out Blockdot’s free Shockwave game, The Maiden, Monk & Ogre. The basic goal of each level is to protect the maiden and monk by keeping them away from the ogre while trying to grab purple gems. If you get to the purple gem, you advance to the next level. The story mode has 100 levels to navigate and, despite frequent ad breaks, is quite entertaining.

The online version of The Maiden, Monk & Ogre is a bit like a demo. You can only play the Story Mode, and you can’t save your progress. The full version, unlocked by being a Power Player and downloading the game, has a save feature, allows you to play a Random Mode with 300 levels, no ads and the ability to see how to solve a puzzle…

Looks like companies aren’t just preparing for Christmas months in advance anymore – the Valentines Day hype has already begun. Blockdot’s just created a new trivia game for Microsoft’s Live Search Club called Love Crossed Crosswire.

As you can expect for a game designed for the pinkest holiday of the year – it’s all pink, has a cute Cupid avatar and is kind of romantic. I mean, it’s not like it’d make a great gift for a loved one (“Here, visit this website! I love you babe!”), but it’s sort of festive I suppose.

If you’re good at celebrity trivia or have a good memory for romantic couplings, you’ll likely be a natural at Love Crossed Crosswire. You basically have two lists of names, and you have to match up the couples. If you’re smart enough to know who goes with who, you get points…

I guess Chicktionary has proved that Scrabble isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – at least, when it comes to the iPhone/iPod Touch renditions. All the votes have been tallied at the 2008 Best App Ever Awards, and surprisingly, Blockdot’s Chicktionary has received the most love and been named 2008′s Best Word Game.

Chicktionary had some very tough competition. There were 10 other contestants for this award, among them 2 Across, Imangi, Lexitron, Quordy, Scrabble, Scramboni, Word Flow, WordsWorth and wurdle. In the game, you are in a henhouse with chickens that happen to be laying eggs with letters on them. You have to make words before time runs out…

My, Blockdot’s been busy. First, the company made the free, browser-based Cross Town Craze http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/lego-cross-town-craze-ready-to-race/ for Lego, and now it has created a free, browser-based game called Hip Hop Honors: Drop the Beat for the VH1 2008 Hip Hop Honors award show. Its a surprisingly challenging music/memory game with the ability to submit scores to an online leaderboard…

If you can’t afford Lego Batman, then there’s another, free, option for you. Blockdot has just teamed up with Lego to create Cross Town Craze, a free-to-play browser game that lets you race Lego cars. It may not have the same sparkle and polish as Lego Batman, but its a fun way to spend a few spare minutes.

Cross Town Craze is also simple to play, with a surprising variety of cars to choose from. (In fact, if you have codes from Lego products, you can unlock extra cars.) You pick a car, then race three races. If you win, you’re declared a master racer and the winner! Its pretty easy to win, but still fun…

Blockdot has decided to open up a new, virtual location. It has teamed up with Asahi Advertising and Fivestar Interactive to build the Blockdot gaming center in Second Life. People logged into the program/simulation/game can journey to Asahi Advertising’s G7 Island to visit Blockdot’s building.

Another movie-based game the world probably didn’t need has arrived, as Blockdot’s online game Trapped, based on Saw IV, has now hit the internet. For those daring enough to risk possible gore, chills and the other side-effects that come from a movie-inspired game, there is also a contest running. After completing the game, players will receive the option to enter the Saw IV Trapped sweepstakes and win Saw IV director’s cut DVDs, t-shirts and posters. Be still my heart.