ArticlesI used to have this theory about Adobe Flash programming, even though I have never done any.
One of the primitives in ActionScript, one of the basic instructions upon which all the other functions were built, must be called something like RemoveGroupIf3OrMoreMatch(). It was the only way to explain why there were so many similar Flash games, based on derivative rules and game-play – if three or more objects of the same colour are touching, they disappear, and you score points.
I now suspect that the latest release of ActionScript now has a new primitive: Shape.SuccumbToGravity(PivotPoint).
That explains the current explosion of “Physics Engine” games.
Comment by Jonathon Duerig on December 11, 2008
The real cause of this kind of thing is that 90% of flash games are created by people who aren’t really programmers. So what they do is take a tutorial (for a matching game) or a library (physics) and add their own graphics and some minimal changes to make a game.
Flash is essentially the Apple/Atari/Commodore Basic or gwbasic.exe of our time. The fun thing is it allows you to create a surprisingly fun little game in a weekend. Here is an example of a weekend project I wrote in flash:
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/464419