Play Brain Online

Brain is this weirdly addictive arcade shooter that feels like Gradius got mixed with a survival horror game. You start off as a helicopter blasting everything in sight, then suddenly you're a spaceman crawling through tight corridors—still shooting, but now in all eight directions. The screen keeps pushing you forward, but you can nudge it up or down to dodge bullets or hunt for power-ups.

Here's the thing: you're constantly racing against an oxygen meter while scrambling to grab floppy disks (because apparently, in this universe, floppies are the ultimate treasure). Some enemies drop screen-clearing smart bombs that go off immediately when you touch them, which is either brilliant or terrifying depending on how many bullets are headed your way. And yeah, there are bosses—big, ugly things that fill half the screen and take way too many hits to kill.

It's the kind of game where you'll die a lot at first, then suddenly realize you've been playing for an hour straight.