Flash was originally created (and also broadly used) for website design. It didn’t stay with that though, as Flash also proved to be a great platform for animations and web games. Throughout the years, tons of sites have risen, offering an overload of Flash content.

We will be discussing a few of these sites today. More precisely, the best places for good and free flash games that play right out of your browser. What more do you want?

Newgrounds

Newgrounds is one of the most popular flash ‘portals’ around. It was also one of the first I discovered, about 8 or 9 years ago to be exact. There was a time I visited Newgrounds everyday, utterly addicted to the movies and games. I started making my own things some time after (like stop motion movies and a very crappy dress-up game). After that, I decided to leave it to the pro’s.

You’ll be amazed by the quality of the work. I am too, everytime I visit.

Newgrounds’ system allows everyone to submit their flash content. Then it’ll receive ratings from other users and be deleted if it’s not good enough. The best submissions will reach the frontpage or the daily top five.

Check out the games section here.

Albino Black Sheep

Albino Blacksheep is another huge flash site. It started a few years after Newgrounds, originally as a music orientated website. Over the years it grow towards other media, like flash. Now it has a user-base that’s almost similar to that of Newgrounds.

Albino Blacksheep works also completely of user-submitted content. In their help pages, they’ve included the image below, explaining the Albino Blacksheep flow.

Besides a recently renovated interface, they also feature a Wii Games page. On this page you’ll find flash games that are carefully selected and adjusted, making them playable using the Wii browser.

Take a look at the Albino Blacksheep games section for a wide variety of great games.

Armor Games

Armor Games is both a flash game directory and a game sponsor. People can submit their flash games after which they’ll be reviewed and checked to see if they’re appropriate for the website and possible sponsorship.

You’ll often see games sponsored by AG on other sites like Newgrounds or Albino Blacksheep, but they also post all games they sponsor on their own website.

Check out the Armor Games website for a directory of the highest quality.

Zylom

Zylom is a great place to go if you want to train your brain. This Realgames project hosts over 200 fun and free games. This might not seem much compared to Newgrounds or Albino Blacksheep, but that’s mainly because they don’t work with a user-submitting system.

Though they aren’t flash games, they are also playable right out of your browser.

Take a look at the Zylom website here.

And You?

We at Make Use Of are interested in your opinion.

What flash websites do you prefer? What flash games do you play? Have you played Alien Hominid yet? Anaksha perhaps? And while you’re at it, check out the other comments as well.

UPDATE (12 SEPTEMBER) :

Kongregate

How could I ever forget Kongregate? Kongregate is one of the fastest growing web-game communities. And no one from that world takes the word ‘community’ more seriously than those guys.

While most sites limit you to earning points from reviews and ratings, Kongregate works with badges, enhancing your gameplay the furthest. Kongregate members can also earn collectable cards, which they can use in Kongai, Kongregate’s turn-based strategy card game.