Swindler [A Week of Time Wasters]  This week I’m posting five
days worth of insidious browser-based time-wasters: little games
that will make that coffee break vanish faster than me when
“Ashes” is played.  The hero of Swindler is a larcenous little
green blob of something-or-other, complete with a robber’s mask.
He draws a flexible cord from his head, lassoes it around a
convenient post, and proceeds to lower himself through a warren
of traps and monsters in order to retrieve as many stars as
possible on his way to his ultimate goal: a treasure chest. You
control Swindler by stretching or shorting his cord, which
affects his horizontal movement. Vertical movement is achieved
by rotating the 2D game world itself, which can cause Swindler
to swing into hazards in unexpected ways. As you navigate each
level, you create a kind of cat’s cradle design using the cord
to hold down triggers and change directions. Levels can get
pretty challenging, with hazards that react to both Swindler and
his cord, and monsters th