Crates and Barrels

Crates and Barrels is a single-player "minigame" mod for Half-Life 2. It is a unique mod for several reasons, most notably for what it is not: it isn't a shooter (first or third person) - it isn't an RPG, strategy, or adventure game - and it doesn't run on the Half-Life 2 game engine. What it is, though, is a collection of mini-games which use the Half-Life 2 characters, objects, and textures in several simple and classic video games that are intended for a few moments of comic relief.

When you start the mod, the first screen is a lobby from which you can select to play a specific mini-game. In the lobby and while playing each minigame, situational appropriate commentary is provided by the Half-Life 2 characters on your quality of play (or lack thereof). Screen shots of the six mini-games are shown below.

SNAKE This is the classic snake game. You control a snake (in this case composed of watermelons) around a constrained arena. You have only a few seconds to eat a health pack, which causes the snake to add segments and speed up. Roller mines are scattered throughout and hitting them or the walls or your tail ends the game. As you progress, the game gets faster and more roller mines are added. You can eat the clock for a few bonus seconds, but the penalty is the game speed is reset to the starting speed.
MEMORY Rules are the same as the card game. In this case, you open two doors to reveal what is behind them. Matching two objects causes them to destruct. You have a limited amount of time to match them all in order to win the game. A small (4x4) and a large (6x6) game with choices of clock times provide selectable levels of play.
HEADCRAB INVADERS Very much like the classic game, but with a Half-Life 2 twist! It's upside down, as you are controlling a barnacle. Headcrabs are advancing up and firing cleavers at you! You must make the barnacle barf gibs on them to destroy them. Crates provide protection but are easily destroyed. You only have a limited amount of gibs, and to get more you need to use your tongue to ensnare headcrabs. For copious amounts of gibs, snag one of the scared citizens scurrying along the bottom of the screen.
PWN-THE-TOOL The Half-Life 2 characters pop up from the ground, daring you to whack 'em back down. You can drop your choice of five different "hammers" on their heads. But be careful: points are awarded only for hitting the bad guys - points are subtracted for accidentally bashing the good guys!
CRATETRIS Not much to say here - very much like the countless other versions of this game, but still fun for a few moments.
BREAKOUT Ahh, the arcade classic lives on! But in this version, there are several power-ups available in the random crates that fall. Also, the evil roller mines will destroy your puck if they touch you.
CITY 17 DEFENDER Loosely based on the arcade classic, the goal is to rescue citizens from being assimmilated into zombies. You fly around in the air boat to save them and shoot down Combine choppers. Your weapon arsenal includes standard guns, but also just for fun a bottle chucker and a bird cannon [NOTE: still in development, not part of the Beta release]

I am continuing work on the mod because my plan all along was to release periodic updates with even more minigames, such as City 17 Defender. Also, more levels for some of the games and who knows what else I will think of will be forthcoming.

For more details on how this mod came about, see the FAQ at the bottom of this page.

Downloads

Crates and Barrels is currently in the Beta stage. You can download the mod at one of the links below. Be sure you read the README file and comply with the system requirements - you need to have Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 with SP1 and Managed DirectX 1.1 runtimes installed in order to play.

Tech Support

The mod is in Beta so if you are having problems getting it to run (you did pay attention to the installation requirements in the README, didn't you??), you can post a message in the Forums