Back in the mid-2000s my brother and I played this awesome online Flash game, Globulos. You could play anyone online using any of twenty games. My twin brother and I were just a few years out of college, living miles apart from each other for the first time in our lives. Globulous helped us to be a little bit closer together.
One of the twenty games was Croquet. Can you believe it? A croquet video game!!! At the time we were huge croquet fanatics. Being able to play this game online was so much fun. Although, we liked playing Arena the most.
About Globulos
The 20 games are: Arena, Football, Croquet, Tic-Tac, Save the King, Darts, Funky Foot, Bomber, Rally, Volley, Sumo, Flipper, Pétanque, BomberKing, 4-Square, Snooker, PacGlob, Basket, DartsKing, and Monster.
The 20 games and the 50 playing fields are playable 100% for free. Games are
- 1 against 1 player
- 2 against 2
- melee of 4 players
The gameplay is a mix between arcade fun and simultaneous turn based strategy. The kawaii style was noticed by the Japanese Nintendo official magazine, Nintendo Dream with a full page article.
Here’s a video example of Globulous in play.
Rough Globulos timeline
- 2000: GlobZ started in January 2000. (Source: gamesindustry.biz
- 2009: Globulos reopened to be free to play. (Source: gonintendo.com)
- 2010: this game has a Nintendo DS version called Globulos Party. (Youtube Video)
- 2017: the Nintendo DSi Shop is closed for new purchases. It is no longer possible to add Nintendo DSi Points or purchase new games in the Nintendo DSi Shop. (Source: nintendo.com)
- 2020: Most recent tweet by @globulos
- 2020: Looks like there might have been a rom, but not really. (Source: Post on r/Roms)
- 2020: Well, looks like you might be able to jailbreak a DS. (Source: r/nds)
- 2021: I cannot find a Globulos ROM. (Source: Search for Globulos on romsgames.net)
- 2021: Oh wait. Nintendo put them back online? (Source: screenrant.com)
- 2021: Globulos is not listed at delistedgames.com
Globolos miscellany
Side note 1: One of the globolous team members (Alex Houdent, general manager) is on twitter as @h_a_l_e_x
Side note 2: Globulous entered my brain today, because my ArtTab Chrome extension showed me this Tang dynasty jar. It’s titled Globular Jar.
See how round it is? And how green it is? Funny how earthenware from the 8th century Tang dynasty would conjure up memories of a 21st century Flash game.
Side note 3: Oh neat. GlobZ are based in Paris. So many Paris connections lately for me.
Thank you for sharing this great game. I’ve been playing roms for 2 years now.