The third rule? If this is your first time at Friday Flash Games, you have to play! Fortunately, we've dispensed with the first and second rules, so you can talk about Friday Flash Games. It's encouraged, even.

Every Friday, I present three or more browser-based games, all of which rely on the Adobe Flash Player, which should work in all reasonable browsers. All games should work on Mac, Windows, or any other Flash-capable platform. I'll note whether a game has sound or music, so that you can adjust sound levels before clicking. I'd hate for you to get into trouble because your coworkers are working feverishly on an important project while you're working feverishly on a high score, and a triumphant trumpet trill gives you away. You should be working, but I'm not your father. Unless you're one of the children, in which case you can play these games during designated computer times without worrying about the volume.

This week I'm trying for a theme: related games. Our first trio of games comes from someone who calls himself XxXoldsaltXxX.

The idea of Falldown is probably obvious from the name of the game: you fall down. Of course, there are challenges. Specifically, there is a never-ending series of lines trying to lift you up, so you'll need to make sure you continue to fall through the holes in the lines. If you reach the top of the screen, you lose.

Use the left and right arrow keys to move left and right, and try to fall down through the hole. It really is that simple — and the lines come faster and faster, at which point you realize that "simple" doesn't mean "easy."

There is repetitive music (the singing! make it stop!) that starts only after you click "Start."

The game inspired a sequel, cleverly called Falldown 2. The object of this game is to — wait for it — fall down.

In fact, there are some differences in game play, but they are somewhat minor. The background color is gray instead of white, the lines which move from bottom to top come closer together, and they sometimes have two holes instead of just one. In fact, I suspect they always have two holes, but sometimes they overlap, making one wider hole instead of two more narrow holes. Also, there are difficulty levels. The Easy level is indeed easy, but the Hard level is indeed hard. I can only guess that the Medium level is indeed of medium difficulty.