I was recently turned on to an indie flash title that has sucked up more time than I should've permitted. It's not that the game itself didn't merit the time investment, but rather I had a lot to accomplish that ended up remaining...well unaccomplished. The game I'm referring to is called SteamBirds, and if you're a regular Penny Arcade reader you're probably already aware of it. If not, well now we have two things to correct.

Steam Birds is a turn-based, strategic, aerial combat game viewed from the birds-eye perspective. You issue commands to your planes primarily by directing their flight paths (they auto-attack when in range), as well as selecting between a couple special abilities inherent to each plane. For example, a given plane may be able to perform an immediate U-turn, deploy a shield, or move a greater distance. This special ability only lasts for the duration of the current turn and then is not available until the following turn has passed.

Throughout this game you'll battle many different foes that attack with a range of different weapons and methods. And although this only represents the "first wobbly steps" of the concept, I'm already sold. However seeing that this is a free flash game on the web you needn't take my word for it, go check it out for yourself; just make sure you don't have any pressing matters to attend to.