HOW TO PLAY FLASH GAMES
(current as of January 2024)
First and most importantly, FLASHPOINT ARCHIVE. This is a huge and ever-growing collection of flash media, from Mattel, to GirlsGoGames, ArmorGames, Newgrounds, Deviantart, and even HTML5, Shockwave, and Unity games. This browser automatically comes with some content filters applied; these can be removed, but do so at your own discretion. Can be downloaded on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but has limited capability on Mac and Linux. flashpointarchive.org/downloads.
Second and second-importantly, RUFFLE. Ruffle comes pre-built into many sites that have historically relied on Flash like Neopets and Homestar Runner and works seamlessly as a browser extension. Some limited Actionscript 3 support, but it gets better all the time. Also comes in application form to run downloaded SWF files; I personally recommend using the browser extension. ruffle.rs
Other flash game aggregators of note:
NUMUKI, has a library of mostly “girly” games, including many of the games from Mattel, Nickelodeon and Disney. Sometimes works fine in-browser, works better in the app. Lots of ads. numuki.com/app-download/
Y8, has a wide, general-audience game selection. Also works better in the app. y8.com/download-app
NEWGROUNDS PLAYER allows you to run Flash content from Newgrounds. Windows only. newgrounds.com/flash/player
Sometimes you’ll find a game that isn’t on Flashpoint and can’t be run with Ruffle. This means that you’ll need to download and run Flash Player. THERE ARE DANGERS TO USING FLASH POST-EOL, USE THIS METHOD AT YOUR OWN RISK; ONLY VISIT WEBSITES THAT YOU TRUST, AND EVEN TRUSTWORTHY WEBSITES CAN BE COMPROMISED. For increased safety, browse flash files using a virtual machine. This method will not work with some newer computers, including Apple Silicone.
The downloads you’ll need to run Flash Player can be found on Gaia Online’s games page: https://www.gaiaonline.com/games/
Download your system’s version of Waterfox and Flash Player and install both. If you allow either of these to update, this method will stop working.
Once you have both a flash-compatible browser (Waterfox in this case) and Flash Player installed, you should be able to visit sites that use flash and load the files like normal after clicking "allow" on the plugin pop up.