Mario Water Boy is one of those old Flash games that’s simple but weirdly satisfying. You’ve got Mario—no fire flowers, no fancy power-ups—just a dude trying to haul water across a desert to save the princess. The controls are basic: move left and right, jump over cacti, and try not to spill your precious water bucket. Sounds easy, right? Until you realize the desert’s full of pits, enemies, and slopes that’ll send your water flying if you’re not careful.

What I like is how frantic it gets when the timer’s ticking down. You’ll be halfway there, then suddenly a Goomba shows up, and you’re stuck deciding whether to dodge or risk losing half your water. The physics are janky in that classic Flash way, so sometimes you’ll fail in the dumbest ways—but that just makes nailing a run feel even better. It’s short, chaotic, and exactly the kind of thing you’d play between homework assignments back in the day.

If you miss those early 2000s browser games, this one’s a fun little time capsule.