Stick Figure Penalty 2

A note before you start: this is a dark-comedy animation toy built around cartoon slapstick, in the mould of the shock-humour shorts that circulated on Newgrounds in the mid-2000s. Nothing here is realistic, but the humour is deliberately grim, and it is not appropriate for younger players. If that is not what you are looking for, this is an easy one to skip.

A Menu, Not a Game

Stick Figure Penalty 2, by Ringfinger, is the second entry in a small series and belongs to a genre that barely exists anymore: the click-and-watch animation showcase. There is no play in the conventional sense. The screen presents a numbered grid of buttons — roughly fifteen of them — and each one triggers a short, self-contained animated skit involving a stick figure who comes off badly. When the skit ends you are returned to the menu to pick another.

That structure was extremely common in Flash's middle years, and it existed for a practical reason. Animators wanted to publish work; portals rewarded things labelled as games; a menu of shorts satisfied both. What you are really looking at is an animation reel with an interactive index attached.

What Actually Happens When You Click

Each entry is a scripted sequence lasting a few seconds. There is no simulation underneath, no physics and no variation between viewings — click the same button twice and you see the same animation. The interactive element is limited to choosing which one plays, and in a few cases pressing a trigger to start the sequence once it has loaded.

The sequel's contribution over the original was quantity and polish: more scenarios, cleaner animation, and a menu that makes it obvious which ones you have already seen. Some entries are locked behind viewing others, which gives the collection a faint sense of progression, though it is really just an unlock order rather than a difficulty curve.

Controls

Click a numbered button on the menu to play that scenario, and click again to return to the index when it finishes.

Where It Sits in Flash History

The Flash portals of 2005 to 2008 had an appetite for this kind of thing, and a whole cluster of titles grew around it — interactive toys with a ragdoll or a stick figure at the centre and a list of things you could do to it. Some, like Interactive Buddy, leaned on a physics engine and let players experiment freely. Others, like this one, went the fully authored route and traded interactivity for the tighter comic timing that hand-animation allows.

Historically, the interesting thing about the format is how completely it disappeared. It depended on a distribution model — free, anonymous, ad-supported portals with almost no moderation and an audience that mostly found things by word of mouth — that no longer exists in the same shape. Titles like this one survive as artefacts of that period rather than as games anyone is still iterating on.

Who It Is For

Realistically: people who were there. The appeal is largely nostalgic, and a viewer coming to it fresh in the present day will find a few minutes of dark cartoon humour and not much else. There is no depth to explore, no skill to develop and nothing to come back for once the menu is exhausted. Taken on those terms — a short, blunt piece of Flash-era comedy — it does what it set out to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many scenarios are there? Around fifteen, laid out as a numbered grid on the main menu, with a handful that only appear after you have worked through the earlier ones.

Is there any skill involved? Essentially none. Choosing an entry and watching it play is the whole interaction, and the outcomes are fixed animations rather than simulations.

Do the results ever change? No. Each button plays the same authored sequence every time, so there is no randomisation or hidden variation to hunt for.

Who made it? Ringfinger, who produced the series across multiple Flash releases in the mid-2000s.

Is it suitable for children? No. The comedy is intentionally dark and the whole premise is built on it, so it is squarely aimed at older players.

How long does it take to see everything? A few minutes. Once the menu is fully unlocked and viewed, there is nothing further to find.