When it comes to flash games, design choices on behalf of the developers can make or break it. I mean, something plain can be made excellent by great design, but bad design can kill something novel in a heartbeat. Having programming skills are important, but design should also be up there as well. Need proof, here are a few examples:

1. Poltergifts: As much as I like Evil-Dog's music, Sick Death Fiend's art/animation, and Road of the Dead; this was not the best from either one. While it's nice to see something from Sick Death Fiend that isn't zombies for once, that doesn't compensate for the fact that the player's attack is underpowered, this in spite of various weapons and upgrades can be a pain in the ass when dealing with multiple enemies.
2. Heist (by John & Richie of Perfect Kirby fame): This may come as a shock to you, but Pikanjo's submissions have been disappointing ever since Perfect Kirby 3. To Richie's credit, he did make a nice 3D engine directly in flash, but considering the existence of M-Bot: The Game, Nimian Flier Legends, and Sierra 7; I can't really credit him for being the first. However, that's just minor considering what really kills it for me: ugly art style, deplorable character design, and above all, bad controls. Would it not have killed these guys to have added mouse aiming? I mean having to turn and aim with the arrow keys is cumbersome and unreliable as hell. (Even with Joy2Key it's still a major-league pain in the ass.) That and the unreliable jumping mechanics effectively turned what could have been in the top 50 material in to a borderline piece of shit. Plus, the women that Richie draws are ass ugly and unappealing.
3. Insanity Box (and Pox power in general): I can give props to Pox for trying to recreate Wario Ware in flash, but this is a bad case of quantity over quality. For every good minigame that both of the Insanity Box games have, there are two to three that have had little to no thought put into them, which makes it more frustrating than it's worth. And it doesn't help that he couldn't come up with anything funny even to save his ass.
4. Hunters-Relic of Stars: To be honest, I kind of enjoy this game even though it's horribly uninspired. But that doesn't compensate for having to aim while running and bad weapon design. At least Rhete could have added the ability to aim while standing still like Contra Hard Corps or a mouse aiming option. Plus, the weapons could have been done better. Having a machine gun that does less damage than a handgun, a rocket launcher with no splash damage, and a shotgun with obscenely short range is just ridiculous. On the other hand, I do like most of his boss ideas except for Polmire in Stage 5; having a boss that shoots as soon as it opens its eye and closes it as soon as it fires was a dipshit decision on his behalf.
5. SHMUP (by Afro Ninja): Like the last game, I enjoyed this a lot until I got to 3-2 with the bad enemy placement. I mean, having those creatures sneak up behind you with no means of killing them pisses me off. Plus, no matter how much I try, it's impossible to shake them off of my spacecraft.

Of course, what good are examples if there aren't any counter examples?
Mega Man Next Remix by Maelstormm-Even though it would be nice if he switched out some of the songs he chose, I have to admit that Wade here not only knows how to code as if there's no tomorrow; but knows a several things on gameplay design.
Bass Abyss by Iragination-I understand why he wouldn't want to get Capcom into a fury if he did a fully-made game, but still wish that he would start submitting here again. He's one of the most crafty level designers I have ever encountered, and think that more people should consider teaming up with him.
Fancy Pants Adventures by Brad Borne/Dr. Nero CF-I have to admit that I never expected another Louisianian to contribute to this site aside from Grim City, Lil G, Marc M, and Myself. (If there are any more, Speak Up! Although I haven't played this very often, the Sonic-style gameplay is just praiseworthy. I'm surprised that nobody hasn't opted to have him do their game design.
Uniwar LC by Doomhammr-Ah, the forgotten legend of NG. A lot of people may not have heard of him, but when it comes to coding first-person shooters in flash; he gets the job done.

To those whose games I mentioned in a bad light: Sorry for the negativity, but I needed examples to cite.
As for the counterexamples: I think that you guys needed some much-needed coverage.