Actual Windows Phone screenshots free of marketting text!

It’s getting down to the wire, but we do at last have details of this week’s Xbox Live release. This Wednesday, prolific Swiss developer Miniclip’s latest game Fling makes its debut. Fling’s Achievements were first discovered back in early May, along with Battleship and Mirror’s Edge. This will make two down and one to go, won’t it?

Fling is a puzzle game that plays much differently from Miniclip’s previous Xbox live releases. In each level, players must flick furballs into each other with the goal of leaving only one monster on the board. Furballs can only travel horizontally or vertically and they only stop when they hit another furball, so you’ll need to experiment and/or think a few moves in advance to win.

Fling packs metric tonnes of puzzles spread across four game modes. Free-play lets you play at a relaxed pace without time constraints; Arcade challenges players to solve as many puzzles as possible before time runs out; Challenge breaks groups of levels up into timed sets; and Frenzy is a never-ending survival mode. Arcade and Frenzy each have several specific Achievements, while the other modes do not.

With many mobile Xbox Live gamers suffering from puzzle game fatigue, Miniclip’s newest needs something special to catch gamers’ eyes. Good news! Fling launches Wednesday, June 20 at a price of only 99 cents. If you can’t wait a day to play it, head over to Miniclip.com right now to check out the Flash version.

If you've ever dined at a Cracker Barrel restaurant, the concept behind the Windows Phone game Peg Jump will be very familiar. Peg Jump is a puzzle game where you have to jump a series of pegs over one another. The goal is to leave only one peg standing.

There's really not much to this game but it is a challenging and addictive Windows Phone app. You have the two classic 15 hole board and a 33 hole English board. To keep things interesting, you can choose from 25 variations of the English board.

Peg Jump's game play is straight forward and just like the peg puzzles at Cracker Barrel. Your first move is to choose which peg to remove to create a starting point.  This is where you will make your first jump into. From there, you just tap on the peg you want to jump and the possible jumps are highlighted. Tap the highlighted peg to jump in that direction.

Should you run out of possible jumps or jump all pegs, leaving only one, the game ends. The game will judge your performance with a quaint saying such as "Genius" being earned for leaving only one peg or "Eg-No-Ra-Moose" for leaving four pegs.

All in all, Peg Jump is a fun, challenging, and addictive game for your Windows Phone. It's a nice time waster and not a bad addition to your Windows Phone gaming library.

Peg Jump is a free game, and you can find it here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Altern8 is a puzzle game for your Windows Phone that offers you an alternative to mazes with walls. Instead of having your movement restricted by traditional walls, Altern8 restricts your movements through maze puzzles by colored squares.

You move through a grid of colored squares, alternating the colored squares you land on, as you seek the exit. Altern8 has five gaming modes, five difficulty levels and four color pairs. Altern8 is a fun, change of pace styled game that is worth a try if you're looking for a game to play while passing the time.

Altern8 main pages include your gaming menu, a Stat's and Scores page, an About page and the game's settings. Settings cover difficulty level, maze colors and sound on/off. Altern8's game modes break down as follows:

• Free Play: This game mode is great for learning the game. Score is kept but really doesn't count past your personal stats.
• Race the Creator: You vs. the computer in a game of chase. You will get a head start and then it's off to the races to see if you can get to the exit before the computer player catches you.
• Beat the Creator: See if you can be the computer in the number of moves it takes to solve the maze.
• Five Minute Challenge: Complete as many mazes as possible within five minutes.
• Lightning Challenge: A race against time in that you have to solve each maze before the clock strikes zero.

The maze is a series of colored tiles and a movement pad rests at the bottom of the maze. You can move your player vertical or horizontally. Movement can only be done by moving to alternate colored tiles (e.g.. red to yellow to red to yellow). If you get stuck, you can always retrace your steps but that will increase your total moves.

Mazes are challenging and with the multiple game modes, Altern8 won't grow stale too quickly. Altern8 lacks an online leaderboard but I'm not sure it's needed.  It would be a nice touch but there's enough gaming options to keep you busy with Altern8 you probably won't miss it.

Overall, Altern8 is a fun, challenging puzzle game for your Windows Phone. There is a slight addictive quality to Altern8 and it's a nice game to pass the time with. Altern8 is a free, ad supported game for your Windows Phone that you can find here at the Windows Phone Store.

Cut the Rope has been an extremely popular game on iOS for years now, but it only just arrived on Windows Phone last week. In the meantime, we’ve made due with Spider Jack, a similar puzzle game that arrived on WP7 back in December. Cut theRope originates from a Russian developer called ZeptoLab (though their UK branch crafted this port), while Spider Jack comes from the equally Russian MaxNick and publisher Electronic Arts. Now that both games are available (and playable on both WP7 and WP8 handsets), which one should you buy? Windows Phone Central answers that (sort of) in this head-to-head review.

Meet Spider Jack

Spider Jack stars a scrappy green spider of the same name. As a brief and simple introduction shows us, Jack wants nothing more than to eat tasty flies. Now, I don’t care for spiders or flies, but I have to admit that flies bother me much more frequently than their arachnid predators, so I have to side with Jack on this one.

In each level, the goal is to get Jack. from the starting point to his fly-filled spider web at the end. Jack moves around by attaching his web to anchor points; you just have to tap an anchor point within his range and he’ll latch onto it. He then automatically reels the thread in, pulling himself just below the anchor. Like Cut the Rope, you can also slash Jack’s line to break it, causing him to fall. But only Spider Jack lets you create the proverbial rope at will, significantly altering the game’s dynamics.

Levels also hold anywhere from 3-5 stars for Jack to pick up as he heads towards his dinner. Some stars must be picked up within a certain time range or they’ll disappear. Stars aren’t just needed for Achievements; reaching certain milestones also unlocks further batches of levels. At present, the game offers five separate areas containing 25 levels apiece. More levels are promised for the future, but even though they’re short, 125 stages is no slouch.

Depending on the area, Jack will encounter different obstacles and features. The Bathroom introduces bubbles that carry the spider upward until players pop them, as well as electrical gates that kill Jack if touched. The Laboratory has portals that send Jack from one location to another, sometimes making for tricky solutions. The kid’s Playroom has trampolines that bounce Jack around and gum that he can get stuck in. The recently-added Oval Office holds chained weights to avoid and spinning clock hands that cut Jack’s rope.

Time to Cut the Rope

Like Spider Jack, Cut the Rope starts out with a short introduction that introduces its protagonist, Om Nom (named after the sounds of eating). One day he mysteriously arrives on the player’s doorstep along with feeding instructions. An alien after my own heart, Om Nom absolutely loves eating candy. As his caretaker, you’ll have to give it to him.

Note that neither of these games have an actual ending nor midgame cinematics, which I find slightly disappointing given the adorableness of the characters. Cut the Rope, however has spun off a series of YouTube videos called Om Nom Stories. These delightful shorts combine live action with hand-drawn animation of Om Nom. The WP7 game actually links to the first YouTube video; pull down the chord on the title screen to see it.

In Cut the Rope, players don’t control Om Nom at all. Instead, every level features a piece of candy attached to at least one rope. By cutting the rope, the candy falls, hopefully into Om Nom’s waiting mouth. To compare with Spider Jack, the candy is like the spider in that game, except you can’t directly make new ropes for it.

I said levels have at least one rope, but in many cases the candy is attached to multiple ropes. When that happens, you can cut a single one or slice them simultaneously using two fingers. The trick is to get the candy swinging in the right direction by releasing the ropes’ tension. Also, if any of the ropes are pulled tightly enough to appear red, cutting that rope will launch the candy in the opposite direction at high speed.

Though you can’t directly make new ropes for falling candy, said treat will automatically attach a new rope to certain objects within its range. The catch is it only attaches to each object once; cut the line and it won’t reattach to that same item.

On top of stationary anchor points, the candy can attach to movable blue hooks. Sliding these hooks allows you to reposition the candy at will; you’ll even need to slide it quickly in order to slip the candy between tight spaces. Unfortunately, the game sometimes misinterprets which action you’re trying to perform: cut the rope or slide the hook. Another type of object for controlling ropes is the spinnable wheel. By rotating the wheel, players can adjust the line’s slack.

Cut the Rope has plenty of hazards and level-specific features worth mentioning, but I’ll just touch on a few. In the Valentine Box levels, the candy starts out in two pieces. You’ll have to combine them before the picky little Om Nom will eat them. Also, many stages have spiders for enemies. They climb along the rope towards the candy; cutting the line thwarts the assault. Funny how Cut the Rope’s closest competitor stars a spider, isn’t it?

Achievement Comparison

The bulk of Spider Jack’s Xbox Achievements revolve around collecting 300 stars during gameplay. Originally that meant perfecting every level, but updates have added new levels and something like 100 more stars since then. That gives players a nice deal of breathing room for grabbing the full 200 GamerScore, which this Achievement Guide underestimates a bit as taking two hours.

Cut the Rope also has an Achievement for scoring 300 stars. The difference is you can get 300 stars about halfway through the game rather than near the end of it. In fact, 300 stars unlocks the fifth or sixth batch of levels out of a whopping 11 sets. As such, Achievement-minded players can get the full GamerScore without truly finishing the game. It takes less than three hours, according to Arsenic17’s Achievement Guide.

Final comparison

Cut the Rope, being a huge selling and well-established iOS hit, as several advantages over Spider Jack. Most obviously, it packs 11 sets of 25 levels for a total of 275 levels (out of the iOS version’s 300). That makes it literally more than twice as long as Spider Jack, should you wish to continue playing after grabbing all the Achievements. Considering the huge number of levels, this one also packs more varied stage design and hazards.

Perhaps more significantly than the difference in content, Cut the Rope costs only 99 cents, the same as the iOS version.  Spider Jack rings up at $2.99, making it a worse value. Hopefully MaxNick and EA lower its price soon. (Update: they fixed it.)

Now, even though it costs more, Spider Jack does have some advantages over Om Nom’s game. Both titles lack for musical variety, but I find Jack’s music much catchier than Cut the Rope’s. Jack himself also shows a bit more personality than Om Nom, if we ignore the separate Om Nom Stories videos. Also, Spider Jack loads levels and menus noticeably faster on WP7.

But the reason I prefer Spider Jack to Cut the Rope is fun factor. See, I find Cut the Rope harder overall than Spider Jack. During my initial run through Spider Jack’s first 75 levels, I only once became stumped as to a level’s basic solution, and maybe four times I had trouble getting all of a level’s stars. By contrast, getting every star in Cut the Rope can be harder because you have less control over the candy, plus there’s more of a timing element to the puzzles. In later areas, I sometimes had to skip levels entirely because I just couldn’t see the solution.

Everyone will enjoy each of these games to varying degrees. I’m certain that some folks enjoy Cut the Rope the most, especially given that it appears to have sold in much greater numbers. But both of these games represent slightly different takes on the same basic concept, and they’re both worth playing. The levels are short and generally easy to solve if you’re not concerned with perfection, making them great for on-the-go play. Since Cut the Rope costs so little, you’ll obviously want to buy it first. But if you crave another lighthearted game along the same lines, look no farther than the scrappy little contender: Spider Jack.

• Spider Jack - 99 cents – Windows Phone Store link
• Cut the Rope– 99 cents - Windows Phone Store link

Both games run well on WP7 and WP8.

Update: Spider Jack has dropped to 99 cents as well. Don't miss it!

Windows Phone Central recently compared the popular puzzle game Cut the Rope to Spider Jack, a competing Xbox Windows Phone title. Spider Jack comes from a small developer called MaxNick and publisher Electronic Arts. Now we’re pleased to announce that MaxNick and EA have another Xbox game in store for us this Wednesday: Turn N Run. Also pleasing: it will run on both Windows Phone 7 and 8.

Head past the break for exclusive Turn N Run details, a list of the game’s Achievements, and a trailer!

Alien on the run

Turn N Run originally debuted on iOS back in September, so the Windows Phone port arrives in a fairly timely manner. MaxNick’s latest is a puzzle game (non-physics, thankfully) that involves, as you might guess, both turning and running. It stars a small insect-like alien who travels to various planets in search of the red crystals he needs to power his rocket ship. Comic book-style panels bring the simple story to life; you can catch a glimpse in the trailer.

In each of the game’s 60 levels, your goal is to grab as many crystals as possible and escape to the rocket. Crystals are used to unlock new planets and of course, Achievements.

The controls in Turn N Run are quite simple. You simply tap a block and the protagonist moves to it if he’s able to do so. However, many levels have gaps which the little guy can’t jump across. That’s where the turning comes in!

2D and 3D in one

See, the game starts out from a 2D side-view perspective. But swiping anywhere on-screen allows you to rotate the camera at will. You can peer above and below the level to get an idea of its layout, but the main use of swiping is to make new pathways open to the alien. While one 2D perspective may be filled with gaps, rotating the view 90 degrees reveals a solid path for him to take.

As the bug hero progresses to new planets, the puzzles eventually gain new features that add to their complexity. These include moving blocks and color-coded portals. Step through a portal and you’ll exit from another of the same color.

Turn N Run is a pleasant, simple puzzle game that plays unlike any other Xbox Windows Phone game. I ran through a few levels and couldn’t find a way to fail or die, which should make for a relatively painless experience. The Achievements look easy too.

Great news for price-sensitive gamers: the Windows Phone version of Turn N Run will ring up at only 99 cents when it launches on Wednesday, November 21st, just like the iOS version. Could the low price mean that MaxNick’s Spider Jack is due for a price drop as well? Stay tuned, readers!

Windows 8 too

If you’d like to try Turn N Run out before Wednesday, the non-Xbox Windows 8 version costs $4.99 and offers a free trial. It controls great with either a mouse or touch. Get it here from the Windows 8 Store.

As we exclusively revealed over the weekend, this week’s Xbox Windows Phone release is Turn N Run, from Russian developer MaxNick (makers of Spider Jack) and Chillingo/EA. The lighthearted puzzle game is now available on the Windows Phone Store. Turn N Run plays great and definitely has easy Achievements, but Windows Phone 8 gamers will have to wait to enjoy it...

Rotation on the go

Turn N Run is a puzzle game that combines the camera rotation mechanics of XBLA hit Fez with the laid-back puzzles and cuboid environments of ilomilo. The game is played from a 2D side-view perspective. But swiping anywhere on-screen allows you to rotate the camera at will. You can peer above and below the level to get an idea of its layout, but the main use of swiping is to make new pathways open to the alien. While one 2D perspective may be filled with gaps, rotating the view 90 degrees reveals a solid path for him to take.

While you can't die inTurn N Run, the game does increase in complexity as you progress through its 60 levels. The challenge comes not just from reaching the rocket which acts as each level’s exit, but also in collecting all of a stage’s crystals. You’ll need them to unlock new planets, and also Achievements! As predicted though, Turn N Run is fairly easy overall and you can get the full 200 GamerScore in 3-4 hours, which should please hungry Achievement hunters.

Not ready for 920 and family

And now for some bad news: Turn N Run is not fully Windows Phone 8 compatible. You can buy it on any device, but it will crash on the Nokia Lumia 810, 820, 822 and 920 handsets. A reader tells us it runs fine on the HTC 8X, but we haven't tried this ourselves. MaxNick is already in the process of developing a WP8 compatibility update for the game. The developer estimates the update should take about a month to clear certification. Once it passes, Turn N Run will work fine on WP7 and WP8 devices.

Microsoft’s decision to allow the publishing of a WP7-specific game (which yesterday’s Spy Mouse and Trivial Pursuit may well be too) is curious because at present at least 22 Xbox Windows Phone games that are incompatible with WP8 have been delisted from the WP Store in most regions. Even Big Buck Hunter Progot pulled only a week after its release for just that reason. Hopefully Turn N Run doesn’t share the same fate. I see no reason that WP7-only games can’t exist on the Store. After all, there will be plenty of WP8-exclusive games as time rolls on.

Price wars

We originally reported that Turn N Run would cost only a dollar, in keeping with its simplistic visuals and casual gameplay. Unfortunately, the game has launched at $2.99 instead of a dollar. The developer fully intended to sell it at 99 cents, so something has gone awry. Chillingo, Turn N Run’s publisher may have opted for a higher price at the last minute, or maybe someone on Microsoft’s end made a mistake. MaxNick is already investigating the discrepancy and will report their findings back to us soon.

Higher price or not, Turn N Run is still a pleasant little game full of deliciously easy Achievements. Windows Phone 7 users, grab it here on the Windows Phone Store.

Update: As it turns out, the pricing error came from Microsoft's end. The game should revert to 99 cents within the next day or so. Hold tight, gamers!

Update 2: Turn N Run now costs 99 cents as intended. Sweet!

Russian developer MaxNick really impressed us with its Xbox Windows Phone release of Spider Jack. For a year, it was the closest thing on our platform to Cut the Rope, and remains a quality game. MaxNick has also released a handful of indie titles such as Doodle Invasion, a quirky little game about evil aliens attacking the Earth. Now the developer returns to Xbox Live with Turn N Run, which stars a nicer alien this time. The Windows Phone port arrives only a couple of months after the iOS original – a breath of fresh air after having to wait so long for Sonic CD to show up!

Both of the previous games I enjoyed from MaxNick featured charming 2D art. Does the transition to 3D graphics and a new gameplay style result in another quirky hit? Read on to find out.

 Ship shape

Turn N Run starts out with a nice little intro sequence told through comic book-style panels. Our nameless alien protagonist is flying along in his spaceship when something goes wrong. The (presumably dilithium) crystal that powers his ship shatters, forcing him to make an emergency landing. Thus he begins a quest to collect enough crystal shards from nearby alien worlds to continue his journey.

Sadly, there is no actual ending. That seems common with downloadable games that are likely to receive continued level updates in the future. But endings provide a sense of accomplishment upon completing a game beyond just an Achievement popping.

Crystal quest

Turn N Run is divided up into three worlds containing 20 levels each. To unlock the next world, you’ll need to collect sufficient crystals in the previous one. Each level has 3-5 crystals for players to collect. They basically work like stars in Spider Jack; you don’t need them to finish, but skip too many and you won’t be able to move on (or get the final Achievement). In total, the game should take between 3 and 4 hours to complete.

Turn and burn

The game combines two- and three-dimensional perspectives in an interesting way. You play from a side view, 2D perspective. Players don’t move the character with a virtual stick. Instead, tapping a block moves the protagonist to that location. He can climb up one diagonal space, but can’t actually jump in a traditional sense. So how do you get him across haps and to the rocket ship that exits each level?

That’s where the turning comes in. See, despite the normal 2D view, each level is composed of blocks within a 3D space. By swiping to the left or right, the perspective rotates 90 degrees, revealing new paths for the hero to take. It works like XBLA hit Fez, but on a much simpler scale.

Players can also swipe up or down to get a better view of the entire surroundings, but I find the vertical view controls far too rigid. It can be tough to get the camera to cooperate, and it snaps back the instant you release your finger anyway.

Leap of faith

One interesting aspect to the rotational gameplay happens when you make a horizontal rotation that leaves the hero on a block at the back while there is another block in front of him (towards the player), with no other blocks between the rear and forward position… If that makes sense.

Well, when this happens, the little guy leaps across the gap, switching to the block at the front instead of the one at rear. You’ll need to use this technique to solve puzzles, so you’d best get your head around it. I do have to wonder why the hero can make those large leaps but he can’t just jump the same distance from left to right or vice versa.

Obstacles

On top of finding the correct pathway to the exit and grabbing all the shiny crystals, the challenge increases as new obstacles and features pop up. These include color-coded 2-way teleporters, moving blocks, and barriers that can only be crossed from certain directions. It takes a little planning and coordination to get around with these things, but they usually didn’t stump me too badly. Still, the teleporters and moving blocks got on my nerves at times.

Overcoming adversity

Your character can’t die in Turn N Run; there are no enemies and he’ll refuse to make unsafe jumps. It might be possible to get stuck in a few instances, though I kind of doubt it. Even then, you can always pause and choose to retry. But some players might find a few of the levels too tough for them, in which case the game offers an optional Super Guide as PDLC. For 80 Microsoft Points ($1), you’ll permanently unlock the guide. It can only be used once per hour, and it reveals the best path to clearing a level. Most serious gamers won’t really need the help, but it’s a nice option for casual gamers.

Graphics and sound

Separated at birth?

First, let me say that even though Turn N Run only has a single tune, it’s innocuous enough that I never tired of it during the game. Can’t say that about every mobile title! The protagonist also makes a few squeaks now and then that sound much like Spider Jack’s voice.

Graphically, however Turn N Run doesn’t really impress. Everything looks far too simplistic, with very little detail in the backgrounds. All three planets look just about identical, whereas they should be dramatically different. Rather than sparse 3D backdrops, the game would benefit from some strong painted backgrounds. Also, the menu icons and ‘Level progress will be lost. Are you sure?’ dialogue that appears when you quit or retry are unattractive and don’t fit the game well.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the hero (who really needs a name) looks awfully similar to Dr. Cockroach from the movie Monsters vs. Aliens. A little more differentiation wouldn’t hurt.

Achievements

On the bright side, Turn N Run’s Achievements are nice and easy. You’ll get several for things you have to do anyway like jumping and swiping. There are also Achievements for completing each of the three planets. Unfortunately, while the descriptions simply read ‘Complete X Planet,’ they really mean you need to complete all of the planet’s levels and collect every crystal too. Still, collecting every crystal in the game shouldn’t be too hard for most gamers. Arsenic17’s Achievement Guide has a few tips as well.

Overall Impression

Turn N Run is a nice little puzzle game that plays differently from just about everything else. The lack of pressure is a welcome change compared to most games, though some players might get bored as a result. Higher production values would balance that out, much as they do in ilomilo and Mush. Still, the game’s low cost makes its rough looks more forgivable. Casual players will enjoy it the most, but Achievement hunters should appreciate the short completion time. Just about every 99 cent Xbox Windows Phone game is worth a purchase, and that goes for Turn N Run too.

You’ll be able to find Turn N Runhere on the Windows Phone Store… When it returns from getting delisted. Yes, the game just got pulled yesterday due to its lack of Windows Phone 8 compatibility. MaxNick is already working hard on a compatibility update, so it should be back soon.

We may not have received an Xbox Windows Phone release last week, but thankfully the drought did not continue this week. What’s more, the latest release is either both good news and bad news, or just plain good news, depending on how you look at it. The very good news: console and arcade giant Capcom is now making Windows Phone games. The kinda-sorta bad news: it’s a somewhat expensive puzzle game. Still, fans of brain puzzles will absolutely eat up KenKen (akso known as KenKen Pro).

RyuRyu?

You could be forgiven for not recognizing the game of KenKen. It’s actually quite a popular puzzle in newspapers and such (regularly appearing in The New York Times), much like Sudoku and the word jumble. The Sudoku reference is apt in more ways than one. KenKen too comes from Japan, and even shares some of the rules of Sudoku. I’d call it a cross between Sudoku and the age-old sport/punishment of math.

KenKen puzzles consist of grids spanning 3 x 3 squares all the way up to 9 x 9, the standard Sudoku grid size. Like that popular game, the goal is to fill in all the squares on the grid with a number. A number cannot appear twice in the same row or column. But unlike Sudoku, all the squares start out blank. Groups of squares do have little math statements in them, though. For instance, all the numbers in a group may need to add up to 5 or be multiplied to reach 24.

It sounds complicated and takes a little while to learn, but the game includes both a detailed help text and a video starring a geeky guy named Will Shortz, the NY Times Columnist and NPR contributor. We’ve embedded said video in this post so you can get an idea of the gameplay. Honestly, after about four games the easy puzzles became second nature to me, and I can now make satisfying goes at the harder ones.

Value

KenKen cost $4.99, which some people will deem an exorbitant price for a puzzle game free of bling, exploding zombies, or blinged-out exploding zombies. But there are multiple factors to consider beyond the appropriately simplistic presentation. First off, Capcom is one of those large Japanese publishers that balks at lowball mobile pricing trends and keeps their prices higher than average. We’ve seen the same thing before with Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy and CAVE’s Dodonpachi Maximum. And indeed, the iOS version of KenKen costs $4.99, so our version doesn’t suffer from an Achievement tax.

Now, I’ve only played the game for an hour or so and this isn’t review. But I think you can also make a good argument that KenKen represents a fair value from the sheer amount of content it contains. Each of the seven grid sizes contains multiple difficulties and both signed and unsigned (less detailed clues)  puzzles. And those categories have tons of puzzles within. It will take numerous hours to finish this title without cheating, and people who like logic puzzles will have a blast getting there. People who value every mobile game at $1 or don’t like this style of game just won’t get it.

KenKen runs great on WP7 and WP8. Get it here on the Windows Phone Store (not available in Brazil or Korea).

Last year’s free Sudoku game provided a nice little bit of logic puzzling for Xbox Windows Phone gamers, but it hardly had any staying power. The randomly-generated puzzles failed to instill much replay value, as players could easily just finish off the game’s Achievements in a matter of hours with no reason to keep playing. Plus its sparse Metro-style visuals left much to be desired. As such, Microsoft’s mobile platform lacked a logic game with real meat on its bones.

This year Capcom of all companies has stepped in to turn things around. Their first Windows Phone game KenKen provides a very Sudoku-like experience that players won’t finish all in one day. Well, maybe you could beat it in a Martian 36 hour day, provided you don’t have a psychotic episode. The question is: does KenKen justify its relatively lofty price?

Newspaper game on the go

You could be forgiven for not recognizing the game of KenKen. It’s actually quite a popular puzzle in newspapers and such (regularly appearing in The New York Times), much like Sudoku and the word jumble. According to KenKen.com, the game was invented in 2004 in Japan Tetsuya Miyamoto (presumably not related to Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto). He developed it as a learning tool based on the premise that logic puzzles are a good workout for the brain.

Shortly thereafter, toy maker Nextoy caught wind of the game and registered the trademark of ‘KenKen’ in the US. Capcom’s adaptation is officially licensed by Nextoy and also carries the endorsement of Will Shortz, the NY Times crossword editor who has published several KenKen books of his own. All that licensing may not mean much with a relatively obscure property, but it’s always good to do things legitimately.

Rules of the game

Like Sudoku, KenKen puzzles take place in a square grid filled with cells. Here the size ranges from 3 x 3 to 9 x 9. In a 3 x 3 puzzle, each number from 1-3 must appear only once in a horizontal or vertical line; the numbers range from 1-9 in a 9 x 9 puzzle.

Unlike Sudoku, the puzzle doesn’t start with any numbers filled in. Instead, cells are grouped by thick black outlines into cages. Each cage has a clue at the top which must be used to discern the numbers that belong in its cells. Sometimes a cage consists of only one cell with a number in it; these are gimmes that you fill in right away (sort of like the starting numbers in Sudoku). More complex clues have a number and a sign representing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. A cage with 2 minus means the numbers must result in a 2 when subtracted from each other, etc.

Both text and video tutorial are included.

As you look over the puzzle and fill in a few values, you’ll also realize that some cells must only contain certain numbers or must not have those numbers. KenKen has a great notes system that makes tracking these possibilities and impossibilities a snap. Just switch to the green pencil took to note what numbers could go in the cell or the red pencil to note numbers that couldn’t. Whether you use one or both pencils is a matter of preference; I only ever use the green one.

After you’ve filled in enough numbers, you’ll often end up with only one blank in a row or column. Assuming the puzzle has been filled in correctly up to that point, you can just ignore the clues and fill in whatever number you haven’t used yet. Thus the end of a puzzle often goes much faster than the beginning.

Brain strain

After selecting a puzzle size, you’ll choose from various difficulty categories. Each one contains at least 10 unique puzzles to solve. Solutions are saved after completion so you can easily share them if you like. My only complaint about the selection interface is that after beating a puzzle, the menu always returns to the top of the puzzle list. It should either return to a spot near the completed puzzle or allow players to simply jump to the next puzzle.

KenKen is much tougher than Sudoku because of the mathematical element. Sometimes it feels like you don’t have enough clues to go on, especially on higher difficulties and more complex puzzles. There is no option to immediately identify mistakes. Rather, if an error exists when the puzzle is completely filled in, the numbers all turn red. You probably won’t know where you messed up at that point, though I’ve been able to step back and discover my mistake on smaller puzzles. At least you can take back and redo every single move made, enabling some intentional trial and error now and then.

Older than it looks?

When KenKen popped up on Windows Phone out of the blue, we rejoiced that major publisher had finally started supporting Microsoft’s mobile OS. After further thought, I’m not sure whether that support will continue or not. You see, KenKen has probably been in development for some time. Unlike virtually every game released this year, it runs fine on WP 7.0 and doesn’t require the 7.5 Mango update. That OS update popped up around September 2011, and by now just about every non-WP8 game and app released supports its all-important Fast App Switching feature.

Since KenKen doesn’t support FAS or require 7.5, we can safely assume that it actually began development prior to September 2011 and only recently passed certification. Capcom could still produce more Windows Phone games, but that long gestation time doesn’t bode well.

Random complaint: the Music Selection option (pictured above) doesn’t seem to do anything since the game has no music. I’d guess it’s a holdover from the previous iOS version that the developers forgot to remove.

Achievements

KenKen’s Achievements won’t endear it with GamerScore fans. To earn them all, you’ll need to complete every single puzzle from 3 x 3 all the way to 9 x 9, including unsigned puzzles, plus one super hard Challenge puzzle. That’s 951 puzzles in all! I actually had a blast working my way through all of the puzzles up to 6 x 6. At that point, they start to get really challenging. Many players will simply find 7 x 7 and up to be impossibly challenging, especially 9 x 9.

Thankfully the puzzles aren’t random, so you can use either a solver or other players’ solutions to finish the game off. The good members of Xbox360Achievements.org are already constructing a list of solutions. Once that’s done, you could easily finish off the puzzles that are beyond your ability in a matter of hours.

Overall Impression

KenKen fills the logic puzzle niche quite nicely. Someone who enjoys these mental workouts could easily spend months working his or her way through all of the game’s puzzles. There’s even some replay value after that since you can always go back and try for better completion times. Admittedly, the puzzles will likely get too hard for most of us eventually, but the community efforts towards listing all of the solutions will get you through if you need the help.

The $4.99 price will seem astronomical to people who don’t really care for this sort of game. After all, you could find these puzzles free on a computer or just use a much cheaper indie game. But other than the lack of FAS support, KenKen is extremely polished and offers a vast assortment of non-random puzzles. True logic puzzle fans will get their money’s worth.

KenKen is only available for Windows Phone 7 devices right now even though it runs perfectly on my Lumia 920. For whatever reason the game was removed from the Windows Phone 8 lineup and hopefully Microsoft catches their error and returns it to Windows Phone 8 soon. Grab KenKenhere on the Windows Phone Store.

Seeing as how we got no new Xbox release to enjoy last week, let’s turn our sights to the indie scene. That’s where Carbide Software has published a few titles such as Word Sleuth, which we reviewed a few months back. Their latest release Wizard’s Dungeon is a remake of a Blackberry game from 2011.

Remember how IonBallEX livened up a tried-and-true game design with a cyberpunk setting? Well, Wizard’s Dungeon is a smaller scale game but it boasts a similarly appealing fantasy theme. Players take on the role of a wizard who must match as many colored orbs as possible before they reach the bottom of the screen and crush his life out. Talk about high stakes!

Two ways to play

The game has two different modes bearing the somewhat unhelpful names Torment and Despair. Basically, in the first mode the orbs will endlessly descend and there are no breaks between levels. Filling the level meter simply introduces new colored orbs or makes the orbs come faster (I think). In this mode, you get orbs to fire by swiping down to pull one from the descending stack. Pressing up then fires the orb – hopefully into a big batch of the same color.

In the second mode, each level has a finite number of orbs. Destroy them all to proceed to the next level. Instead of pulling them from the stack, you’ll tap the screen to pull an orb from a queue. This changes the gameplay up a smidge; I can easily see players preferring one style or the other. Both modes also have the occasional power-ups to make things more interesting.

Wizard’s strength

My favorite aspect of Wizard’s Dungeon is the artwork by David Miller, who has worked on some comics like Bloodrayne: Revenge of the Butcheress and Grimm’s Fairy Tales. In addition to the striking title screen, the actual wizard sprite and background statues are well-designed. The orbs that players have to match could certainly look more distinctive though, and I wouldn’t mind some visual and audio flare to accompany large combos. The developers should look to PopCap for inspiration towards that end.

As another plus, the game has full Scoreloop support. If you already have a Windows Phone game with a Scoreloop profile (such as ARMED!) installed on your device, it will automatically detect your profile. The leaderboard can be sorted globally or by friends. It shows the top players by default, but you can check your own score by pressing the ‘Your Rank’ button on the left side of the screen.

Wonky wizard

The thing holding Wizard’s Dungeon back a bit (besides the generic title) is the actual movement of Mr. Wizard (as I like to call him). By default, he plods back and forth awfully slowly. This forces you to swipe repeatedly just to get him across the screen. Visiting the options and cranking Vertical Sensitivity all the way up helps a lot, but he’ll still move a tad too slow. If the game offered 1:1 movement (the wizard moves exactly as fast as your finger), it would play smoother.

Additionally, the controls for launching orbs aren’t super accurate. I often had to swipe three or four times before my wizard would let the crystal fly.

Cheap as free

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Wizard’s Dungeon is a free game supported by ads. Now, the controls may be nothing to write home about (at least not a happy letter), but the advertisement integration is simply the best I’ve experienced in a mobile game. Why? Because it only displays ads at the title screen and when the player pauses the game. As such, there won’t be any flashing ads distracting you during gameplay. Compare that to the way AlphaJax actually prevents gamers from seeing their tiles (and thus, playing) during phone calls in order to continue displaying ads – Carbide Software gets it so much more right.

Overall Impression

Considering how many puzzle games players can choose from on Windows Phone, Carbide made the right choice to offer Wizard’s Dungeon for free. The game would benefit from a more memorable title, some story scenes, and better special effects for combos… But all of those things can be forgiven for the price. I do hope we see improved controls in a future update though. At any rate, if you think wizards are cool (or have ever used the word ‘wizard’ in place of the word ‘cool’) or just enjoy puzzle games, consider stepping into this Wizard’s Dungeon.

Wizard’s Dungeon runs on both WP7 and WP8. Get it here at the Windows Phone Store.

You could be forgiven for not expecting a new Xbox release this week. After Skulls of the Shogun’s long-awaited debut last week, there really aren’t too many upcoming Xbox Windows Phone games that we actually know about. But Microsoft told us the release drought would probably end this month, and it looks like they were right. A shiny new game has popped up for all Windows Phone 7 and 8 users today: the oddly named KooZac.

Almost as exciting as receiving a new release at all these days, KooZac comes from one of our favorite mobile publishers – Square Enix, makers of Final Fantasy. We actually heard whispers of this game coming to Windows Phone at E3 last year, but the representative was so noncommittal about it that we didn’t bother to get our hopes up. Looks like Square Enix hasn’t given up on Windows Phone yet!

You got your math in my puzzle game

KooZac is a falling block puzzle game with a twist: it also involves arithmetic. See, instead of matching colors or shapes, the goal is to create vertical stacks of numbers that add up to a target number. The target changes every few seconds, so players really have to stay on their toes and watch both the top and bottom of the screen in order to succeed.

Three medians, I mean modes to choose from

The game includes three different game types:

• Puzzle: 60 unique levels. To actually complete a level, you’ll need to clear all of the silver blocks it starts with by using them to make a match.
• Endless: Forget about silver blocks and just go after high scores.
• Blitz: Similar to Bejeweled Blitz on XBLA, this is a fast-paced 60 second score attack mode. Interestingly, players’ scores are apparently compared against those of their Facebook friends. That makes this the first Xbox Windows Phone game with actual Facebook integration.

Coins and boosting

KooZac includes a grinding focus that could potentially prove quite addicting. Players earn coins by playing Blitz mode and liking the game’s not-quite-ready Facebook page (pictured above). These coins can then be spent on Boosts – temporary score enhancing power-ups. To unlock all of the game’s Achievements, you’ll need to earn and spend a vast amount of coins. Hopefully the game stays fresh enough to sustain those goals (or somebody finds a nice coin-earning exploit).

Early impressions

KooZac seems like a strong port – I’m still surprised to see Facebook integration in Blitz mode since we usually lose out on features like that. That said, the controls are somewhat finicky. When swiping down to quickly drop a piece, the piece often shifted to the side instead of falling straight down. With a little practice, that touchiness can probably be overcome – but I’m still hoping for a patch to tighten up the controls.

KooZac costs $2.99 – a bit more than the 99 cent iOS version. Considering that our Final Fantasy costs $2 less than its iOS predecessor, I guess this evens things out. Anyway, puzzle game fans with a few bucks to spend can grab KooZachere at the Windows Phone Store.

Xbox Windows Phone has absolutely no shortage of puzzle games and physics puzzlers. These types of games are easy to create and easy to port, plus they work well in short play sessions on the go. I don’t blame avid mobile gamers for tiring of puzzlers as a whole, as our platform certainly needs a wider variety of games. Still, puzzle games inarguably have their place on smartphones, so we can’t expect them to stop coming along.

Of course KooZac is a puzzle game, but it’s noteworthy for several reasons. First, it comes Square Enix, the prolific Japanese developer responsible or Final Fantasy and many other mobile RPGs. Square-Enix’s continued support can only be good for Windows Phone. Two: KooZac might look like a standard falling block puzzle game, but it actually plays unlike its brethren thanks to the inclusion of my most bitter enemy: math. Also, Facebook integration!

Arithmeticulous

The falling pieces in KooZac come in various colors, but matching colors isn’t the goal at all. Instead, each piece also bears a number (single- or double-digit). The goal is to stack the blocks in such a way that they add up to a target number. By default, only vertical matches count, not horizontal ones.

The target number is displayed at the top-left corner of the screen. Every time a new piece drops, the target number changes, keeping players on their toes. You have to constantly alternate your view between the stack of blocks at the bottom (where matches take place) and the target box at the top. Switching the focus of your view between the top and bottom of the screen almost feels like playing a Nintendo DS game.

KooZac controls as simply as you’d expect from a puzzle game of this type. Swiping left or right moves the active block in that direction, while swiping down drops the block instantly. I find it a little too easy to nudge the block horizontally when trying to drop it straight down, fudging its placement. Still, after some practice I hardly ever mess up any more.

Modes

The game offers three modes to choose from: Puzzle, Endless, and Blitz.

Puzzle

While KooZac doesn’t have any sort of story, Puzzle Mode at least provides a good sense of progression and focus. It contains four sets of individual levels, for a total of 60 levels. Another set will apparently be added in a future update.

The twist to Puzzle Mode is that each level starts with a certain configuration of white numbered blocks. To beat the level, players must use all of those blocks in matches. The other matches made don’t affect progression, though they do increase your score.

Puzzle Mode starts out rather easy, with early levels proving to be a cakewalk. It gets much harder by the third set of levels. At that point, the target numbers alternate between small and very large, so you probably won’t be able to make a match every turn. Many players will prefer to use the difficulty easing Boosts to get through the final parts of the game. More on Boosts in a bit…

Endless

Endless Mode does away with the white blocks found in Puzzle Mode. Instead, blocks of various colors constantly rise from the bottom of the screen. Players just need to make matches and keep the stack down in order to survive.

This mode is the single best place to earn coins, the game’s currency. By activating a few choose Boosts, it’s possible to play pretty much indefinitely. I wouldn’t have much use for Endless if not for a couple of grindy Achievements that it’s perfect for.

Blitz

PopCap’s Bejeweled Blitz found great success on Facebook and iOS because its 60-second play sessions work great on those formats. Square Enix wisely copped the same concept for KooZac’s Blitz mode. It works like Endless Mode except that the game ends after a minute. When you’re just after a quick puzzle fix, Blitz will fit the bill.

KooZac also happens to be the first Xbox Windows Phone game with Facebook integration. Said integration takes place in Blitz mode. Rather than a Friends Leaderboard like we’ve come to expect from Windows Phone games, Blitz mode is populated by other KooZac players who have linked their accounts to the game. I’m not sure if that includes iOS and Android players, but it seems likely. The advantage for us is it gives the game a global Leaderboard, which Xbox Windows Phone games can’t have otherwise.

Boosts

By playing any game mode, players earn coins. These can then be spent on game modifiers called Boosts. Once purchased, a single Boost can be used three times before it needs to be bought again. At the start of every game, players can select up to three Boosts to use during that game.

Boosts include:

• Slowdown: Slows time and the falling blocks.
• Points Multiplier: Doubles your score – very handy.
• Hint: Suggests any possible matches. I like this one because it frees me from the challenge of arithmetic (or looking at the target number).
• Match Them All: Creates the best combination of numbers from within the stack, making matches easier.
• Side by Side: Adds blocks together horizontally. This should be a default mechanic instead of optional, because it really makes the gameplay more enjoyable and less rigid.

Presentation

Square Enix is known for a certain visual style and excess in most of its games. However, they just publish KooZac; they didn’t develop it. The game certainly possesses a professional appearance, but its visuals are pretty standard stuff for a puzzler. A little wacky Japanese panache wouldn’t have hurt. The music also sounds generic, though it never becomes offensive.

Achievements

KooZac’s Achievements aren’t quite as easy as Collapse, but they should be within any player’s abilities. Several involve breaking and dropping certain numbers of blocks and will unlock naturally through play.

The two most difficult Achievements are for earning 100,000 coins and spending 10,000 coins. As you can probably guess, those goals require a ton of grinding. That’s where players will put Endless Mode through its paces, playing long games without spending too much on Boosts. Check out the guide at TrueAchievements for more details.

Overall Impression

KooZac might just be my favorite falling block game in the Xbox Windows Phone lineup; Tetris doesn’t do it for me anymore. This one’s best feature is its Blitz mode, which even the phenomenal Bejeweled Live+ oddly lacks. If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, it’s easy to put a few rounds of Blitz in without fear of interruption. More mobile games should offer extremely bite-sized modes like that.

Of course, my greatest hope is that a smaller game like this is a stepping stone towards more complex RPGs like Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger coming to Windows Phone. In order for that to happen, KooZac needs to sell well enough to keep Square-Enix interested in our platform. If you dig the company’s output but otherwise don’t find puzzle games too compelling, please consider taking one for the team by picking KooZac up. You might be surprised at how much fun it is.

By the way, the game gets its unusual name from creator Ben Cusack.

KooZac costs $2.99 and works great on Windows Phone 7 and 8. Grab it here from the Windows Phone Store.

Casual and hardcore (or ‘core’) games often appeal to one group of players while excluding the other. Aiming at just one slice of the gaming audience is well and good, but the holy grail of game development is bridging the gap by appealing to both audiences. Only one game developer has consistently managed to reach that lofty goal: PopCap. Now owned by EA, PopCap has finally returned to Windows Phone (7 and 8) with a port of its accessible yet challenging puzzle masterpiece Zuma’s Revenge.

As a Nokia exclusive, non-Nokia owners will have to wait six months to play Zuma’s Revenge. Read on to find out why it’s worth the wait.

Introducing the world's fastest spitting frog

Zuma is a variation of the match three puzzler in which players control a frog and fire colored balls from his mouth at an oncoming line of balls. If the balls reach a hole at the end of the pathway, you lose a life or fail the level. To stop that, our fearless frog must break some balls. Matching three or more balls with a fired shot of the same color destroys that group of balls. Simple stuff, but there are some deep underlying mechanics as well…

If the balls on the edges of the gap created are of a like color (say you made a blue match and the edges now have red balls), the gap will snap shut and possibly create a chain reaction. If they’re not of like color, the gap stays open until the push of advancing balls closes it. During this time, shots can be fired through the gap, and any matches made in that fashion provide a score bonus.

At various intervals throughout a level, fruits will appear in different locations. Much like Pac-Man, collecting a fruit (by shooting it) provides a worthwhile score bonus. Fruits often appear behind the line of oncoming balls, so players will have to scramble to knock out some balls and quickly fire a shot through the gap to get them. Fruits often create cool risk-reward scenarios.

Power-ups also spawn randomly among the incoming line of balls. To collect one, you’ll need to create a match of the same colored balls before it disappears. Power-ups provide beneficial effects like slowing down time, exploding and destroying nearby balls, or rewinding the line of balls for a brief time. There are also a few weapon power-ups for players to manually aim: lasers, triple shots, and a lightning shot that destroys most or all balls of a single color. These can be slightly tough to aim on a touch screen…

Controls

The Zuma games started life as PC titles in which players aim with a mouse pointed. On consoles, less precise analog sticks control the aiming along with the help of a guide line. The Windows Phone version requires players to press and hold in a direction to aim and then release to fire. That’s the only way the game could work, but touch-screen aiming is slower than non-mobile versions and your finger will sometimes block your view.

Like many puzzle games, Zuma’s Revenge allows players to see both the current ball they have to fire and the next ball after that. Unlike most other games, both the current and next ball are actually swappable, enhancing the strategy. In the Windows Phone game, tapping the frog instead of holding him swaps the balls.

I often wished for an on-screen swap button because I tend to press and hold on my frog immediately after each shot. Once you press and hold, you can’t cancel the shot, so swapping becomes impossible at that point. The swapping issue doesn’t hurt the game too much, but a button at the top of the screen would’ve made it a non-issue.

Adventure time

This version offers two game modes: Adventure and Challenge. Adventure consists of a trip across all six regions of Tiki Island. Each region consists of 10 levels, for a total of 60 levels. Boss battles follow each region’s tenth level. You’ll fire at bosses to damage them, but most bosses have their own special mechanics to worry about. One can only be damaged by explosive power-ups, while another won’t get hurt unless you knock his two guard totems out first. These battles make for a fun break from the standard puzzling.

Challenge Mode regions unlock as you progress through the Adventure. Challenge offers the same levels (sans bosses), but they can be selected and replayed at will instead of following a linear progression. The requirements for passing a stage differ by mode too. In Adventure, you have to raise your score enough to fill the Zuma meter, which then causes new balls to stop coming. Challenge Mode stages last three minutes no matter what. To pass, you’ll need to reach a specific score before the timer stops. This makes Challenge stages harder, but at least you can replay them as many times as necessary.

Platform comparisons

Left: A measly local leaderboard. Right: an Adventure mode Checkpoint.

The PC version of Revenge offers three modes: Adventure, Challenge, and Iron Frog. The XBLA version loses Challenge but gains Boss Rush and Weekly Challenges. The mobile version only has the aforementioned two modes, but Iron Frog is too hard to be fun and thus no great loss.

However, the XBLA game (which released after the iOS game on which the Windows Phone port is based) added several substantial improvements beyond new modes. Chief among them is the ability to replay Adventure levels at will, negating the need for a Challenge Mode. The XBLA game also has individual leaderboards for every level and always compares the player’s performance with his or her friends at the end of a level, greatly increasing the game’s competitive aspect and replay value.

Sadly, none of those improvements (which you can read about here) trickled down to Windows Phone and iOS. On the phone, players can’t continue from any Adventure level. Instead, they have to reach checkpoints every five levels and continue from there. It’s strange because the XBLA setup would actually work better on phones since it lets you play for less time while still making progress. Also, the Windows Phone game only has a single Friends leaderboard for all of Adventure. Individual levels and Challenge levels only have lazy local scoreboards instead of online leaderboards.

Achievements

Only two or three of the Achievements here will provide much of a challenge. Adventure Mode will be tough for some players to beat since they have to clear levels 55-60 all in one go. But the Achievement for beating every Challenge level takes time, skill, and a bit of luck. The score goals on some levels are really high. To reach them, I had to replay some levels several times, and I’m a strong player. Practice!

The real Challenge comes from ‘Frozen Frog’ for beating a rail level without moving. In rail levels, the frog slides horizontally or vertically along a rail, depending on where he’s aiming. This Achievement is no big deal on Xbox 360 because the frog starts in the center of the rail and can easily aim straight ahead without budging from his position.

On Windows Phone, he starts at the left-most edge of the level (!) and any nudge will cause him to move. Plus the best level to get this is Adventure 1-5, which means you’ll have to play through four quick levels to even attempt it. I got it after about an hour of trying, but some players probably won’t be able to pull it off.

Overall Impression

Zuma’s Revenge might not be as perfectly polished as the XBLA version, but it’s still one of the very best Windows Phone games. The color-matching gameplay never fails to be fast, challenging, and exciting. PopCap put so much care into the presentation, from the various start-up loading screen jokes to the way a ball spins down into place after being fired. The graphics are sharp and colorful, and the sound effects are as perfect as we’d expect from PopCap. Now that Windows Phone has Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled Live+, and Zuma's Revenge, let's hope PopCap's Peggle isn't far behind.

Zuma’s Revenge costs $2.99 and works great on Windows Phone 7 and 8. It clocks in at a whopping 197 megabytes, so watch out if you're low on space. View the Zuma's Revenge store page here, but it can only be purchased from a Lumia phone.

Azkend 2 is yet another fantastic Windows Phone 8 game fro 10tons. Azkend 2 is a puzzle game that calls on you to find strings of three or more of the same object. The storyline for Azkend 2 has you traveling across the ocean from England to the U.S. At some point your ship gets trapped in a whirlpool that sends you to the center of the Earth. You solve the puzzles to collect tools to help you escape to the surface.

As with other 10tons games, Azkend 2 has impressive graphics and challenging game play. Along with the main puzzle game, you also have a side game that appears in between levels that has an "Eye Spy" feel to it. Azkend 2 is a nice addition to our Windows Phone gaming library and will satisfy the puzzle lover in all of us.

The main menu for Azkend 2 has three options, jump into the challenge games, play the main adventure and access the gaming options (the More option). Gaming options include player profiles, options (sound/music, tutorials, voice overs and graphics level), along with game credits and a listing of more 10tons games.

The three game modes include the main Adventure Mode, a Time Mode and a Medals Mode. 

Regardless of the game mode, the game screen is fairly uniform throughout the game. You have a tiled board filled with an assortment of symbols. Your job is to trace a combo of three or more symbols to cause a reaction and remove the pieces from the board. The remaining pieces will drop and the game board replenished from the top with new symbols.  In each game mode, you face a timer that adds a little pressure to things.

You also have Tesla coils across the top of the game screen that can be activated with strings of five or more. The coils will eventually discharge taking out symbols as well.

The Time Mode is a race to create strings and see how high of a score you can reach before the timer strikes zero. The Medals Mode is a game where you solve puzzles, much like you do in the main Adventure Mode, to earn medals. The Medal Mode has a series of challenges that progressively become more challenging.

The heart of the game is with the Adventure Mode where you are caught in a maelstrom and sent to the bowels of the Earth. You solve a series of puzzles to build tools and bonus items to dig your way out to the surface.

In the Adventure Mode puzzle play is basically two parts, the first to create strings to solve a task that prompts the introduction of a piece of equipment and then to create strings to work that piece of equipment to the bottom of the puzzle board where you can claim it.

For example, you have to create strings adjacent to fogged out tiles to clear them of the mist. Once you clear all the fogged out tiles, the puzzle piece is thrown into the puzzle. You then create strings to drop the puzzle piece to the bottom of the playing board.  Or you have to create strings to flip the game board squares before the piece of equipment comes into play.  

There are over sixty levels of play in the main Adventure Mode and in between stages or groups of levels, Azkend 2 also has a mini-game that reminds me of a game of I Spy. You are presented with a picture and in the upper right corner a spyglass view of a portion of that picture. Your job is to tap on the matching part of the picture.

Azkend 2 is nicely animated, has really nice narration, and is full of challenging puzzles. While I really like the player profiles, there is one feature missing, a help section.  I don't think this is a critical issue and there is a nice series of tutorials that walks you through various gaming areas but there needs to be a help section that gamers can go back to and reference.

All totaled, Azkend 2 is a nice addition to the Windows Phone 8 puzzle game library. Azkend 2 is a bit on the pricey side but luckily there is a trial version to let you try things out before choosing to sink the $3.99 into the full version.

You can find Azkend 2here in the Windows Phone Store.

Popular Windows Mobile puzzle game HexaLines is already available for Windows 8, and has been for some time. Those of us who wield Windows Phones have had to wait until the developer eventually managed to get the game in a working state to release on the mobile platform. That time has now come. HexaLines is now available on the Windows Phone Store.

Optimised for both Windows Phone 7 and 8, HexaLines offers players the opportunity to compete against the computer (or friends) by adding hexagons on the plan (or by rotating existing ones) to fill pipes with a red-coloured liquid and beat the other players. It's a simple concept, but is extremely difficult to master. Players have to watch out for competing players and their own liquid and hexagon deployment.

The game ends when either one player remains or the entire plan is filled (with the highest score winning). If you've already got the title loaded on your Windows PC and / or tablet, you'll definitely want to check out the Windows Phone version to take the action on the move. 40 challenges are available to complete (including both simple and more difficult goals) to keep the player active. 

Unfortunately there's no Xbox Live support so don't expect to unlock achievements. What you will find, however, is an interactive tutorial, a free trial, no in-app purchases and a launch sale to get you interested. The tutorial kicks off at the start of each and every game, but by interactive we mean it's there simply to remind the player during the first handful of turns and can be ignored (it doesn't get in the way).

Here's a trailer for HexaLines:

You can download HexaLines from the Windows Phone Store for $0.99 (currently 50 percent off), as well as Windows 8. We strongly urge you to at least check it out as it's fairly addictive indeed.

You might not know this, but Microsoft and Bejeweled go way back. PopCap created the very first version in Flash in 2001, originally calling it Diamond Mine. When Microsoft hosted the game at its MSN gaming site, the two parties agreed to change the title to Bejeweled, a name that has now become synonymous with the match-3 puzzle genre.

Windows Phone 7 launched with Bejeweled Live, a decent but overpriced ($5!) port of the game with only three game modes. Considering that Bejeweled on iPhone and iPad each include five modes for only one dollar, the original Bejeweled Live has always represented a poor value proposition.

Thankfully, PopCap has finally made good with Bejeweled Live+, essentially a port of the iOS version. A timed Nokia exclusive, it has a two dollar markup on Windows Phone 7 and 8. But three dollars doesn’t sting too badly when we’re talking about the finest pure puzzle game on the platform.

Once more into the mines

By now, just about every gamer should understand Bejeweled’s core gameplay. Match three or more gems of the same color by sliding a single gem horizontally or vertically. More gems then fall into the field, and the process repeats until the game ends. It’s simple and addictive, more so thanks to PopCap’s typically great sound effects.

Matching gems in a skillful way (or by happy accident) can produce some helpful special gems. Four in a row make a Flame Gem that destroys all gems within a small radius when matched. Make a T, L, or Plus to create a Star Gem that clears an entire column or row when matched. Matches of five gems in a row make the all-powerful Hypercube. Swapping the ‘cube with another gem will destroy all gems of that color. Finally, the very rare six gem matches make a Supernova gem that clears a large portion of the screen.

Five ways to play

Bejeweled Live+ includes several modes, some of which originated in Bejeweled 3 for XBLA and PC. That game’s Quest, Ice Storm, and Poker are not found here, nor is Bejeweled Blitz, which sells as a separate game on iOS. Scores achieved in any mode contribute to an overall player level, but that level doesn’t unlock anything (not even an Achievement), making it kind of a worthless feature.

Classic

The original, un-timed game mode (pictured above) in which matches fill up a meter at the bottom of the screen. Once the meter fills, you move on to a new level with a fresh set of gems. The game ends when you can’t make any more matches.

Lightning

A timed mode highly reminiscent of Bejeweled Blitz. You start with 60 seconds to make as many matches as possible, always in pursuit of a higher score. Matching special Time Gems adds more time, so don’t miss them! Eventually time runs out and the game ends.

Diamond Mine

Another timed mode that I find the most addictive overall. The goal is to dig deep below the ground and find various artifacts buried therein. Matching gems adjacent to the dirt will eliminate that dirt, though some tough spots take two matches to clear.

You start with precious little time, but clearing all of the dirt below a certain line gets you 25 more seconds. On the rare occasions when the entire field is clear of dirt, the game awards a big time bonus. I love Diamond Mine mode, but I wish time wasn’t always so short. Despite the high difficulty, I do find myself coming back again and again…

Zen

The Endless mode of Bejeweled Live becomes Zen mode in Live+. It plays just like Classic, but the there’s always at least one possible match and so the game never ends.

Zen offers some interesting options to enhance the tranquility of the experience. You can change the background music to various nature sounds, select textual mantras to pop up during gameplay, or enable a breathing modulation display. This causes a line to raise and lower on-screen in order to help you regulate your breathing. You do NOT want to get so into your Bejeweling that you forgot to breathe and drop dead, after all!

Butterflies

Want some challenge without a time limit? In this unique mode, colored butterflies spawn at the bottom of the screen. Each match you make causes the butterflies to go up one space. Matching a butterfly eliminates it, but another one will soon spawn. If any butterflies make it to the top of the screen, they get eaten by a spider and the game ends. The game counts how many butterflies you match, but the real goal is just to score as high as possible.

Bejeweled Trance

We can always count on two things from PopCap: their games will look pretty and sound even better. Bejeweled Live+ gets high marks on both fronts, but the sound impresses me most of all. The great sound effects are bolstered by the ethereal voice of Zachary Throne. His commentary could sound goofy on its own, and yet works perfectly in this game’s setting.

Better than all that: the music from composers Peter Hajba and Alexander Brandon. It has this haunting, electronic sound completely unlike any game music I’ve heard. Live+’s tunes come from the longer Bejeweled 3 soundtrack, which you can buy at Bandcamp.

Clunkiness

Live+ is a great port, but the actual menus somehow got worse on the way to Windows Phone. On iPhone or iPad you’d find all of the game modes on the main menu, nice and easy to pick. But here, only here modes are on the main menu, with Zen and Butterflies tucked away under Bonus Games – a needless separation.

The Options menu isn’t found under the main menu’s Help & About, either. Instead, you have to press the up arrow at the bottom of the screen to view your profile. From there, you’ll find Stats and Options. The profile screen refers to the player as “Player” and shows a non-changeable Yellow gem as an avatar. It really should display the player’s Gamertag and Gamerpic or Xbox Live avatar.

Achievements

PopCap always gives the Bejeweled series brutal, hardcore Achievements that are odds with the games’ casual nature. The first Bejeweled Live for instance had an Achievement for matching one million gems, a feat that took an insane 150-200 hours of grinding.

Live+ fares slightly better, as its only grinding Achievements are for destroying a far more reasonable 400 Star Gems and 400 Hypercubes. You can easily knock these out in Diamond Mine mode where they occur more frequently, though it will still take a few hours.

That said, this one still has several Achievements tied to unreasonably high scores and challenges. You’ll have to do insanely well in Lightning and Diamond Mine modes. Butterfly mode has a couple of tough ones too, but they’re more attainable by comparison. A huge part of doing well in these modes comes from luck, so you could spend countless hours in one and play your best but come away with no Achievements for your trouble.

All told, only 20 people have completed Live+’s Achievements.

Overall Impression

Bejeweled Live+ puts the first Bejeweled Live to shame. It has way more content and yet costs two dollars less, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the original game gets de-listed whenever Live+ becomes available to non-Nokia users. Heck, Live+ even trumps the recently released Bejeweled Live for Windows 8 as well since that one lacks Lightning and Zen modes.

Among the Xbox Windows Phone lineup, the only puzzle game that can possibly match Live+ is Puzzle Quest 2. Namco Bandai’s offering takes the same core gameplay and adds a story and RPG elements. On the other hand, it’s much longer than it needs to be and doesn’t even support Fast App Switching. If I could choose only one puzzler for mobile play, it would be Bejeweled Live+.

Bejeweled Live+ - Windows Phone 7 or 8 - $2.99 – 53 MB – Store Link (Nokia exclusive)

Outside of playing the phone version of Halo: Spartan Assaultand grabbing an exclusive first look at N.O.V.A. 3, we had a tough time finding Windows Phone games and news at E3 this year. Blame Microsoft’s focus on the Xbox One and the console folks’ general disinterest in promoting Windows Phone or Windows 8 for that. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t turn over every stone in our search for more phone goodness…

As it happens, just after the Microsoft Media Briefing, Sam and I met up with an indie Windows Phone developer from China named Hua “Rex” Chen. Rex showed off his new puzzle platformer for Windows Phone 7 and 8 called Eyez. We snagged some hands-on footage and an interview over lunch, and then headed off to the EA Press Conference minutes later. Eyez has just launched - more details and our exclusive video after the break!

Behind the eyez

The story behind Eyez is almost as interesting as the game itself. You can hear all about it in the video, but I’ll provide a quick rundown here. Basically, Rex was a student at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. To complete his Master of Fine Arts, Rex developed Eyez as a Windows Phone 7 title. He chose Windows Phone 7 because of the ease of working with XNA and his excitement for Microsoft’s mobile platform.

The game has gone through several iterations since its inception in 2009. At one point it would have been an overhead view game instead of a platformer. But the core mechanic has always involved playing with the boundaries of the screen in unique ways. The end result is a puzzle platformer with a few similarities to Portal, which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise since Portal’s designer Kim Swift served as one of Rex’s thesis advisers at school.

Minty fresh

Activating Blue Eye Mode allows Mint to get past walls by walking through the edges of the screen.

Eyez features some lovely hand-drawn artwork and colorful backgrounds with multiple layers of parallax. Visually, it recalls the 16-bit Valis games and perhaps some Amiga platformers. The protagonist Mint would really benefit from more frames of animation, but otherwise the game really stands out with its distinctly Asian character designs.

Mint finds herself trapped in a strange and dying world. To uncover what has happened to her and make her escape, she’ll need to take advantage of her new color-based powers. In the first of two worlds she’ll learn to use the “Blue Eye” ability, activated by double tapping the screen. This freezes the scrolling of the screen and makes it so that when Mint exits one side of the screen, she’ll come out the other side. Think Pac-Man’s tunnels or the portals from Portal.

Red Eye mode lets Mint wall jump, among other things.

Complete the first Chapter’s 10 levels to reach the second Chapter and gain the Red Eye ability. This allows Mint to walk along the boundaries of the screen, even without a platform to stand on. She can also wall jump off of the temporary borders Red Eye creates. Players will need both abilities to progress through Chapter 2’s 12 stages. Just swipe down to toggle between Red and Blue Eyes. The controls work great for the most part, though I’d greatly prefer a virtual jump button to the current, slower method of jumping: swiping up.

Open your eyez

Eyez is a relatively short game at launch, but the developer promises to add a new chapter through a free update in the future. Each level has several hidden teardrops to find, adding some replay value. You’ll have to get all the drops to earn a three-star rating. Players who enjoy platformers, puzzles, or just want to play something different should give Eyez a look. And it does have a free trial!

Eyez– Windows Phone 7 or 8 – 32 MB - $1.99 – Store Link

Update: Here is one more video to show how the game works.

Block the Trapper is a fairly new puzzle game for your Windows Phone where you have to guide your dragon through the various game levels while avoiding being captured by the Trapper.

The multi-level game has three arenas of play with some fairly challenging mazes to navigate through. Block the Trapper has more of a casual pace to it but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Block the Trapper spans three gaming towers (or modes), a Training Tower, Color Tower and Little Tower. Each tower has a unique collection of goals.

The Training Tower, as you would guess, is more of a tutorial mode but is not a cake walk by any stretch. The Color Tower you'll need to collect keys and use switches to activate floor tiles to get around. The Little Tower has an assortment of guards you have to freeze and move about to navigate through the mazes.

With Block the Trapper you move your dragon around by tracing a path with your finger for the dragon to follow. You'll have various obstacles ranging from blocks to guards to the Trapper. Blocks can be moved about by tracing your path in the direction you want them pushed.

Guards have to be frozen, then can be pushed about as well. The Trapper is emitting a mist that will trap your dragon. You can push blocks or frozen guards in the way of this mist to clear a path for your dragon to escape.

To freeze your guards there are blue stars that have to be collected and a star icon will appear at the top of the gaming screen. When you're ready to freeze a guard, tap the star icon then the guard you want to freeze and push around. To activate the stairs or passages to the next level, you'll have to collect all the gold stars/keys. At some point, you'll be joined by a second dragon to control making solving the puzzles a team effort.

If you get stumped on a level, there is a refresh button at the top of the gaming screen. You can get stumped by moving a block or guard too far or get one of your dragons trapped with no way to block the Trapper's mist.

All totaled, Block the Trapper is a decent puzzle game for your Windows Phone. The game does have more of a casual pace but one wrong move can do you in.  It's not a bad game to pass the time with.

There is a trial version available for Block the Trapper with the full version running $.99. The developer notes that more puzzle towers are in the works and should be added shortly.  You can find Block the Trapper here in the Windows Phone Store. It is compatible with both Windows Phone 7.x and 8 devices.

Drawtopia is a Windows Phone puzzle game where you draw the solution. It is a physics based game where you have to draw a path for balls to travel from point A to point B.

Drawtopia has forty levels of play with a nasty variety of traps and mechanics that you have to avoid or use on your behalf. Drawtopia is a fun game that will not only challenge your powers of deduction but also you drawing skills.

The forty levels of play in Drawtopia are scattered about five rooms. The first few levels of the first room, the Red Room, are more or less tutorial levels. Even after you complete the first few levels, the game will toss up hints and tips throughout the game.  Again, the object is to create a pathway to guide your ball from the starting point to the exit point or Point A to Point B if you prefer.

Sounds simple enough? Right, but here's the catch. Along the way you have shimmering stars that you'll need to collect for bonus points, maneuver around obstacles and avoid spikey dangers.  There are pin wheels that will knock your ball about and spikes that... well... that will just ruin your day.

You draw your lines by tapping and dragging your finger across the screen.  These lines will create paths to guide your ball to collect the stars, avoid the dangers and obstacles and eventually make it to the exit which will advance you to the next level. The spinning wheels that you encounter will help by pushing your ball along (good for when you have to draw uphill paths) but can also bounce it backwards off the track.

Another aspect of Drawtopia's challenge is that you have limited ink to draw your platforms/path/tracks. At the top of the screen is the your ink supply meter. As you draw, that meter slowly depletes.

Once you have everything drawn up just tap the play button at the bottom left of the screen to release your ball. If you over draw your lines, send your ball off the screen into the dark abyss or just generally screw up there's a reset button next to the play button.

Drawtopia has a simplistic feel to it but once you get into the game you realize that there's more to it. Drawtopia is a fun, slightly addictive, challenging game for your Windows Phone. Drawtopia's only drawback may be that there's only forty levels.

Drawtopia is a free, ad-supported game for your Windows Phone 7.x and 8 devices that you can find here in the Windows Phone Store.

Wordament is a game of many firsts. It was the first game with Xbox Live on iOS and on the web to offer achievements. It started as an internal project between two Microsoft employees, but was quickly bought by Microsoft once the potential was realized. It hasn’t seen an update on Windows Phone for quite some time, so let’s check out what’s new as of today.

The last update for Wordament came in late June. The big update there was adding the ability to login via Facebook, post scores to Facebook and Twitter, and increased language support. Here’s what’s new in the latest version of Wordament:

• Native Windows Phone 8 version
• New puzzle languages – Norwegian and Turkish
• Xbox Live connection fix
• Android version of Wordament

Yes. The Wordament you’ve been using on Windows Phone has been the Windows Phone 7 version. While it worked fine, if you were on a device like the HTC 8X you would experience letterboxing. Now Wordament has native support Windows Phone 8 devices and resolutions. Hopefully they’ll be ready for a quick update in a few weeks when we see the Lumia 1520 and the various 1080p displays.

There are also two new languages in Wordament. All our friends in Norway and Turkey can join in on the fun in the language they’re most comfortable with. There’s also now support for new puzzles in non-English languages.

And the final piece isn’t exactly Windows Phone related, but does highlight another way Wordament does something first. It appears it’s the first Xbox Live title with Achievements for Android devices. If you’ve got friends or family point them to the Google Play store to try it out. Pretty cool to see everyone get the chance to play Wordament. It’s a ridiculously fun game.

Want to get Wordament on Windows Phone? It’s free and available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store, use the QR code below, or swipe to the right in our app.

Source: Wordament

Thanks for the tip Chike O!