Cronus is an interesting puzzle game for your Windows Phone that is available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8 devices.  The game puts you in a time travel machine and shoots you back in time to prevent some of history's most notable disasters such as Chernobyl or the Exxon Valdez oil spill.  You are tasked with establishing a safe flow of hazardous materials to prevent the calamity from happening. And you have to do it all under the clock.

Add a multiplayer mode, upgradable skills, a knowledge data base on the disasters you are trying to prevent, challenging game play and Cronus isn't too shabby of a Windows Phone game.  It can get a little busy with the story panels but you do have the option to skip the dialog and jump right into game play but overall, if you like puzzle games Cronus is worth a try.

The main menu for Cronus has options to access Cronus's Facebook and Twitter pages, view the high scores, view the About/Credit screen and a slider to jump into the game. When you jump into the game you are sent to a secondary menu screen that we'll call your operational headquarters view.  It's your central hub for all  your gaming activity.

At the center of this menu you will find options to select your gaming level, access the game's options (sound/music levels), and interact with two story line characters. If you slide the screen to the left you will find options to exit the game, launch a multiplayer game and view the RND (upgrade) screens. Swiping to the right and you'll find access to the game's knowledge database and your gaming achievements.

Quick note on the multiplayer game. It's played over WiFi (as opposed to pass and play), supports two players and you compete to see who can prevent the disaster the fastest or by using the fewer resources.

Cronus has a rather extensive story line that guides you through the background of your mission as well as how to play the game. Your first mission takes you to a simulation level that acts as a tutorial. While you can skip through the dialog and story boards, you really need to pay attention to the tutorial to have a chance of succeed in the regular gaming levels. Cronus isn't a hard game to figure out but it's not necessarily one you can jump into cold and have success.

In a nutshell, game play has you connecting two points (usually pipe outlet/inlets) by building a pipeline to allow for hazardous materials to safely be carried between the two points. The pipes must be adequately supported or they will give way under the pressure and weight of the hazardous material.

The available components line the left side of the gaming screen, your timer is in the upper right corner. Your playing view can be shifted by touch and while you can zoom in, you lack the ability to zoom out. Tap on the icon of the part you want to put into play and tap/drag your finger in the area you want that piece placed.

Once you have your two points connected with pipe and you feel there is enough support, tap the play button that sits under the timer. The hazardous material is released and if you've got everything just right, it will travel from one point to the other safely and you complete that level. 

In addition to the story line quest that has twenty-four levels, you also have a level editor where you can design your own puzzles and download custom levels other players have created.

All totaled, Cronus is an entertaining, challenging game for your Windows Phone. Putting pieces into play to solve the puzzle can be a little frustrating in the if you tap/drag too far the piece won't come into play. Basically if the piece you are putting into play is highlighted yellow, you are good to go. If it's highlighted in red, you've drawn it too long and if it's highlighted in green you have successfully made a connection between pieces. I almost would have rather seen playing pieces have a set size but in some environments where the ground isn't always level, one size doesn't fit all. The placement takes a little time to get used to but it's not a deal breaker.

The historical missions that Cronus uses for the game's story lines gives the game a slight educational value.  You have disasters ranging from the Exxon Valdez oil spill to Chernobyl to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  The Knowledge Base for each disaster does a nice job of giving you a historical brief on each incident.  If you're one who could care less about story lines but like challenging puzzles, Cronus meets that need with the ability to skip all the dialog and story boards.

Cronus is an industrious puzzle game for your Windows Phone, well worth a try. It's available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices with a free trial version available. The full version of Cronus is currently running $1.49 and you can pick it up here in the Windows Phone Store.

Russian computer engineer and game designer Alexy Pajitnov created Tetris for PCs way back in 1984. But Tetris first caught the public eye when Nintendo packed it in with the original GameBoy portable console in 1989. Since then, a number of companies have licensed the game and put their own unique spin on it, with the versions from Nintendo (especially Tetris DS) and Sega (Sega Tetris for Dreamcast) standing above the crowd.

Publishing giant Electronic Arts has also produced several Tetris games, including the 2011 Tetris which appeared on Playstation 3 and Windows Phone 7. This year’s Tetris Blitz is EA’s latest version, marrying the time honored Tetris gameplay with the frantic pace of Bejeweled Blitz. Tetris Blitz arrived on Windows Phone 8 a respectable four months after iOS.

Does this version deserve a spot on the list of best Tetris games? Read on to find out.

Fastest Tetris ever

Some players have complained that Tetris doesn’t adapt well to touch screen controls. In truth, it adapts as well as any other console-style game like platformers, shooters, etc. You lose a bit of precision, but you gain the ability to play anywhere – any serious mobile gamer has come terms with that by now.

But Electronic Arts isn’t just targeting the people who buy Gameloft games on their phones with Tetris Blitz. They’re targeting the casual gamers who eat up games like Bejeweled and Candy Crush Saga but don’t take the time to learn more complex control schemes. Hence, EA invented a clever new control system for Tetris Blitz.

Under the new control scheme, players don’t manually rotate pieces. Instead, every time a new piece appears, the game suggests four places to drop it. Tap one of those outlines to instantly drop the piece in place. If you don’t like the suggestions, you can press the Cycle button at left to toggle four more suggestions. Or just drag your finger along the stack of blocks and then release to drop the piece in a different spot.

This shift in control schemes takes a little getting used to for experienced Tetris players, but most gamers will adapt right away. Dropping pieces instantly speeds up the gameplay quite a bit, which is the name of the game in Tetris Blitz. But you can also switch to traditional swipe controls in options if you’re not concerned with speed.

Goals

Seeing as how Tetris Blitz is modeled after Bejeweled Blitz, games last for only two minutes. Players must try to rack up as many points as they can during this time. You can do so by clearing lines, but you’ll also need to make Tetrises (clearing four lines at once) to increase your score multiplier.

The new Frenzy mode helps with scoring as well. As you clear lines, the Frenzy meter to the left of the field rises. Once the meter fills, Frenzy mode activates. Suddenly the screen starts flashing and easy to clear junk blocks appear at the bottom of the field. Points earned from clearing lines doubles. Frenzy lasts only a short time, though clearing lines during a Frenzy will extend its duration.

Once two minutes tick down and the game inevitably ends, players receive a small pile of coins and an even paltrier sum of XP. Experience contributes towards leveling up, which in turn gets you… a few coins. Yeah, leveling up has no other point than a coin bonus. Not the most compelling metagame, honestly.

Powerups and IAPs

Blitz lacks a solid long term goal (other than Achievements), but it does have a decent weekly goal. See, only a handful of the game’s 14 powerups are unlocked by default. To use an available powerup, you have to spend the coins you’ve earned or bought via In-App Purchase (IAP). Powerups are absolutely necessary to achieve high scores.

To get the rest of the powerups, you can spend money on disturbingly overpriced IAPs. We’re talking six bucks to unlock a single power-up. Doesn’t that sound great?

However, one of those premium powerups is usable on a temporary basis as the Powerup of the Week. If a player manages to use that powerup 90 times, it will unlock for good. So that’s your real goal for the week – spend coins on the Powerup of the Week and play 90 games so that it will unlock for good. I don’t personally find the game compelling enough to do that, but at least EA gives players a way around the crazy high IAP prices.

Other IAPs include coin packs, the ability to hold an extra Tetromino for later use, the ability to see the next three Tetrominos coming up instead of only one, extra spins for the lame daily spinner minigame, and disabling ads.

Facebook closed

Tetris Blitz is one of those rare Xbox Windows Phone games with Facebook integration. Even The Sims FreePlay (also from EA) had its social features stripped from the Windows Phone 8 version, but I guess EA considered them more important for Blitz.

The Facebook integration here allows players to view their Facebook friends’ high scores and send them challenges. It’s not much, but it does offer a measure of cross platform competition. This game is awfully light on content so it needs every little advantage it can get.

Sadly, the Facebook integration completely broke for me a couple of days after I started playing. When I try to log in, I get the dreaded white screen with red text that we once suffered through in Ice Age Village. It just sits on that screen, forcing me to back out and choose to play without signing in. Oh, but the game will still remind you to sign in to Facebook between games, even when Facebook no connect-y.

Fail to connect to Facebook and you can’t even see your Xbox Live friends in the Leaderboards. Why? Sure, some players are still able to connect to Facebook, but based on the negative reviews in the Store, this problem affects a fair number of users.

And more bugs

Broken Facebook connectivity isn’t the only bug afflicting Tetris Blitz. The Powerup of the Week, which should be half off as an IAP, appears at full price while the previous week’s powerup shows up at a discount. Way to encourage a purchase!

More disconcertingly, sometimes the game will just free up for several seconds and then start working again. These freezes kept happening to me over and over one night, making the game completely unplayable. Since then, it hasn’t happened to me. But again, Store reviews show the freezes are a widespread problem.

Some users report that the option to Exit from the game does not work for them. I don’t have this problem, but I sympathize. At least the Windows Phone 8 GDR3 update will allow users to close any app from the Fast App Switching screen.

Finally, I hear the game crashes quite frequently for some people.

Achievements

Okay, one more bug: the in-game counters that SHOULD show progress towards Achievements simply don’t work. The most time consuming Achievement is for clearing 100,000 lines. We should be able to see how many lines we’ve cleared, but due to the tracking bug we cannot.

Tetris Blitz also has a useless Achievement for unlocking every other Achievement. That sort of Achievement makes sense on platforms like the Playstation 3 which don’t have GamerScore. But under the Xbox ecosystem, everyone can tell you’ve got all of a game’s Achievements because you’ll have the full 200 (or whatever number) of GamerScore. Shame to waste an Achievement on the equivalent of a Platinum Trophy.

Overall Impression

I’ve always had a soft spot for Tetris, and I wanted to love Tetris Blitz. But I don’t think Electronic Arts spent enough time on the game design or UI with this one.

Leveling up is essentially meaningless instead of rewarding, and players who don’t care about leaderboard competitions (or can’t view the leaderboards, like me) or Achievements have no reason to keep coming back. Tetris Blitz feels like an extra mode you’d ignore in a more robust Tetris game.

The Facebook problems, busted IAP pricing, and other bugs don’t do this version any favors either. Hopefully EA patches things up with an update or two. Blitz is not a bad game, but it could be so much better.

• Tetris Blitz– Windows Phone 8 – 32 MB – Free – Store Link

Strata is a wonderfully drawn up, challenging Windows Phone 8 puzzle game.  Strata takes a very simplistic approach to puzzles where you have to weave colored ribbons to match a specific color pattern.

The game has hundreds of levels that vary in size and difficulty as you progress through the game.  Strata is an entertaining game that has an addictive quality to it, making it an attractive puzzle game for our Windows Phone 8 devices. 

Strata is divided into six chapters of puzzles, each having four sizes of grids that contain multiple puzzle levels within.  The first collection of puzzles in the first chapter will serve as a tutorial, walking you through game play.

The goal to Strata is to weave colored ribbons into layers so the top most ribbon matches the colored square at the base of the puzzle.  The available ribbon colors line the bottom of the screen and arrows rest outside the puzzle box to mark where the ribbons can be positioned.  Tap on the color of ribbon you want to use, then tap on the position arrow and hope you have thought the moves through correctly.

An undo label will appear on any ribbon placed to let you back out of a move if you goof up a move.  A perfect three star score can be achieved if you solve the puzzle without undoing any moves.

If you find yourself stumped and desperate for help, tap the question mark that sits at the top of the puzzle.  This will pull up your hint choices to either guide you in the right direction with respects to the color choice or ribbon sequence.  The downside to using the hints is that it will prevent you from having a perfect score for that level.

Strata is one of those puzzle games that is easy to play but hard to master.  It is drawn up in very clean, simple fashion with relaxing sounds to accompany your actions.  If you are looking for a Windows Phone puzzle game that will test you powers of observation, planning and strategy you need to try Strata.

Strata is available for Windows Phone 8 and has a trial version.  The full version of Strata is currently running $2.99 and you can pick your copy up here in the Windows Phone Store.

Thanks, Quinn, for the tip!

Polyhegrams is a challenging, wonderfully drawn up Windows Phone word game developed through the AppCampus.  You are tasked with solving word challenges by building words from letters scattered about various three-dimensional objects.

In celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday, the developer will be offering Polyhegrams free (a $1.49 savings).  The free offer will begin on Thursday, November 28, 2013, and will run through the weekend.

As an added bonus, the free offer also extends to the Windows 8 version of Polyhegrams.

If you like word games, Polyhegrams is a challenging, mildly addictive game that is a must to try, especially with the game being available free.

Polyhegrams is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices.  You can find Polyhegrams here in the Windows Phone Store and the Windows 8 version of the game here in the Windows Store.  There is a trial version available for both just in case you want to take the game for a spin before Thursday.

If you like puzzle games to pass the time with, check out the Windows Phone game Move.  Move calls upon your skills of logic to move colored circles into matching squares.

The challenge is that the colored circles move in unison and at times the direct path to solve the puzzle is blocked.  The goal is to navigate all the circles on to their matching squares in the fewest moves.

The game has hundreds of levels and three different game board sizes.  Move is not a very complicated Windows Phone game but challenging enough to keep things interesting.

The main menu for Move has options to jump into game play, muting the sound, viewing the game tutorial, rate the game in the Windows Phone Store and view the About screen.

Move is divided packs that contains multiple puzzles and are progressively unlocked.  The current game only has three of the six listed packs available with the additional levels becoming available with the next update.

Game play is simple; you swipe at the screen to move your circles around the game board on to their matching squares.  As you swipe the screen to make your moves, all the circles will move in that direction.  Blocks are present in some puzzles that will block a circles movement and you can use those blocks to help get everything into position.

At the bottom of the game screen is your move count and limit as well as the number of moves that will give you a perfect score on the puzzle.  The more moves it takes to complete the puzzle, the fewer stars you earn and if you reach your move limit, you fail the level.

The first few gaming levels will come across as rather easy but as you work your way through the various puzzle levels, the game gets more challenging by increasing the game board and adding multiple colored circles.  Move has a very minimalistic design but can be a challenging, fun puzzle game for your Windows Phone.

Move is a free game and is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices.  You can pick up your copy of Move here in the Windows Phone Store.

Update: We are sure as to the why, but this game was pulled from the Windows Phone Store.  We've reached out to the developer and if we receive any additional information, we'll update the post accordingly.

SweetNRoll is an odd sort of game for Windows Phone 8 that has you solving puzzles to feed a little creature, Pete.  Graphics have a Candy Land feel to it and Pete has a loose resemblance to Om Nom of Cut the Rope fame.

Regardless of the similarities, SweetNRoll is a decent game on its own and has over one hundred challenging puzzle levels to conquer.  Game play is not difficult, but without a help section, you will go through a trial and error period to get a handle on things.

All totaled, if you are looking for a casual, puzzle game for Windows Phone 8 SweetNRoll is worth trying.

The main menu for SweetNRoll has menu options that can be pulled up by corner icons as well as the option to jump into game play.  In the left corner is a gear icon that will pull up options to mute sound effects, mute game music and view the about screen.  In the right corner is a people icon that will pull up options to share the game via email, view the developer’s Twitter page and view the developer’s Facebook page.

SweetNRoll has one hundred and five levels of play that are progressively unlocked.  However, it appears that you will need to make a donation to the developer to unlock the levels past level thirty-five.

The first few levels serve as a tutorial with illustrated instructions that appear in the upper right corner of the screen.  These directions will get you in the ballpark and the more you play SweetNRoll, the better you get the hang of game play.

SweetNRoll’s game screen layout has your gaming stats running across the top of the screen along with a pause and replay buttons.  The goal of the game is to send the various pieces of candy to Pete, who is hanging out in the upper right corner of the screen.  You accomplish this by breaking chains holding the candy that will send the candy to join another piece of candy.  Once paired, you can tap the candy and it will be tossed up to Pete.

It sounds simple but you only have a limited number of moves available that, at times, have to be completed in a specific order.  You will also need to feed Pete as fast as possible to better your score.  Each level gets a little more challenging with multiple candies to pair and only a few solutions possible to solve the puzzle and feed Pete all the goodies.

SweetNRoll is not a bad game but could stand to have a better help section to explain game play.  Graphics are nice, the puzzles challenging but it would be nice to have a better feel for game play from the onset.

Overall, SweetNRoll is an entertaining casual game for Windows Phone 8.  SweetNRoll is a free game with extended levels available through in-app purchase.  You can find your copy of SweetNRoll here in the Windows Phone Store.

After taking last week off to review Microsoft’s Xbox One console, I’m back with a look at a just-released indie game for Windows Phone 7 and 8. BigBot Audio Drop comes from Wisconsin-based indie developer BigBot Systems. Not only is it their first game, it’s also exclusive to Windows Phone.

BigBot Audio Dropblends traditional falling block gameplay with thumping electronic music and slick visuals. The gameplay and design are closely modeled after Lumines, an early PSP hit that later came to XBLA and other platforms. But Lumines never came to Windows Phone, so Audio Drop fills a nice gap in our favorite smartphone’s software lineup. It also comes in both paid and free versions, so it won’t break the bank.

Match three? No way, four square

Many falling block games fall into the match-3 category, with players matching three of the same object in order to eliminate them. Not all genre titles are match 3, though. Tetris– the father of the genre – marches to the beat of its own drum, after all.

BigBot Audio Drop is one of those that works a tad differently. Within the playing field you’ll find pieces falling from the sky, sure. There’s also a vertical line called the time bar which passes from left to right at regular intervals, proving important to differentiating Audio Drop (as with Lumines before it) from other puzzlers.

Each square-shaped piece that falls from the sky is made up of four smaller blocks. Those smaller blocks only come in two varieties: circle and square.  The player’s objective is to match at least four of the same shape in a 2 x 2 pattern. Once you do, those pieces get “primed” (marked) to be cleared.

Those marked pieces don’t actually disappear until the vertical line scrolls by and touches them. As long as pieces are marked but haven’t been cleared yet, you can get more points by stacking more of the same shape next to the marked structure, causing them to merge with it. If any additional, separate sets of marked shapes get cleared by the same vertical line, you’ll get. a combo bonus for them

In addition to rotating pieces and stacking them as best you can, you can also drop them down instantly. Dropping is important for making combos since you want to clear as many pieces as possible each time the line passes by.

Power drops and abilities

Additionally, two little beat indicators constantly tick down at the bottom of the screen. Drop a block exactly when the beat hits the center to perform a power drop. These charge up special abilities and boost the combo meter. I find timing my drops to the beat somewhat difficult when I’m trying to frantically make matches, but you’ll get enough power drops just by chance anyway.

Special abilities are another way that Audio Drop differs from typical puzzlers. Instead of grabbing power-ups from the playing field, players have four different abilities that charge up during a level. Each one charges at its own rate, with the more useful abilities taking longer to become available than the simpler ones. Activating an ability depletes all four charges, so you basically have to save up for just the one you want and ignore the others.

Abilities include:

• Switch: a virtual d-pad appears, allowing players to switch any blocks on-screen with the current active block
• Slow: The timeline bar moves half as fast, making combos much easier to get
• Multi: a temporary quadruple points multiplier
• Bomb: the virtual d-pad allows players to detonate pieces off of the playing field

Music and levels

Whenever a current level’s song ends, players move on to the next song and level. The game launches with six songs, all electronic compositions from an artist called SGX. Each song also has its own beautiful background and color theme for its falling blocks.

You can select a song to play from the main menu, but it’s hard to know what you’re picking if you haven’t memorized the song. It should play preview snippets of a song before players choose to launch the game.

The selection of songs is quite similar to what I remember from Lumines. Honestly, most of them are too discordant for my liking. “Span” is okay. I never dug Lumines’ soundtrack either. Music is of course subjective, and I expect some players will really dig the tunes. You can even buy an expanded version of the soundtrack at Xbox Music.

Unlike the songs, Audio Drop’s sound effects are mixed fairly quiet. So much so that I first thought they were missing or something (partially my own fault). I had to turn them up louder than the music to actually hear them very well.

As for the song transitions between levels, the level you’re playing basically just ends with no warning. You’re then taken to a Scoreloop leaderboard screen and the next song starts after a few seconds. I don’t like how abruptly songs end though. The screen should flash and count down to the end of the song or something – provide a little urgency to the puzzling.

Controls

As slick as BigBot Audio Drop looks and sounds, its controls need a little work. In the default scheme, tapping the left and right sides of the screen moves the falling blocks left and right. The bottom corners rotate the pieces, and tiny little drop buttons beside the rotation areas.

The problem is the hitboxes for the left/right movement don’t extend low enough on screen, so you need to keep your thumbs higher up than usual in order to hit them. And the drop buttons are just too tiny and hard to hit… All of which adds an unintended degree of challenge to the game.

Having played a prerelease version of the game for a few days now, I’ve already had the chance to discuss the controls at length with the developer. Thankfully, they agree about the control issues and plan to fix them in a forthcoming update.

Free versus Paid

BigBot Audio Drop comes in both free and paid versions. The free version includes five songs and the default “Audio Drop” game mode. It displays adds on the menu screens, but not during gameplay.

Buying the full game for $1.99 will disable ads. It also adds a sixth song: “Coactive (Over my Shoulder Mix)” and a “Pure” game mode that disables special abilities, simplifying gameplay a smidge.

Depending on how well the game does, BigBot would love to add more songs in the future. That would certainly boost the game’s longevity.

Overall Impression

BigBot Audio Drop is an unusually polished game from a first-time indie developer, with ample visual flair from start to finish. The menus and fonts just look super slick, and the gameplay graphics and backgrounds don’t disappoint either. The music (while not quite to my own taste - give me chiptunes!) fits the visual style very well, justifying the title of the game. There needs to be more tracks, but those will surely come in time.

If you like puzzle games or electronic music, drop this game into your download queue and give it a go.

• BigBot Audio Drop– Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 18 MB – $1.99 – Store Link
• BigBot Audio Drop Free Edition  – Windows Phone 7 and 8 – 16 MB – Free – Store Link
• BigBot Audio Drop Soundtrack– 14 tracks – $9.99 – Composer's Store Link– Xbox Music Store Link

Are you noticing more apps and games from iOS and Android making their way to Windows Phone? Here’s another one. Girls Like Robots is a puzzle game about seating arrangements. The goal is to make everyone happy by seating them next to their friends.

You can’t please everybody all the time, so it can be challenging. Head past the break to watch our hands on video and walkthrough.

The logic is simple. To pass a level, you need to keep everyone happy. You have to keep a few things in mind. Girls like robots, but dislike nerds. Robots like girls, but can’t handle being surrounded by 4 of them. Nerds like girls, robots, and edges, but don’t like sitting next to other nerds. The game does a great job explaining the likes and dislikes when introducing new characters.

It all starts easily, but new and surprising elements get introduced as you play. While still taking care of the likes and dislikes of everyone, you may need to leave one seat open or deal with characters that are constantly moving around. Some levels also require you to push bugs towards a student that likes them.

The happiness meter on the left side of the screen has three levels. At the end of each stage, you get tokens depending on how high the happiness meter has reached. The heart button on the lower right corner shows the general relationships between the characters on the grid. If you need to be reminded of their likes and dislikes, just double-tap or press and hold a character.

Girls Like Robots offers over 100 puzzles to solve and includes a storyline to make it more interesting. Another feature is the Face-a-mizer which lets you customize the characters.

You can download Girls Like Robots from the Windows Phone Store for $2.99. There’s also a free trial available. If you have room for another puzzle game, definitely check it out.

Have you heard or played Girls Like Robots on other platforms? Let us know in the comments!

While some may say we have too many puzzle games in the Windows Phone Store, they remain a great option for the times you have a little time to kill.  Number Rumble hopes to join the number of quality puzzle games available for Windows Phone.

Based on playing the trial version, we can see the appeal Number Rumble has.  It tests your math skills along with your ability to manage combinations of numbers.  There’s a slight addictive quality to the game and if you are looking for a slightly different puzzle game for your Windows Phone, check out Number Rumble.

The concept behind Number Rumble is that you are given a collection of numbered blocks that you have to combine to add up to a preset value.  You must find the right combinations to use all the numbers, cleaning out the game screen.

For example, you have six numbers available and must find combinations that add up to 8, choosing up to two number blocks.

The game is divided into thirty levels and the quicker you complete each puzzle, the better your score (up to three stars).  The gaming screen for Number Rumble has a reset button and mute button scattered across the bottom of the screen.  Your puzzle variables will be displayed above your numbered blocks.  Just tap on a block to highlight it and then tap on the other blocks to combine them.

The gaming levels start out on the easy side but do progressively get more challenging.  The only downside to the game is that with only thirty levels of puzzles, it may make game play short lived.  One can hope the developer updates the game and adds a few hundred more levels to Number Rumble.

There is a trial version available for Numbers Rumble that lets you tackle the first five puzzles.  To unlock the remaining twenty-five levels will cost you $.99.

Number Rumble is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.

From Cheese is an interesting puzzle game for Windows Phone 8 where you lead a hungry little mouse through a maze to a block of cheese.  The smelly twist is that you guide the mouse by the cheese’s aroma, drawing a path for the mouse to follow from the cheese.

From Cheese has fifty-eight levels of reverse-logic puzzles full of obstacles and dangers to work around to get your mouse to his dinner.

It may be another puzzle game for Windows Phone 8 but From Cheese’s approach to solving the puzzles makes it an appealing new addition to our Windows Phone gaming library.

The main menu for From Cheese is drawn-up with simplicity.  You have options to play the game, mute the sound, visit the about screen, and a link to the game’s website.

From Cheese Main Menu and Levels Menu

The fifty-eight levels are spread across two worlds and are re-playable.  The first few levels are more tutorial than challenging to teach you the gaming controls.

The game screen has your mouse at one end of the screen and the cheese at the opposite end.  In between the two will be a series of mazes you will need to guide your mouse through.  To do so, just tap and hold on the cheese to draw a path for the mouse to follow with the cheese’s aroma.  When you reach the mouse with the trail, tap the play button at the bottom to have the mouse follow the trail.

You can zoom-in on the game screen for more precise drawing of the scent trail when you need to navigate your mouse through twists and turns.  There is a bar sits at the bottom of the screen to show how much scent you have to use and if you need to re-draw your trail, just slide back on the bar to back up your drawing.  If your mouse becomes stuck in the maze, just tap the stop button and slide back on the bar to re-draw the trial.

From Cheese Game Screens

Some mazes have trap doors that open when the mouse runs over a floor trigger.  In these cases, you will need to route the mouse over these triggers so he can advance through the maze.

As you progress through the levels, power-ups will become available to enhance your scent trail and you will have to avoid an annoying cat and out run a rat that is also looking for the cheese.  Your final score for each level is based on how much scent you use and the time it takes your mouse to reach the cheese.

Animations are well done and the puzzles challenging.  The only downside to the game is that there are only fifty-eight levels (hopefully an update will change that).  There is a trial version available for From Cheese that lets you play the first seven levels.  The full version will run you $.99.

From Cheese is available for Windows Phone 8 devices and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.

Out Of Memory is a strategy oriented puzzle game for Windows Phone 8 devices that has you managing computer memory.  You are tasked with allocating computer memory to a variety of computer programs.  The goal, manage your computer memory for as long as possible.

Out Of Memory is a simply drawn up game for Windows Phone but does not lack challenge.  There are several types of programs that will impact your memory grid in different ways.  While we have plenty of puzzle games for our Windows Phone, Out Of Memory offers a unique style of gaming that has a certain amount of appeal.

When you first launch Out Of Memory, you will be taken through a series of tutorial screens on game play.  Once you have completed the tutorial you will jump into game play.  If you need a refresher, the tutorial can always be launched from up under the three-dot menu.

Out Of Memory Tutorial, Gaming and Scoring Pages

The game screen has a five by five grid that represents your computer memory.  Every few seconds a program will appear at the bottom of the screen that you will need to place on the memory grid.  The program will require a short period to run on the grid, after which it will close and free up the memory for another program to use.  The goal is to place and run as many programs as possible without running out of memory.

To place a program, just tap on the adjacent memory grids or tap/drag your finger across the grid.

To help keep things interesting you will run into a variety of programs that will affect your memory differently.  You have the standard program that stays in place while the timer runs out.  You also have an unstable program that will shift around the memory grid and a corrupt program that will expand on the memory grid.  You can box these programs in and contain their movement and growth with the stable, stand programs.

Out Of Memory has an online leaderboard for bragging rights and support for both dark/light Windows Phone themes.  The game has a bit of a casual pace and is not a bad gaming option to pass the time with.  I found that the more I played Out Of Memory, the more the game grew on me.

Out Of Memory is an ad-supported game available for Windows Phone 8.  You can get rid of the ads through a $1.29 in-app purchase.  You can find Out Of Memory here in the Windows Phone Store.

The popular puzzle game Glean has gone on sale on the Windows Phone Store. Not only is this a sale, but you're able to pick up the title for absolutely nothing. If you're not familiar with the name, the goal of the Glean is for players to draw a path with their finger from a provided starting point, collecting all the small and large objects without crossing paths.

It may sound like a simple concept, but it can prove challenging. Hop past the break for more details and download links.

In total, there are 160 levels spanning 8 worlds. It's a super addictive game and easy to get the hang of thanks to an animated tutorial. The graphics are simple but effective and the overall presentation is pleasing to the eye. We've wasted hours wrapped up in completing each level.

There's already a free version of Glean, alongside this premium upgrade, but players are greeted by advertisements. It's good to see the developer offer the title for free to get more consumers on-board. You can download Glean from the Windows Phone Store for free (usually $1.29).

This offer will end in 72 hours (UK and US only), after which the price will be reinstated and you'll have the option to purchase the full game or enjoy the free version.

Pop The Dots is a puzzle game for Windows Phone that has you connecting dots of the same color to reach a scoring goal within a set number of moves or under a time limit.

Pop The Dots has over fifty free levels with the option to unlock more levels through an in-app purchase.  The puzzle game has a casual feel to it and Pop The Dots isn’t a bad choice to pass the time with.

Pop The Dots Main Menus and Level Objective

The main menu with Pop The Dots has options to jump into the game, access the game’s settings (sound on/off) and unlock the full range of levels via in-app purchase ($2.49).  The purchase will also eliminate the ad-support.

Depending on the gaming level, you will have to achieve a predetermined score in a set number of moves or set time limit.  You also have levels that challenge you to collect set numbers of the colored dots within a move or time limit.  Game play is the same regardless of the challenge.

Pop The Dots Game Screens

You have a series of dots on the screen where you must connect the same colored dots to remove them from play and earn points.  Dots must be adjacent and can be connected by dragging your finger horizontally, vertically and diagonally dot to dot.  The only limitation is you cannot move back over an existing connection.

Once connected, the dots disappear, points are earned (or credited to your dot count) and new dots are added from the top of the screen.

While Pop The Dot isn’t a complicated game to play, meeting the challenge for each level gets more intense the further you advance through the game.  It is a fun game and I like the variety of challenges scattered about the gaming levels.  Pop The Dot is a nice gaming choice when you need a little help passing the time.

Pop The Dot is a free, ad-supported game available for Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices.  You can get rid of the ads and unlock all the gaming levels through a $2.49 in-app purchase.  You can find your copy of Pop The Dots here in the Windows Phone Store.

Puzzle games can be an entertaining, challenging way to pass the time with. There are plenty of puzzle game choices in the Windows Phone Store and Match is one of the latest offerings for Windows Phone 8.

Match calls on you to line up various tiles with their corresponding templates. The challenge is that the movement of one tile, effects the movement of the others. Match makes a nice first impression and is a puzzle game worth giving a shot.

Match has one hundred free levels of play spread across five worlds that progressively become more challenging. The free version has twenty levels with the additional levels available through an in-app purchase of $1.99. This more or less makes the free version a trial version.

Match's Main Menu and Puzzle Levels

At the start of the first few levels, tutorial windows will pop-up to walk you through game play. Each puzzle level has a collection of tiled symbols and corresponding templates. Your goal is to move the tiles beneath these templates in the fewest moves as possible.

You can move tiles vertically or horizontally and as you move a tile, the entire group of tiles will move. Some puzzles have sections of tiles that will not move in unison and you can use these sections to line up tiles to they will fall into place just right. There are also puzzle levels that have multiple tile groupings to solve.

Match Tutorial and Game Play Screens

If you get stumped, you can use a game key that will show you the puzzles solutions. The free version of Match does not come with any keys but you can purchase five keys for $.99 through an in-app purchase. Should you opt to buy the full version of the game, you will get five keys and will still be able to buy additional keys should the need arise.

Match isn’t a difficult puzzle game to play, just a bit on the challenging side to master. The movement logic that you have to find to solve each puzzle can be a little frustrating at times, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Match does have casual pace and not a bad option if you need a game to help you pass the time with.

The free version of Match is ad-supported and has twenty-levels of play. You can unlock the full game (eighty more levels) through an in-app purchase of $1.99. Match is available for Windows Phone 8 and you can pick up your copy of Match here in the Windows Phone Store.

We all enjoy a puzzle game here and there to test the mind and Link is a sweet title for your Windows Phone. The game itself is currently available for nothing at all, a welcomed drop from the usual $0.99 price tag. If you've never tried to connect the dots on your smartphone, now is the perfect chance to give it go and see how you get on.

The concept is simple, but Link is entertaining without many bells and whistles. Players are tasked with shifting tiles horizontally and vertically to create the connection. Sounds simple enough, but keep in mind, as you shift one tile, the other tiles in play are effected. Some puzzles can be solved in a few moves while others are more involved and require strategic thinking.

You can download Link from the Windows Phone Store for free (usually $.99) by hitting the link or using the QR code below (Windows Phone 7 and 8). Note that this is a limited time offer and appears to be region restricted.

Last year, Windows Phone Central broke the news that Artifex Mundi would be bringing a puzzle platformer called Deadlings to Windows Phone and Windows 8. Artifex Mundi is most well-known for its hidden object puzzle adventure games like the Nightmares from the Deep series, making Deadlings something of a departure for the Polish publisher.

We revealed a total of three games in our interview with Artifex Mundi, including Enigmatis and Nightmares from the Deep: The Siren’s Call. Both of those games have come out on mobile Windows platforms, and now we can scratch the last game off the list as well. Deadlings has officially launched on Windows Phone and Windows 8 – before it heads to other platforms!

Death takes a holiday

Deadlings has a whimsical premise in which zombies have overrun the streets and gotten in everyone’s way. Death sees the problem as an opportunity to make some friends, so he pulls the undead minions off of the streets and puts them to work in his factory. There he aims to train them to be productive citizens instead of just complaining about games not having Xbox Achievements.

Death has a variety of Deadlings to command, with each type specializing in different actions. Bonesack can run and jump; Creep sticks to ceilings and sings Radiohead songs (maybe not the singing); Lazybrain moves slowly and carefully; and Stencher flies around by passing gas. Nasty, but that’s zombies for you.

Players will use their arsenal of Deadlings to solve over 100 puzzles. You’ll have to switch back and forth between the different undead dudes in order to complete the more complex levels. The more tasty brains your minions collect during a level, the better your rating. With so many puzzles and two different modes to play – strategy and arcade – you’ll have a tough time outliving the Deadlings.

As usual with Artifex Mundi's games, Deadlings is on sale for a special introductory price at launch. You might want to get it now before the price goes up.

• Deadlings– Windows Phone 8 – 70 MB – $1.99 – Store Link
• Deadlings– Windows 8 and RT – 169 MB – $1.99 – Store Link

Space Kitty is a cool puzzle game for Windows Phone, tasking players with rotating the space station to save scared aliens. There are numerous puzzles to test one's mind and it's a great little game to pass some time. Over 100 levels are available to keep you occupied and if you haven't yet downloaded the game, it's listed for free through a partnership with myAppFree.

Not only are the graphics cute and well-designed, the gameplay is both addictive and fun. A perfect way to start the weekend off. You can download Space Kitty from the Windows Phone Store for free over the next 24 hours. Also, download myAppFree to keep on top of all the deals available for your the Windows Phone.

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape is a relatively new Windows Phone puzzle game that has you escaping various puzzle levels and staying one step ahead of watch guards. You stick to the shadows to remain unseen and elude the spotlights that scan the puzzle.

You will also need to avoid a handful of traps and collect stars along the way that will boost your score and earn you bonuses. Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape makes a nice first impression and comes across as an entertaining action/puzzle game for our Windows Phone.

Main Menu

The main menu for Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape has a straightforward layout with button tiles to review the game, buy the full version of the game, view the leaderboards and view the achievements running across the bottom of the screen. Links to the game’s Twitter and Facebook pages are stacked in the right corner just above the mute button for the gaming sounds. The “Play Game” tile sits center screen and will take you the gaming levels screen.

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape Main Menu

The main menu lacks a help section but the game has a nice collection of tutorial screens that appear before each level of play that will cover any new gaming features you need to be aware of.

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape Tutorial Screen

Gaming levels are separated into three chapters with ten levels per chapter. Levels and chapters are progressively unlocked and can be replayed. Through an in-app purchase of $1.29, you can buy the full version of Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape and open up an additional twenty levels and new enemy types.

Game Play

The goal of Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape is to guide your player through a maze, avoiding the spotlights, guards and other obstacles. Movement is simple in that you draw a line for your character, the larger circle, to follow to the exit. The length of the line you draw is limited so it may take a few turns to reach the exit.

Avoiding the Guards Lights

The first few levels are not very difficult but give you a feel for the gaming controls. At the top of the gaming screen, you will find an ad-banner and your gaming stats. Run the Shadow’s gaming stats include your power-ups, star count, soul point count and your score. Stars are collected throughout the levels and can be converted to soul points, which in turn can be used to buy power-ups such as audio traps, flash bombs and an path boost that will let you draw longer lines.

To access the power-up menu, just tap on the score area. You will need to double-tap the screen to activate a power-up. Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape does have in-app purchase opportunities to buy stars and soul points to get a jump on stockpiling your power-ups.

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape Power-up Menu

As you advance through the levels things get a little trickier in that you will have to avoid contact with the maze walls, avoid the prison guards and navigate around trap doors.

Guards will have spotlights and if you stray out of the shadows into the light, the guards will swarm on your location and capture your character. Trap doors have switches that you’ll have to find and position your hero up against it to open the door.

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape

The exits can be a little on the tricky side due to their position on the screen. There will be levels where the exit is sitting adjacent to the Windows button. If you draw you path or line too far, it is easy to make contact with the Windows button and send your Windows Phone to the Start Screen.

Once you send your character through the exit, a scoring summary will appear and you will have the option to advance to the next level, replay the current level or jump out to the main menu.

Overall Impression

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape is an entertaining Windows Phone game. Game play is not complicated but does require an accurate touch, patience and timing.

The only nit I have with game play is that the power-ups aren't the easiest to access. Double tapping to get to the power-up menu then tapping to activate just felt a little cumbersome. Additionally, while the tutorial screen do a good job of walking you through game play, I wouldn’t mind seeing a help section added to the main menu for reference.

Still, all in all, Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape is a fun, casual game for Windows Phone that is a nice option to consider when you need a little help passing the time.

Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape is a free, ad-supported game that is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices. You can find your copy of Run the Shadow: Alcatraz Escape here in the Windows Phone Store.

Attention, cat lovers! There’s a new game that you might like. It’s called Catorize. It has been available on iOS and Android, but now Windows Phone users get to play it too. You play as a little cat, jumping onto platforms to collect colored stones. Avoid falling off, touching spikes, or getting near scary creatures because this cat doesn’t have nine lives.

Head past the break to watch our hands on video and gameplay.

Catorize is a physics-based puzzle game that reminds us a little bit of Angry Birds. You launch the cat by dragging your finger on the screen. There’s a guide on screen that shows the general direction of your jump. You’re not here to knock out pigs or break down walls, though. You simply have to collect colored stones located on different platforms. The levels are completed after the last stone is collected.

You can control the power of jump with one click or finger touch. This is also possible while you are in midair. You can change directions as you please to collect those stones. At the end of each level, you get rated with up to three stars. If you are able to collect the stones in the minimum amount of moves, you'll beat that level with three stars.

Levels get harder as you progress. Variations show up as well, so you won’t get bored. New elements such as bubbles, sand, gum, spikes, or spiders appear in certain levels. You’ll need to adjust your jumps to adapt to these new elements. For example, sand stops the cat from bouncing, while bubbles help the cat float.

Catorize is a free download from the Windows Phone Store, however it is ad-supported. You’ll see ads all over the place except when you’re actually playing. There is an in-app purchase available for $1.29 that removes the ads. Have time to waste? Check out Catorize and let us know what you think of it in the comments!

Thanks for the tip, Ajay!

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: Puzzle Games

Puzzle games are a great way to pass the time and we have plenty to choose from for our Windows Phones. Puzzle games have a wide range of appeal and can be a rather addictive past time.

There are so many quality puzzle games available in the Windows Phone Store, it can be hard to pick just a few to highlight in our weekly roundup. So, we kept it simple this week and showcase the top five, best rated puzzle games from the Windows Phone Store. Each title is a quality, addictive and challenging title that would be a fine addition to your Windows Phone gaming library.

FlipSomeTiles Free (Free)

FlipSomeTiles Free is a simple, yet challenging, tile game that is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x. Your goal is to trace a path between the Start and End tiles, flipping all the tiles in between from white to gold.

You cannot back trace on a tile or lift your finger from the screen. If you do either, you fail the puzzle level. Glass tiles are also present that will let you back trace your path but will shatter when you cross the tile for the second time.

Should you get stuck, there is a help button at the top of the gaming screen the will reveal the solution. Pay attention to the reveal because you will still need to solve the puzzle.

While the gaming concept for FlipSomeTiles Free sounds easy, the game has plenty of challenging puzzle levels. The only downside to the game is that it only has forty levels. You’ll need to upgrade to the paid version of the game to unlock an additional 100 levels.

FlipSomeTiles Free is a free, ad-supported game that is available for Windows Phone 8 and 7.x. You can find FlipSomeTiles Free here in the Windows Phone Store. FlipSomeTile (store link) is the ad-free version that is currently running $ .99. The paid version is just like the free version, just more levels of play.

Oh, and if that wasn’t enough there is a free version of FlipSomeTiles that is available for Windows 8 that is well suited for tablet play. You can find the Windows 8 version of FlipSomeTiles here in the Windows Store.

The Treasures of Montezuma (trial/$.99)

The Treasures of Montezuma is a Bejeweled styled game that is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x. The game’s storyline has you following Dr. Emily Jones as she solves a mystery that can transform the world. Dr. Jones needs you to solve the matching puzzles to discover artifacts that will trigger various Power Totems.

The Treasures of Montezuma has three gaming modes that include the Story Mode, an Endless Gaming Mode, and an Arcade Mode. Game play with each mode is basically the same in that you are trying to build matches of three or more of the same color/styled tokens. You swap out adjacent tokens to build the matches (much like you would with Bejeweled) and when you do, the tokens

Some of the tokens have gems embedded in the center and to complete the level, you’ll need to collect a pre-set number of these gems (by including them in the match) before the timer runs out or you run out of moves.

The Treasures of Montezuma has plenty of power tokens and bonus items to help you master game play. There are nine trophies/achievements to earn and if you’re not careful, The Treasures of Montezuma can be a painfully addictive puzzle game. My only nit is that if you have the game's volume turned down, a speaker pop occurs randomly throughout game play. It isn’t anything mission critical but can be a little annoying.

There is a free trial version available for The Treasures of Montezuma with the full version running $.99. The puzzle game is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x and you can find The Treasures of Montezuma here in the Windows Phone Store.

In addition to the Windows Phone version of The Treasures of Montezuma, you can find similar versions available for Windows 8, such as The Treasures of Montezuma 3, here in the Windows Store.

Contre Jour (trial/$2.99)

Contre Jour is a fantastic Xbox Windows Phone puzzle game that is highly addictive. You will find yourself sitting down to play just a few levels and before you know it, thirty minutes has passed by.

Contre Jour calls upon you to guide an odd little creature called Petit to the safety of a glowing light. You pull, swipe and tap on an assortment of gadgets such as tendrils, swings, and air geysers to navigate Petit to its safe harbor. Each level that introduces a new gadget or tool will begin with a tutorial screen to help you better understand game play.

Along the journey, there are plenty of dangers to avoid and overcome that keeps game play challenging. You have spikey balls that will end things for Petit as well as bottomless pits.

For the ultimate gaming experience, you’ll want to play Contre Jour with headphones to appreciate the orchestrated soundtrack. Game play is a little on the dark side but it works. Overall, Contre Jour is fun and challenging puzzle game for your Windows Phone gaming library.

There is a free trial version available for Contre Jour with the full version running $2.99. The Xbox title is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x and you can find Contre Jour here in the Windows Phone Store.

Logo Quiz Ninja (Free)

Logo Quiz Ninja is a puzzle game that will test your knowledge of product and corporate branding. The “ninja” aspect comes into play with the game’s storyline in that as you complete each level of game play, your ninja earns a new skills belt. Your goal is to complete all the levels to earn your ninja a black belt.

Ten levels of play include hundreds of logos to identify. To make things challenging, the logos are incomplete. Tap on the logo thumbnail you would like to identify and type out the product or company it represents.

Periodically, when you correctly identify a logo your ninja’s sensei will appear with words of wisdom (factual tidbits) on the product or company. Luckily, you can tap through these transition screens to jump back into game play a little quicker.

Logo Quiz Ninja is a free ad-supported game that is available for Windows Phone 8 and 7.x. In-app purchases are available to buy hints (identifies the logo) and buy the premium version ($4.99) that eliminates the ads and provides unlimited hints.

You can find Logo Quiz Ninja here in the Windows Phone Store.

7 Little Words (Free)

7 Little Words is a challenging word puzzle game that has word search and crossword puzzle elements. You are presented with seven clues and twenty letter groups. You will have to use the letter groups to create words that will answer each of the clues.

7 Little Words includes fifty levels of puzzles and four daily puzzles to tackle. Additional puzzle theme packs are available through in-app purchase ($.99 each).

If you get stumped on a word, you can shuffle the letter groups around to get a new perspective on things or tap the “Get a Hint” button to show a hint for one of the clues. You get one free hint with unlimited hints costing $2.99 through an in-app purchase.

7 Little Words is a simple puzzle game but isn’t without challenge. If you only have time to solve a few of the words, fear not, 7 Little Words will save your gaming progress.

Overall, 7 Little Words is a fun, easy to play, challenging game for your Windows Phone. It is a free game that is available for Windows Phone 8. You can find 7 Little Words here in the Windows Phone Store.

If you’re looking for a free Windows 8 puzzle game, 7 Little Words is also available here in the Windows Store.

Best of the Bunch?

All of the five Windows Phone puzzle games are worthy additions to the Store’s gaming library. Contre Jour is wonderfully animated and full of challenging puzzle levels.

The Treasure of Montezuma is also full of challenging puzzle levels that can easily be time consuming. Logo Quiz Ninja will test your knowledge of corporate logos but the game could live without the transition screens.

I like the simplicity of FlipSomeTiles and 7 Little Words. FlipSomeTiles is a good choice for when you need some help passing short bits of time and 7 Little Words is a challenging, yet uncomplicated, word game that combines words search and crossword puzzle mechanics.

Additional puzzle games worth mentioning but falls outside the top five best rated would include:

• Catorize (store link)
• Wordament (store link)
• Zuma’s Revenge (store link, not available for low memory devices)
• Amazing Alex (store link)
• Where’s My Water? (store link)

If we have missed your favorite Windows Phone puzzle game, feel free to toss out your recommendation below in the comments.