Gameloft’s latest Xbox Windows Phone release Six-Guns is a free to play game. Of course it must be monetized somehow – in this case via In-App Purchases (IAPs). Six-Guns actually offers a wider variety of things to buy than many free games, which can be confusing (or off-putting) to new players.

We’ve spent ample time with the game as we prepare for our upcoming review. And we’ve also spent a little cash in order to put those IAPs through their paces. Read on to learn how to which premium purchases might be worth your coin, plus some encouraging news about cloud saves.

Gold

Six-Guns’ soft currency is gold, meaning players can earn large quantities of it through normal gameplay or grinding. Completing missions and killing enemies during missions get you gold. Missions are repeatable, so while they start with modest payouts, eventually you’ll earn up to 1,000 gold for completing them.

Gold can be spent on several things:

• Guns: Dragon Revolver, Double-barrel Shotgun (3500), Revolver Sniper Rifle (5000), Dual Guns (8500), Longshot Repeater 1887, Assault Pump Shotgun (25000), Tesla Gun (35000), Impaler (65000), Witch Impaler (150000), Flak Cannon (150000), Demon Thrower (150000), Doom Bringers (450000), Gatling Annihilator (500000)
• Clothing: Outlaw set, Mexican set, Gunner set (22500), Hunter set (71000), Witch Hunter set (partial - 28000), Machinist set (partial - 36000), Gunslinger set (partial - 46000)
• Horses: Florida Cracker Horse (350), Morgan Horse (3500), Spanish Mustang (9500), Black Steam Horse (50000), Quarter Horse (65000)
• Ammo: Gun Ammo, Rifle Ammo, Sniper Ammo, Shotgun Ammo, Werewolf Slayer Ammo, Railgun Ammo, Tesla Gun Ammo, Demon Disks, Cannon Gun Ammo, Gasoline, Bugs, Defiler Ammo
• Saddle Bag Upgrades: Single slot, 10 slots

One of the first things you’ll want to buy is a Saddle bag upgrade. Otherwise, you’ll have a tough time carrying around ammo and especially collectibles. The first bag upgrade isn’t too expensive, but each subsequent slot goes up in price.

You’ll start to earn gold at a decent rate once you reach the higher mission levels. But if you’d rather not wait, buying some gold via IAP and getting the 10 slot Bag upgrade can make things much more comfortable early on. The $9.99 purchase of 33,000 coins will cover 10 slots if you haven’t bought too many slots already.

Note that the $19.99 ‘Chest Full of Coins’ purchase appears to be broken. Hopefully Gameloft will fix it in an update.

Stars

Sheriff's Stars are the hard or premium currency, meaning they mostly need to be bought via IAP. Players earn one medal every time they level up. On very rare occasions, quantities of 1-3 medals can be won for free in the daily lottery.

Stars can be spent on:

• Guns: Lawmaker Revolver (15), Lee Navy Bolt-Action (20), Sawed-off Shotgun (25), Railgun (35), Sniper Gun (35), Cannon Gun (45), Eagle-Eye Sniper Rifle (50), Triple-Barrel Terror (55), Hand Cannon (75), Scythe (120), Crucifixator (285), Flamethrower (300),Werewolf Slayer (400), Defiler (450)
• Clothing: Business set, Duelist set (44), Sheriff set (110), Rogue set (130), Witch Hunter set (partial - 55), Machinist set (partial - 85), Gunslinger set (partial - 89)
• Horses: American Warmblood (3), Appaloosa Horse (10), Standardbred Trotter (25), Mechanical Horse (150)
• Healing items: Healing Elixir (1), Great Health (2), Panacea (3),
• Ammo: Fire Stakes (1), Flak Cannon Ammo (1)
• Lottery: Bronze Bullet Chest (5), Silver Bullet Chest (10), Gold Bullet Chest (20)
• Gun upgrades: Any gun can be fully upgraded instantly with medals. Some individual gun upgrades also cost medals.
• Skip Missions: if you’re having trouble with a mission, you can pay 5 medals to skip it. Be careful not to skip missions by mistake!
• Respawn: During a mission (or even multiplayer matches), you can pay medals to respawn.

Obviously some of the things that cost stars are a big waste – namely respawns and healing items. I also recommend against skipping missions. You’re better off coming back to a mission later on, after you’ve leveled up or bought better equipment.

Gun upgrades are a tempting way to spend stars, but only do so if you’re using one of the most expensive guns in the game. You don’t want to burn stars on a gun that you’ll outgrow in time.

Playing the Lottery can actually be a fair use of stars. The Gold Bullet Chest only pays out premium items, with the Swarm Gun being the best reward. The Bronze Bullet Chest offers a Sniper Gun (35 star value) and the Silver Bullet Chest offers the Submachine Gun and Scythe (120 star value).

Before you spend stars on a premium item, consider…

Item Packs

Clothing, weapons, and horses are also available as themed packs. These packs cost dollar amounts rather than stars, and they can be a better value than buying items separately. You’ll find the Packs under the chest icon in the Shop.

• Starter Pack ($4.99): Dual Guns, Revolver Sniper Rifle, Florida Cracker Horse, Outlaw set
• Bandit Pack ($8.99): Longshot Repeater 1887, Appaloosa Horse, Mexican set
• Browncoat Pack ($14.99): Assault Pump Shotgun, Spanish Mustang, Gunner set
• West Legend Pack ($29.99): Railgun, English Bloodhorse, Hunter set
• Law-Enforcement Pack ($44.99): Impaler, Mechanical Horse, Sheriff set
• Witch Hunter Pack ($64.99): Witch Impaler, Witch Hunter set
• Machinist Pack ($69.99): Flamethrower, Black Steam Horse, Machinist set
• Overkill Pack ($99.99): Includes the contents of all other packs.

The Starter pack is actually a pretty good value when you’re first starting out since it comes with two different weapons. The guns alone would cost $4.99 worth of gold, so the cheap horse and outfit act as a bonus.

As for the high dollar packs, I expect the only people who will purchase those are seeking an unfair advantage in multiplayer. They’d also provide a huge leg up in single-player, but most users will get by fine without them.

Experience

Leveling up has two advantages: it can unlock new items for purchase in the shop, and players gain 5 health per level. You can gain XP towards leveling up by killing enemies and completing missions, just like gold. But if you’re in a hurry, buying an XP pack will cut down on the grind. If the XP purchased causes you to pass a level that has an Achievement, you’ll unlock that Achievement right after purchase.

Health Boosts

Okay, so leveling up increases your health. But you can also buy permanent health increases on top of that. The extra health will make single-player missions that much easier to survive. It also brings a multiplayer advantage since you’ll be able to take more hits.

Of all the IAPs in Six-Guns, the health boosts could possibly be the best value. A $4.99 purchase gives you the equivalent of four levels’ worth of health, while the $9.99 purchase provides 12 levels’ worth. Buying gold just cuts down on grinding time, but the extra health from a boost will go above and beyond the health you could otherwise earn.

 Cloud saves and cross-platform features

Let’s face it, “whales” – players who enjoy spending money on IAPs are the ones who’ll be doing the most spending in Six-Guns. But anybody who really enjoys the game and wants to show Gameloft some love might find value in some of the more affordable IAPs.

Of course, when making an IAP in any game you’ll want to consider the permanence of that purchase. Many Windows Phone games don’t provide users with any way to back up their save files, so changing devices or uninstalling the game could result in a permanent loss of purchased content.

Thankfully Six-Guns uses cloud saving! If you ever need to reinstall the game (as I did), you’ll be prompted about using the existing cloud save. This could also prove quite useful when the Windows 8 version of Six-Guns comes along. Presumably, both versions will share the same cloud save data. So any purchase made in the Windows Phone game will likely extend to the tablet and PC version as well.

That’s it for our IAP discussion. Come back on Wednesday for our full review!

• Six-Guns– Windows Phone 8, including 512MB devices – 436 MB – Free – Store Link

Windows Phone and Windows 8 gamers should be familiar with Babaroga, the studio behind Shuffle Party and Zombies!!!. Babaroga has been a big supporter of the mobile Windows ecosystem since Windows Phone 7 launched. Though they seem to have grown away from Xbox-enabled games (like so many other developers), Babaroga still produces Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 games as indie titles.

Decodering is one of those games. First released on the Zune HD in 2011, it's now back on mobile Windows platforms. Billed as a cross between crosswords and Sudoku, it should appeal to players who love word puzzles. It’s available on both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 as a freemium game. Head past the break for our impressions and an exclusive hands-on video with Babaroga president Andreja Djokovic!

Spot the letter

A DecodeRing puzzle consists of a large grid of squares. Normally, some grids have letters in them while others have symbols. The object is to replace the symbols with the correct letters in order to spell words. Both horizontally and vertically, every line of letters should spell a word. It’s the same rules as crosswords, but without the clues.

To solve the puzzle, you’ll scan around and search for a word that is only missing a letter or two. Then place a letter in the empty spot to create a word. Remember, the empty spots all have a symbol in them. You can search for other instances of that symbol in order to make sure the letter really belongs in that space. If the letter wouldn’t fit in another place with the same symbol, it’s clearly not the right letter. That’s the Sudoku influence.

DecodeRingpuzzles can be as easy or difficult as you want them. Turn on the Check function and an incorrectly placed letter will show up red. With Check turned off, the game won’t point out errors. I recommend playing that way, otherwise it gets too easy.

Additionally, each puzzle can be played on four different difficulties. The higher the difficulty, the less letters will be filled in when the puzzle starts. Crank the difficulty to max and you won’t start with any letters at all, which would make the puzzle super tough to complete.

Presentation and Controls

DecodeRing has a sleek black and white design (with a splash of Babaroga red) that meshes well with its crossword puzzle inspirations. The sounds and visuals for placing letters and completing puzzles provide just the right amount of intensity to the otherwise low-key presentation.

The game controls well with touch or a mouse. My only disappointment with the Windows 8 version is that it doesn’t support keyboard controls. A game that involves filling in letters as its primary mechanic should allow users to type those letters out instead of clicking and dragging them. It’s a oversight hassle that could easily be fixed with an update.

Pricey puzzles

DecodeRing comes with five puzzles by default, all of which can be played on multiple difficulties. If you want to play more, you’ll need to purchase additional puzzle packs for $1.49 each. All four packs will run you $5.96. I’m a fan of Babaroga’s games and I understand they need to make money, but a player will run through a level pack fairly quickly. 99 cents per pack would be much more appropriate for the amount of content they bring.

Still, word puzzle fans will have a lot of fun with this game. If you enjoy the genre, it’s definitely worth trying the free puzzles. Should you get the itch and want more puzzles, they’re only an In-App Purchase away.

• DecodeRing– Windows Phone 8 – 2 MB – Free – Store Link
• DecodeRing– Windows 8 and RT – 3 MB – Free – Store Link

Soulcraft is an insanely awesome action RPG game for both Windows Phone and Windows 8. If you’re into those sorts of games and don’t already have Soulcraft you really should check it out. In both Stores, it easily averages four of five stars without hundreds of ratings. And now both games are free.

Soulcraft is a popular game that’s available on nearly any mobile platform you can think of. You can find it on iOS, Android, Kindle, Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. Previously on Windows Phone the game went for $1.49, but now you can pick it up for free. It does however have in-app purchases that you can have. Depending on your play style, you can spend little to no money on the game.

Interested in playing Soulcraft? It’s free for both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. Head to the Windows Phone Store to get it or the Windows Store. QR Code below. 

Via: Plaffo

Fly Johnny Fly is a Windows Phone game that would appeal to the Mythbuster in all of us. The object of the game with Fly Johnny Fly is to use various explosive devices to hurl a crash test dummy, that would be Johnny, through an obstacle course.

Fly Johnny Fly has more than eight different explosive, rockets and jet packs to hurl the dummy around your Windows Phone screen. You have more than fifty levels of play (fifty-eight to be exact) and the levels have everything from spinning wheels of death to rolling boulders that will try to ruin your day and prevent you from completing the course.  

Fly Johnny Fly is a unique, entertaining game for your Windows Phone that has its fair share of challenges and is well worth trying.

The main menu that greets you upon launching Fly Johnny Fly has options to play the game, view your gaming achievements, check the game credits, adjust the music and sound effect levels, visit the game store and view more games from the developer.

The game's store has upgrades and add-ons that will help Johnny blast his way through the levels easier. Purchases are made with coins you collect as you complete the levels.  Again, the objective of the game is to place explosives in such a manner to hurl your crash test dummy to the flags at the end of the obstacle course. You also have rockets to elevate your dummy and a jet pack to send him over and across various dangers.

Game play starts out slow and easy with the first few levels being more tutorial in nature than challenging. The assortment of explosives sit in the upper right corner of the screen. Just tap and hold the item to drag it into play. With explosives, as you get close to Johnny a directional arrow will appear to give you some idea on the trajectory.  

When you get the dynamite, land mines, keg bomb and other explosive devices in place, release your hold on the screen and wait for the kaboom. The explosion sends Johnny through the air, hopefully in the right direction.  To add to the challenge of the game, your supply of various devices is limited so use them wisely.

Levels can be replayed and vary in challenges that include spinning wheels of death that will grind your test dummy into saw dust and boulders that will squish Johnny flatter than a pancake.  

Oh... speaking of destruction...you need to be careful with Johnny (as if you can carefully blow him up) because if you're too rough he'll get damaged which deducts points from your score. Bouncing Johnny off walls too hard, placing the explosive way too close and other accidents (such as landing on a spinning wheel of death) will cause Johnny to lose an hand, foot, arm or other body part.

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Once you finish the first twenty some odd levels, you advance to the Gravity Levels where you can use industrial strength magnets and other gravity defying tools to hurl Johnny around. You place the magnet in the general vicinity of Johnny and the magnetic force pulls and pushes Johnny through the air.  It does take a little while to get the hang of where to place the magnet.

The finish line for each level is marked with yellow and black checkered flags.  Once you hurl, skip, slide or bounce Johnny past the flag a scoring screen will appear and you'll have the option to advance to the next level or replay the current level to better your score.  You are scored on each level for how many explosives are not used, air time, the number of mid air flips you can make Johnny do, and coins collected. Again, damage to Johnny will deduct points from your overall score.  The higher the score, the more stars you earn for that particular level.

Fly Johnny Fly is one of the more unique games for our Windows Phone. Graphics are nice, the physics of the explosion fun (in an odd sort of way) as well as realistic and game play is plenty challenging. If you've always wanted to blow up a crash test dummy or just looking for an entertaining game for your Windows Phone, Fly Johnny Fly is worth a look.

There is a free trial version available for Fly Johnny Fly with the full version running $.99. Fly Johnny Fly is available for Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.

As the Windows Phone ecosystem continues to grow, more frequent updates are becoming more and more common. Today, we have two that are small but noteworthy.

SysApp Pusher is a free app that checks all the custom OEM stores for new updates, including Samsung, HTC and Nokia. While there are quite a few of these “system app checkers” now available, SysApp Pusher is our choice simply because it gets updated once, sometimes twice a week with new features. The developer clearly has a vision for this app and version 2.0 is well worth taking for a spin.

Since we last mentioned SysApp Pusher, it has received the following new features:

• Wide tile has been added (see lead image)
• Live tile has been implemented (see lead image)
• About 15 applications from Nokia have been added, including new "glance" application
• Added settings where you can select which vendors to check for updates
• Checks availability of application in your region. And mark it with red circle is the application is not available in your regional store.
• Share information about application with social networks
• App will show count of updates after check (if found)

What we thought was a simple concept has turned out to be a full-featured and impressive little app.

Why use SysApp Pusher in the first place? For a small percentage of you, the Store Tile is either slow to show app updates or it doesn’t work at all. Another is that System Apps are not just third-party programs but often affect how the device operates—especially true for Nokia phones. Because of that, sometimes you want the latest and greatest right now.

Finally, the app is also a very important if you get a new phone. We speak from experience here but when you load up a new Nokia device, you’ll want all of those system app updates to get things like Glance. We often have 10 or more Nokia app updates on a new Lumia. This app will help with that process since system apps are not directly listed in the Store and it can take 24 hours before they show up as waiting updates.

SysApp Pusher v2.0 – Windows Phone 8 – Store Link– Free (optional 99 cents)

Doodle Jump gets a new Tile

Doodle Jump, probably one of the greatest time-wasters, was re-released for Windows Phone 8 recently. Unfortunately, it lost its Xbox status but many of you were clever enough to figure out the upside: more frequent updates.

Indeed, the app has since been updated twice since August 21st to address little bugs like the lockscreen timeout and auto-dimming. Version 1.0.2.0 is now live in the Store and it fixes a small but annoying problem: it gives us a new icon.

When Doodle Jump first came out for Windows Phone 8, many of you noticed the “crappy” icon that it had, which appeared to the same one for the iPhone--namely it had rounded, green corners and it just didn't fit our OS. The developers have now given a custom one for Windows Phone users that’s super square and ready to put on your lockscreen. It’s even doublewide ready.

Kudos to Lima Sky for making the community happier with the game. With the HD graphics and smooth gameplay optimized for Windows Phone 8, Doodle Jump is still our go-to game for a quick distraction.

Doodle Jump - Windows Phone 8 - Store Link– 99 cents

Alex: Mayan Mysteries will be free on the Windows Phone store for tomorrow (Sunday 15th) only, though the price alteration has taken affect already. This deal is in partnership with myAppFree. The title is a well-rated platform game that puts the player in control of Alex, a treasure hunter and adventurer who has travelled to the ancient Mayan city of Tikal.

The main aim of the game is to locate the lost golden masks of the kings. Unfortunately, when Alex arrives at the city, the pyramids turn out to be inhabited by various creatures and strange guards. You're tasked with travelling through multiple levels and zones to help Alex out. The game sports cute graphics, interesting gameplay and achievements (not Xbox Live) to unlock as you go.

We strongly recommend you check this game out. You can download Alex: Mayan Mysteries from the Windows Phone store for free, as well as myAppFree which has recently been updated.

File this under ‘mildly interesting’ but it looks like the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 5, a game that has never been accused of lacking a sense of humor, has a little mobile surprise in it.

The gaming site Kotaku published their GTAV walkthrough video today, which in and of itself is worth your time, but at around the 0:50 second mark a virtual Windows Phone is spotted. The device is used by ‘Trevor’ one of the optional protagonists in the game to snap self-portraits.

Windows Phone is a key tool in the hit game 'Charlie Murder'

Like a lot of modern games, virtual smartphones are being used more frequently and not just for gimmicky purposes like selfies but for mapping, calling other characters and even emails. For instance, the hit indie game Charlie Murder on the Xbox 360 makes use of a Windows Phone for tips and instructions and Dead Rising 3 for the Xbox One uses SmartGlass to enhance gameplay by actually calling your phone.

Sure, the spotting in GTAV not a huge deal but seeing the iconic Windows Phone more often in pop culture helps reinforce its legitimacy with users, so it’s a good thing to see.

There is some irony here though. Rockstar Games features Windows Phone as a tool in gameplay, but the company created a real smartphone app—for the iPhone—called iFruit. No word if we’ll see a similar companion app for Windows Phone.

Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Watch the video from Kotaku above and wait for the 50 second mark for the fun.

Source: Kotaku; Thanks, WTapper, for the heads up

We’ve been covering Games with Gold from Xbox Live since it started earlier this summer. Aren’t familiar with the program? For the remainder of the year, Microsoft is giving Xbox Live Gold members two free games per month. Usually the titles available are a little older, but still great. We’ve seen fun games like Fable III, Assassin’s Creed II, and more over the last few months. Today you can now download Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas for your Xbox 360.

Rainbow Six: Vegas came out way back in 2006, about a year after the Xbox 360 came out. It’s the fourth game in the Rainbow Six series and worth playing seven years later in 2013. On Metacritic it averages 88 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version.

Fancy third-person shooters and have Xbox Live Gold? Head to the Xbox Marketplace and get your download on, which clocks in at 6.60 GB.

Hexzul is a fairly new Windows Phone 8 puzzle game that may kick you to the curb. The game has a Tetris feel to it with a little bit of a Tempest appearance.

Hexzul is a matching game that has thousands of levels to tackle and puzzles to solve. The game pace quickens as you advance, increasing the challenge to the point of almost being frustrating.

If you are looking for a fast pace game that will test your skills of logic, observation and speed Hexzul may just fit the bill.

Hexzul's main menu greets you with options to view other free games from the developer, view the help screen with tutorial, access the Hexzul Shop for in-app purchases, access the game's settings and play the game.

The Shop has in-app purchases for extra live, extra hints, and bonus levels. Settings deal with sound/music on or off and difficulty levels (easy, hard, and insane).

The goal of the game is to match the puzzle shape ascending towards you by combining game pieces that line the side of the screen. Once you match the shape, you send it down the shaft and advance to the next level.

The game screen has the available puzzle pieces you can use to match the oncoming shape lining the sides of the screen. Up top is your score and below is your lives and level indicators.

Gaming controls line the bottom of the screen that include rotating the top most puzzle piece, drop your match down the shaft, and swap the bottom puzzle piece with the top so you can rotate it. You also have a hint button (looks like a battery) that will help you along the way if you get stumped.

To match the oncoming shape just tap and drag a puzzle piece from the sides of the screen to the center playing area. Rotate as necessary and add additional pieces as necessary. If you need to remove a piece, just tap and drag it to the trash can icon that sits at the top of the screen.

Hexzul's game play starts out a little on the slow side to help you get the hang of things. But it quickly picks up in speed.I think one aspect of Hexzul that keeps it interesting is that one puzzle will be super easy, the next one almost impossible to solve, then the next moderately difficult. The game keeps you on your toes.

Some of the shapes that you have to match can be tough to distinguish the individual parts. While things do come into better focus the closer the shape approaches, that puts you under the gun time wise to solve the puzzle.

I wouldn't mind seeing the colors of each puzzle piece being a little more distinguishable but that may make the game too easy. Overall, Hexzul is a challenging, somewhat addictive game for Windows Phone 8.

Hexzul is a free game for your Windows Phone 8 device that you can pick up here in the Windows Phone Store.

SongArc is a forthcoming rhythm game for Windows Phone users that we think could be a huge hit. We’ve covered the game in the past, even giving you a sneak peek of the gameplay. Think of Guitar Hero but tailored for Windows Phone and you’d be on the right track. By picking music from your library, you can load up sheets to enable a fast paced rhythm matching game, perfect for playing anytime.

It’s creative, it has a community aspect and it’s darn fun.

The last time we wrote about SongArc, it was just kicking off its beta program. That was nearly one month ago and over 450 of you managed to get in on that action. The game has now wrapped up its beta and it’s starting down the trek of getting certified in the Store (and AppCampus approval).

Hands on: Early beta release of SongArc

The developers behind the game released a final beta last night, bringing along over 150 changes. We’ve also learned quite a bit about the updated game and wrapped beta program, which we'll share now. First, SongArc is expected to be released this month, though that hinges of course on getting clearance from the Store and no extra rounds of added coding.

Second, the beta was very effective as users submitted great ideas for the finalized product. Indeed, 75 reviews were left by beta testers with an average score of 4.85 (out of 5). That’s a huge endorsement from the community as achieving that rating level for a game is quite difficult. Here’s what some of the early reviews have said:

We’re big fans of the game for a few reasons. Windows Phone is sorely lacking a really good music-rhythm game, at least we’re not aware of any. The other is that this app is really well done. From the graphics, to the smoothness of the UI to the actual gameplay, it’s just a fine example of Windows Phone development.

SongArc will be available for Windows Phone 7.x (except 256 MB ones) and Windows Phone 8 devices.

We’ll post more on the game as it nears the finish line. For now, you can watch our hands-on with the game from last month above (the game has added a considerable amount since then). You can also head to their Facebook page for more information.

Have you played SongArc beta? If so, sound off below on your thoughts of the game and what it means for Windows Phone.

Windows Phone has its share of graphically intense 3D racing gamers like Asphalt 7 and Hydro Thunder Go. 3D racers can be beautiful and exciting, but overhead-style racing games have their own simple, retro appeal.

Indie developer Black Coal Studio has recently ported just such a game to Windows Phone 8: Paper Racer.  With super cute hand-drawn artwork, custom car designs, and cross-platform online multiplayer, this little racing game might just be worth a look.

Do it yourself

As the name implies, Paper Racer’s tracks look like they were drawn on actual paper. The track itself is often made of a white graph paper pattern, with the off-track courses colored in and filled with objects. Some of those objects appear to be actual photographs, while others are hand-drawn and colored.

As for the cars themselves, they look to be drawn in ink and then colored with pencils. The game includes 17 different cars by default, with such varying designs as race cars, trucks, and bulldozers. The differences are only cosmetic; they all handle the same. Still, the cars and tracks perfectly fit the game's do-it-yourself style.

Paper Racer also boasts surprisingly good physics and particle effects. On the physics spectrum, objects and cars collide realistically. Particle effects include dust and smoke trails from the cars. Driving through paint leaves tracks as well. None of these things are too amazing, but they do go above and beyond what you’d expect from a doodle-type game.

Custom cars

In case the default cars aren’t enough, you can also create or import cars. Creating your own design involves taking a picture with the phone’s camera or importing an image from your phone’s photo album.

I first chose to take a photo of the Windows Phone Central logo as my car. You can see the results in our screenshots. It’s cute, but the WPCentral design we’re planning in Forza 5 for Xbox One will really be something to behold.

The camera capture option is a fantastic idea, but it could use improvement. You can’t crop the photo you take; the entire thing becomes the car. At least they let us rotate the image. The game’s Store description describes the absence of cropping as if that omission was a feature. That's like boasting that your car doesn't offer cruise control. "No need to worry about bothersome cruise control!" Umm, but cruise control is a plus, not a minus.

After creating a car, it can be shared via QR code. Just visit the garage to save your creation’s unique code. Then stick it online somewhere for other users to photograph and import.  Try the QR code above for my hastily-made, ink-only drawing of the Tim Burton Batmobile!

Single-player

Paper Racer’s main single-player mode is called Racing Season. Basically, the goal of the season is to place in the top three on each track in a cup and then move on to the next cup. The first two cups contain six tracks each, and the final cup clocks in at four tracks – that’s 16 in all.

The races themselves are standard three-lap races against a handful of AI opponents. Cars can knock each other around, but they don’t actually get damaged. The one element of flair is that objects like pencils litter the track. They get knocked around and/or create barriers when collided with. Colorful spilled paint makes cars slide around as well. Those art-inspired hazards are cool, but I couldn’t help wishing for fanciful power-ups a la Mario Kart.

After completing a course, players can revisit them and try to finish in a better place. The game also offers three difficulties, so running through on higher difficulties is always an option. The Racing Season pre-game menu makes it look like you need to start at square one each time you play, but that’s not the case. Tap the track image in order to choose from the courses you’ve unlocked.

Time Trial mode lets players run through courses solo. Completion times are submitted to an online leaderboard in this mode, so you actually have an incentive to try for better times. At the track selection screen, you can see the world record and you place in the ranking. But tapping the leaderboard icon just makes a clicking sound without actually displaying the leaderboard. Hopefully the developer makes the leaderboard properly viewable in a future update.

Multiplayer

Kudos to Black Coal for including cross-platform online multiplayer – I didn’t actually expect it from a game of this scale. According to the developers, Windows Phone, iOS, and Android players can all race against each other. The online system is clunky though.

To host a game, you choose to be a Server, and then name the server and optionally set a password. It would make more sense for the server name to automatically match the player’s name like with most modern games, if you ask me. If you’re not hosting, you select Client from the multiplayer menu. Again, it’s kind of an old-fashioned PC setup.

With a smaller game like this, you’re not realistically going to find random players to race against. But at least a couple of friends who own the game can arrange to play together if they get the itch.

Speed bumps

Paper Racer does suffer from a few flaws other than the semi-broken leaderboards. Let's start with the controls. The game offers two primary control options: virtual left/right buttons with gas and brake/reverse buttons, or a virtual stick (placed on the left or right side of the screen) that controls steering, acceleration, and braking. The virtual buttons are tiny and poorly positioned, making them uncomfortable to use.

Neither control type has an auto-accelerate option. With the buttons control scheme you’ll have to hold the gas button constantly, and with the virtual stick you’ll need to push the stick in the direction you want to drive. The stick method feels better to me, but it takes some getting used to. Automatic acceleration is a standard feature in mobile racing games, after all. Why force players to deal with an extra virtual button or stick press when you want to go forward 99 percent of the time anyway?

As for the text, it reads like English isn’t the developer’s first language. Completing a race and you’ll see “1. Place” instead of “1^st Place.” And just look at the custom car tutorial text: “Choose the way how you want to import your car.” For those who can’t tell, that should read “Choose how to import your car” or something similar. Funky English doesn’t hurt the game all that much, but it’s still a pet peeve of mine.

Finally, the pause menu lacks an option to restart the race. If you mess up, you’ll have to quit the race entirely and start it up again. Let’s hope Black Coast adds a restart option eventually.

 Overall Impression

Top-down racers are not my first choice of racing game, but they can be a lot of fun when done right. Paper Racer mostly qualifies as done right. It packs a good number of tracks, a simple but inviting art style, an easy-to-use custom car feature, and online play. Most doodle-style games don’t reach so high, which makes it easier to forgive minor issues like the controls and grammatical errors. If the developers continue to tweak and support this one, it could easily turn into a must-have racer.

Special thanks to Mark "Funky Bunch" Tepper for introducing me to the game!

• Paper Racer– Windows Phone 8 – 131 MB - $1.99/No Trial - Store Link

Behold, young Padawans, as Angry Birds Star Wars II is now live on the Store for Windows Phone 8 users—and it’s even a day early from the official September 19 launch date (beating out iOS and Android). What is even more fantastic? Those with a Lumia 520 or other 512 MB devices can get in on the action too.

The game weighs in at 32 MB and will cost you 99 cents (with a free trial). The epic saga continues in the follow up to the original Angry Birds Star Wars game, and we have to admit, it’s looking very fresh.

Featuring excellent HD graphics optimized for Windows Phone 8 and even optional in-app purchases (yes, they’re not going away), Angry Birds Star Wars II should keep many of you busy while in class, at work or avoiding your significant other (hey, we all do it).

So what’s new in version II? This edition of the game is focused on the god-awful prequel movies, but hey, that doesn’t mean it can’t be a fun game! It features the Pork Federation and you can even “Join the Pork Side” to play as “the fearsome Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine” and more. And yes, Darth Maul has his patented double-lightsaber, which should be a blast to use in this game.

That’s actually hella cool.

You also get

• 30+ PLAYABLE CHARACTERS! Our biggest line-up ever of playable characters – Yoda, pod-racing Anakin, Mace Windu, Jango Fett and many more!
• BECOME A JEDI OR SITH MASTER! So many Bird and Pork Side levels to master, plus a bonus reward chapter and a ton of achievements to unlock!

Even though the Angry Birds thing is getting a bit old, we’re suckers for Star Wars tie ins, which is probably what Rovio is expecting. So yeah, instant purchase for us.

For you, you can check out the trailer above to get an idea of the game or just head here to the Store to grab a free trial.

Angry Birds Star Wars II – 32 MB – Windows Phone 8 (+ 512 MB) – $0.99 – Store Link

Thanks, Kyle, Paul and Hameed for the tips

There are so many great games on Windows Phone, you’ll probably never get the chance to play and beat them all. One developer who consistently makes some of our favorite games is Hexage. They’ve given us great games like Radiant, Radiant Defense, Robotek, Totemo, and more! So you know any new game they release is going to be good. Let’s take look at their latest called Reaper.

Reaper is an epic action RPG where you play as the Black Swordsman who slays thousands of enemies. Best part? The game is free for the most part. Here’s what you can look forward to in Reaper for Windows Phone:

• Take countless quests and uncover the secrets of Wilderness
• Level up your character with skills of your choice
• Hundreds of swords, armor and accessories to equip
• Play all sides and make your own decisions
• The game is free up to character level 10. There are no micro-transactions!  If you like the game, you can upgrade to a premium edition.

Gameplay is straight forward and the controls are superb. We had no trouble playing the first few levels of Reaper. The on screen instructions will have you destroying enemies in no time. Music and graphics are sharp as well, something we’ve come to expect from Hexage.

The game is free for Windows Phone 8. You can play up to level 10, then you can purchase the game if you’re into it. We’re not on level 10 yet, but we’ll update this post when we do get there and find the price. If you’re already there, sound off below with how much it goes to go higher.

We’ll have a full review later this week. In the meantime, give it a try. 

Grab it in the Windows Phone Store, use the QR codes below, or swipe to the right in our app. 

Thanks for the tip everyone!

Just yesterday we reported on how strong of a market India was for Windows Phone. The OS has been the number two in the country for three consecutive quarters now, beating out BlackBerry and the iPhone. Part of that success has been the range of devices released, especially from Nokia. The other piece of the puzzle is the ability for Windows Phone to pick up major apps that consumers are looking for.

Today, two big apps have landed for Windows Phone users in that region: Union Bank of India and KBC, which is better known as ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ to English audiences.

U-Mobile

U-Mobile is the Union Bank of India’s app for Windows Phone users (7.x and 8 supported). The app is chock full of features for those who wish to do their banking on the go and it should keep customers happy. U-Mobile is one of numerous banking apps to land on Windows Phone for our Indian audience, and it should allow Microsoft to continue to hold onto their lead there for market share.

Features in U-Mobile

• User friendly interface with touch screen UI support
• Balance Inquiry
• Mini Statement
• Intrabank Funds Transfer (Mobile to Mobile, Mobile to Account)
• NEFT
• Interbank Mobile Payment Service (IMPS)
• Ecash (Remittance of funds from mobile and withdrawal in cash at bank’s ATM)
• Bill Payment and Donations
• Offline Service Requests

Users can head to the Windows Phone Store to pick up U-Mobile by following this link (or scanning the QR code below).

KBC Official

Kaun Banega Crorepati, better known as KBC in India, is the game show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ personalized for that region.  It’s a very popular show, spanning over into Pakistan and even English markets as well.

The game evidently comes from Sony Entertainment Television Multi Screen Media and comes with only 250 questions. If you want more, you can do an in-app purchase for 1,250 more questions and buy more in 250 blocks for Rs. 55.

The game looks quite fun and goes for around 99 cents. There’s no reason not to try it if you’re a fan of the show.

You can head to the Store here to pick up the game. Windows Phone 8 only

Thanks, Sarang D., for the tips

This week, the massive open world Grand Theft Auto 5 launched on consoles. Sadly, Rockstar has yet to port any of its excellent mobile Grand Theft Auto titles to Windows Phone. But thanks to Gameloft, we do have one open world game on Windows Phone 8: Six-Guns. Of course, Six-Guns takes its inspiration from the Wild West-themed Read Dead Redemption, but it’s still the closest thing to GTA in the mobile Xbox lineup.

Six-Guns is a free to play game – a payment model that can be a blessing or a curse. Is this one of Gameloft’s free to play successes like UNO & Friends or a greedy failure like Real Soccer 2013? Read on for our verdict…

Wild Wild West

While Six-Guns is obviously based on Read Dead Redemption, it focuses far less on story. The handful of story missions it does have were originally added via updates to the original iOS version. The story scenes do come to life via digital comic-style animations and voice acting, at least.

What Six-Guns lacks in narrative, it makes up for in sheer abundance of missions. The game’s two large maps are dotted with glowing hotspots that trigger these missions. Missions come in several varieties, a sampling of which I’ll list now:

• Defense: Guard a location against oncoming enemies either for a set time or a specific number of waves of enemies.
• Offense: Take out all of the enemies in a location.
• Racing: There are actually two types of horse races. The first, and most fun simply pits the player against three AI racers. These racers work well when you don’t feel like engaging in combat. The second requires players to shoot a certain number of targets while also passing through checkpoints within a time limit. Unfortunately, the aiming is so bad (which we’ll get to in a bit) that it makes hitting the targets under time pressure a complete chore.
• Sniping: Requires a sniper rifle, of which there is only one non-premium option. Watch a spot and wait for a courier to deliver goods to the smuggler hiding behind a wall. Because of the bad aiming and super low windows of opportunity to hit the target(s), the sniping mission is ridiculously hard.
• Crypt killing: For some reason, Six-Guns has a lot of supernatural enemies like werewolves, From Dusk Till Dawn-style monstrous vampires, and flying witches. In this mission type, you’ll navigate a maze-like crypt and defeat all of its unholy inhabitants along the way. I actually enjoy the mash-up of Wild West and monsters, but the witches have an obnoxious habit of getting stuck inside of walls, often making them unkillable and forcing a mission failure.
• Rescue: These some in two varieties. In the more interesting one, players must locate and then escort one or more maidens safely out of a vampire’s crypt.
• Shooting gallery: Fun but hard due to aiming issues.

Complete a mission to get gold and experience. When you choose to repeat a mission, not only do the rewards increase, but the round goes up and it gets harder as well. A mission can have up to fifty rounds, which would take hours to get through. That’s the brilliance of Six-Guns’ design – the multi-round missions give it tons and tons of replay value. Oh, and there are non-repeatable collectible missions too.

Controls and aiming

Six-Guns’ generally controls intuitively, just like any of Gameloft’s non-FPS tiles. You walk with a virtual stick, use a fire button to shoot, an aim button for fine aiming, and a roll button for dodging. Tapping the gun icon at the top of the screen reloads, while swiping it changes guns.

Being a western-themed game, the hero can also ride horses! Just press the horse button to whistle for your horse and instantly mount it. Riding gets you everywhere faster and you don’t even have to worry about being thrown to your death like in real life.

While the general controls all work well, aiming is problematic. Much of the time, you’ll get by with the lock-on assist. Once you’ve locked on to an enemy, you can just plug away at them unless the lock gets broken. But fine aiming is simply horrendous. The reticle just moves way too far no matter how lightly you slide your finger.

The jumpy aiming seems to stem from the game’s low frame rate. Like all of Gameloft’s 3D Windows Phone 8 titles, Six-Guns’ frame rate is somewhere around 15-20 frames per second. That’s playable, but 30 FPS is what we consider the low end of smooth. With so many frames skipped all the time, aiming at just the right target can be a real crapshoot.

Free to play foibles

We’ve already detailed the game’s complete array of In-App Purchases and evaluated their usefulness. The question now is how much all those IAPs hurt the game.

IAPs aren’t limited to just vanity items and weapons. Enemies don’t drop ammo; you have to buy it with gold. And you can’t carry around limitless supplies of ammo, either. Each batch of bullets takes up a separate space in the player’s inventory. Additional slots cost gold. Neither of these elements really brings the game down too much. Missions and enemy kills provide more than enough gold for bullets. Bag slots will require some grinding for gold, but you’re never short for missions to grind.

Less forgivably, health refills cost premium currency. Player health recharges over time, but not during missions. To refill during a mission, you’ll need one of those costly health bottles. They can be won from the daily lottery, but unless you abuse the time changing trick you’ll seldom have any bottles on hand. Frankly, either health should recharge during missions or bottles should cost gold.

The game’s store also sells a variety of guns, clothing (armor), and horses for exorbitant quantities of premium currency. This doesn’t hurt the gameplay in and of itself (outside of multiplayer), but the prices fall pretty far on the greedy side. Gameloft has priced the best guns and outfit at $50 or higher in hopes that a few whales (big IAP spenders) will buy them. But it would be more reasonable to price those items closer to $10. Then non-insane players could justify the purchase, which would probably lead to more sales overall.

Multiplayer

Six-Guns’ online multiplayer mode is also affected by those IAPs. See, whatever guns and clothing the player purchases in single-player (premium or not) can be used in multiplayer. Buy good equipment and you’ll tear through players with lesser stuff. Obviously the publisher’s hope is that players will spend money to gain a competitive advantage, but that’s bad game design.

Still, multiplayer is pretty fun as long as you don’t run across somebody with a crazy good weapon. Multiplayer only offers one game type - capture the flag, and only two maps, which feels anemic. But at least there are tons of people playing at all hours, owing to the game being free and running on 512 MB devices.

Two annoying multiplayer bugs: sometimes you’ll repeatedly fail to connect whenever you try to create or join a game. Closing the game by exiting from the title and relaunching seems to fix the connection issues for a while.

The less severe bug involves weapon selection. For some reason, you can only select between a couple of the guns in your inventory during multiplayer. To switch to any other weapon, you’ll need to open the store and equip the gun from there.

Achievements

We’re running long here, so I’ll just touch on the game’s most challenging Achievement: ‘100% Completion.’ It requires players to not just beat every mission but also EVERY ROUND of every mission. That will pretty much take forever, which isn’t a bad thing if you enjoy the game. But it could be frustrating if you’re unable to complete certain missions like the sniping ones. Perhaps the Windows 8 version will help there…

Overall Impression

Six-Guns comes dangerously close to being unforgivably greedy thanks to the health bottles costing money and the sky-high prices of premium items. But you CAN get by without health bottles for the most part, and you don’t need those expensive weapons and clothing. Look past those things and you’ve got a vast game just overflowing with a variety of missions to complete. A player could spend nothing and get a hundred hours out of the game, easily.

If you really like the game and want to support Gameloft, I recommend buying a little gold or a permanent health upgrade since those are priced somewhat fairly. But the cool thing about free to play is that people who don’t like the game or its IAP prices don’t need to drop a cent on it.

I love Six-Guns (other than its erratic aiming) and can’t wait for the impending Windows 8 version. Thanks to cloud saving support, we should be able to hop back and forth between both platforms at our leisure.

• Six-Guns– Windows Phone 8, including 512MB devices – 436 MB – Free – Store Link

I wasn’t too thrilled with last week’s Xbox Red Stripe Deal, but this week’s sale title is a much more solid game. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is on sale for $1.99, down from $4.99. This marks the fourth time it’s been on sale, but the last time was back in November so a lot of Windows Phone newcomers probably missed it.

The non-Xbox Red Stripe Deals are pretty good too. The hidden object game Flux Family Secrets from Big Fish Games is on sale for 99 cents. If you like the genre, consider it a must-buy. And JDB Pocketware’s calendar/productivity app AppoinTile is 99 cents as well. Details and Store links after the break!

Sonic 4: Episode I (Windows Phone 7 and 8)

Regular price: $4.99 Sale price: $1.99 Download size: 105 MB Store Link

While the phenomenal Sonic CD is undoubtedly the better of the two Sonic games on Windows Phone, Sonic 4 is still a pretty good platformer in its own right. It plays much like the classic 2D Genesis games, except that this Sonic also has the modern homing attack to make killing enemies and crossing gaps easier. See our full review for lots more gameplay details.

Platformers are generally a bit tough to play on mobile devices because they lack physical buttons, but Sonic 4 actually plays really well. It only uses a single action button, reducing the likelihood of your thumb slipping to the wrong position.

The bittersweet thing about this game is the Episode I in the title. Consoles and other mobile platforms got an Episode II that’s even better than the first game. Sega announced Episode II for Windows Phone nearly two years ago. At this point, it seems to have been quietly cancelled.

Flux Family Secrets (Windows Phone 8)

Regular price: $1.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 93 MB Store Link

Big Fish’s first Windows Phone release Fairway Solitaire is an awesome puzzle/card game. But the publisher is best known for its hidden object games on PC. Flux Family: the Ripple Effect is one of those games, filled with both object finding and puzzles. If you enjoy Artifex Mundi’s games, you’ll definitely want to try this one too.

Flux Family features:

• Travel back and forth through time to search for items and clues.
• 10 Chapters, over 20 mini games, and multiple interactive scenes.
• Get help! Optional tutorial and hints with auto recharge.
• Visual object list.
• Collectible inventory and toolkit objects.

AppoinTile (Windows Phone 8)

Regular price: $1.99 Sale price: $.99 Download size: 1 MB Store Link

This handy app generates Live tiles from your phone’s calendar appointments.

Features:

• Live tiles showing up to 4 upcoming appointments
• 42-day dynamic calendar with markers on days having activity
• Up to 3 upcoming appointments on your lockscreen
• Summary count of the appointments you have today
• Automatic syncing with your phone calendar
• Customizable layout both for front and back of tiles
• Appointments filtering/hiding
• Can map specific actions to each Live Tile clicking
• Meeting assistant centralizes all the meeting related information to be at your hand during your meeting time
• Time bar shows the meeting duration and progress
• Can add extra reminders for either before, during or after a meeting
• Can send custom 'arriving late' messages to all or to just the organizer, and opt to send by SMS as well
• Email any attendee by just a tap
• Get map directions or dial numbers directly depending on the meeting location
• Copy any meeting field to the clipboard
• And more...!

Thanks to Marcel for the tip!

If you're looking for an action packed, battle riddled, monster filled, see-how-long-you-can-survive type game for your Windows Phone, take a look at Dark Lands.

Dark Lands is one of the many products being generated from the Microsoft/Nokia sponsored AppCampus.  It is an infinite-runner styled game with RPG combat elements. We've been tinkering with the Beta version for some time now and are happy to report that the game has finally been unleashed to the Store.

The graphics are well drawn with a suitable dark, murky tone. You race your character across the countryside dodging obstacles that will leave a scar, battling a wide variety of creatures, and collect bonus items along the way. You also have a healthy selection of bosses to defeat as well.

Game controls are all gesture based to control your jumps, defensive moves, slides and attacks. You're in a constant state of running so your forward movement is taken care of. However, the developer has added a gesture to stop your character to avoid a few new dangers they've added.

You run until your health hits zero and well, your character dies.  As you progress through the game you'll earn experience and credits that can be used to upgrade your character's armor and weapons, as well as upgrade his abilities.

Dark Lands is an impressive game and an entertaining, addictive one for your Windows Phone. It's well suited to help you pass short bits of time or to keep you occupied for longer gaming sessions.

There is a free trial version available for Dark Lands with the full version running $2.99. Dark Lands is available for both Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices and you can find it here in the Windows Phone Store.

Good news for those of you are who racing fans as Gameloft’s Asphalt 8: Airborne is now available for Windows Phone 8 devices. The bad news is it’s a massive 819 MB to download, meaning you’ll need even more to install. The worse news is the game is not an Xbox Live title, as Gameloft has evidently decided to eschew Microsoft’s rigorous certification.

The upside to being a non-Xbox Live title is that Gameloft can update and tweak the game as often as they want, and presumably they will. The other upside is this massive racer only costs $0.99 and yes, there is a free trial as well.

So what is Asphalt 8: Airborne? It’s a relatively new title to the Asphalt series, only launching on Android and iOS back in August. While that’s a three month delay between those platforms and Windows Phone, that is considerably less time that previous games, especially for Gameloft. Of course it did just drop in price to free on Android, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.

The game is fueled by a new graphics engine and features airborne stunt moves, bringing a new twist to the series. Indeed, as can be seen from the teaser trailer above, the graphics are nothing short of stunning. Other than that, the game packs a huge amount of gameplay, locations and cars.

LUXURY DREAM CARS

• 47 high-performance cars (80% of them NEW!)
• Top licensed manufacturers like Lamborghini & Ferrari
• Newly recorded high-fidelity car motor sounds for realistic audio immersion

GET AIRBORNE

• Hit the ramps and take the race above
• Perform barrel rolls and wild 360º jumps
• Maneuver through the air, pulling stunts while racing

NEW EXOTIC LOCATIONS

• Race in 9 different settings like Venice, Guiana & the Nevada Desert!
• Discover plenty of hidden shortcuts

NEW FEATURES FOR SPEED FREAKS

• 8 seasons & 180 events in Career mode
• A detailed damage system
• Check out the new Infected and Drift Gate game modes

SIMULTANEOUS MULTIPLAYER & GHOST CHALLENGES

• Simultaneous multiplayer action for up to 8 real opponents!
• Dare friends to asynchronous races
• New leaderboards

MUSIC TO REV YOUR SOUL

• A heart-thumping mix of amazing licensed music for your game
• Featuring real tracks from Bloc Party, Mutemath & The Crystal Method!

Maybe they’re just hyping their own game a bit, but to our eyes that seems like quite the game, especially for $1.

We’re still downloading the massive game, as 819 MB can take some time even or Wi-Fi, so we can’t give any first impressions—we’ll leave those until later. For now, you can head to the Store here and download Asphalt 8: Airborne. 99 cents, free trial Windows Phone 8 only.

Also available for Windows 8 devices--Read more!

Thanks, Jason D., for the tip!

During our coverage of Casual Connect a few months back, we interviewed Polish developer Artifex Mundi about some of their adventure titles. I also promised to start reviewing those titles, and now it’s time to do just that.

First up is our review of Nightmares from the Deep: the Cursed Heart for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. Cursed Heart is the first game in the Nightmares from the Deep series of hidden object puzzle adventure games (HOPA). With a mix of gameplay styles and plenty of ghostly pirate adventure, Cursed Heart is a great introduction to Artifex Mundi’s games. Read on for our full review!

Where do broken hearts go?

While the Nightmares from the Deep games all feature eerie nautical settings and themes, each title so far has a standalone story. Cursed Heart centers around a supernatural pirate named Remington whose decayed body comes to life inside of a museum. Soon he wrecks the museum and kidnaps the museum director’s daughter. As the director, you must to follow Remington to his island base and rescue her before it’s too late.

Cursed Heart’s story comes to life via fully voiced and decently acted dialog, though an occasional line here or there might be missing a voice sample. The cinematic sequences come in two forms: CG animation and hand-drawn animation. The CG rendered movies look great and match the in-game background artwork in terms of beauty. The hand-drawn sequences are passable, but their character art and grasp of anatomy often leaves something to be desired.

Pirate’s dozen

Besides rescuing your daughter, the main goal in Cursed Heart is to find 12 special doubloons hidden throughout the game. When gathered together, the doubloons will open a magical quest and reveal its mysterious contents.

Each doubloon placed on the chest also causes a movie to play that will reveal a little more of the game’s backstory. The only problem with these scenes and the game’s story in general is that it’s too front-loaded. You’ll learn how the captain got his power, the importance of a woman from his past, and his plans for the director’s daughter far too early in the game. Each doubloon’s story scene fleshes things out a bit more, but you’ll have the whole story figured out long before collecting the last one.

Puzzles

As an adventure game, Cursed Heart has more than its fair share of puzzles. Often these involve scanning the environment for objects to gather and use later. Things you pick up appear in your inventory, which is always accessible from the bottom of the screen. To use an item on something in the environment, simply tap/click and drag it to the desired location.

The game classifies more complex puzzles as minigame puzzles. These come in the standard varieties like assembling a painting from pieces, rotating starfish to make a pattern, mixing a chemical formula, and more.

A few puzzles get too esoteric or unintuitive for my liking, such as a minigame involving reassembling a broken record. I had all the pieces together seemingly perfectly, but the game didn’t lock them in place and register the record as reassembled.

Thankfully, players can skip the occasional problematic puzzle on the default difficulty. You can also use hints to direct you to the next location or important items in the background. Both functions operate on timers, so you can’t just use them nonstop.

Another helpful function is the map system. After leaving the museum, you’ll have access to maps of each subsequent environment. Besides the obvious aid in navigation, maps also indicate locations of the next puzzle or action you’re supposed to do. Maps are still present on the hardcore difficulty option, but the rest of the hints will be disabled.

Hidden objects

Without hidden object sequences, a HOPA would just be an adventure game. Cursed Heart does have a number of hidden object scenes, though they’re spread out a bit between the other types of puzzles. Each scene provides a list of nine or so items to find. Sometimes you’ll have to combine, open, or move things in order to find the right items.

The hidden object scenes, like the background art in general are gorgeously drawn and filled with luscious details. In some games, these scenes are just cluttered with randomly-placed junk and seem to be designed more for challenge than anything else. Cursed Heart’s hidden object sequences show more artistry and less impossible object density, making for much more plausible scenes.

Matching tiles

Players who don’t care for hidden object games will be pleased to know that Cursed Heart provides an alternative to those sequences. Whenever one comes up, you can choose to play mahjong solitaire (also known as Shanghai) instead! You know, that’s the game in which players must match pairs of tiles that are stacked in a pattern. The tiles have pirate themed artwork and everything.

The mahjong solitaire puzzles are focused more on fun than challenge. Players can choose to reshuffle the stack at any time, and it will automatically reshuffle whenever no moves are left. The puzzles do increase in complexity as the game progresses, though.

Variety lovers can mix and match between hidden objects and mahjong as the game goes on, though you’d miss out on a non-Xbox Achievement or two by doing so. Completing either type of puzzle always rewards you with an inventory item that will be needed in order to progress.

Collector’s Edition features

The Windows Phone and Windows 8 versions of Cursed Heart carry a “Collector’s Edition” subtitle. So does the game on other platforms, so it seems like the default edition to me. But the game does include some unlockable bonus features that you wouldn’t find in run-of-the-mill HOPA titles:

• Mini-games: Replay any of 16 mini-games from the main adventure.
• Hidden object scenes: Choose from the 19 hidden object puzzles found in the main adventure.
• Videos: Nine regular story videos and 12 doubloon videos to watch
• Concept art: Nine paintings representing scenes from the game

You can’t select the mahjong solitaire puzzles directly, but they can be replayed from within the individual hidden object puzzles. Other than a dedicated mahjong menu, the only bonus feature the game really lacks is a sound test.

Epilogue

Cursed Heart’s Extras menu holds one more special feature: a Bonus Adventure. This mini adventure functions as an epilogue and lasts an hour or two.

The museum director has survived the main adventure but she must fill find a way to get back home. The Bonus Adventure contains the same exploration, puzzles, and hidden object gameplay you’d find in the main game. It even has voice acted dialog.

While it’s classified as a Bonus Adventure, the epilogue could have just as easily been included within the main game. I guess having it as a separate option is handy for mobile play.

Overall Impression

If you enjoy adventure games, finding hidden objects, or matching mahjong tiles, Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart is a must-play. The sequel Nightmares from the Deep: the Siren’s Callis also available on Windows 8, but the Windows Phone version hasn’t launched yet.

Cursed Heart is available in a free version that is essentially a trial or a full paid version. The paid version offers a trial anyway, so don’t bother with the free one.

• Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart– Windows Phone 8 – 249 MB – $2.99 – Store Link
• Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart– Windows 8 – 475 MB – $6.99 – Store Link

Army Academy is a new Windows Phone 8 adventure from Moxy Games and the developer's first foray with the Windows Phone platform.  Army Academy is a multi-level, running-styled game that has you jumping, swimming and swinging through various boot camp styled courses.

Those courses have a wide range of obstacles and dangers to avoid that include lava pits and electric eels.  Along the way you can collect coins that can be used to purchase power-ups and as you progress through the levels, you can advance in rank.

Moxy Games has a nice portfolio of titles over on the Android and iOS platforms. First impressions are impressive with Army Academy and hopefully more games will be coming our way from Moxy Games.

The main menu for Army Academy has options to jump into game play, along with options to access the game's settings, view the game's Facebook and Twitter pages, and buy coins via in-app purchase (IAP). You also have a "More Games" button but with Army Academy being Moxy Games only Windows Phone title, there's not much to it.

There are two links on the main menu that are a bit of a mystery though. One is a gift icon that I'm guessing is used to donate to the developer, but in pressing it you are taken to an unavailable link on Facebook. The other is a padlock that appears to have no function.  

Jumping into the game you'll find sixty-three levels that progressively get more difficult.  The obstacle courses are held in one of three different environments: a running course over land, swimming challenges from the deep blue sea, and swinging tests through the jungle.  

Your soldier is constantly running and it's your job to jump, slide, swim, swing and punch your way through the course.  Movement controls are achieved through a series of gestures and taps with tutorial windows popping up when you first attempt each environment.  Along the top of the gaming screen you will find a health meter, a map charting your course progress and your gold count and game timer.

Each environment presents its fair share of challenges and threats.  Some dangers will simply hurt you (snake bites, eel stings, etc.) while others will end the game rather abruptly (lave pits, falling into the jungle swamp, etc.).  Just remember to collect air bubble when your attempting the underwater swimming levels.  There is an air tank placed on the left side of the screen that will show your available air.  Collecting air bubbles restores your air tank and prevents your soldier from drowning.

As you race through each level avoiding dangers such as snakes, cactus, electric eels, and lava pits you can collect coins. Coins that can be used to purchase power-ups prior to starting each level.  Any power-ups you purchase will be displayed along the right edge of the screen. Just tap the power-up icon when you feel the need.  Should you have the need to buy more power-ups while in the middle of a gaming level, tap the green "Power Ups" button in the upper left corner of the gaming screen.  This will send you to the store where you can buy the extra power-ups to help you survive the level.

Your final score for each level is noted by one to three stars and is based on your health, coins collected and time.  Each level is re-playable if you feel the need to improve your score or have the desire to build up your coin bank.

While Army Academy comes across as a fun game for our Windows Phone, there is one annoyance.  The game is a free ad-supported title but the ad banner placement isn't the best. It sits at the top center of the screen and obstructs a good portion of the gaming screen.

Luckily, there appears to be a fix in place. If you go to the in-app purchase menu from Army Academy's main menu (the green star button). The first purchase option is to remove the ads.  Oddly, this tile is already marked purchased and all you need to do is tap the tile and the banners go away.

All totaled, Army Academy is an enjoyable, casual game for Windows Phone 8. Graphics are worthy and there are plenty of gaming levels to keep things from growing stale too quickly. The three gaming environments are also a nice touch giving Army Academy a variety of challenges to keep things interesting.  I wouldn't mind seeing a help section, but it isn't a deal breaker because the pop-up tutorials do a good job of covering game play.

Army Academy is a free game available for Windows Phone 8. You can find Army Academy here in the Windows Phone Store. Not for devices with 512 MB of RAM.