Gearbox Software, the development team that's best known for creating the popular Borderlands sci-fi action-RPG series, have just announced their next major game. It's called Battleborn and it's due out for the Xbox One and PC, among other platforms.

Battleborn, at least on the surface, resembles the kind of MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games that have been popularized by titles such as League of Legends and DOTA 2. However, those games are played mostly in third person perspectives while Battleborn aims to combine the strategy of MOBAs with first person shooter gameplay.

The game's first press release states:

The game combines highly-stylized visuals and frenetic first-person shooting, with Gearbox's industry-leading co-operative combat, and an expansive collection of diverse heroes. Battleborn is set in the distant future of an imaginative science-fantasy universe where players experience both a narrative-driven co-operative campaign, as well as competitive multiplayer matches.

Battleborn will be published by Take Two Interactive's 2K Games brand and will be released sometime during the publisher's fiscal 2016 year which ends on March 31, 2016. What do you think of Battleborn at this stage?

Source: Take Two Interactive

The second bit of downloadable content for Titanfall was announced today called Frontier's Edge. It'll include three new maps: a mining outpost called Dig Site, a beach resort called Haven, and a mountainside mining hub called Export. Though there's no word on release date or other features, but it'll cost $9.99 and be available on Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

Frontier's Edge follows on the last Titanfall DLC, Expedition, and we can expect at least one more being released eventually.

How many of you guys are still playing Titanfall? Are you going to pick up this DLC? How's Expedition treating you?

• Buy Titanfall

Source: Titanfall

Do you enjoy soccer (football for everyone outside the borders of the US)? If so, you'll want to check out Disney's latest hit for Windows Phone – Bola Soccer. The game, just like its counterpart already available for Windows 8, enables players to compete against the computer or real players and show off some skill behind the ball (or virtual controls in this case).

Here are some highlights noted on the Windows Phone Store listing:

• Quick game sessions for the enjoyment of novice to experienced players
• Play tournaments in "solo mode"– progress through the map, beat other teams and earn cups
• Play against other players' teams to earn team XP and climb in the leaderboards
• Intuitive controls with simple swipe and tap gestures
• Choose your sponsor to obtain "Bollars" and gain access to the toughest tournaments
• Visit Facebook.com/BOLA for cool game tips, news and more!

Disney Bola Soccer is a fun title with easy controls. Players need to tap to pass, hold to shoot and swipe to run, as well as utilizing other gestures to overcome the opposition. It's available for free but has in-app purchases (up to $14.99). It does not support hardware with 512 MB RAM, unfortunately. (Update: We've just learned that support for 512MB devices is coming soon!)

• Download Disney Bola Soccer for Windows Phone
• Download Disney Bola Soccer for Windows

via: Keith Patton (Twitter)

There are a variety of role playing games available for Windows Phone that are worth downloading and Never Future is one of them. The platform-exclusive title, developed by SneakyBox, is currently free until August 8, a perfect opportunity to try out a highly-rated experience. So head past the break, read more about this post-apocalyptic adventure and download the game for some monster bashing.

Players take control of a young archaeologist who comes across a mysterious artifact. The artifact teleports the hero to an unknown world where he's tasked with locating a way to get back home. In Never Future you will gather, sort and recycle trash in exchange for powerful upgrades. Eventually players will be able to wield weapons of ultimate trash destruction. You'll – of course – have to fight your way through the new world and put these weapons to good use.

Here are some highlighted features:

• Beautiful game regions with lively and interesting characters
• Monsters born from unsorted junk
• Over 50 different maps, including deserts, dungeons, caves, laboratories, cities and oases
• 3 different weapon types (Melee – Driller, Range – Sniper Rifle, Range – Granade launcher) with over 18 upgrades with different attributes (lightning, fire, ice).
• Upgradable armor and special abilities.

The controls are solid, the gameplay is addictive and there's even some humor thrown into the mix to really create something special. You can pick up Never Future from the Windows Phone Store for free (usually $1.99). It even works on hardware with 512 MB of RAM.

• Download Never Future for Windows Phone

Rival Knights is a new action game from Gameloft for both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. The game puts you in the saddle of a horse, jousting your way through medieval knight after knight.

The fast-paced game has tons of equipment upgrades and horses to purchase with your winnings and the 3D graphics are rather spot on. Game play reminds me a bit of the drag racing games where you tap to shift gears in order to pick up speed. However with Rival Knights you have the opportunity to knock your opponent on their keister at the end of the race.

The game is available for 512MB devices and is a fantastic way to pass the time.

Kicking butt medieval style

Just a quick note before we get too far. Rival Knights requires a data connection to play. I imagine it helps minimize the storage space the game takes up (110MB) but it would be nice to an offline gaming mode available.

Once everything loads online, when you first launch Rival Knights, you will be taken through a tutorial that covers not only game play but also helps you set-up your character. You will participate in a training joust and begin your journey to conquer the lands. Once you've made it through the tutorials, when you launch Rival Knights you will find a main menu that has options to view the online leaderboard, access the settings, participate in the weekly player vs. player tournaments and jump into game play.

Rival Knights' settings cover sound and music levels, language selection, notification settings and access to the player manual. Oh, for those who Facebook you can also connect to your Facebook account through the settings as well.

Throughout the game, you will find a series of icons scattered across the top of the screen. From left to right they include:

• Email: Any in game messages such as event status can be accessed here.
• Social Seals: These blue seals are used as entry fees in the weekly events.
• Royal Seals: These red seals are used as entry fees in the jousts in the game's story line.
• League Banner: At the top center of the screen is a colored banner representing which League you are currently competing in. You start in the League of the Rose and work towards reaching the League of the Dragon.
• Coin Count: Coins are earned during game play and used to buy new gear or upgrade your current inventory.
• Gem Count: Gems are also earned during game play and are used to buy power-ups prior to the start of a joust.

While Social and Royal Seals serve as the price of admission to jousts, they will automatically replenish over time. If you are so inclined, you can convert gems into seals or ask your Facebook friends to loan you a few. If you need a boost in coins, you can convert gems into coins. Don't have enough gems, there are in-app opportunities to buy gems that in turn can be converted to coins, used to pick up some store items and pick up power-ups before matches.

Quick digression...

There seems to be a growing trend with games to have an in-app price to play the game. We've seen it in several of the Disney Windows Phone games and while at first I didn't see this feature as much of a bother, it can get annoying. Requiring a token to participate in game play does help you pace yourself but it really sucks if you're competing in a best-of-three tournament and only have two tokens. You tend to lose all gaming momentum while waiting the five minutes for a Royal Seal to replenish.

Now back to the game…

A tale of two games

Rival Knights has two gaming modes. You have the weekly events that pits you against other players in a tournament and the main story line where you battle your way through the five leagues.

The game store is only available in story line play but your gear does carry over into the events mode. The store has purchase opportunities for helmets, armor, horses, lances and emblems (your banner crests). If your funding is slim, you can always upgrade your existing gear (and horse) to keep things competitive.

Opponent selection in the events mode is simple. Just choose an opponent off the player list and have at it. Opponent selection on the story line mode is laid out on a map with your opponents progressively becoming unlocked. Each league has five champions that are a bit tougher to beat than the lesser knights you face in between the champions. Some jousts are winner take all while some are the best two out of three styled matches.

Game mechanics are consistent throughout Rival Knights regardless which gaming mode you choose. You have three factors that come into play - defense, speed and power. Defense is determined by your armor, speed by your horse and power through your lance. At the start of each joust, you can use your gems to buy boosts for one of these three factors.

Jousts begin with an III, II, I, GO! countdown that appears at the top of the game screen. When you see 'Go" appear you need to tap the screen to get your horse running. A meter will appear to the side of the screen with an arrow that will rise up the meter. When the arrow reaches the green section, tap the screen. As long as you tap in the yellow or green sections of this meter, your horse will increase in speed, which will translate into more power.

The mechanics reminds me of the drag racing games where you have to tap the screen at the right time to shift gears.

At some point in your run, the screen will transition to allow you to face off against your opponent. The sweet spot for un-horsing your opponent will be highlighted and your job is to position your lance tip in that spot. Just tap and drag on the screen to do so. The sooner you get your lance positioned, the more power is transferred and the better odds you'll win.

Upon impact, Rival Knights transitions to a slow motion view with either you or your opponent being knocked off the horse. The animations are rather nice, especially when the lances explodes into tiny toothpicks or when the other Knight hits the railing square after spinning a few times in mid-air.

It sounds easy but remember you are traveling 15-20mph on horseback and the game does a really nice job simulating the bounce of being on a horse. Getting a perfect start (tapping right as the 'Go' appears) is also a tough task. Don't get too discouraged if you're too late or too soon out the gate. More times than not, you can make up for it with a few perfect gear changes.

Win or lose you will walk away from a joust with a little extra coin but if you win, the purse is obviously larger. Win a joust and there is also extra prizes available such as free power-ups, a free re-fill on your Royal Seals, new gear becoming available in the store and more.

Overall Impressions

Rival Knights is one of those games that is visually appealing, fun to play and has that addictive draw that keeps things from growing stale too quickly. Game mechanics are simple enough but the pace of the game makes their simplicity somewhat challenging.

The need for tokens to participate in game play is quickly getting old. While these tokens (Social and Royal Seals) will replenish over time, having to wait can kill the gaming experience. I would have rather seen Rival Knights cost $.99 or even $1.99 and drop the token requirements. It is not a terminal issue but can suck some of the wind out of the game's entertainment value at times.

Another nit I have with Rival Knights is the lack of an offline gaming mode. While requiring a data connection does reduce the amount of storage space the game occupies, it would be nice to have a practice match available for the times you need to conserve data or in an area that has crappy wireless coverage (yes, they still exist).

As far as stability is concerned, I did have a few crashes after matches. The crashes seemed to occur more after longer gaming sessions and while noticeable, I can't say the instability was a deal killer but can be a bit of a wet towel.

If you prefer gaming on a larger screen, the Windows 8 version plays best on a tablet but it doesn't suck wind on a larger desktop or laptop computer either. The downside to having both a Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 version of Rivals Knights is that the two versions aren't linked. That is, your game progress on Windows Phone 8 doesn't transpose to the Windows 8 version. Which kinda sucks.

Still, overall, Rival Knights is a fantastic Windows Phone game for the times you want to blast someone off a horse. It's a great gaming option for the times you only have a few minutes to kill or are in the mood for a little longer gaming session.

Rival Knights is available for 512MB devices.

• Rival Knights - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link
• Rival Knights - Windows 8 - Free - Store Link

Do you watch a lot of television shows? If you do, you should check out Themesong IQ for Windows Phone. It tests your knowledge (or memory) in TV theme songs. It's surprisingly fun and we have a feeling it's going to keep getting better with updates. Head past the break to see some gameplay with the Nokia Lumia Icon.

Here's how Themesong IQ works:

• Randomly picks 4 shows from the user's selected genre and only shows the images
• The game then plays the theme song from one of the shows
• You select the proper show to get it correct

Themesong IQ currently has four categories based on decades: The 1960's 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's. There will be more genres added in future updates. For example, the developer can add "Super hero movies" or "Soap Opera" genres.

A round begins immediately after selecting a genre. Images for four TV shows appear and slowly zoom out. You have 10 seconds to choose the correct answer. You can earn up to 100 points per round. The amount of points you earn decreases by 10 points per second. Tap on one of the photos to select your answer. If it takes you 4 seconds to solve the round, you get 60 points.

There are five rounds per category. At the end, you see your Themesong IQ score. If you want to brag, you can share the score by clicking the 'share' button.

Themesong IQ is available at the Windows Phone Store for free. It also works with low memory devices. This free game shows ads, but you can remove them with an in-app purchase for 99 cents.

Do you have suggestions on what genres you'd like to see in the next update? Since Themesong IQ uses the MixRadio servers, there is a high chance that all suggestions are available.

Thanks for the tip, Lance M.!

UK-based Dovetail Games has announced a new agreement with Microsoft that will have the developer create and publish "all-new flight products based on Microsoft's genre-defining flight technology" while also gaining the rights to publish Microsoft's last game in its Flight Simulator series as a digital release on Steam.

Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition will be released in late 2014 on Valve's game download service via Dovetail Games. It will contain the content in the Gold edition of the 2006 released Microsoft Flight Simulator X combined with its Acceleration Expansion Pack.

The bigger news is that Dovetail Games will use the Flight Simulator engine from Microsoft to create new flight sim games on its own. Dovetail said that it is "currently investigating new concepts in this area and is expecting to bring a release to market in 2015." The specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dovetail Games was formed in 2009 and has released a series of popular Rail Simulator games for the PC over the past several years.

Microsoft Flight Simulator was one of Microsoft's longest running PC software products. The first version was released in 1982, even before the first version of Windows. Microsoft ended up developing and publishing over a dozen games in the series in a span of over 25 years.

In 2009, Microsoft shut down its internal Aces Studio, the team responsible for the Flight Simulator series. The company tried to re-launch the franchise as a free-to-play game called Microsoft Flight in 2012 but stopped adding extra content to the game just a few months after it went online. Microsoft plans to shut down the online servers for Microsoft Flight in October, although the single player portion of the game will still work.

If you are a long time Microsoft Flight Simulator fan, what do you think about this new plan for another developer to make games using Microsoft's flight sim engine?

Source: Dovetail Games

Xbox games for Windows Phone have fallen on hard times. New releases are all but non-existent on Windows Phone, and Windows 8 releases have dwindled to a smattering of casual games that Microsoft likely commissioned long ago. This has caused a measure of discomfort to some gamers who joined the mobile Windows platforms for Xbox Live games. I felt pretty bad about it for a while (a year ago).

As if the lack of new mobile Xbox releases and PR from Microsoft wasn't bad enough, the existing lineup of Xbox Windows Phone and Windows 8 games is starting to disappear. Last month we brought the news of Zombies!!! disappearing from the Windows 8 store, only to reappear as a non-Xbox game. Many more games have been delisted within the last few weeks as well, including Carcassonne, The Harvest, and Rocket Riot. Read on for a full list and some insights into why mobile Xbox games are dropping like flies.

Recently delisted Xbox Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT games

• Carcassonne from Exozet (Windows Phone 7 and 8)
• Crash Course Go from Wanako/Behavior Interactive (Windows 8, Xbox 360)
• Disney The Little Mermaid: Undersea Treasures! From Disney (Windows 8)
• Gunpowder (Windows 8) from Rogue Rocket
• The Gunstringer: Dead Man Running from Other Ocean (Windows 8)
• The Harvest from Luma Arcade (Windows 8 and Steam versions. The Windows Phone version remains at least temporarily, but is restricted to Windows Phone 7 devices.)
• Rocket Riot from Codeglue (Windows Phone and Windows 8)
• Royal Envoy 2 from Playrix (Windows 8)
• Team Crossword from ? (Windows 8)
• Zombies!!! from Babaroga (Windows 8. Windows Phone version delisted and republished without Xbox features last year.)

All of these games were published by Microsoft, as independent developers were seldom allowed to self-publish Xbox games on pre-Xbox One platforms. Some were created as work-for-hire projects for Microsoft, while others were created on the developer's own volition.

We've also heard there is a significant chance of Doodle God (Windows Phone) and Hydro Thunder Hurricane (Windows 8) being delisted in the near future. Doodle God would be no great loss since its sequels like Doodle Creatures are readily available on Windows Phone and Windows 8 anyway.

Trimming the Xbox portfolio

We've seen mass delistings of mobile Xbox games in the past, most notably when Microsoft pulled nearly all of the Windows Phone 7 games with in-app purchases in September of last year. Is this latest disappearance of 10 Windows Phone and Windows 8 games a result of technical issues and unwillingness on Microsoft's part to update the titles afflicted by those issues as well?

I reached out to the developers of the affected games (except for Team Crossword since I never downloaded it and don't know who made it for Microsoft), and most were kind enough to respond.

The reason for this new mass delisting is ownership. Although Microsoft published all of the affected games and controlled some aspects of their fates (such as pricing and updates), most of the titles still belong to their individual developers. That's the sort of publishing agreement that developers generally want, but Microsoft seems to be shifting away from those deals. Recently, Ryse 2 for Xbox One was reportedly cancelled due to developer Crytek's unwillingness to relinquish ownership of the Ryse IP.

"Microsoft publishing decided to trim out any titles that they do not own, and that do not fit their current portfolio," one of the affected developers explains. The game received notice of the delisting about six weeks in advance, the notification coming by call or email. Most of the developers were given the option to republish their games without Xbox features. Exceptions include Gunpowder and Gunstringer: Dead Man Running; those games are still owned by Microsoft and will not return unless the big MS has a change of heart.

Effects on developers and consumers

Developer reactions to the delistings have largely been those of disappointment:

"We were disappointed to see [our game] pulled from Windows Store as well. It's really a bummer … On the distribution front, the Windows marketplace experience was definitely a struggle."

"While we are disappointed by the decision we don't feel like any wrong was done to us. We see it as Microsoft is going through a number of internal changes and this is what happens."

"This means that anyone who purchased before will not get any further updates nor fixes, and if they switch devices, and there will be no way to get the app back. They will have to buy it again if they want it. This was not our choice… I am very done with MS publishing. Very bitter taste."

One developer took Microsoft's side:

"Microsoft is trying to stimulate developers to do more updates on their games. Letting developers publish themselves is the best way to do this."

In fact, all of the game makers who have chosen to republish are excited about the prospect of being able to update their games at will. The end result will be better versions of those games than would have existed under the mobile Xbox banner. The games that will definitely return without Xbox features include Zombies!!! (already back on both platforms), Rocket Riot, and Carcassonne. The Harvest will likely return to Windows later this year, though it's unclear whether that would mean Windows 7, Windows 8, or both.

The delistings carry some obvious downsides though:

• A few Achievement hunters will refuse to play the new versions, as with the vast majority of mobile Windows games, because non-Xbox games don't feed their Achievement addictions.
• A handful of the affected games simply won't return to our platforms in any form.

Just as the delistings are a matter of ownership to Microsoft, they also impact consumer ownership. As a quoted developer pointed out, players who purchased the Xbox versions of the delisted titles (or bought currency in The Gunstringer) will lose access to those titles if they uninstall them or change devices. Affected players can seek refunds directly through Microsoft support. I've had some success in procuring refunds for delisted games the past.

The special case of Carcassonne

The delisting experience was largely out of the developers' hands, with the exception of Exozet, makers of Carcassonne for Windows Phone. Carcassonne was the first Xbox Windows Phone game to offer real-time multiplayer, although the feature proved impractical and problematic in practice (see our review). Microsoft never cared for the real-time concept in mobile Xbox games, so developers like Exozet and Gameloft couldn't rely on established frameworks and tools in order to implement their multiplayer modes.

Exozet would have loved to improve the multiplayer via title update. They also planned to adapt the physical board game's expansions and offer them as downloadable content, as evidenced by the "Coming soon" message in the game menus. But Microsoft would not allow the developer to update the game or publish new content for it – a common complaint among mobile developers whose games Microsoft published. Check out our developer interview to learn what Carcassonne's future could have been like.

In this case, Exozet was not content to cede the future of their game to the apathetic publisher's hands. They asked Microsoft to delist the game so that they could publish a new version and retain full control over its content, features, and updates. The new version will offer an identical experience to Exozet's Carcassonne games for Windows 8 and RT (released a few months ago) and Android.

Those versions of the game are built with the Unity Engine, as the new Windows Phone game will be. Windows 8 and Android players can already buy the expansions such as "Inns and Cathedrals" that were denied to them on Windows Phone.

Neither tablet version has online multiplayer just yet, but that feature will be coming soon. In fact, cross-platform online multiplayer will be coming to Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Android! Just another feature we would never have gotten from the Xbox Windows Phone game.

Although Exozet has expressed displeasure at being unable to update the phone version of Carcassonne in the past, the experience has not diminished the studio's enthusiasm for Windows platforms.

"We love working with Microsoft and we love developing for Windows platforms and therefore we are actually glad we could do this now," the developer explains.

The new Windows Phone version of Carcassonne should arrive later this month or in August. To see what it will be like right now, check out the impressive Windows 8 version.

• Carcassonne – Windows 8 and RT – 55 MB – $3.99 – Store Link

Some time ago, we ran across a decent endless runner styled Windows Phone game from Loon Apps, Covy Rush, where you guide a rabbit through an obstacle course full of dangers. Covy Land is the follow-up to Covy Rush that has similar dangers but is presented as more of a platform styled game.

Covy Land has you guiding the rabbit, Covy, across thirty levels of play and help Covy find all her children. You will have traps and blocks to avoid along with secret passages to discover.

Available for 512MB devices, Covy Land does have a certain amount of appeal. Graphic are nicely drawn-up, game play is challenging with a fast pace but the game does have a Kid's Corner feel about it, which may not be attractive to everyone.

Main Menu

No surprises with Covy Land's main menu. You have options to view the online leaderboard (and set your player name), rate the game in the Windows Phone Store, play the game and view other games from Loon Apps.

Across the top of the main menu is a heart button to like the game's Facebook page, you carrot count, how many family members you have rescued, an Ad-Deals network link and a mute button.

The story behind the game has Covy's family being scared off by a mysterious monster. Once the dust settles, Covy must set out to find all her children (79 of them). After viewing the storyboards that illustrate the fate of Covy's children, the game will walk you through a tutorial on game play. Once you finish viewing the tutorial you are ready to tackle the gaming levels and find the 79 bunnies.

Game Play

The goal of each level is simple. Safely avoid all the dangers, collect all your bunnies and make it to the finish line. The mechanics of Covy Land are simple. Covy starts running across the screen and it's your job to have her jump at the right instance to avoid various dangers. Jump controls consist of an on-screen control that sits in the lower left corner of the screen.

Tap and hold the jump button and a green trajectory arrow will appear. You can then drag your finger around to line up Covy's jump just right where she can avoid all the pitfalls each level offers.

Sounds fairly easy, right? Just remember that while you're lining up all the jumps, Covy is still running across the screen. Without the ability to slow or stop Covy from running, the game pace can have a little zip to it. Covy can run into walls and stop but without any momentum, your ability to jump may be restricted a bit.

Carrots are lying around that, when collected, gives Covy a boost of speed. Then there's the missing bunnies that you'll run across that need to be collected. If you miss one of the bunnies, fear not, you can always replay levels.

Overall Impression

Just as we saw with Covy Rush, Covy Land is a nice Windows Phone game that does grow on you. Graphics are nice and game play has a fast pace with plenty of challenges. The developer has added a lot to the game to add a little beef to things with leaderboards, levels of play and the secret passages.

While an enjoyable game, it still lacks that addictive quality that keeps pulling you in. Covy Land is a fun game to have installed on your Windows Phone to help you pass the time every now and then but I just don't see it as a 'go to' game.

Based on the game's appearance, I can see it being an appealing children's game but the controls need to be simplified. Maybe tap the screen to jump, double tap to jump higher? This could be an option in the game's settings to give the game a little versatility.

Nonetheless, the game is a decent Windows Phone title that delivers the endless runner play of Covy Rush to the mult-level play of Covy Land. I think the game is worth a try and it may surprise a few.

Covy Land is available for low-memory devices.

• Covy Land - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Just as we covered the other day, Subway Surfers has been updated with the Paris content patch. But that's not all as the developer has also implemented the highly anticipated 512MB RAM support for those with low-end Windows Phones.

To remind you all as to what's new in this latest release, here's a quick changelog:

• The Subway Surfers World Tour visits France
• Take Coco, the lovable mime, for a surf in the stunning metro of Paris
• Zap from side to side on the new sci-fi Teleporter board
• Add colour and style to your collection with new Outfits for Coco and Prince K

Let us know how much you're enjoying Subway Surfers on your Windows Phone in the comments..

• Download Subway Surfers for Windows Phone

Thanks to everyone who tipped us!

Death Drop isn't your typical Windows Phone game in that you are tasked with jumping your gaming character from a perfectly good airplane and guide him to a target on the ground.

The gaming concept doesn't sound too off-beat until you realize there are no parachutes involved in this game. Each jump destination has multiple targets to strike that range from park benches to garden gnomes to moving vehicles. It's your mission to slam your daredevil into these targets with little regard to safety.

Available for 512MB devices, Death Drop may not hold up to marathon gaming sessions but if you are looking for something off the beaten path, it may be worth a try.

Death Drop's Layout

Death Drop's layout isn't very complicated. You have access to the game's settings and store in the upper left corner along with your coin count (earned during game play). Settings cover turning on or off the game's sound/music and choosing your gaming controls. Game control options include using an on-screen joystick or the Windows Phone tilt sensors.to guide your character through the air as he falls.

Death Drop has eight drop zones that are progressively unlocked. Each drop zone has a collection of targets you will need to land on to win coins. You also have an "X" mark that is hidden somewhere in the jump zone.

The coins in turn can be used in the game's store to buy new jump suits for your character or adrenaline that will make you fall faster and smash into objects harder. You also have in-app purchase opportunities to buy coins ($.99 to $4.99) in case you would like to get a jump on things.

Death Drop's Game Play

When you are ready to jump from the airplane, just tap the "jump" button bar and your daredevil will begin his descent to the ground.

You can steer your daredevil left, right, forwards or backwards to line him up with any of the targets in the landing zone. Tap on the screen and your daredevil will tuck and dive to increase his fall.

At the bottom corner of the gaming screen, you will see a tablet icon. Tap on the icon to pull up a map view of the "X" target. It may show landmarks that can be used as a clue as to where the target is located.

Hit something, anything, and you earn coins. Hit one of the targets and obviously, your coin reward is greater.

Overall Impression

While the gaming concept is a little on the sadistic side, it grows on you just a little the more you play Death Drop. The graphics are nice and the animations aren't bad either with your daredevil character bouncy all over the place once he hits the ground.

The game isn't without challenge in that you have very little free-fall time and the targets can be difficult to identify in enough time to line things up. Death Drop does take a lot of variables into account (high rise buildings, trees, roller coasters, etc.) that may interfere with direct access to your targets. Moving targets are a challenge alone calling on you to time your fall just right to hit the vehicle.

Death Drop may not appeal to everyone but if you are in the mood for a game that strays from the beaten path, the game is worth a try.

Death Drop is available for low-memory devices.

• Death Drop - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Have you ever wondered what it's like to drive and operate a forklift? You can try with Extreme Forklifting for Windows Phone. It has been available for iOS and Android, but now it's on our favorite platform, too. Head past the break to watch some gameplay video with the Nokia Lumia Icon.

The basic idea of Extreme Forklifting is to pick up pallets from point A and then drop them off at point B. Do it quickly and without damaging the pallets to get bonus points. As you gain experience, pallets become heavier and drop-off locations become trickier.

Learning to control the forklift is a fun challenge itself. There's a steering wheel to the left and two levers to the right. Throttle forward or backwards with the lower lever. Move the fork up or down with the upper lever. You can change the camera view by swiping left or right on the screen.

Once you have mastered moving with the forklift, it becomes easier to transfer pallets. There's a red imaginary line in front of the forklift that helps you line up with the pallets. After every delivery, you get a message with the base pay earned, bonus points for fast delivery, and any penalties for damaging the goods. It doesn't stop there. You move on to the next pallet.

Extreme Forklifting is fun for the first few minutes, but it quickly becomes repetitive. There's only one shipping yard and we don't see any option to upgrade the forklift. We'd love to see upgrades to go faster or handle heavier loads. Perhaps we'll see that in an update.

Extreme Forklifiting is available at the Windows Phone Store for free, but displays ads during gameplay. We don't see an in-app purchase option to remove the ads. Have some time to kill? Check out Extreme Forklifting and let us know what you think in the comments!

Another popular game from iOS, Android, and Blackberry has just made its way to the Windows Phone Store. Sheep Up! has been a big success with over a million downloads on other platforms, and now Windows Phone users get to play it, too. In collaboration with Nokia, Microsoft, and AppCampus (appcampus.fi), the developers have included exclusive content with a new edition of the game to launch on Windows Phone. It's called Sheep Up! Black Light. Head past the break to watch some gameplay on the Nokia Lumia Icon.

Features:

• 3 Eye catching cardboard worlds with 30 challenging levels
• 1 New Cyber World with 10 new theme-based levels
• 22 Stunning and super funny Sheep Suits
• 5 New futuristic sheep suits
• Sheep suits share (NFC)
• 8 different power ups
• Localized in 10 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Russian.

Sheep Up! Black Light is a tilt-based puzzle platform game with a top-down camera view. The main character, a tiny toy sheep, has been stored inside a cardboard box together with other old toys. It needs your help to escape. Tilt your device as the sheep keeps bouncing. Each level consists of multiple floors that are navigated one at the time. The goal is to reach the exit platform and jump up to the next floor. Figure out how to find the exit and avoid falling off or jumping on pins.

As you go higher, platforms get smaller, and obstacles get trickier. To help you out, there are some power ups like clocks that freeze time and umbrellas that prevent you from falling.

Each world has its own theme. For example, the first world has a seasons theme, the second world has a food theme, and the third world has an aquarium theme. Each world has 10 levels. If you fall off a platform, land on pins, or get hit by enemy toys, the game gives you an option to continue. It costs points, so use them sparingly. If you don't click continue, you start the level again from the beginning.

If you've already played Sheep Up! on other platforms, what's new for Windows Phone is Cyber World and the futuristic sheep suits. Imagine a bouncing sheep inside a Tron world. Complete the three original worlds before unlocking Cyber World or you can unlock it with 5,000 game coins. Don't have enough? There are in-app purchases available for extra coins. For example, 5,000 coins cost $2.49.

By default, you control the sheep by tilting your phone. If you go to settings, you can change the sensitivity. If the tilting motion is not working out for you, you can change to using touch instead. Pressing anywhere on the screen moves the sheep towards that direction.

Sheep Up! Black Light is a free download from the Windows Phone Store. We think it's worth checking out. Go download it now and let us know what you think. We're sure it will at least put a smile on your face.

Thanks for the tip,ShauryaP.!

Tap Tap Glider is a nicely drawn up endless runner styled game that has you piloting a paper airplane through a maze of obstacles.

Controls are minimal and game play has its moments. Tap Tap Glider plays out like Line Birds or, dare I say, Flappy Bird and is an enjoyable time killer of a game. Available for low-memory devices, Tap Tap Glider could use a few more features but as is, the game is an appealing addition to the Windows Phone gaming library.

Simply layout, simple controls, challenging game

Tap Tap Glider has a straightforward main menu with options to mute the sound and music in the upper right corner along with options to jump into the game or view the tutorial (how-to play) screens just below.

The game does have four different colored airplanes to fly that are progressively unlocked based on the distance you travel. It gives the game a little variety but I couldn't help but think more choices could have been available (e.g. flying tiger pattern, red baron paint job, etc.)

Controls are equally straightforward with Tap Tap Glider. The game starts with your airplane resting on a desktop. Tap the screen to launch the plane and tap the screen again for the plane to ascend upwards. Release the screen and your plane descends.

You will find a collection of hanging plants, lights, stacks of books, coffee cups and other items that you have to fly over or beneath. Additionally, the game has bubbles scattered about the flight course that can be collected that will launch a plane's special ability when the left side of the screen is tapped.

As with most endless runner styled games, the further you travel the more challenging the game becomes.

Overall Impression

Tap Tap Glider is an entertaining gaming title for Windows Phone that isn't a bad option to consider when you have a few minutes to burn. I think the key to success is finding the right spot on the screen to tap where you finger doesn't get in the way.

Tap Tap Glider is ad-supported with a banner ad that sits at the bottom of the screen. The game does generate an annoying full-screen ad from time to time that I could live without.

While the game does grow on you, it could use a few more features to keep things from growing stale too quickly. Better options for the paper airplanes for starters would be nice. Something more than just a color change to spruce things up. Would bonus rockets that would destroy everything in your path be too much?

All in all, Tap Tap Glider is a fun time killer of a game that has potential. It is available for 512MB devices and if you are hunting for a casual gaming title to add to your Windows Phone game library, it's worth a try.

• Tap Tap Glider - Windows Phone 8 - Free- Store Link

Microsoft fans dream of a connected ecosystem in which we can buy a game once and play it on phone, tablet, PC, and console. We're not quite there yet, but at least some game developers are supporting all of those platforms. Take London-based indie developer Mudvark Limited. Mudvark's debut title Mortar Melon is already available on both Windows Phone and Windows 8 and RT. And soon it will come to Xbox One as part of the ID@Xbox program.

Mortar Melon is a physics-based puzzle game in which players try to fire watermelons through obstacle-filled levels and safely into a basket. The game is free to play on both Windows Phone and Windows 8, with an extra batch of levels available as an in-app purchase. It runs on Windows Phones with 512 MB of RAM, so everybody can have fun breaking, I mean saving watermelons.

From cannon to basket

Some physics puzzle games have slingshots, birds, and pigs to shoot. Instead of that boring stuff, Mortar Melon gives players a cannon and a watermelon that needs a happy home (a basket). To send the watermelon to its new family, you'll have to either shoot it directly into the basket or bounce it off a series of obstacles along the way.

The deadliest of those obstacles are buzzsaws that will turn your favorite fruit into into gooey red chunks. Some objects prove less obstructive, such as rotating windmills or locked gates that can be opened via tap or click. The premium desert level pack introduces jars that will act like portals, magically transporting the watermelon from place to place.

Just beating a level by reaching the basket only gets you one star. To earn a full three-star rating, players must collect all of the additional fruit strewn throughout the level. Sometimes the fruit will be encased in bubbles that threaten to carry it off-screen and out of your life. Nobody wants to lose their fruit and face the threat of scurvy! Pop the bubble by tapping, clicking, or hitting it with the watermelon.

Fun but fiddly

The basic concept of shooting an object from one place to another should be instantly familiar to mobile gamers. To aim the cannon in Mortar Melon, you pull back on it and release. A dotted guide line will plot the course of the projectile, but only until it strikes something (not the subsequent bounces).

Simple concept, but the aiming here is not as smooth and intuitive as you'd expect. The cannon can be rotated in 360 degrees, and sometimes it will rotate wildly when you're just trying to adjust the strength of the shot. I'm thinking the solution would be to limit the rotational axis to meet each level's requirements.

Controlling shot strength proves tough as well, even with a mouse. The arc jumps from minimum to maximum way too quickly. As a result, firing shots of low and medium strength requires a lot of trial and error. There needs to be much more of a middle ground and less wild swinging of the cannon.

Lovely vegetation

Mortar Melon is a colorful game, filled with layers of parallax scrolling. The lovely looks (moreso on Windows 8) shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. One of Mudvark's three-man team is Henry Hoffman, who worked on the gorgeous Mush for Windows Phone. Mush is prettier overall, but the similarity of the two art styles is hard to miss. The actual frame rate is lower than it should be on my Lumia 1520, but it runs perfectly on my gaming notebook.

Mortar Melon includes 24 jungle levels for free. Players who crave more can get the 24 desert levels as an in-app purchase. Unfortunately, Mortar Melon is not a universal app – seemingly due Game House publishing the Windows 8 version but not the Windows Phone game. The extra levels cost $1.29 on Windows Phone and $1.49 on Windows 8.

Given that Mortar Melon debuted last year, it seems unlikely that Mudvark will improve the aiming controls at this point. But physics puzzle fans should still give the game a go, especially with the first 24 levels costing nothing. I'm excited to see how well the upcoming Xbox One version will play with a controller. We'll let you know when it gets a release date!

• Mortar Melon – Windows Phone 8 – 5 MB – Free – Store Link
• Mortar Melon – Windows 8 and RT – 12 MB – Free – Store Link

If you are looking for a casual puzzle game, that has plenty of challenging levels to tackle, take a look at Plumber Reloaded for Windows Phone 8.

Available for Windows Phone 8 devices, including low-memory models, Plumber Reloaded calls on you to connect various elemental symbols together with pipes. The challenge comes into play in that you cannot cross the pipes.

Plumber Reloaded isn't an overly complicated Windows Phone game but six levels of difficulty, 430 puzzle levels and three game modes it'll keep you busy for a while.

Plenty of gaming

Plumber Reloaded's main menu offers opportunities to access the game's tutorials, play a training game, jump into main game play, choose a level of play and opt for one of the time attack modes.

The three game modes include your standard game play where you are trying to solve the puzzles as quickly as possible with the fewest errors. There are also three timed modes, sprint, summer run and marathon as well as the training mode (no time limit, no score).

Standard game play includes 430 levels of play that is spread across six different difficulties that include:

• Piece of Cake
• No Sweat
• Could be worse
• Hard as a rock
• Mission Impossible
• Bonus Levels

The timed modes will randomly pull puzzles from these levels and have you race the clock to solve them.

Game Play

The goal of Plumber Reloaded is to connect elemental tiles with pipes in a manner where the pipes do not cross. Each puzzle level will present you with a grid that has pairs of colored tiles marked with various symbols (water, fire, radioactive, bio-hazard, etc.).

Just tap on one of the tiles and drag your finger along the grid's columns and rows to generate a pipe connection between the two tiles. Should you need to re-draw your pipe connection, just tap on one of the tiles.

Below the gaming board you will find your lives available, levels to complete, score and a timer. Each game mode will have a timer (time limit will vary) and if you haven't solved the puzzle before time draws to an end, you lose a life.

There is also a pause button at the bottom of the screen. It seems to be a little buggy in that it sends you back to the main menu instead of pausing the game.

Overall Impression

Plumber Reloaded is a fun, casual styled puzzle game. It has plenty of gaming modes and levels of play that helps the game from growing stale too quickly but I found that a few performance bugs in the game, held its appeal back just a tad.

For example, when you move to complete a puzzle the scoring summary jumps into place before the last section of pipe is drawn. There feels like a slight pause should be in place to reveal the completed puzzle.

You also have the pause button that serves more as an exit button and while you can lose a life in the standard game, you have 9,999 lives. I would have rather seen the time limit removed from the standard game or set the lives to a reasonable number to add to the game's challenge.

While Plumber Reloaded needs a little work, as is, it's a puzzle game worth trying. There is not a trial version available but the developer does offer a free demo version to let you try things out. Why the developer didn't simply offer a trial version of the paid version is a bit of a mystery.

Both versions are available for 512MB devices as well as the 1GB+ devices.

• Plumber Reloaded Demo - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link
• Plumber Reloaded - Windows Phone 8 - $.99 - Store Link

Earlier this week we mourned the loss of multiple Xbox games that were recently delisted from the Windows 8 Store. It seems that Microsoft is no longer interested in publishing mobile Xbox titles that it does not fully own. But new Xbox games for Windows 8 do still pop up occasionally, such as Microsoft Sudoku back at the end of June. And hey, they're releasing Zoo Tycoon Friends for Windows Phone and Windows 8 later this year.

Another Xbox game for Windows 8 and RT has just become available in all regions after enjoying the traditional soft launch in Trinidad and Tobago: Microsoft Jigsaw. As you might expect, Microsoft Jigsaw is another casual free-to-play title that fits right in with Microsoft Sudoku, Microsoft Bingo, Microsoft Microsoft, and other first-party Windows 8 games. Jigsaw puzzle fans and your grandmother are sure to love it.

Three ways to put it together

Microsoft Jigsaw offers three game modes:

• Classic Jigsaw: Select a puzzle and then choose to play one of four difficulties. The faster you assemble the puzzle, the higher your star rating for it will be.
• Jigsaw Jam: A faster paced original mode in which players have to quickly find one specific piece in order to maintain a score multiplier.
• Daily Challenge: Like other Microsoft-brand Windows 8 games, this one offers up different challenges to play every day. This one has three kinds of challenges: Bug Catcher, Lock Breaker and Jigsaw Jammer. The first two challenges involve surrounding a moving bug with pieces and completing a puzzle within a set number of moves. Jigsaw Jammer works just like the separate Jigsaw Jam mode.

A year's worth of challenges

The Daily Challenge mode sounds cool in theory, but Achievement hunters might scoff at the surprising time investment the mode requires. Completing enough challenges during a month to achieve certain score milestones will get you a bronze, silver, and gold medal for that month. Playing every day for a month, that's kind of a lot but not unreasonable as far as Achievements go.

That said, Microsoft Jigsaw has three Achievements (worth 35 GamerScore in total) for earning 8-12 monthly medals. Remember, players can only get one medal of each kind per month. You'll have to play pretty much daily for an entire year in order to get these Achievements. Maybe that will be fun for somebody, but I imagine most will find the grind excruciatingly boring.

For more Achievement info in general, refer to this Achievement Guide. It suffers from some grammatical errors but should still be useful for completionists.

Not bad for a puzzle game

It's easy to dismiss Microsoft Jigsaw as just another casual free-to-play game in the Xbox Windows 8 lineup. But the developers actually squeezed a fair amount of features that someone who likes jigsaw puzzles would want into this game.

The puzzle selection screen shows every puzzle as a box, just as you'd see when selecting a puzzle from the shelf in real life. Players can zoom in and out, automatically sort pieces, and manually sort pieces into trays. You can even create custom puzzles using the image files from your PC or tablet, a super simple but cool feature nonetheless.

Microsoft Jigsaw initially offers two puzzle packs to choose from. Players can spend gold bricks (premium currency) to unlock more. You can opt to purchase gold bricks or simply earn them manually by playing the game. Pretty much everything you do other than playing custom puzzles gets you gold, so it's a fair system overall. Cloud saves too.

If you like putting puzzles together, consider this game a worthwhile download. Shame it didn't launch on Windows Phone too though, don't you think?

• Microsoft Jigsaw – Windows 8 and RT – 192 MB – Free – Store Link

Thanks to Rockin' Robby Herbert for the tip!

Windows Phone Central Roundup: Golf Apps and Games

Summer is in full swing and many are taking to the golf course to enjoy the sunshine and hit the tiny white ball all over the place. For others, sitting in the comfort air conditioning and picking up the sticks in the form of a video game may be more appealing.

Regardless of your preference, there is a small collection of golf apps and games in the Windows Phone Store that should appeal to most duffers (real or virtual). We have picked a handful of the higher rated offerings in this week's roundup. They include a few golfing games and apps that may help you navigate the course a little better. We also have an app that will keep you up to date on all the news and standings from the professional golfing ranks.

Pocket Golf

Pocket Golf is one of those simply laid out games that is fun to play and challenging enough to keep you interested. The golfing game takes on a two dimensional approach to things with courses that stray considerably from your traditional layouts.

Pocket Golf includes 15 courses with 135 uniquely drawn-up holes. You can tackle the coursed in either the campaign or free-play game modes and power-ups will become available as you progress through game play to enhance your gaming skills.

The game also has daily challenges that you can try to tackle for bonus rewards and see how your game play ranks against other Pocket Golf duffers.

Courses are progressively unlocked as you successfully complete the previous courses. Game controls are simple with directional arrows to aim your shot and a power meter to set the power of each stroke. You don't have to worry about club selection and shots can be played off the edges of the screen (you can even get your feet wet and play out of the water hazards).

Holes can be rather complex with sand traps, water hazards and elevated platforms to play from. Each hole can be zoomed in or out by touch and if you do land in a water hazard, don't worry, you can play out of the water without penalty.

Pocket Golf may not follow the traditional designs with respect to golf courses but it still makes for an enjoyable round of golf.

Pocket Golf is available for low-memory devices.

• Pocket Golf – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x – Free – Store Link

PGA Tour

Need to keep up with the pro golfers while on the go? The PGA Tour Windows Phone app delivers everything from real-time leaderboards to player statistics to videos from the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, NEC Tour, Web.com Tour, PGA Tour China and PGA Tour Canada.

The app is laid out simple with pages for each Tour that includes:

• .Leaderboard for the current tournament
• .Groupings and Tee Times
• .Tour Feed Page (videos and news)
• .Tour Standings (FedEx Cup, Charles Swab Cup, etc.)
• .Player Profiles
• .Tour Schedule

Keep in mind that some of the tours will send you to the online browser pages where you will have access to similar features. Just in browser format.

Navigation between the different tours is done by tapping the drop down menu located in the upper right corner of the screen. This menu will also give you access to the PGA online store, Fantasy pages and the app's settings. Settings cover push notifications for the various tours and key players.

If you need to keep track with the PGA and its various Tours, the PGA Tour App is a nice option to consider. PGA Tour is available for low-memory devices.

• PGA Tour - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

SHOTLY

Need a feature rich Windows Phone app to help keep track of your golf rounds, analyze your performance and help you around the golf course? SHOTLY is a rich option to consider.

Self described as the Rolls Royce of golf apps, SHOTLY features:

• .A GPS enabled rangefinder to help you gauge your distances while on the course
• .Keep yours and your golfing partners scores while on the course
• .Search for nearby courses, get directions and hole information
• .Map out the course with satellite views
• .Track your USGA approved handicap.

There is also a social aspect to SHOTLY where you can find other SHOTLY golfers nearby, check-in when you reach your golf course and create a social network.

If you are sporting a Nokia Lumia, you will have access to SHOTLY+ through the Nokia Collection, which adds a few bonus features to the mix. Features such as:

• .GolfScope: An augmented reality visualization of other golfers on the course
• .Lumia Themes: Cyan, magenta, Nokia Blue, white and black themes are added to SHOTLY's settings to have the app match the color of your Lumia Windows Phone.
• .Tournament Scoring
• .Live Scoring: Share your round in real-time with your friends.

The only downside to SHOTLY is that the layout is a little on the cluttered side and may take a little time to get used to things. It's nothing that will create the urge to tee up your Windows Phone and drive it 300 yards down the fairway but takes a little use to get familiar with things.

SHOTLY is available for 512MB devices.

• SHOTLY - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Let's Golf 2

Let's Golf 2 is an oldie but a goodie available in the Windows Phone Store that has you tackling global golf courses that range from the Mount Olympus Golf Club in Greece to the Royal Safari Club in Kenya. The courses are a mixture of traditional styled courses and courses that push the envelope with some imaginative holes.

The game has been around since the days of Windows Phone 7 and while it hasn't been updated in over a year, Lets Golf 2 is a solid golf game.

You can choose one of eight characters to play in one of four gaming modes, all single player in style. You have instant play where you can quickly jump into game play, a career mode, a challenge mode and free hole games (much like a practice rounds). Some rounds are played in stroke fashion, some are match play and others are closest to the pin.

Characters can be customized with gear that becomes available through game play that increases their golfing skills.

Game play allows for club selection, shot alignment and the traditional three-tap swing mechanics. Tap the swing meter once to start your back swing, a second time to being your down swing and a third to strike the ball. While in flight, you can swipe up or down on the screen to create back spin or front spin.

Let's Golf 2 has nice graphics, challenging game play ad while the game may be showing its age it is still a solid golf game for Windows Phone. As far as availability is concerned, Lets Golf 2 is a bit of a mystery. There appears to be multiple versions of Lets Golf 2 available based on your Windows Phone manufacturer. Pricing is also a mixed bag with some versions being free and others running $4.99.

Our suggestion is to search for Lets Golf 2 from your Windows Phone for the best results. However, we have two links below that might help you find the right version of the game.

• Let's Golf 2 - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices - Store Link (Select Lumia Devices)
• Let's Golf 2 - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices - Store Link (Samsung Devices)

FreeCaddie

If you need a simple rangefinder app to help you judge the distance between you and the hole, it doesn't get much simpler than FreeCaddie. FreeCaddie's database of golf course is over 30,000 strong and displays your distance the green hole by hole.

The layout has pages that note your distance, let you choose your golf course, a GPS information page, a Help page and a settings page that allows you to switch between yards and meters. You also have the ability to enter a location that will override your GPS location when retrieving a course list.

Distances are displayed to indicate the distance to the front, center and back of the green for each hole on the course (keep in mind the screenshot was taken from the living room and not the tee box). A question mark will appear besides the yardage to indicate that the GPS is either reporting a position that is either not up to date or is not accurate enough to be used.

I would have like to have seen a scoring feature with FreeCaddie but as is, I can see it being a handy Windows Phone app around the golf course. If you need scoring and course maps, FreeCaddie Pro ($2.99) is also available in the Windows Phone Store.

Both FreeCaddie and FreeCaddie Pro are available for 512MB devices.

• FreeCaddie - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices - Free - Store Link
• FreeCaddie Pro - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices - $2.99 - Store Link

Best of the Bunch?

Each of the apps in this week's round do an admirable job of things. PGA Tour is a clean looking, informative app that delivers all the news, tournament standings and highlights from the PGA.

I'm a little partial to SHOTLY but FreeCaddie is not slouch. If all you need is a range finder to help you gauge your distance, FreeCaddie is a strong option. If you want more such as scoring, social networking, etc. then SHOTLY will be your choice.

Of the two games, I like Let's Golf 2 a little better than Pocket Golf. Graphics and game play are nicely drawn-up with Let's Golf 2 and I like the 3D approach than the two-dimensional view Pocket Golf offers. Let's Golf 2 is an older Windows Phone title but still has staying power. While Hot Shots Golf isn't available for Windows Phone, Lets Golf 2 may be the next best thing.

So what do you think? Any golfers in the crowd that use their Windows Phone to keep score or determine your distance to the green? And what about the video duffers, which Windows Phone golfing games make it to the top of your leaderboard?

It's better late than never. Another puzzle game from iOS and Android has just made its way to Windows Phone. Huebrix by Yellow Monkey Studios is a color puzzle game about filling spaces on a grid with paths of blocks. It has over 1.6 million downloads on other platforms, and now it's ready for Windows Phone users.

Head past the break to watch our gameplay video with the Nokia Lumia Icon.

Huebrix has over 400 levels, separated by skill level for your convenience. Solve the levels by dragging paths from blocks to fill out the puzzle grid. The blocks only give you paths of a specified length, so it's going to require your brain to do some hard work.

As you progress, special blocks appear to determine the orientation of paths, acting as clues and challenges at the same time. For example, an arrow block forces you to go in one direction. A colored block, only accepts specific colors. A block with an X ends the current path.

Huebrix appears easy at first, but it gets challenging. There's a timer on the top right corner that stops when a level is solved. It does not reset back to zero if you retry a level. We think that's a great idea because it encourages players to solve the puzzles as fast as possible.

While we enjoy occasionally playing Huebrix, we found a couple of annoyances. Pressing the Windows Phone back button exits the game. It does not properly go to the previous screen. Another problem is the screen orientation. Huebrix allows you to play the game in landscape view, but you'd want to avoid it. Huebrix will shift to one side of screen, causing two-thirds of the display to be empty black space.

Huebrix costs $1.99 from the Windows Phone Store. Unfortunately, there's no free trial in this initial version. We like this game, but the annoyances we mentioned need to be fixed. Does this game look interesting to you? Let us know in the comments!

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is well underway in cinemas, but Windows Phone owners are now able to transform the real world into the fantasy realm they know and love from the films. DreamWorks Dragons Adventure is a new game that really lets the player immerse themselves in a world with dragons and there are some neat graphics and animations to boot. Previously available for the Lumia 2520, it's now out for Lumia Windows Phone owners.

The goal of the game is to essentially train your dragon, rescue captured dragons from the evil dragon Trappers (enough dragons for you yet?) and explore. There are multiple regions of the world to visit and play through, each sporting unique quests that need to be completed. Different terrain, objects, and weather brings the game alive and prevents it from becoming stale quickly. What's more is players are encouraged to leave the house and play while on the go.

It's a super cool concept and one we strongly recommend everyone check out, even if you're not a fan of the films. Unfortunately for those wielding hardware with 512MB of RAM, Dragons Adventure requires 1GB. Even with the more advanced Windows Phones we experienced some performance issues and some lengthy loading times. Beware!

Also, did we mention this game was a Windows exclusive title? It's also possible to use the companion app to start up quests and more. Overall, it's a really nice experience. The game supports the Lumia 2520, 1520, 1020, Icon, 928, 925 and the recently announced Lumia 930, as well as all Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets.

• Download DreamWorks Dragon Adventure for Windows Phone (free - 302MB)
• Download DreamWorks Dragon Adventure for Windows (Lumia 2520)

Thanks, Fazaaz, for the tip!