Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: For The Kids Collection

One of the nice features of the Windows Phone Store is the Collections. The Store Collections are a wide range of popular apps and games, sorted by subject matter. If you aren't sure what you need, these collections can help get you pointed in the right direction.

The Collections include golfing apps, running apps, indie game spotlight, bicycling apps, apps for Saturday Night, Disney games and more. For this week's roundup we're going to turn our sights towards our younger Windows Phone users and highlight a few titles from the For The Kids Collection.

This Collection has a series of apps and games designed to entertain kids while subtly teaching them a thing or two. All these titles would be nice additions to your Windows Phone Kid's Corner and well suited for those times you need a little help in keeping your child occupied (e.g. waiting for the table at the restaurant, in the doctor's waiting room, on road trips, etc.). Heck, some of these games will appeal to the older crowd as well.

Connect the Dots - HA

Connect the Dots is a series of educational games that will teach your kids numbering sequences but also help with identifying everyday objects. You have Connect the Dots titles that focus on vegetables, body parts, animals and household appliances (HA).

In taking the HA game out for a test drive, the game offers twenty appliances to identify with three difficulty levels. The easy level has each of the dot labeled numerically or with letters and you have to connect the dots in the appropriate order. The medium and hard levels removes the labels from the dots but you still have to connect them in the right order.

Audio confirmation pronounces the dots' labels as they are connected and once the puzzle is solved you can toggle between your score and a description of the object.

Connect the Dots is a simple game for your Windows Phone that is an easy way to teach your children about everyday objects as well as the alphabet and number systems.

Connect the Dots HA is available for low-memory devices.

• Connect the Dots HA – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x – Free – Store Link

Dr. Panda's Restaurant

Dr. Panda is another series of educational games available in the Windows Phone Store that delivers a collection of mini-games designed to expose your children to daily activities associated with a wide range of topics. You have a hospital, supermarket, airport, daycare, garden and restaurant edition. We flipped a coin and took the restaurant edition out for a spin.

Dr. Panda's Restaurant has your child running the local dining hall and has to prepare and serve a number of guests everything from drinks to pizza to Chinese stir-fry.

The interface is simple with screen gestures guiding the way. Tap on a guest as they arrive at the restaurant to seat them at their table, tap on the dialog bubble to take their order, tap to slice the food and tap/drag the items to place them in blenders, pans and other cooking equipment. When served, tap/drag the item to their mouth to see if how much they like your culinary skills.

While the game isn't difficult to pick-up, I would have liked to have seen labeling or a how-to guide in place to help with navigation. For example, there are three mini-games that teach about re-cycling and cleaning up. To access the games you have to tap on the re-cycling bins or dirty dish rack that are in the background of the dining room scenes. There are no labels on these items and most will discover them by accident as they tap aimlessly around the screen. A short tutorial walk through would have been perfect.

Another gripe with Dr. Panda's Restaurant is that it only contains ten different drinks and dishes. I would have expected a larger menu based on the price of the game. While there is room for improvement, Dr. Panda's Restaurant has the potential of being an entertaining children's game for Windows Phone.

None of the Dr. Panda's titles have trials but all are available for low-memory devices.

• Dr. Panda's Restaurant – Windows Phone 8 - $1.99 – Store Link

Simon Cow

Simon Cow is a fun child's version of the classic Simon Says games. This memory game uses colors, animal graphics and sounds to help your child hone their memory skills.

The game has the option to use three to eight farm animals that will sound off in a random sequence. It will be your child's job to repeat that sequence by tapping on the animal button accordingly.

Additional game options are available to switch between animal sounds, musical notes or just use color flashes with no sounds to set the pattern that has to be repeated. You can also time the response and add to the game's challenge by rotating the buttons between rounds.

Game rounds start with a single button sequence (or steps) to repeat and as you complete each round an additional step is added to the sequence. To give the game a competitive edge, Simon Cow has an online leaderboard (current high score is 100 steps). The game can be rather challenging when you have the rotation turned on and choose the eight animal mode.

While Simon Cow is a fun game to test your child's memory skills, don't be surprised if you find yourself battling your child for game time.

Simon Cow is available for low-memory devices.

• Simon Cow – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x – Free – Store Link

Max and the Magic Marker

Max and the Magic Marker is an older Windows Phone Store game and a staff favorite. While it lacks the educational lessons in the traditional sense, the game does tap into your child's imagination and problem solving skills.

You play the role of Max who must navigate through 15 levels of game play that spans 3 worlds. The mission is to stop a monster that Max has drawn who trying to take over these worlds. Max is armed with a magic marker that he can use to draw bridges, steps and other items to help Max overcome enemies, puzzles and obstacles.

Your marker has a limited supply of ink and you can replenish it by collecting orange ink balls that are scattered about the level. Pop-up windows will guide you through game play as new features become available.

The Xbox title has outstanding graphics, easy to use controls, challenging game play and is overall a well rounded, entertaining game for all ages. Max and the Magic Marker is available for low-memory devices.

• Max and the Magic Marker – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x – Trial / $.99 – Store Link

All are Kid's Corner worthy

Each of the Windows Phone titles in this week's roundup are definitely Kid's Corner worthy. Some of the titles may also appeal to the older Windows Phone users as well.

If I had to tap a "weakest link" in this group it would likely be Dr. Panda's Restaurant. If the developer could find a way to highlight the mini-games and add a short tutorial on game play, Dr. Panda would have more appeal. It does lend itself to experimentation but I can also see a small child losing interest in the game because they can't find all the features.

I do like the levels of difficulty that Connect the Dots offer that will test your child's memory as well as sequence associations. Then you have the added bonus about learning about the object you have created. Should the developer find a way to add spoken text to this description it would help but as is, it gives parents the opportunity to work with their children on teaching them about the items.

Simon Cow and Max are two titles that can be appealing to Windows Phone users both young and old. You may get some odd looks when Simon Cow belts out a series of animal noises but it's a fun, casual game. Max and the Magic Marker is a personal favorite of ours and while an older title, Microsoft Studios isn't letting it collect dust by continuing to push out updates for the game.

These are four of the thirty-seven titles the Windows Phone Store has tapped for their For The Kids Collection. You can find the full collection here(US link) in the Windows Phone Store (titles may vary due to regional restrictions) and let us know in the comments what your favorite kid's title is? Also, let us know if there's a favorite kid's title that you think should be added to this Collection.

Every now and then a new game developer joins the Windows Phone ecosystem and you just wonder how we ever lived without them. One such company is Owlchemy Labs, a small studio who recently published two stellar games: Smuggle Truck, a 2D driving/stunt game, and Jack Lumber, the best lumberjack game on the market.

Last week, our Jack Lumber review reminded some of our readers of Monty Python's Flying Circus. So "Hey," we thought. "Why not arrange a little Monty Python-themed contest and give away some Owlchemy prizes?" That's what we're doing this weekend. You guys can enter to win the Steam versions of Jack Lumber ($7.49 value) and Snuggle Truck ($4.99 value). Play a bit on your PC , Windows 8 device, or Mac and get an idea of what the Windows Phone games are like. And it's really easy to enter!

The games

Before we tell you how to enter, let's look at those prize games!

Jack Lumber plays a bit like a more methodical Fruit Ninja, as the titular lumberjack must slice through mass quantities of wood that fly on-screen with his trusty axe. The wood comes in all shapes and sizes and must be cleared in one long slice – no second chances. This game is much funnier than Fruit Ninja, with a silly story and lots of comical animals to rescue during the campaign.

Yes, Jack Lumber packs a lengthy campaign mode filled with distinct levels, missions, and goofy things to collect. Players get to deck out a cabin of their own with rescued animals and decorations, and even equip game-modifying beards to boost their scores. Complete enough levels in the campaign and you'll get an endless level that really boosts your scoring opportunities.

This lumberjack game is funny, easy on the eyes, and more fun than a bottle of syrup. Check out our full review for more details!

• Jack Lumber – Windows Phone 8 – 26 MB – $1.99 – Store Link

Snuggle Truck is a silly game in which players must deliver a load of stuffed animals to the zoo without dropping too many animals along the way. You drive like crazy over hills, ramps, and other obstacles, but your stuffed animals will fly out when the truck hits a bump. Players can try to catch the errant animal in order to avoid losing it, but any plushie that hits the grounds is lost. Lose them all and you fail the level.

Although the goal of each level is to reach the zoo at the end, levels also offer a bunch of fun side goals. Earn different medals for each level, depending on your score, how many animals you lost, and overall completion time. Unlock wacky skins for your truck. And even make your own levels with the robust level editor!

If you like your driving game with a dose of humor and creativity, don't miss Snuggle Truck. Our full review has more deets.

• Snuggle Truck – Windows Phone 8 – 21 MB - $1.99 – Store Link

The contest

Before anybody asks, we're giving away Steam keys because Windows Phone doesn't allow developers to give out codes for their games. But hey, Steam games run on Windows 8 machines so most of our super cool readers should be able to play these.

To enter, leave a comment on this article with all of the following:

• Your Windows Phone Central forum username. This is how we'll deliver the Steam code to you, by forum PM.
• Which game you want: either Snuggle Truck or Jack Lumber. Just one pick please!
• A Monty Python quote! It can come from the show or movies. Pick whatever you want, but try to be different from everybody else.

That's it! Five codes for each game will be awarded, making for ten winners in all.

The contest ends at midnight CST on Sunday. Codes will go out Monday morning to the winners.

Last week we reviewed Big Business Deluxe, the latest city building game for Windows Phone from Russian publisher Game Insight. The game combines traditional city building tropes with some business management mechanics, allowing players to create, process, and sell products as they grow their cities. The economic focus and variety of businesses players can manage make for a smart and interesting take on the genre.

Big Business Deluxe launched on Windows Phone 8, but not tablets and PCs. In our review, we promised that a Windows 8 version would be coming later. Not too much later, it turns out. The game has just launched on Windows 8 and RT today! Now everyone in the Windows ecosystem can start his or her own business empire in this simple but addictive simulation game.

One business at a time

Initially your city will consist of little more than a farm and a milling plant. But that farm produces grain, which the milling plant can turn into flour. Buy a truck to move everything around, initiate production at the various facilities, and then you can sell the end results or use them to produce even more commodities. Most buildings here produce a specific commodity (or commodities); you just need to supply the ingredients and order them to do it.

That's not to say that genre staples like residential buildings don't play a part. New businesses require people to man them. You'll have to build homes and then collect the people they produce in order to keep the city populated. Restaurants, swimming pools, and other amenities that your citizens will want can produce money over time without supply management.

Population and money are not the only resources needed when building new businesses. Most things need electricity in order to run, so you'll also have to erect windmills and other power-generating structures. Juggling the general resources is simpler than the My Country series, likely so that players can concentrate on producing goods and shifting them between buildings.

Optional side quests frequently appear on the left side of the screen. These involve building or upgrading buildings, putting out fires, delivering specific goods, and other tasks. Completing a quest gets you both coins and experience, so they're always worth doing. Collect enough experience and you'll level up, unlocking new buildings and items.

Multi-tiered quests add long-term goals to work towards. One such quest involves building the Eiffel Tower in your city. The construction process consists of five phases, each with multiple steps. If you can complete a multi-tiered quest within a certain time limit (30 days in this case), you'll get extra rewards. Larger goals like building the tower give the game more of a purpose than city builders that only consist of endless single-step quests.

Not a cloud in the sky

As far as I can tell, Big Business Deluxe does not share save data between phone and tablet and PC versions. If you want to play both versions, you would have to play them separately. The lack of cross-platform cloud support is disappointing given that Game Insight's own Cloud Raiders boasts exactly that feature.

City builders are an ideal genre for players who like to check in with a game throughout the day rather than playing for extended sessions. But Big Business Deluxe can be played for longer than most of these games, as most of the business-related functions don't use up your stamina resource. That reduced need for stamina and the welcome complexity of the business simulation make for a fun time. Give it a try and let us know how you think it stacks up to Game Insight's other city building games!

• Big Business Deluxe – Windows 8 and RT – 26 MB – Free – Store Link
• Big Business Deluxe – Windows Phone 8 – 26 MB – Free – Store Link

Microsoft has yet another new TV commercial for the Xbox One posted on their YouTube channel, with the claim that their latest console has the best games, combined with an inspiring speech from Rocky himself.

The video shows clips of four games that are due for release on the console sometime in the fall of this year. Two are exclusive to the console: Halo The Master Chief Collection and Sunset Overdrive, while the other two games, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare and Assassin's Creed Unity, will both be coming out for Sony's PlayStation 4 console.

We are a bit surprised that Destiny didn't get a shout out in this commercial, especially considering that the Xbox One and Xbox 360 beta for Bungie's next game starts on Wednesday. Other games that we are personally looking forward to playing on the console include Forza Horizon, Evolve, Battlefield Hardline and Alien: Isolation.

What's more surprising is that the background audio comes from a speech made by Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone. The speech is edited from a sequence in the sixth film in the series, Rocky Balboa, where Rocky tries to offer his own brand of wisdom to his son. We are not quite sure what the connection is between this speech and the Xbox One, but it sure sounds cool.

Which Xbox One games that are due to be released in the fall of 2014 are you most looking forward to playing?

Source: Xbox on YouTube

Anybody worried that Android and iOS would be getting preferential treatment for the launch of Modern Combat 5 can rest assured that it will be available on Windows and Windows Phone at the exact same time. Gameloft also confirmed that every "HD" title they're releasing in the second half of the year will be launching on Windows and Windows Phone at the same time as other platforms.

I've been playing the iOS build for a few days now, and it's pretty great. There's all of the in-depth weapon customization and massively competitive online multiplayer, but minus the in-app purchases. The graphics are as gorgeous as ever, and though I'm still not entirely sold on first-person shooters on mobile, Modern Combat 5 stands to be the best among those out there. Here's some lengthier gameplay I had this weekend, if you're interested in a sneak peek. Our review's coming up shortly.

Gameloft's AAA shooter franchise comes back to Windows and Windows Phone this Thursday, July 24, for around $6.99. No love for 512 MB RAM Windows Phones, though. Who's in?

Have you ever had a nightmare where you endlessly fall? Well, that's the premise of the Windows Phone and Windows game Kami's Nightmare.

Kami is sound asleep and is dreaming of floating away on a bundle of balloons. Suddenly Kami's grip slips and she begins her endless fall. Along the way she has to avoid several evil stuffed animals that want to end her journey.

Available for low-memory Windows Phones, there are a few bugs with Kami's Nightmare that need to be ironed out. However, for the most part the game is a casual but challenging game for both Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices.

The game's layout can't get much simpler

The main menu for Kami's Nightmare has options to play the game, quit the game, visit the game's Facebook page, visit the developer's webpage and mute the sound. When you swipe the Play button you'll get to watch the intro sequence (you can always skip it) that covers gaming controls and will eventually lead you to game play.

Speaking of which, gaming controls are minimal. As Kami falls, you can move her left or right by tilting your Windows Phone or Windows Tablet. To slow Kami's descent, tap and hold the screen and her nightgown will expand and slow her fall. The controls are responsive but if you're playing on a laptop or desktop that lacks tilt controls, you will not be able to control Kami's left or right movements. The developer really needs to add on-screen controls to help Kami cover the full spectrum of Windows 8 devices.

Nonetheless, as Kami falls a hodge-podge of evil stuffed animals will join Kami in her endless fall. You have evil stuffed bunny rabbits, ducks, teddy bears, monkeys and other animals. Kami has to avoid making contact with all these animals.

The goal is to guide Kami as far down her fall as possible without hitting a stuffed animal. Make contact and the game ends with the option to retry the game or quit it all together. Oddly, if you play the game three times the retry button will fail to work requiring you to re-start the game to pick things back up. I'm not sure if this is a glitch or a feature of the trial version.

Overall Impression

Kami's Nightmare is a decent game for Windows Phone and not too shabby of an option for a Windows 8 tablet. The lack of tilt sensor on laptops and desktops renders the game useless for these devices.

Kami can travel across the sides and top of the screen, which adds to the challenge of the game. You need be sure the coast is clear at the top of the screen as Kami travels past the bottom of the screen. The same can be said for the left or right sides.

Again, Kami's Nightmare is a decent game but needs an option for on-screen controls and a few power-ups to give the game a little more flavor (invincibility, slow down, etc.). As is, the game isn't a bad choice for times you need help passing the time but overall, the game needs a little fine-tuning to make it shine a little brighter.

Kami's Nightmare is available for both Windows Phone 8 (including low-memory devices) and Windows 8/RT.

• Kami's Nightmare - Windows Phone 8 - Trial / $.99 - Store Link
• Kami's Nightmare - Windows 8 - Trial / $.99 - Store Link

Over the weekend, Windows Phone Central announced a contest in which readers could win copies of Snuggle Truck and Jack Lumber from Owlchemy labs. To enter, all you had to do was pick a game and give us a Monty Python quote. Monty Python is the British comedy troupe responsible for the Monty Python's Flying Circus television series and three classic films (more or less).

After receiving more than 150 entries, we've finally narrowed the submissions down to ten winners. People who got the quotes right and picked actual memorable quotes (and didn't seem to have found them through random web searches) took home the prizes. Now we can share with you both the winners and YouTube clips of all the winning quotes.

Snuggle Truck

Downup

• "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Know what I mean?"– from Monty Python's Flying Circus

Bruno Blanes

• "I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."– from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Coldfilter

• "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam"– from Monty Python's Flying Circus

DSBisthe1

• "And now for something completely different!"– from Monty Python's Flying Circus

CJ Thunder

• "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"– from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (easily the most important quote from the series)

Five down, five to go!

Jack Lumber

themattclapham

• "We want - a SHRUBBERY"– from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Nerdy Woman

• "Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."– from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Fdruid

• "Did you write this symphony in the shed?"– a favorite sketch of mine from Monty Python's Flying Circus

Nik Rolls

• "This is an ex-parrot!!"– from Monty Python's Flying Circus

And of course…

SMMinke

• "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay… I sleep all night and I work all day."– from Monty Python's Flying Circus

Thanks to everyone who entered! I hope you guys had as much fun with this contest as I did.

Winners, check your forums inboxes/email for your Steam codes. If you haven't done so already, you'll need to join Steam and install the Steam client in order to redeem the code.

Everybody else, don't miss Snuggle Truck and Jack Lumber on Windows Phone!

• Snuggle Truck – Windows Phone 8 – 21 MB - $1.99 – Review– Store Link
• Jack Lumber – Windows Phone 8 – 26 MB – $1.99 – Review– Store Link

Tank Invaders by Mgaia Studio has been released on Windows Phone, and before you ask, yes, it is supported on devices with only 512MB of RAM. The title sees the player being tasked by General Rogers to put an end to the threat by Terror. It's an over-the-top action-based arcade title, which was awarded Best Mobile Game of SBGames 2013's Independent Games Festival. Read on to learn more about the game, which is available for free in the Windows Phone store.

Inspired by famous action movies from the 1980s, the game delivers hours of excitement. If you're after some ridiculous warfare, Tank Invaders will not disappoint. The gameplay is also taken to the next level with power-ups, waves of foes to eliminate, powerful bosses and more. Not only does the player have machine guns and missile launchers at hand, but there are also some cool options like special magnetic bombs too.

While progressing through the game, players will experience a sense of development with levelling and upgrades for both weapons and available gadgetry. Earning experience will take players from being an inexperienced recruit to climb the ranks. Coins are earned and can be spent on upgrades, but if you're lazy and wish to get ahead there's the option to use in-app purchases to boost your collection. Check out the official trailer below.

Give it a download and let us know how you find Tank Invaders in the comments. Once again, this title is compatible with 512MB RAM hardware.

• Download Tank Invaders

If you are looking for a challenging endless runner game that has a World Cup connection, check out Piggy Ball - Chaplin Game Version.

The story line behind the game has you playing the role of Piggy who has just stolen the ball of the 2014 World Cup. You have to guide Piggy over and under a frustratingly challenging obstacle course using his power of flatulence. Hit one of the obstacles and it's game over for Piggy.

Available for low-memory devices, Piggy Ball - Chaplin Game Version is a challenging game but maybe a tad too challenging.

Simple menu, challenging game play

The main menu for Piggy Ball - Chaplin Game Version has only one option, play the game. Before jumping into game play, a storyboard will appear to explain that Piggy has just stolen the World Cup ball and you have to help him escape.

You then can choose which country your want Piggy to be working for (Brazil, USA, Spain, England, Germany, France, Argentina or Italy) and then you will finally enter game play.

Game mechanics are explained in the background as you launch the game. Just tap the screen to have Piggy generate a fart, which will elevate Piggy. The more you tap, the higher Piggy rises, to the point where Piggy can fly between the obstacles.

Speaking of which, you will find stacks of boxes that vary in size hanging from the top of the screen and rising up from the bottom of the screen. As you would guess, Piggy has to navigate over and under these boxes without making contact. Your score is based on how long you can keep Piggy safe and if he makes the slightest of contact with a box, the game ends.

Overall Impression

Piggy Ball - Chaplin Game Version is a touch endless runner styled game. It requires a rhythm of farts to keep Piggy rise to a certain height and avoid these boxes. It's a Windows Phone game that is not very forgiving is your attention strays the slightest.

Some games start out slow to let you get used to the controls but not Piggy Ball. Right out of the gate, you're having to fart over and under a difficult layout of boxes.

Piggy Ball has nice graphics and don't be shocked if it takes you several tries to get a score in double digits. I wouldn't mind seeing the difficulty of the game dialed down slightly for the first few seconds of game play to give everyone a fighting chance.

There is a bit of entertainment value to Piggy Ball - Chaplin Game Version, you just need to be patience and learn to control your farts with precision.

• Piggy Ball - Chaplin Game Version - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Unicorn Rush is a fun endless runner styled game for Windows Phone that puts you on horseback in an effort to save the fantasy Kingdom of Grant.

The back-story has a riot occurring at the Kingdom's border and as soldiers are dispatched to deal with the riot, the evil Duke Hogan has snuck into the Kingdom's Capital and captured the King and Princess. You play the role of one of the King's Knights who will have to rush back to the Capital and defeat the evil Duke. The ride back to the capital isn't a gingerly stroll in the park with a wide range of obstacles, traps and monsters to overcome.

Available for low-memory devices Unicorn Rush makes a nice impression. Graphics are nice, game play challenging and if you can overlook that the game's Knight looks more like a farm hand, it's a Windows Phone game worth trying.

Hi Ho Silver and Away!

While Unicorn Rush is an endless runner, the game is laid out with 100 levels of game play and you do your running on horseback. When you first launch Unicorn Rush, the game will walk you through the first few levels of play in tutorial fashion. You'll learn about game controls, game dangers, how to equip your horse, etc. Once you've completed the tutorial, launching Unicorn Rush will send you to the game's main menu.

The game begins at the stables, which serves as the game's main menu. Along the bottom of the screen you will have button controls to visit various game features that include:

• The Game's Store where you can buy power-ups, new horses to race, new scenes for your stable or sell some of the gear you no longer need.
• The equipment menu where you can fit your horse with the gear you collect or earn during game play. The gear you use will increase your horse's abilities.
• Access to the game's network, which includes your online leaderboard, daily gifts, any sales in the store and any gaming notices.
• The grooming or dress shop where you can customize the color of your horse, change the main style, wing style and change your rider style.
• Access to the game's settings that cover sound/music on or off, changing your player name, sharing the game via email, visiting the game's Facebook page and view the About page.

At the top of the main menu you will find your gaming stats that include your experience ranking, arrow count, energy count, gold count and diamond count. Gold and diamonds are earned during game play, gifted through the daily rewards or through in-app purchases. Arrows can be purchased using your gold coins.

Playing a game of Unicorn Rush will cost you one energy unit. Fully stocked you will have ten units of energy and these units will automatically replenish at a rate of one unit every ten minutes. If you are in a hurry and cannot wait, you can recover energy by asking a Facebook friend for an energy unit or spend diamonds.

At the stables there is a large "GO" sign that when tapped will send you to the game play map. Unicorn Rush has 100 levels of play that are progressively unlocked and will become more challenging as you play the game.

Game Play

The game mechanics for Unicorn Rush involves a series of screen swipes and some levels will rely on your Windows Phone tilt sensors. When you are running down paths, swiping left or right will move your rider left or right. Swiping up will have the horse jump and swiping down will have the rider duck. Tapping the screen will have your rider shoot arrows at monster that appear.

There are levels where your horse sprouts wings in Pegasus fashion. With these levels, you will use your Windows Phone tilts sensors to control left/right and up/down movements.

With each gaming level, you have to steer your Knight and their horse down a path filled with obstacles, traps and monsters. Additionally, the path is filled with coins you need to collect and power-ups that will help you survive each level.

Each level will have a goal to reach (e.g. collect a set number of coins, take out a set number of monsters, etc.) and a treasure chest you can collect just before you reach the finish line. The treasure chest can hold anything from diamonds to coins to gear for your horse.

Dangers include rock pillars, wild boars, man-eating fish, giant thorny vines, flamethrowers, crevices, rivers, and more. You also have wooden barricades that your horse can crash through.

Should your rider smack into a rock pillar, fall down a crevice, get eaten by a monster or fall to some other fate you can use a diamond to save your rider and continue with the level. Otherwise, you'll have to start from the beginning of the level.

Game play has a brisk pace about it and visually, the game reminds me of the Temple Run series of Windows Phone games. There are unicorns involved with the game but you'll need to save up your gold coins to buy one from the game's store (lowest priced unicorn is 90 diamonds).

Overall Impression

Unicorn Rush makes a nice first impression with nice graphics, challenging game play and plenty of customization features. With 100 levels of play, Unicorn Rush shouldn't get stale too quickly.

I'm not a big fan of the in-game cost to play but this feature will pace your game play and allow the 100 levels last a little longer. I'd rather pay $.99 for the game and drop the in-game cost all together. But it is what it is.

I'd like to find something to complain about with Unicorn Rush but there isn't much to be picky about. Sure, I would like all the horses to be unicorns from the start but that doesn't affect the gaming experience.

Overall, Unicorn Rush is a fun game and a nice addition to the Windows Phone gaming library.

• Unicorn Rush - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Earlier this week we announced that the long-awaited Modern Combat 5: Blackout would be launching on mobile Windows platforms on the same day-and-date as the Android and iOS versions. In the past, Gameloft titles typically arrived on Windows Phone months or even years later than other platforms (just look at Real Soccer!). This year, long-awaited titles like Heroes of Order & Chaos and Order & Chaos Duels finally came over, and new titles will release at the same time as they do on competing platforms. Progress!

Modern Combat 5 is now available on Windows Phone as promised (the Windows 8 version should arrive later today). The Windows Phone version requires at least 1 GB of RAM. Top-end 3D graphics need plenty of memory in order to function, which shouldn't surprise anybody. None of the versions support Xbox Live, something we all should have gotten over a year ago. The game rings up at $6.99 – a fair price for a full console-quality campaign and extensive online multiplayer. Oh, and it supports Moga controllers!

Call of Combat

The Modern Combat series is Gameloft's answer to Call of Duty. It's a good thing Gameloft makes these titles because Activision only seems interested in publishing slimmed-down Call of Duty games on mobile, omitting key features like online multiplayer. And Activision doesn't support Windows Phone or Windows 8 anyway, so we'd be out of luck without Gameloft and Modern Combat!

The Modern Combat 5 campaign plays very much like a genuine Call of Duty game, with fully-voiced cut scenes bringing the story to life. The new campaign features much shorter missions than Modern Combat 4, making them more appropriate for mobile play.

Players will not only run and gun as a soldier on foot, they'll also man turrets and control drones. The occasional "quick time events" in which a series of directions must be swiped correctly return, for better or worse. Players now receive a star rating upon completing campaign missions, increasing their replay value.

New to Modern Combat 5 are single-player Spec Ops missions. These provide bite-sized challenges as opposed to full levels. Gamers can replay them to receive higher star ratings, just like in the campaign. Spec Ops is especially suited to quick bursts of play when you're on the go.

Finally, Modern Combat 5 offers a full online multiplayer mode. Up to 12 players can participate in four competitive game types: Free for all, Team battle, Capture the flag, and VIP. The game also supports squads, which work a lot like clans. Squads can participate in limited time squad-versus-squad events in order to earn big rewards.

Online only

Although Modern Combat 5 is a premium game with no in-app purchases, it still requires an internet connection in order to play. Yes, you need to be online even during the single-player portions of the game. The online requirement is simply a form of DRM (digital rights management) meant to prevent people from playing pirated copies of the game. Presumably player save data is stored on the cloud under this setup though – a big plus. (Somebody test cloud support and let us know!)

Personally, I don't find the requirement very inconvenient, but everyone's internet situations will vary. At least Gameloft is up front about the requirement on the game's store page.

Combat begins

Modern Combat 5 is a huge game, and also a huge vote of faith in Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT from Gameloft. Not everybody wants to play a big console-style game on their phones and tablets, especially one with complex touch screen controls. But if you do crave the Call of Duty experience on the go, that's what you'll get from Modern Combat 5.

Note that the Windows Phone version has to download some extra data the first time it is launched. The additional file must be pretty small though, as it completed in seconds for me.

We'll update with the Windows 8 and RT Store link once it becomes available, and stay tuned for our full review! If you can't download the Windows Phone version yet, give it some time to roll out across all supported regions.

Update

Good news, controller fans! Modern Combat 5 for Windows Phone supports Moga controllers! I just tested it myself.

• Modern Combat 5 – Windows Phone 8 – 776MB – $6.99 – Store Link

Thanks to Abhinav N for the tip!

Modern Combat 5 is the latest in a long series of high-quality first person shooter games from Gameloft. The whole Modern Combat series shamelessly riffs on popular shooter franchises like Call of Duty, and has been doing so well before official mobile counterparts for those games were made.

By and large, Modern Combat 5 is lock in step with Modern Combat 4. It boasts bar-setting graphics, rich multiplayer, familiar experience and achievement progression, a dazzling array of weapon customization, and top-notch voice acting. That's great and all, but there is one distinct difference in Modern Combat 5 which could easily stand as the sole selling point: there are zero in-app purchases.

Gameplay

The line between single- and multi-player in Modern Combat 5 has been made sufficiently fuzzy, though the overall formula really hasn't changed much. Your progress in terms of leveling up and unlocking weapons carries over between the single- and multi-player missions. There are six chapters all told, and each has story missions, spec ops single-player challenges, and online multiplayer matches. All of those missions are scored on a familiar three-star system; you earn one star for getting to the final objective, and earning the other two for completing secondary challenges. You can always go back and have another go at stages you haven't been able to complete yet. Unlocking new chapters requires you to finish the story missions and either the multiplayer or the spec ops missions.

The storyline of the single-player campaign is about as hoaky as you'd expect from a modern military shooter, but that certainly doesn't cramp the production values. There are massive explosions, strong voice acting with excellent lip syncing, and lots of varied scenarios to work your way through. The odd quick-time event will have players make precise swipes as quickly as possible in order to make their way through some of the more cinematic sections of the single-player campaign. I've found the campaign plenty challenging, especially if you're a stickler for getting all three stars.

The spec ops missions are one-off and bite-sized. Often they'll simply be about clearing a room of bad guys, or you'll have to breach and clear rooms in tense hostage situations, assassinate a particular target, and lots more. In the single player missions, you'll also have access to a cool bullet-time ability that switches your view to behind the projectile, and allows you to steer it to its target in slow-mo. Thanks to the quick turnaround time on these missions, I've found myself trying more to get three stars in these than the story missions. There's one caveat for both types of single-player missions: you still need to be online. That's bad news for a lot of folks that play on the go, but this is likely an effort to maintain constant authentication of someone's purchase in order to cut down on piracy. A bit more on that later.

For most folks multiplayer will be the meat and potatoes of the game. In addition to the handful of multiplayer missions in each chapter, there are all of the traditional game modes you'd expect, like capture the flag, free-for-all, VIP, and team battle. There are also familiar killstreak rewards, such as spy drones, sentry turrets, and air strikes. The most welcome addition on the multiplayer front is squads. These are as close as you're going to get to clans.

A special Squad Battle mode issues a call to arms for any of your fellow squadmates that happen to be online to take on rival squads that are also in-game. Taking on these match types during limited-time events offers up a ton of rewards. There's also voice chat enabled, for those that really want to get coordinated. Keep in mind that your notification tray may get full up with a ping every time one of your squadmates is ready to play a group match. Though the pool of players online at any given time for multiplayer was small (since we were in pre-launch), the competition was very stiff. This is pretty standard for most first-person shooters; if you're going to go online, you better have thick skin and expect to lose often.

In addition to earning experience points and levelling up as a whole character, every weapon and weapon class has its own progression. As you play more with a particular gun, you unlock new attachments for it. The attachments don't cost anything, you just swap them in and out when you get access. Most attachments, particularly extended magazines and foregrips, are straight upgrades with little incentive to pick anything other than the most recently unlocked one. That's too bad, because it's fun figuring out which tradeoffs to make.

There's no currency of any kind, and that means no early access to unlockables, but it does mean that those that simply pour time into the game will naturally have a leg up on you since they'll be better geared (as opposed to simply having more tactical options). Playing with a gun will also make progress towards unlocking new weapons of its type, like assault rifles, submachineguns, pistols, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, and shotguns.

There are four character classes all told, which are unlocked in your first 10 experience levels. Every level you gain affords you with skill points that you can put into a linear progression of talents in any given class. Many of those skills can be upgraded to a second rank for added specialization, and most of them are available in multiplayer only. The recon class uses SMGs and focuses on speed, visibility, and surprise. Their top tier skill shows all enemies within 15 meters on radar in multiplayer, regardless of whether or not they're shooting.

The sniper has a long-range rifle and some pistols skills as backup. Their top tier skill upgrades their holographic decoy so an enemy that shoots at it is highlighted. The assault class has a solid medium-range rifle and a penchant for explosives. His top-tier talent upgrades his 10-second berserk state to deal 30% extra damage instead of 20%. Finally, the heavy rocks a shotgun, RPG launcher, and is really hard to kill. His final skill upgrades his medkit so it heals 50 HP instead of 25. The video above flips through the whole set of weapons and skills, and checks out a few of the early attachments.

Controls

The controls in Modern Combat 5 have changed very little, and this is somewhat to its detriment. Other first-person shooters have been designed for touch from the ground up with gesture-based gameplay and strong auto-targeting. Modern Combat 5 has automatic aim helping in single player and continues to support motion-based gyro controls, and on Windows, there's hardware controller support at least. We tested the Moga Pro on Windows Phone, and it worked just fine. It would have been nice to have a few more finger-friendly changes in the control scheme, but to be fair, when dealing with a highly competitive environment, maintaining a balanced playing field can force certain restrictions.

I've tried switching to gyro aiming full-time, but if you have aim assist also engaged, you can sometimes find yourself battling the automated adjustment. For example, you could be trying to tilt towards a headshot, but the auto-aim will bring you back to the body. Similarly, if you're trying to set off an explosive canister next to a bad guy, the reticle may just snap right to him. That said, you'll probably want to turn off auto-aim if you're using the gyro, or, like most sane people, play with a standard dual-joystick setup. Advanced maneuvers, such as ducking while running to groundslide into cover, engaging a melee kill before your target moves out of range, or moving while aiming down iron sights and firing can be hard to pull off without some practice and control customization.

The issue of controls brings up the larger issue of whether or not first-person shooters have a real home on mobile. The graphics are great, but ultimately on-screen buttons are always going to be a compromise to traditional physical controllers. Even once they're supported on mobile, if you're going through the trouble of buying a controller and setting it up, you may be just as well off playing Xbox or PlayStation (likely fixtures in a household that has a powerful smartphone or tablet and a dedicated controller for it).

Graphics and audio

Though Modern Combat 5 is very clearly using a familiar game engine, the amount of polish on every effect is absolutely great. The reflective and distorting water effects, bloom, depth of field, and smoke effects are matched wonderfully with powerful, bassy explosions, strong voice acting, and visceral, realistic weapon sounds. In short: the graphical and audio fidelity of Modern Combat 5 are unmatched in the world of mobile games.

Good

• Amazing graphics
• No in-app purchases

Bad

• Always-on internet connection required
• Obscenely difficult online multiplayer

Bottom Line

Though reverting to a classic premium model and scrapping in-app purchases may seem like the sensible thing to do for anyone steeped in console or PC gaming, it's actually a huge gamble for Gameloft. In-app purchases account for the vast majority of revenue generated in the mobile game marketplace. If you feel strongly that freemium mechanics are ruining mobile games, you should fork out the $6.99 for Modern Combat 5 on principle alone.

Big-name developers won't be willing to drop the freemium model until the economics make sense, and that will only happen if there's a successful precedent for premium games. Of course, this is The Internet, and we can't have nice things. The game was already pirated in the pre-launch period. Though Gameloft will be banning anybody caught thanks in no small part to the always-on connectivity requirement, this is still a huge disincentive for them or any other developers watching to adopt premium pricing. Be sure to check out our piece from GDC for more discussion on freemium in the grand scheme of mobile gaming.

Ideologies aside, Modern Combat 5 delivers great gameplay using a formula that has been polished over years, inspired as it may be from elsewhere. The consistency with which Gameloft has been able to up their game after each successive Modern Combat must be applauded, but that does come at a small cost. Windows Phones with 512 MB of RAM aren't supported. It's a downer, but not surprising. It's also not surprising that Xbox Live support isn't here. Regardless, Gameloft has yet again managed to cram a full-blown interactive action movie into your pocket. Without a doubt, Modern Combat 5 is the best first-person shooter you will find on any mobile platform.

Modern Combat 5 is now available on Windows, and Windows Phone, Android, and iOS for $6.99.

• Download Modern Combat 5 for Windows 8.1
• Download Modern Combat 5 for Windows Phone

If you can't get enough of endless runners, here's another one worth checking out. Free the Network is very difficult, but you will keep coming back for more. Want to know what else is cool about this game? Pixel Blimp (pixelblimp.co.uk), the developers, has released the game simultaneously on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone!

We've installed it on our Nokia Lumia 930. Head past the break to watch our gameplay video.

How far can you roll? That's the point in Free the Network. There's a three-dimensional pipe with several black shapes that form obstacles. Press the left or right side of the screen to steer your ball. You have to look ahead to plan your moves. You'll often have to move quickly at the right moments, so make sure to pay close attention. If you prefer to use tilt, you can change it in the settings.

Flags can be used to set checkpoints. Click the flag at the bottom of the screen before crashing so you can start from that position after crashing instead of starting all the way from the beginning. You start with 20 flags, but more are available as in-app purchases. For example, 10 flags cost 99 cents.

There are only three colors at a time on the screen. There's white for the ball, black for the shapes, and colors in the background that change when you pass different zones.

The main screen displays your personal best and the previous run. The positions are also highlighted on the pipe so you can see exactly where they are.

Free the Network is a free download from the Windows Phone Store and includes 20 flags for setting checkpoints. You'll eventually run out of flags and may want to purchase more. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

Thanks for the tip, Arpit M.!

Gameloft has released Modern Combat 5 today on numerous platforms, including both Windows and Windows Phone. We covered the smartphone launch earlier this morning, but now those with Windows-based tablets and other hardware can enjoy the action.

The title (both on Windows and Windows Phone) features 3D graphics and require ample amounts of memory in order to function, which shouldn't surprise anybody (sorry, 512MB RAM folk). None of the versions support Xbox Live either, but that is to be expected with how things have been progressing for some time.

Modern combat 5 will set purchasers back by $6.99 and no trial, but for that price you get the full game and no in-app purchases (for the time being). Be sure to give our Modern Combat 5 review a read through too.

• Download Modern Combat 5 for Windows 8.1
• Download Modern Combat 5 for Windows Phone

For Windows Phone owners only:

Thanks, Abhinav N., for the tip!

Mad Transporter is a Windows Phone game that will test your skills at traveling down some rather treacherous roadways without losing your load.

The game, as you might guess from the title, has you operating a cargo transport truck with the goal of reaching the finish line as fast as possible without a) running out of gas and b) having all (or most) of your cargo intact. Graphics are nice and game play challenging enough to keep things mildly interesting.

Available for low-memory devices, Mad Transporter may not rate as a "go to" game; it's not a bad choice to have to fall back on from time to time. Plus, being a universal app, you can always take things to the larger screens of Windows 8.

An uncomplicated menu

Mad Transporter has a very basic, uncomplicated main menu. You have one button to play the game and another to access the game's settings. Even the settings are basic with options to adjust the sound and music levels.

Game play is spread out across twenty levels, each progressively unlocked and more challenging. To help give the game a little variety, Mad Transporter has three different truck colors to choose from before you hit the road and start game play.

East bound and down, load 'em up and truck it

The game screen for Mad Transporter has your fuel gauge, score and timer laid out across the top of the screen. Your accelerator is in the lower right corner of the screen and the brake pedal is in the lower left corner.

You begin the level with a full load of cargo and a full tank of gas. You'll need to hit the gas rather quickly because once the level loads, the timer starts. Your cargo, which isn't very secure, consists of two cars and as you go up and down the hills they will roll around the cargo bed.

You use your Windows Phone tilt sensors, the truck's accelerator and brake to keep your transport truck as level as possible. Tilt your phone to the right to keep the cab of your truck down, tilt to the keep the back bumper down.

To help make the trip more challenging, your truck gets about 5 miles per gallon and sucks gas down quickly. To help you make it to the finish line, spare gas re-fills are scattered along the road.

Levels are pass/fail style with losing both cars, running out of gas or time resulting in a failure.

Overall Impression

Mad Transporter is one of those Windows Phone games that really doesn't knock your socks off but isn't a bore to play either. In small doses, Mad Transporter can be a fun game. I don't see it holding up to marathon gaming sessions but as a title in your gaming library, it can add a little variety to your gaming choices.

The game performed all right but the accelerator could be temperamental at times. I found pressing on the top of the pedal seemed to work the best.

While Mad Transporter isn't a bad game it does need a little more "something, something" to give it a little more pop. While a little on the plain side, the biggest downside to Mad Transporter is the lack of a trial version. The game was free but has since jumped in price to $2.99 with no trial.

Not sure if the game is at the right pricing point but it definitely needs a trial version to let Windows Phone users kick the tires and take the game out for a test drive. On the plus side, Mad Transporter is a universal app so if you buy it for your Windows Phone, you can pick it up at no extra cost for Windows 8.

• Mad Transporter - Windows Phone 8 - $2.99 - Store Link
• Mad Transporter - Windows 8 - $2.99 - Store Link

Cloud Raiders, the highly popular fantasy action-strategy game from developer Game Insight, got a new update today for the Windows Phone version that adds a couple of small but still cool features, including a new level cap for the game,

While Cloud Raiders got a rather large content update earlier this month, this new 0.3.77.408 version increases the level cap of the game to 90. It also adds the Level 7 Stronghold to Cloud Raiders. Finally, there are reportedly "various bug fixes and tons of improvements" to look forward to in this new version.

Are you a fan of Cloud Raiders and if so what do you think of this new update? Thanks to Sudhish for the tip!

Cloud Raiders – Windows Phone 8 – 84 MB – Free – Store Link

Kick (2014) is a Bollywood action thriller film, directed and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and stars Salman Khan in the lead role. As part of the promotions in the run up to the movie release, the producers have partnered with Indiagames to release the official game for the movie, KICK-TheOfficialGame.

In the game, you play as Salman Khan's character in the movie – a good-natured thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. As you go along, you need to steal from five different locations and get on a high-speed bike chase against the cops. You need to steal with your mind coming in like a storm, and escape with valor.

The game's pretty good, and not just an endless runner, as most promotional games are. The coins you earn can be used to buy new bikes, and get upgrades. You can't buy these coin bundles as in-app purchase, making it completely a merit-based game. The graphics aren't too great, but works. The game is ad-supported, and there's an overlay ad-banner that pops in between menus. It's annoying, but doesn't mar the gameplay.

Download Kick-TheOfficialGame for free for Windows Phone 8 devices from the Windows Phone Store. It's a decent action-packed adventure game, and should appeal a lot of Bollywood and Salman Khan fans. Give it a whirl, and get your kick.

Note: The game is region-restricted, so availability may vary.

The Indian Air Force has released an official combat simulation game called Guardians that gives players an insight into the life of fighter jet pilot. The game features a training mode in which players get acquainted with the controls of a Sukhoi SU 30, a twin-engine two-seater fighter jet commonly used by the Indian Air Force during combat missions.

Here are some of the main features of the game:

• Very Realistic Mission Profiles
• Highly detailed aircraft models and other assets
• Featuring fighters, transport and helicopter aircraft of the IAF
• Easy to learn training mission for new flyers
• Ten Operational Missions featuring various IAF roles
• Advanced air combat depictions with modern air to air and air to ground weapons
• Uncluttered Head Up Display optimized to display relevant information
• Optimized for low to medium end smartphones
• First mobile game to be officially based on the Indian Air Force

Once players are familiar with the controls, the game proceeds to the mission stage, which involves a war between India and a fictional country called Zaruzia. The ten missions featured in the game involve operational profiles that real pilots in the Indian Air Force are tasked with, and include several aircraft in the IAF fleet like the Sukhoi SU 30, M2000, Tejas, Phalcon AWACS, C130, Mi 17, Mi 35 and ALH Dhruv.

The free game is scheduled to receive a multiplayer update in the coming month which lets six players to engage in combat at the same time.

Interested? Download the free game from the link below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

• Download Guardians

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Game of Legions is a match-three styled Windows Phone game that has a fantasy combat twist. You create the matches to attack your opponent and advance through the gaming levels.

While the graphics are a little on the dark side, game play is challenging and it's kinda fun seeing your matches hurl spears, swords, axes and other items at your enemy.

Available for low-memory devices, Game of Legions is a nice break from the typical match-three games you see in the Windows Phone Store.

Game Layout

The game starts out with a series of tutorial banners that will cover the basics of game play. If I had to pick one downside to Game of Legions, it would be the tiny print on the help banners. Well… the tiny print throughout the game.

Nonetheless, after you tap your way through all the banners, you'll be led to the game's map. Game of Legions has twenty levels with contain sixty challenges. The challenges will be laid out on the level banner before you enter the battle.

Asides from jumping into game play off the gaming map, you can also access the blacksmith screen where you can upgrade your weapons and army strength. Just tap on the little blacksmith icon in the upper right corner of the map screen. There is also a ? button in the upper left corner that will pull up the help banners. As you play Game of Legions, new banners will appear when new gaming features are introduced and this collection will grow.

At the bottom of the map screen you will find your gold count and crystal count. Each battle will cost you one crystal but if you win the battle, you'll be rewarded with a crystal. The crystals will replenish automatically over time (one crystal every twenty-minutes) or you can buy crystals with your gold.

Game Play

The battle screen has your army at the bottom of the screen and the opposing army at the top of the screen. Across the top of the screen you will see your enemy commander's life count and gold. Across the bottom of the screen is your life count and gold collected during battle.

You attack your enemy by creating a combo of three or more of the same styled weapon. Tap and slide to swap out boxes and create those matches. When you do, a volley of weapons will sail towards the enemy army.

The goal is to take out the enemy commander and to do so, you will need to clear a path to the top of the screen by taking out enemy units. Any shots reaching the top of the screen will cost the enemy commander a life. The challenge is that while you are taking shots at the enemy, the enemy is taking shots at you and replenishing troops with each turn.

If you lose all of your lives first, game over.

Swords, spears and battle-axes have to cut through the armies to get to the enemy commander. Around the fourth battle, archers become available who can shoot over the enemy troops and strike the commander directly. Chain reactions are possible (matches creating additional matches) that will increase the damage to your enemy.

Overall Impression

Game of Legions is a fun game and a nice change of pace from your typical match-three games. I do wish the print was a little larger to make picking up the game particulars a little easier and that the game didn't require the crystals to battle.

The game does take a little time to get the hang of. Don't be surprised if you get slaughtered after the first battle (which is rather easy). I would wish there were more than twenty levels but with the crystals and the difficulty, the twenty levels should last a while for most players.

Graphics are nice, game play is rather challenging and overall Game of Legions is an addictive time waster of a game.

• Game of Legions - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Windows Phone Central Game Roundup: The Best Rated Games

The Windows Phone Store does a nice job of giving customers the ability of sorting the various games and apps by category and rankings. Rankings range from the Top Free, New+Rising, Top Paid and Best Rated.

This week's Windows Phone Central roundup focuses on the top five Best Rated games in the Windows Phone Store. These are five star rated games that should appeal to just about everyone and include a gambling and a racing game along with a few puzzle titles. All are enjoyable time wasters and you won't get much argument from us that they belong amongst the top rated Windows Phone games.

Please note that each game in this week's roundup is compatible with 512MB devices.

Texas Holdem Poker

Poker can be a fun game to pass the time with. A real life sit-down game with friends can fill a night and the video version isn't a bad option for short periods of time. Texas Holdem Poker from GeaxGame, Inc. tries to mesh the real life gaming experience with the video experience.

Texas Holdem Poker is a free, online game of poker that has live chat, personal avatars, tournaments and more. You can create an independent account or simply log in through a Facebook account (both are freebies). You even start the game with a small sum of chips and can earn daily bonuses to build up you chip count. Should you go bust, in-app purchases are available to buy chips and opportunities to earn free chips (tied into ad-support).

Game play is your typical game of Texas Hold 'em. You can chat with other players or sit back and quietly run the table. You can even send virtual gifts to other players.

The game pace is fairly quick with each player having a set time to make their play. This is a nice touch to avoid games dragging on forever while a player runs to the kitchen or otherwise gets distracted and forgets to play.

There doesn't appear to be a lack of players to fill the poker tables (each time I logged in over 40K players were online) and Texas Holdem Poker does a nice job of combining real world poker with video gaming.

• Texas Holdem Poker – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x devices – Free – Store Link

AE Roundy Pop

AE Roundy Pop is a connect-three styled game that plays a lot like the bubble burst games. You are tasked with finding groups of two or more blocks of the same color.

The pace of the game qualifies as casual with no time limit and the goal being to reach a target point value so you can proceed to the next stage. Game mechanics are simple, just tap a grouping of blocks to highlight them and tap the same group a second time to remove them from play. The larger the grouping of blocks, the more points earned.

You do have a bomb block you can place on the gaming board to remove a single block to open the way for a larger grouping and an undo button that serves as a mulligan should you realize your last move was rather boneheaded.

Once you reach your target point goal, you can continue to clear the board of blocks to try to remove all the remaining blocks. When you run out of groups of two or more of the same blocks, your points are tallied and you will move on to the next stage. If you fail to reach the points goal, you can use coins to replay the level without losing your progress along the stages. Otherwise you'll have to start the game over at the first stage.

Should you leave the game, your stage progress is saved, which is a nice touch.

Roundy Pop is an entertaining and challenging game for your Windows Phone that should appeal to many as a great time waster of a game.

• AE Roundy Pop – Windows Phone 8 and 7.x – Free – Store Link

Asphalt 8: Airborne

If you are in the hunt for a challenging racing game with fantastic graphics, a healthy inventory of cars to race and plenty of customizations, Asphalt 8: Airborne is the game for you.

Asphalt 8: Airborne offers:

• 47 high performance cars (and it continues to grow)
• 9 different racing venues from Nevada to Venice
• 8 racing seasons and 180 events in the Career Mode
• Simultaneous multiplayer (up to 8 opponents) games
• Ghost challenges

The career races includes your traditional racing styles along with elimination races, drift gate challenges, knockdown challenges and infected challenges. Each of these styles will add to the existing challenge of controlling your car throughout the racetrack and staying one step ahead of your competition.

As you race, ramps will be strategically placed along the race courses to let you send your car airborne to take advantage of shortcuts or to simply try your hand at airborne stunts.

Asphalt 8: Airborne plays out nicely from the small screen of your Windows Phone. The game really shines when played from a Windows 8 tablet and from either device; don't be surprised if you find yourself leaning into the turns and raising up in your chair as you send your car airborne.

Asphalt 8: Airborne is available for Windows Phone (including low-memory devices) and Windows 8 devices.

• Asphalt 8: Airborne – Windows Phone 8 – Free – Store Link
• Asphalt 8: Airborne – Windows 8 – Free – Store Link

Piano Tiles - Don't Tap the White Tile

Piano Tiles - Don't Tap the White Tile is a collection of puzzle games that are based on the same core rule, don't tap the white tile.

The games are played to a variety of piano tunes, some of which you can choose, and you are tasked with tapping only the black tiles. Piano Tiles includes the following gaming modes:

• Freedom: Choose a song and play until you fail
• Moving: Tap the black tiles as much as you can in thirty seconds. The catch is that the black tiles are moving targets.
• Time Attack: Tap the black tiles to advance to the finish line as quickly as possible.
• Long Run: See how far you can play in ten seconds.
• Arcade: The game screen automatically scrolls and you have to tap all the black tiles.
• StoppingJust: You have to stop before the ten-second mark on the timer.
• Zen: Tap the most black tiles in thirty seconds.

You also have a Colors and 50 Step game mode that is available when you upgrade to the deluxe version ($4.99).

Game mechanics are simple, tap the black tile and don't tap the white tile. With the exception of the Arcade mode, the game screen will scroll forward as you tap the black tiles. With the Arcade mode the game screen will scroll automatically.

Along with upgrading to the Deluxe Version, Piano Tiles also has in-app purchase opportunities for additional song packs that range in price from $.99 to $1.99.

The game has an online leaderboard for bragging rights and overall, Piano Tiles - Don't Tap the White Tile comes across as a challenging Windows Phone game and a great time waster.

• Piano Tiles - Don't Tap the White Tile - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Catch

Catch is a simple puzzle game where you are challenged to connect groups of stars together without crossing your connecting lines. Game play is scattered across forty levels of play with the free version and the opportunity to buy an additional 120 levels via in-app purchases ($.99 per expansion pack).

Game play is accomplished by tapping and holding on a star then dragging your finger to other stars of the same color. The goal is to connect all like colored stars without crossing lines.

The first few levels of Catch are almost too easy but will give you a good feel for the game's mechanics. As you progress through the levels the difficulty increases with bridges, tunnels and other obstacles coming into play. You will also see an increase in the number of stars on the gaming board as you advance through the game.

The main game has no time limits but you will be graded on the number of moves it takes to connect all the stars. If you need more challenge, Catch now has a Time Attack mode where you have to complete a series of puzzles as quickly as you can.

Catch is an entertaining, casual puzzle game for your Windows Phone. It's only downside is that there's a limit on the number of puzzles you can tackle.

• Catch – Windows Phone 8 – Free – Store Link

Best of the bunch?

Before we sum everything up, keep in mind that the Best Rated rankings change daily if not more frequently. We took a snap shot of the Best Rated screen a few days ago to work on this week's roundup. If the current rankings are different, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. The Store just updated the rankings based on new reviews and ratings from Windows Phone users.

Now back to the roundup.

So, which is the best of the best? Poker may not be everyone's cup of tea but if it is, Texas Holdem Poker is a nice option to consider. It offers a nice online gaming experience for a game that is part skill and part luck. Roundy Pop is one of those puzzle games that grows on you the more you play it. The mechanics are rather simple to pick up on but game play requires a strategic touch to succeed.

Asphalt 8: Airborne is a staff favorite and every time I return to play the game after letting it sit idle for a while, I'm reminded how much fun it is to play. Graphics are stellar, the racing is challenging and the customizations help make the game your own. The only reason I can see passing on this game is that you don't like racing games from the get go. And even then, if you give the game a chance, Asphalt 8: Airborne is strong enough that it could change your mind on racing games.

Piano Tiles – Don't Tap the White Tile is an addictive puzzle game that has a nice variety of puzzle games that are built around the same premise of avoiding contact with the white tiles. While it may sound like an easy concept to master, don't let the simplicity fool you. It's a great time waster.

Catch fell out of the top five over the past few days but by no means should that reflect on the appeal of this Windows Phone puzzle game. The mechanics of play are simple but the task at hand (connecting the stars) will require a little thought. The game starts out on the simple side but quickly increases in challenge and is a fun way to pass the time.

We think all five titles would make a nice addition to your Windows Phone gaming library which leads us to the point in the roundup where we ask for your input. Do you agree with the top five rated Windows Phone games? If you can't believe your favorite game made the list, sound off below in the comments. Just remember this list is based off Store rankings, not some random draw from a hat.