Last year, Windows Phone Central broke the news of a 3D space shooter called Solar Warfare coming to Windows Phone and Windows 8. The game impressed us with its Starfox-like gameplay – we don't really see a lot of games of this type on Windows Phone. We followed up earlier this year with the first look at the actual Windows Phone version of the game.

It has been a long time coming, but Solar Warfare from TegTap is finally available on Windows Phone! The Windows 8 version should follow later this year. The game looks just as sharp as promised, with smooth 3D graphics and vibrant colors. It controls quite smoothly with tilt controls, which is good because the promised MOGA controls don't work yet. It does support 512 MB devices right out of the gate though! See Solar Warfare in action on the Lumia 1520 in our exclusive hands-on video.

Fight the sun

In Solar Warfare, players must pilot a lone ship against an evil alien armada. The story is told through a text crawl that unfortunately can't be sped up, only skipped. But it's really just an excuse to get into the ship and start blasting.

The controls for your ship are fluid and easy to grasp. Tilt the device in any direction to aim, and then hold anywhere on the right side of the screen to fire rapid shots. A button at the bottom-right corner fires powerful homing missiles that must be purchased from the shop.

The ship automatically flies forward by default. You can also speed it up by holding the thruster button at the bottom-left corner of the screen, hopefully zooming past incoming fire, and even stop the ship's forward momentum by pressing and holding anywhere else on the left side of the screen. The ability to stop in place provides a greater degree of control than you'd usually get in games like this, and makes aiming easier too.

The goal in each level is to hunt down every single enemy. A radar and enemy counter at the top of the screen helps with the process. After destroying all of the planet's forces, you'll have to deal with a giant boss. The first boss is a bipedal mech straight out of Mechwarrior. With eight worlds to explore, it will be interesting to see how challenging the bosses get.

After scouring a planet's surface of enemies, players will complete a level and receive ratings for their performance. You can then visit the shop and spend the coins collected during the level. The shop sells weapon and shield upgrades, plus missiles and extra lives that will make it easier to complete future missions.

MOGA denied

We seldom learn that games will support MOGA controllers before they release. Usually, somebody just comes across the game in the wild and reports its status in our MOGA compatibility forum thread. In this case, developer TegTap gave us the heads up that Solar Warfare would work with MOGA. And it should; the Store page even says so.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the game to work with my MOGA Pro Controller. The game just doesn't recognize it. A user review on the Store page reports a similar experience, so the game's MOGA support seems to be broken at launch. But I know that MOGA support is important to the developer, so I'm sure the issue will be fixed soon with an update.

To infinity and beyond

Even without MOGA support at the moment, Solar Warfare is a fun game. It has a definite indie vibe, with relatively simplistic ship and enemy designs. But the 3D engine is good and the game plays really well. If you enjoy 3D shooters that take place in actual land-based environments, such as Starfox and Total Eclipse (anybody remember that hard-ass console game?), you'll have a blast with Solar Warfare. It has a demo, so give it a shot!

• Solar Warfare – Windows Phone 8 – 81 MB – $1.99 – Store Link

Thanks to Mark "Tappy" Tepper for the tip!

Our favorite car chasing game, Pako, has just added a premium version of their game to the Windows Phone Store. Unlike the free version, this one is completely ad-free and adds three new levels: Cemetery, Highway, and Square. We're big fans of this game and we're glad to see it get even better.

We've purchased the premium version on our Nokia Lumia 930. Head past the break to watch our gameplay video with the new levels.

If you haven't played Pako before, it's really simple. Escape police vehicles as long as possible before you crash or they catch you. There are no brakes. Your vehicle is always moving. You just need to steer left or right by pressing the right or left side of the screen.

Pako Premium adds three new levels, giving you a total of 5 stages to avoid getting caught or crashing. If you've played this game before, you've already driven around a parking mall and suburbia. Things get way more interesting in the premium version.

In the cemetery, you drive a funeral car. It's long, slow, and it's green. Hit any of the zombies to add some time on the clock. This stage also has the best background music in our opinion.

In the highway, you drive a minivan. It's slow and you won't be able to outrun the cops. Since there are only two directions on the highway, you have to keep making U-turns while maneuvering around other cars. Just hope the cops crash before they catch you.

The Square level has the coolest vehicle. It's a rickshaw. It drives fast and can make very sharp turns. With a vehicle this good, the level should be pretty easy, right? Wrong! In addition to avoiding the cops, you also have to avoid getting shot by tanks!

We absolutely love Pako and the premium version makes it even better. Pako Premium currently costs 99 cents at the Windows Phone Store for a limited time. The price will double when the offer ends. Check it out and let us know your favorite level!

• Download Pako from the Windows Phone Store
• Download Pako Premium from the Windows Phone Store

Guardians of the Galaxy, the movie version, opened in theaters on Thursday night and is already looking like it will be a major box office success for Marvel Studios and Disney. To celebrate its release, the recently released Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon game for Windows 8 and Windows Phone are both on sale for $3.99 and $1.99 from their respective app stores.

That's a pretty nice price cut compared to their normal $7.99 and $4.99 cost. Just a reminder: the game is not an adaptation of the James Gunn directed movie but uses an all new storyline for its RPG title. Here's the quick description:

"Players will initially take on the role of Star-Lord as he rallies his rag-tag crew—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon with a quick draw and an even quicker temper; Groot, the tree-like humanoid who packs a punch; the deadly and enigmatic assassin, Gamora; and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer through galactic locations and real-time strategic combat. Marvel fans will recruit and train additional heroes, engage in gesture-based team combat, and unlock each piece of the story to unveil the identity of the Guardians' shadowy nemesis."

Will you be purchasing and playing the game this weekend while also checking out the movie (which is pretty awesome, by the way and you really should see it on the big screen)?

• Download Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy for Windows ($3.99)
• Download Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy for Windows Phone ($1.99)

A few weeks back we reviewed TouchFox, an app that allows Windows 8 gamers to play PC games using touch screen virtual controls. Control issues aside, being able to play computer games on a tablet is pretty impressive. But you know what's even more likely to knock someone's socks off? Playing PC games on a phone.

That's just what KinoConsole makes possible. Kinoni, makers of the Kinoni Remote app (no longer published), have just released a gaming-specific version of that app called KinoConsole. By installing both the Windows Phone and PC apps, players can stream and play big-screen games to their phones. KinoConsole provides (iffy) virtual controls and even supports MOGA controllers! The app is free and works with 512 MB phones.

Preparing to play

After installing KinoConsole on your Windows Phone 8 device, you'll need to get free Kinoni Remote Desktop program for your Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer or tablet. Yes, the Remote Desktop works on the Surface Pro – although the first Pro is not the beefiest gaming device.

Having installed the computer program (making sure to check the "Gaming extension" box), you'll need to manually launch it. The KinoConsole setup guide mistakenly claims that the program's menu will appear on its own during installation. Nope! But launching it will bring up the menu, where you will set up a password for the remote server.

Next, select Quick Launch from the same menu. Here you will scan for Steam games, populating the Quick Launch list with any Steam games installed on your computer. Not all of those games will actually work with KinoConsole though, so you'll want to disable anything you can't play (or just don't want to play) with the app.

Note that the computer program is slightly too tall to fit on the Surface Pro's screen and can't be resized. How about shrinking it a bit, Kinoni?

KinoConsole compatibility

Kinoni doesn't lay out the compatibility guidelines very plainly, so here goes. KinoConsole only works with controller-compatible games that support XINPUT (Xbox 360 controllers). Many modern games do support controllers, so it's not an unreasonable requirement.

Second, a game must be run in Windowed mode in order for its video to show up on your phone. If the game hasn't been set to Windowed yet, KinoConsole will only display a black screen (with or without virtual controls) on your phone. Unfortunately, a few PC games like Sonic Generations don't support Windowed mode. But mostly it's not a problem.

Using the KinoConsole app

With your Quick Launch list properly set up, it's time to launch the phone app. KinoConsole can connect via the same local network as the PC, or connect remotely. The first you launch, you'll need to input the password that you set up on the computer.

From the KinoConsole "Games Library" screen, you should now be able to scroll through all of the games you set up on the PC's Quick Launch menu. The game selection process could be a lot better. For one, the menu only displays in portrait mode. Every single game you launch will be in landscape mode, and MOGA controllers hold the phone in landscape as well. Kinoni needs to add landscape support to the menu.

Speaking of MOGA, the controller can't control the menu, forcing players to touch the screen and get it dirty. A common issue with MOGA-enabled emulators as well, but it would be nice for developers to design their UIs around the controller. Especially with an app like KinoConsole that's almost worthless without a controller (we'll get to that shortly).

Many people own hundreds of Steam games. Even after removing non-compatible games from the Quick Launch list, you could still end up with a ton of games to scroll through. Game selection is simply too cumbersome at present, requiring the user to swipe through the list one title at a time. The option to display multiple titles at once or a text-only list would make things a lot easier.

Launching a game

After selecting a game, the phone now displays a remote view of the PC desktop. At that point, you manually select a game from Steam and then hit the Play button on the Steam UI to launch it.

This part of the process has problems big and small. Small: selecting games from the Steam list is difficult on a phone (even the Lumia 1520) because the text is so tiny. As a workaround, you can opt to manually launch the game from the PC. But we really need the option to zoom in the phone's desktop display.

Big problem: if the Steam window isn't currently active or on top of your desktop, you won't be able to see or interact with it. Somehow I got switched over to my web browser while playing in a different room and I simply couldn't get back to Steam.

KinoConsole desperately needs a way to zoom out the display so that we can access the system tray at the bottom of the Windows desktop. Until that gets added (or revealed, assuming there is a way that they just don't advertise), forget about actually logging in from a remote location and starting up a game.

Street Fighter IV (some latency)

Virtual controls

The virtual controls end up being KinoConsole's most disappointing feature. See, the app emulates an Xbox 360 controller – cool. But the virtual controls are missing half of the inputs found on an Xbox controller! No d-pad, no right analog stick, no bumper buttons, and no Back and Start. All we get are the left analog stick, the four main face buttons, and two triggers.

Talk about a design mistake! You can hardly play anything with KinoConsole's virtual controls because most games need those missing buttons and the second stick. Even a game that only uses the face buttons probably uses Start to pause, save, and/or quit. It's almost as if the virtual control designer doesn't play games.

KinoConsole does allow some mild control customization from a menu accessed by pressing the phone's Back button. You can move any of the available on-screen elements to new positions, either to make them more comfortable to press or just get them out of the way. The control editor has a bug in which it swaps the locations of three of the face buttons when you open it, which needs to get fixed.

Broken Age

One important option that is missing: adjustable transparency. The virtual controls have no transparency and they're large, so they cover a lot of screen real estate. Players should be able to adjust their transparency in order to be able to see the game behind them.

Finally, the phone's Back button menu can also launch the phone's keyboard. You wouldn't do this as a form of game control since the phone keyboard lacks arrow keys and such. But it could be useful for inputting text in games that allow it.

Note that neither virtual nor MOGA controls are capable of pressing Shift + Tab in order to close certain persistent Steam dialogs. This could be bothersome when playing far from the computer.

Fable 3

MOGA controls

Ah, the real reason to use KinoConsole right now: MOGA controls! Start up a game after connecting the controller and launching the app and the controller should work, just as if you were holding an Xbox controller attached to your computer. The KinoConsole people got the in-game MOGA support just right. You can play shooters, driving games, fighters, RPGs, whatever and enjoy the pitch-perfect controls of the MOGA controller.

A few games I tested successfully:

• Breath of Death
• Broken Age
• Cthulhu Saves the World
• Fable III
• Magicka
• Retro City Rampage
• Street Fighter IV

Switching games

When you're ready to quit playing a game, press Back and choose to Disconnect. This returns to the KinoConsole Game Library menu so you can choose a new game. It does NOT close the game you were playing on the computer. You can resume the game if it's still running, which will be helpful if KinoConsole ever gets disconnected and has to reconnect.

To actually quit a game, you'll need to exit using the game's native menus (most games allow this) or manually close it on the computer.

Retro City Rampage

Free versus Pro

The free version of KinoConsole displays banner ads on the main menu. It also throws up full-screen ads during gameplay every now and then, which annoys quickly.

Paying $4.99 to unlock the Pro version will turn off the ads, enhance security, and improve performance. I'd like to know about the performance improvement. Does Kinoni throttle the streaming speed for free users?

Fable 3 (latency issues)

Streaming issues

KinoConsole's actual streaming performance can be hit or miss. At times, the video and sound render beautifully and it's just like they squeezed a real PC game onto your phone. Other times, the games I played would suffer from horrible artifacting, making them nigh unplayable (see Fable 3 image above). The sound usually continued to stream perfectly (it sounds great by the way).

I experienced both conditions while playing from the same location on my home network. The problem could be my router (it does suck), or the app itself. Even in the best conditions, the farther away from the router both components are, the more severe the artifacting will be. I wouldn't play from an outside network unless both networks are amazeballs.

Almost there

KinoConsole has a lot of similar issues to TouchFox. It feels like nobody actually bothered to play a game (certainly not multiple games) with the virtual controls. They probably just got them working and then moved on. The menu needs a major overhaul, and launching games and navigating the desktop from the app must be made easier. Let's not forget adding a way to press Shift + Tab somehow.

Still, the app itself is pretty amazing. Kinoni already had a working desktop streaming app; implementing Xbox controller emulation adds so much to that core concept. MOGA support is brilliant as well, basically justifying the existence of the app. Hopefully Kinoni will fix the issues we discovered and make KinoConsole a worthwhile app even when used without a physical controller.

• KinoConsole – Windows Phone 8 – 1 MB – Free – Store Link

Thanks to "Doubting" Thomas for the tip!

Anagramble is a Windows Phone word game that gives you two minutes, thirty words and the task of finding anagrams within those words. Anagrams are words created by re-arranging the letters of a word.

For example an anagram for Mary would be Army.

Available for 512MB devices, Anagramble is a simple word game that comes across as a fun time waster of a game for your Windows Phone. There is a bit of challenge to the game and a faint educational value in finding those hidden words.

Simple layout, simple game mechanics, challenging game play

There really isn't much to the layout of Anagramble (and that's not necessarily a bad thing). The main menu has four options - play the game, access the options, exit the game and access the help screens. Even the options are minimal with the only setting present is muting the sound.

Continuing with the simple theme, the game presents you with thirty words and a two minute timer. Words are presented one at a time and you simply tap and drag the letters to create your anagram. If you screw up and need to wipe the slate clean, you have a Refresh button just below the anagram field (next to the Submit button).

Speaking of which, once you have your anagram created tap the Submit button to move on to the next word. If you've misspelled your anagram or created a word that doesn't exist, the game will not accept your submission.

As far as your gaming score is concerned, Anagramble uses a Scrabble type points system. Each letter is assigned a point value and the score for each word is the cumulative of the letter values. Anagrams can be as short as two letters or as long as seven.

Should you draw a blank with a word and cannot come up with an anagram, you can always tap the skip button (or pause the game and look up an anagram online).

You do have a high score listed on the gaming screen but no online or local leaderboards that can be used for bragging rights. Scores can be shared though.

While the game description doesn't nail down an exact number, the game is reported to have thousands of words in its database to build anagrams from. Over the past few days of playing Anagramble, I cannot say that I have seen a word repeated.

Overall Impression

Anagramble comes across as an entertaining, challenging, fast-paced word game. Everything about the game is simple except mastering it.

The two minute gaming format gives Anagramble a bit of flexibility in that it can help you pass short bits of time or stand up to longer gaming sessions. And it is a little surprising how fast two minutes can pass by. Don't be surprised if you don't make it through all thirty words in a game.

The only nit I can come up with for Anagramble is that I would like to see a visual confirmation that a word was rejected. Maybe a flash on the screen or the word "WRONG" appear.

Word games may not be everyone's cup of tea but if they spark your interest, Anagramble is one to try.

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

Fail Hard is an arcade styled game for your Windows Phone that has you assuming the role of a backyard stuntman who must conquer a wide range of obstacle courses.

The game has nine stages or environments that are filled with multiple levels of action. As you play the game, you will earn coins that can be used to upgrade existing gear or used to buy new equipment. Just be warned, you will crash and burn often with Fail Hard - much in the spirit of Fail Army, a favorite channel with the staff that highlights epic fails.

A universal game, available for Windows 8 and all Windows Phone 8, Fail Hard is a fun, nicely animated, challenging Windows Phone game that is a great option to consider when you need to kill some time.

Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride

The premise of Fail Hard is that you are an up and coming stuntman hoping to reach true stardom. The game has nine chapters or stages that you'll have to work your way through. You begin with the Learning the Basics stage that will walk you through the various aspects of game play. From there you'll start your career tackling stages that focus on platform jumps, winter stunts, urban environments and even a jungle stage.

Settings are accessible from the main menu and cover sound/music on or off and what appeared to be a reset button (got it wrong in the video) which actually is a button to invert your mid-air spins.

From the stage menu you will notice your coin count that can be used to upgrade or purchase new gear. Coins are earned as you complete each course or you can get a jump on things and pick up a few bags of coins through in-app purchases.

Each level is progressively unlocked and you are scored by a number of stars (1-3) and the requirement that at least one star is earned to advance to the next level. Additionally, you will need to earn a cumulative number of stars to unlock the next stage. So while you may be able to slide from level to level on scores of only one star, you may need to replay some of these levels for more stars so you can unlock the next stage.

Catching air

Before you jump into game play with Fail Hard a few screens will pop up prior to the start of each gaming level. You will start with an overview of the course, which leads up to your equipment screen where you can upgrade your gear or buy new stuff. Available upgrades include boosting a bike's speed, acceleration and spin velocity.

You also have an assortment of vehicles you can purchase that range from dirt bikes to mopeds to four wheelers. Then on top of that you can accessorize some of the vehicles with jetpacks and buy gear for your stuntman that includes helmets and jetpacks.

Once you get your gear set, you will be whisked away to the starting line of the course. You will have three runs to collect as many of the floating coins as possible. The more coins you collect and the more stunts (flips, catching big air, etc.) you perform the more points earned which results in more stars earned. To help you keep track of your scoring, a star meter sits at the top center of the game screen.

Game controls are straightforward. You have your accelerator in the lower right corner and your jump controls in the lower left. One jump control will raise the nose of your bike (the smaller up arrow) and the larger button will push the nose of your bike down. You can use these controls to perform mid-air flips or to balance your jumps for a smooth landing.

As mentioned before, you will crash and burn often with Fail Hard. If not while you are navigating the stunt course, at the end of it. You can time your crashes where your bike will go flying down the course, collecting additional coins along the way.

At the end of each run, you can share a snapshot of your stunts with your friends for bragging rights. You will also have opportunities for bonus coins as you reach certain levels of stars earned.

Overall Impression

Fail Hard is an entertaining and challenging Windows Phone game with an addictive touch. The graphics are nicely drawn up and it won't take long before you begin seeing how creative you can get with your crashes.

The more I played Fail Hard, the more the game grew on me. The mechanics will take a few runs to get used to but nothing terribly difficult.

The game is ad-supported but the ads only appear on the menu screens. The screens for game play are ad-free (nice touch) and if you make an in-app purchase the ads go away all together.

All in all, if you are looking for a fun time waster of a game check out Fail Hard. It is also available as a universal game for Windows 8 for those prefer gaming from a larger screen.

• Fail Hard – Windows Phone 8 – Free – Store Link
• Fail Hard - Windows 8 - Free - Store Link

This doesn't happen often, so it gets us excited when a new game releases on Windows Phone first, and then moves to iPhone and Android. It's usually the other way around. That's the case with Hyper Cell, a minimalist survival platformer. If you're Interested in lasers and electronic music, then you're going to enjoy this game.

Hyper Cell comes with a little warning. The about page says, "Some players may be sensitive to the effects, so please play with caution." Still curious? Head past the break to watch our gameplay video on the Nokia Lumia 930.

It's very easy to play Hyper Cell. The goal is to get to the end of the level without getting fried by the lasers or getting crushed by moving blocks. It requires good timing and reflexes. You'll need to run, jump and fall at the right times. There's also one more thing to worry about. Your oxygen level is depleting, so you can't take too long.

When you die, you can restart from checkpoints. Running out of checkpoints bring you back to the beginning of the level.

The visuals are very minimalistic. The environment does not have a lot of details. The background is constantly flashing while the music goes fast with nonstop head-nodding beats. It keeps the game feeling fast-paced.

Hyper Cell launches with 9 levels. More are planned in upcoming updates. It's a free download with ads and in-app-purchases. The game can be played without making any purchase, but in-app purchases can provide boost when needed. For example, removing ads and 10 extra checkpoints cost $1.49 each.

Hyper Cell is available as a universal Windows app, so you can grab it from both the Windows and Windows Phone Store. The constant flashing background and electronic might make it hard for some you to play this game for a long period of time. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!

• Download Hyper Cell for Windows Phone
• Download Hyper Cell for Windows

Capcom will release a graphically revamped version of the first game in its long running Resident Evil survival horror series for Microsoft's Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles sometime in early 2015.

The first Resident Evil game was released on the PlayStation 1 console way back in 1996. The revamped version of game, which will also be released for the PC, PS3 and PS4 platforms, will be based on the 2002 remake originally made for the Nintendo GameCube. Capcom says, "The in-game models and iconic backgrounds have all been improved, and a unique "scrolling" camera helps integrate the original 4x3 game into a 16x9 view."

The Xbox 360 version will support 720p screens while the Xbox One port will have 1080p resolution graphics. Capcom adds, "The original 'tank controls' remain, however there is also a modern option where the character moves in the direction of the analog sick." The game will be released as a digital download only title but no pricing was revealed.

What do you think of the original Resident Evil making its way to scare a new generation on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One?

Source: Capcom

The game Chickens Can't Fly, in my opinion, can be considered a new classic on Windows Phone. Chickens Can't Fly goes back to 2012 and started as an Xbox LIVE game, though like some other titles, it left the restrictive system to go 'indie'. The game later went to iOS and Android.

We are happy to announce Chickens Can't Fly is now 100% free, but only for a short time. Here are the details.

The premise of the Chickens Can't Fly is simple: you are a chicken falling through a mad lab, and you must dodge obstacles, collect power-ups, meet challenges, and survive until the bottom. However, the game's physics, fantastic animation, and overall hilarious story keep me coming back. Indeed, Chickens Can't Fly is probably one of the most creative games to grace Windows Phone and it is still a popular hit years later. Chickens Can't Fly is a sequel to the other indie hit Chickens Can Dream from developer Amused Sloth.

Chickens Can't Fly is the myAppFree deal of the week, meaning that if you have never heard of this game or tried it, you must do so now. Not only is it fantastic, but it is completely free and once you lock in that license, you are good forever! The game is normally 99 cents.

• Download Chickens Can't Fly for Windows Phone 7.x and 8.x; Temporarily Free

Let me know what you think of this came, as I am sure many of you are going to enjoy it. Remember if you enjoy the game please leave a review for the developer. Positive reviews and ratings help with Store rankings and visibility for devs!

myAppFree

Windows Phone Central is proud to be partnering up with myAppFree, a free app and service that highlights special deals for software on the Windows Phone Store. Make sure you download their app to keep track of all the specials they run weekly, as you'll never know what you may find.

Windows Phone Central is also highlighting select apps from myAppFree going forward as a benefit to the greater community. Stay tuned.

• Download myAppFree

The best way to describe the Windows Phone game Throw Quest may be to say it is an intense game of dodge ball with a fantasy flair.

The game is an arcade action game where you face off against a wide range of enemies who you must dispatch. You take out the enemy by throwing a tiny red ball (and just about anything else you can get your hands on) at them. To the game honest, your opponent is throwing things at you as well.

While not available for low-memory devices, Throw Quest is a nicely animated arcade game that's not a bad time waster of a game. It just needs a little something, something to keep you pulled into the game.

Throw Quest layout

The main menu for Throw Quest has options to play the game, visit the games' store, view the local leaderboard, access the game's settings (sound/music) and view the help screen.

You'll earn coins through game play which in turn can be spent in the game's store for uniforms, changing your ball color, power-ups and in-app purchases for coins.

Throw Quest is played out in multi-level fashion sending you across a handful of different worlds, each with unique and dangerous enemies to battle. While the game has several levels of play, you start each gaming session at the first level - a magic kingdom styled world.

Game Play

The game screen for Throw Quest has a series of control buttons lining the bottom of the screen that control movement and weapons fire. Across the top of the screen you will find, from left to right, your health meter, points, gold collected and enemy stats (defeated/total number).

Game controls were responsive but took a few tries to get accustomed to. I often found myself missing the fire button or confusing the jump button with the fire. I couldn't help but feel that the game mechanics would have been smoother if you only had to tap the screen to throw a ball.

The battle arena is a collection of platforms at various heights. Scattered across the arena are crates that can be used as projectiles (they cause more damage) to supplement your battle balls. In a nutshell game play has you jumping around the platforms and taking out all your enemies.

Speaking of which, your enemies are a wide range of opponents from ninjas to witches to what appears to be the neighborhood bullie. Some opponents will drop like a fly with only one hit while others require multiple hits before they go down. Each battle level will end with a Boss that will take numerous hits before they go down.

As you slay your enemies, coins will drop that can be collected as well as bonus items to restore your players health. Once you defeat the Boss a portal will appear to carry you to the next battle level.

Game play can get rather hectic and Throw Quest isn't a game where you can simply go toe-to-toe with your enemy. You'll need to keep your player moving, taking advantage of the health restore power-ups and often shooting on the run to have success.

Overall Impression

On the positive side of things, Throw Quest is nicely animated and has some challenging opponents to face. The pace of the game has a bit of zip and it's not a terrible option for those occasions you need some help passing the time.

On the downside, controls take a little time to get used to and there seems to be something missing to keep you pulled into the game. Maybe the game needs more of a RPG element about it or upgradeable weapons (exploding balls?).

Throw Quest is a nice foundation and is a decent Windows Phone game. It just needs a little more to keep your interest sparked.

• Throw Quest - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x - Free - Store Link

Microsoft has cut the price of four of its Xbox One games permanently to $49.99, but the company has denied rumors it is making plans to cut the price of the console itself in the near future.

Microsoft's Xbox Live programming head Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb posted word on his blog that Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3 and Kinect Sports Rivals are now priced at $49.99, but in their digital download and in their retail disc versions. That doesn't mean there won't be sales that will cut the prices of those games even more in the future, but those titles won't be sold for more than $49.99 from now on.

However, rumors about a price cut for the console itself hit the Internet earlier this week when the mobile version of the Spanish Xbox One website listed a price of €349.99, which is €50 lower than the current price. TechRadar contacted Microsoft and a spokesperson told the company that the Spanish site listing was made "in error" and there are no plans to cut the price of the Xbox One.

What do you think about the price cuts for those four Xbox One games and do you wish Microsoft would cut the price of the console itself?

Source: Major Nelson, TechRadar

The highly popular free-to-play online collectible card game Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, from developer Blizzard, just added a welcome new feature that will please a ton of fans playing the game on Windows 8-based tablets and touchscreen-enabled notebooks. The new 1.1.0.6187 patch, released today, has added support for playing the game on touchscreen devices running on Microsoft's latest PC OS.

Yes, that means that devices such as the Surface Pro 3 can simply touch the screen to interact with Hearthstone, rather than using a keyboard and mouse. This should be a huge help to the many Windows 8 players of the game who have had touchscreens but have not been able to take advantage of them until now.

Hearthstone, as you might guess from the title, takes its content from the fictional Warcraft universe that Blizzard created many years ago as one of the first real time strategy games and later as the hugely popular massively multiplayer game World of Warcraft. Hearthstone is a turn-based game where players compete online with their virtual cards to fight each other with weapons, spells and minions. The game entered open beta testing in January and officially launched in March and currently has 10 million players for the PC, Mac and iPad.

What do you think about Hearthstone adding support for playing the game via touchscreens on Windows 8 products?

Source: Hearthstone on Facebook

Masked Shooters is a multi-player, online first person shooter for Windows Phones where you can compete in teams or in a free for all format.

The game has a wide range of graphic quality settings to help optimize game play speeds and a modest selection of weapons to use as you try to blast your opponent into the netherworld.

Available for low-memory devices, Masked Shooters has potential but hard to see graphics and cumbersome gaming mechanics hold this Windows Phone game back.

There's not much to the layout

Masked Shooters menus are minimal and offer options to jump into game play, access the game's settings and view the about screen. Options deal with movement sensitivity and graphics quality.

Masked Shooters offers you the choice to create a battle room or jump into one already created. Rooms vary with their environment that include a bunker, factory and city settings. While you can boost the graphics quality in the game's settings, I found it challenging to pick out targets in most of the gaming rooms. Most rooms were simply too dark to distinguish an enemy target from any other object laying around. It often takes your opponent to shoot at you (you can see the muzzle flash) or run across the room before you can pick them up. I don't think everyone should be wearing bright orange vests but there does need to be a bit more contrast between the background and your enemy.

And that brings me to another nit. While the screen will flash with blood splatter when you get shot, there is no way to tell which direction the shots are coming from. I would have liked to have seen the blood splatter only appear from the direction of the shot to give you a fighting chance at the game.

Game Play - Let's shoot up the place

On-screen gaming control line the bottom of the screen. A directional pad sits in the lower left corner the controls your forward, backward and side movements. Fire controls and zoom controls sit in the lower right corner. The zoom control will pull your weapon up to eye level or pull up a scope view (depending on the weapon type). Speaking of which, you can be armed with anything from a sniper's rifle to an assault rifle to an RPG (the Rocket Propelled Grenade type). If I'm not mistaken, your armament is selected at random.

In the upper left corner of the screen is your health meter and gaming stats (who kills who) runs down the right corner of the gaming screen. There is a RPG (the Role Playing Game type) element at play where you will move up in rank the more kills you tally.

While the D-pad controls your player's movement, you will need to swipe at the screen to control your players orientation. This makes the mechanics rather cumbersome and don't be shocked if you accidentally hit the fire button. This isn't a big deal unless you're playing on a team and accidentally blast a teammate to shreds.

The object of the game is, as you would guess, kill your opponents before they kill you. Should the latter happen you will re-spawn to a random spot on the battlefield and you get another chance at taking out your enemy.

The game does have plenty of secret passages, tunnels and other back door approaches to help you with tactics. As with your enemy, at times these passages are difficult to pick up on (I guess that's why they call them secret).

Overall Impression

I liked the concept behind Masked Shooters but the execution needs a little fine-tuning. The positives include a challenging game format, plenty of competition and team members (there was never a shortage of players when I tested the game) and some interesting weapons choices (going toe to toe with an RPG is never dull).

The negatives include cumbersome mechanics and hard to pick up graphics. Do either take out Masked Shooters? I don't think so but it does make game play frustrating. If the developer cannot brighten things up a bit and dial in movement mechanics, that frustration will likely cause players to shelve the game.

Again, Masked Shooters has the potential of being an entertaining online, multiplayer game for Windows Phone. As is though, patience and an eagle eye are required.

Note: While Masked Shooters is available for low-memory devices, it is a little laggy requiring you to dial down the graphics quality and even then, it isn't the smoothest experience.

• Masked Shooters - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

Just in time for the Discovery Channel's Shark Week is Ubisoft's Hungry Shark Evolution. As a bonus, it is a free Xbox LIVE game to boot. However, if something is free, you know there is a catch, there are either ads or in-app purchases, and this one features the latter. Still, the game looks to be a blast as it has picked up a few awards in the past. Oh, and yes, 512 MB support is there.

As like many things that come to Windows Phone, Hungry Shark Evolution came out nearly a year ago on other platforms. The game though also received a refresh in the last week and Windows Phone is now a part of that, pardon the pun, wave. Let us see what the game entails.

Hungry Shark Evolution

"Experience life as a Shark in the ultimate test of survival. Jaw dropping 3D graphics and action packed gameplay. Grow from a pup into a 10 ton Great White Shark! Eat your way around a diverse aquatic world full of wonder and danger. Feast on tasty sea creatures, swimmers, turtles and fishermen to grow into a giant. Battle enemy sharks, submarines, and the weird creatures of the deep. Chain up combo bonuses to gain massive hiscores!"

"Complete missions and find treasure to earn coins and gems. Spend these rewards on upgrading your sharks abilities or buy special life-saving items. Progress to unlock the most ferocious beasts in the sea: Mako Shark, Hammerhead, Tiger Shark and the almighty Great White."

As you can see, you are a shark. Perhaps a fantasy of yours, you can live a dream of munching on the sea's prettiest fauna and maybe even an occasional human.

The gameplay is simple, you have a thumb pad on the display that you use to steer the shark around, and you grab things to eat or dodge. In that sense, it reminds me very much of Death Worm, which is one of my favorite games. However, even on a 2.2GHz Quad-core phone like the Lumia 930, the game is slightly choppy. Not prohibitively so, but it is not as smooth as you would hope.

Regardless, it is free, fun, and a little morbid and it has Xbox LIVE achievements. At a 71 MB download, it will not break your storage either. Grab the game and let us know what you think about it, or if there are any highlights we missed (the game just showed on the Store). Also, check out the embedded official trailer to see it in action.

• Download Hungry Shark Evolution for Windows Phone 8

Thanks, @Aero_Smash, for the tip!

Believe it or not, there have been four Ice Age animated films released so far, all of which have been huge box office hits. Now Windows Phone owners can join with Sid the sloth, Manny the mammoth and Diego the saber-toothed cat in a new game, Ice Age Adventures, from publisher Gameloft.

Here's a quick look at the game's highlights:

AN EPIC ADVENTURE

• Explore the unknown with Sid, Manny and Diego
• Travel through diverse environments
• Uncover secret treasures and defeat iconic villains

RESCUE THE HERD

• Play a match-3 mini-game and sled with Sid to save the day
• Recruit Precious and bring the herd together quickly

A SCRAT-ASTROPHE!

• Escape the avalanche in an addictive runner mini-game
• Use rescued animals as power-ups
• Compete with friends in daily & weekly challenges for rewards

While this is a free game to download and play, it does have virtual items that can be bought for real money. It also may display third-party advertisements that may redirect users to a third-party site. 512 MB devices supported.

Thanks to the many people who tipped us!

• Download Ice Age Adventures from the Windows Phone Store

The Line Football is an incredibly simple yet frustratingly challenging time waster of a game for Windows Phone 8. The game is an endless runner styled game where you are challenged to guide a soccer ball down a path, dodging annoying football players and seeing how far you can go.

The Line Football game is available for 512MB devices and while I may the last person to recommend a soccer/football game, it is a game worth adding to your Windows Phone library.

Twists, turns and soccer players

The Line Football's menu is minimal with a button to jump into game play and a link to the game's Facebook page. As you begin play, on-screen instructions will appear and your high score is displayed at the bottom of the game screen. Settings are also minimal with control buttons on the game screen to mute the sound and turn off the vibration feature.

Game mechanics are simple, swipe up to get the ball rolling, swipe left or right to kick your ball accordingly and swipe up again to kick your ball over obstacles.

The further you progress through the course, things become more challenging. The ball begins to roll faster, the path gets narrower and the soccer players you have to jump over become more numerous.

Overall Impression

The Line Football game is a Windows Phone gaming title that is simple to pick up and play but you will be surprised how challenging of a game it can be. There's so little to The Line Football game that it is hard to find anything to complain about.

And that might be the rub (all be it a minor one).

When your soccer ball strays off the path or hits a soccer player, you do get a taunting message to get you to play again and your score but it needs a leaderboard (a local one at least). Something you can claim bragging rights with your friends or family who may also enjoy the game. By no means is it an issue that will make you uninstall the game, never to play it again but one that might give the game a little more meat on the bones.

The Line Football game is a freebie (ad-supported) and if you are in the market for a fun game to pass the time with hit the Store link below and give it a try.

• The Line Football - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

If you're in search of a fun time waster game for your Windows Phone, give 250K Games - Timberman a try. The game is incredibly simple to pick up but, as is often said, a challenge to master.

The mechanics are simple and the gaming concept easy. The challenge comes with the game's pace, which can easily overwhelm you and send your lumberjack to his grave. Timberman is available for low-memory devices and while there is one navigational bug, the game is a great addition to the Windows Phone gaming library.

There's not much there, but that's not a bad thing

The main menu for 250K Games - Timberman is brief. You have an option to view the online and local leaderboards, play the game and mute the sounds. Through an update that was pushed out yesterday, the main menu also includes two game choices, the forest and hell, along with two character choices, the lumberjack and Death (reminds me of Grimm on the cartoon series The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy).

To unlock the Death you'll need to score 270 cumulative points or chop 800,000 blocks. You can always skip all this and pony up a $1.99 in-app purchase.

There isn't a help section but it doesn't take long to pick things up. You play the role of a lumberjack who is tasked with chopping down the tallest tree on the planet. The challenge is to avoid the limbs and avoid the timer (displayed at the top of the game screen) running out.

Two controls are at the bottom of the screen labeled "tap" that you tap to have your lumberjack chop on the left or right side of the tree. When you make your first chop, the timer begins to count down and as you chop, the time is added.

The goal is to see how far you can chop without getting hit with a limb or the timer running out. The higher you chop, the faster the time depletes and the more closer the limbs are grouped.

In playing Timberman, I found that all too often the pace of the game would spell my demise all too often. I'd be chopping away at a fast clip and a limb would sneak up and flatten my lumberjack. Timberman is definitely a game that will test your eye hand coordination and patience.

Our advice is to get hooked on the game with the forest mode. It's challenging enough to keep you interest in the game and when you feel like torturing yourself, give hell a try. Just don't be shocked if it takes you a while to score over a dozen or so points (timer moves faster).

Overall Impression

There's not much to complain about with 250K Games - Timberman. I wouldn't mind seeing a tutorial but the game is so simple, you will get the hang of things quickly.

The only glitch that I could find is in replaying the game after setting a high score. If your lumberjack is flattened without a high score being set you will have the option to replay the game or visit the leaderboards from the score summary screen. If you set a high score the only option is to visit the leaderboard where you can then return to game play.

I'm not sure if this is a glitch or by design but it makes jumping back into the game a little cumbersome. It's not a deal breaker but there needs to be a re-play option throughout the game on the score summary screens.

Otherwise, Timberman is a simple game full of challenge and a great time killer of a game.

• 250K Games - Timberman - Windows Phone 8 - Free - Store Link

One issue in writing reviews in advance is the scene can change right beneath your feet. Case in point with Timberman, a game we reviewed this morning. Timberman is an original game that is popular on Android and iOS, developed by Digital Melody. The game we reviewed this morning is a well-done clone. Late yesterday, Digital Melody released their official version for Windows Phone, and we get caught in the middle. Regardless, you can now head to the Store to get Timberman for your Windows Phone.

Delight in chopping down trees and unlocking 20 different characters (did we spy a Mr T?). The same deal applies before: the game is free, works on 512 MB phones; it is 6 MB in size and only for Windows Phone 8.x.

As to which version is better – Digital Melody or 250K Games – for now, we will leave that up to you. Although having the original is always preferred, you never know what an indie dev can do to improve upon it. Just look at 6tag.

• Download Timberman from Digital Melody for Windows Phone

Thanks, Aqib R., for the tip!

If you hate flies, this game is going to be very fun. Originally launched for the iPhone and iPad last month, FlyOut has just come out for Android and Windows Phone devices, too. Waves of flies are moving along and you must do whatever is necessary to stop them. Even if it means using machine guns or bazookas.

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

FlyOut starts out really easy. Flies move slowly from left to right, and you tap on them with the fly swatter. If you think that's cruel, it gets more insane. As waves of flies get faster and harder to kill, more weapons become available. Weapons float up the screen, and you'll need to quickly tap on them before they fly off. You can use them for about 7 seconds until it goes back to the fly swatter. These weapons include bug spray, machine gun, bazooka, and minigun. The developers mention in the store listing that there will be more to come.

There are multiple flies in the game and they each have their own personalities:

• The fly
• The fat fly
• The mad fly
• The speeder
• The tough fly

The top left corner of the screen shows three hearts. A heart breaks after every fly that passes through. If you successfully pass a wave, you get an extra heart. Game finishes when a fly passes through and there are no more hearts available.

Above the hearts is the number of flies you have obliterated. Towards the center, you see the current weapon you are using.

FlyOut costs $1.29 at the Windows Phone Store. Unfortunately, there's no free trial available in this initial version. If you have some time to waste, this game is worth checking out. Go download it now and let us know what you think.

The Walking Cat is a puzzle game for your Windows Phone that is one of long lost love and a zombie trying to toss a wet blanket on romance.

The story line behind The Walking Cat has you playing the role of Captain Puffy who has been separated from his love, Miss Purr-Purr. To re-unite these two lovebirds you will need to guide Captain Puffy through a maze while avoiding various booby-traps and the ZombieCat who wants to eat his brains.

Available for low-memory devices, The Walking Cat is a casual puzzle game that does grow on you. It will test your strategy skills to stay one step ahead of the zombie and a nice time waster of a game.

Plenty of gaming levels

The main menu for The Walking Cat has options to mute the sound and music, links to view the about screen, rate the game in the Store and change the game's language support.

The Walking Cat has 230 levels of play, which begins with a tutorial that spans the first few levels. The game lacks a dedicated help section but the tutorial does a good job of walking you through game play. As new elements are introduced to the game, look for tutorial windows to pop-up to explain things.

The game screen itself is a squared grid that will vary in size. Miss Purr-Purr will be placed on one side of the grid, Captain Puffy is often at the opposite end of the grid and ZombieCat somewhere in between the two.

The game grid will have a series of walls that will hide Captain Puffy from the ZombieCat along with an assortment of traps that can be triggered by both Captain Puffy and ZombieCat.

At the bottom of the gaming screen, you will find a pause button, a hint/solution button and a reset button. You are afforded ten credits to go towards hints or solutions (they cost 1 or 3 credits respectively) and if you run out, you can always pick up more through in-app purchases.

Staying one step ahead

Game play is somewhat simple. You use the directional arrows to move Captain Puffy to Miss Purr Purr. For every move the Captain makes, the ZombieCat will get a turn to move towards intercepting Captain Puffy. Captain Puffy can move one square at time while ZombieCat moves two squares.

The walls that are on the gaming grid come into play to hide Captain Puffy from ZombieCat's line of sight. If you keep a wall between you and the zombie, the zombie will not move.

The traps can help your cause because not only can they be sprung on Captain Puffy, they can also be sprung on ZombieCat. ZombieCat tends to move in a straight line towards the Captain and is oblivious of any traps that lie in his way. If a trap hangs him up, it is smooth sailing to reach Miss Purr Purr.

Game play is rather on the easy side for the first few levels. After that the game takes on a chess match feel with you keeping Captain Puffy one step ahead of the ZombieCat.

Overall Impression

The Walking Cat is a fun game to pass the time with and has a slight addictive quality about it. The graphics are well drawn up and the puzzles present a nice challenge.

If I had to find something to gripe about with The Walking Cat is that the zombie cat looks more like a panda bear than a cat. I also wouldn't mind seeing the ZombieCat drag about like a zombie. Maybe drop a few body parts along the way?

Nonetheless, while the ZombieCat could be more zombie-like by no means is that a deal breaker. All in all, The Walking Cat is an entertaining game for Windows Phone and not a bad time waster of a game.

• The Walking Cat - Windows Phone 8 and 7.x - Free - Store Link