Cannon Penguins is a odd little Windows Phone game that has you shooting penguins from a cannon in an effort to capture fish that are randomly swimming across the screen.

The arcade game has three gaming modes to offer a little variety and is available for low memory devices. I'm not sure if Cannon Penguins can stand up to marathon gaming sessions but for short spurts, it's worth a try.

Three Games, One Cannon, Plenty of Penguins

Your main menu with Cannon Penguins offers you three gaming modes, each having ten stages. You will also find options to visit the developer's Facebook page, mute the sounds and, of course, launch into game play.

The three gaming modes include:

• Penguin Army: Armed with thirty penguins you are tasked with blasting them from a cannon to collect fish that are swimming across the screen. Collect multiple fish with one shot and you earn bonus points and penguins. Your goal with Penguin Army is to score as many points as possible when you run out of penguins.
• Fast and Fishy: You have the same game concept as you have with Penguin Army but you have a time element added to game play. You have 90 seconds and an unlimited supply of penguins to rack up the highest score possible. Where combos awarded you bonus penguins and points in the Army mode, here you get bonus points and time added to the clock.
• Environmental Issue: With this gaming mode, the water is polluted with trash. You still need to catch as many fish as possible and should a penguin hits any of the floating trash, you lose a life. Lose all three lives and the game is over. As a bonus feature, as you catch fish a recycle symbol begins to turn green. When the symbol is completely green, tap it to eradicate all the trash to give you a few seconds of unfettered fishing.

Each of the ten stages of each gaming mode seems to mix up the environment a little. The floating ice chunks are occupied with penguins but aren't really obstacles because your shot flies under the ice without issue. There is also a penguin on an inner-tube that floats around the screen. Again, not really an obstacle but rather a distraction.

Overall Impression

Cannon Penguins isn't an overly difficult game to pick up but the game will test your timing, aim and patience. I don't think it could stand up to marathon gaming sessions but isn't a bad time waster of a game.

It does lack a leaderboard and while I like the stages, I wouldn't mind seeing more of a level layout where you have to meet certain performance requirements to advance (score a set number of points, etc.), something to make you work to be able to move from stage to stage.

Overall, I wouldn't consider Cannon Penguins a home run hit but maybe a stand-up double. Cannon Penguins is a free game as well as a universal game that is available for Windows 8. The downside here is that the game doesn't take advantage of the larger screens.

• Cannon Penguins - Windows Phone 8 - 9MB - Free - Store Link
• Cannon Penguins - Windows 8 - 10MB - Free - Store Link

Our interview with Smoking Gun Interactive's co-founder about the upcoming Age of Empires game made for touchscreens

Microsoft will offer Windows Phone owners not one but two new games based on their Age of Empires strategy franchise this fall. In addition to the previously announced Age of Empires: World Domination game from developer KLab, the company announced last week plans to release Age of Empires: Castle Siege for Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 sometime in September.

As the title implies, this game concentrates on offering players a way to build a castle, complete with defenses that will be made to keep it from falling to enemies. Developed by Vancouver-based Smoking Gun Interactive, Age of Empires: Castle Siege will offer a way to link up with friends on Xbox Live for alliances as well as support for online leaderboards. We got a chance to chat with John Johnson, the co-founder and CEO of Smoking Gun Interactive, to find out more about Age of Empires: Castle Siege, including how the free-to-play game will handle in-game purchases and more.

First, how did Smoking Gun Interactive get the gig from Microsoft to develop Age of Empires: Castle Siege?

"We had a great relationship with Microsoft having worked on many projects and many teams with them over the last few years. We were very excited to pitch for AoE: Castle Siege As our founders and many employees have extensive RTS experience and that gave us a bit of an edge."

Many people might be wondering how Castle Siege ties into the Age of Empires franchise besides just the name. What elements in the game make it a true Age of Empires title?

"AoE: Castle Siege brings AoE gameplay to touch devices. We've kept a lot of what made the original AoE so popular: We're grounded in history, you can play one of 6 civilizations and each have 3 unique heroes and 1 unique troop type. You can directly control all the units during combat just like other RTS titles. We have a tech tree to advance through as well as many ages to advance through that all gain better weapons, units, defenses and other structures. And as with AoE, the game is primarily about advancement and combat."

What sort of castles and defenses can players make in the game?

"Players can arrange their castles in any way they choose with lots of different tactical layouts that can work. There are a variety of defensive towers such as Archer towers, Crossbow towers, and ballista towers and, at higher levels there are more powerful towers like the flame tower that shoots Greek fire. In addition, there are emplacements which are more fragile than towers, but have a longer range. Walls protect your buildings and defenses and you can place troops on walls to defend them. In addition, Patrol points let you assign 1-2 squads of troops (of your choice) to defend your castle and Guard Houses will constantly spawn defensive troops until the guard house is destroyed so these are best placed in protected areas. There are a variety of traps players can hide such as caltrops, fire traps and engineer traps."

What kinds of units can the player access to lay siege to the castles?

"Players can access Infantry, Spear Infantry, Raiders, Ladder Invaders, Archers, Crossbow Men, Cavalry, Battering Rams, Siege Towers, Catapults and Ballistas. Some come in later ages and all troop types can be upgraded over time. Each civilization also has its own unique unit: Briton – Longbowman, Franc – Knight Templar, Tuetons – Tuetonic Knight, Byzantine – Cheirosiphon, Keivan Rus – Raiders of Muscovy, Saracen – Mamluk. Units have specific roles there are better at in combat and directing units in battle will maximize its role effectively. That is a key skill players will pick up as they advance through the ages."

What gameplay modes will be available in Castle Siege?

"AoE: Castle Siege is really all about building and combat. You build up your castle to defend yourself and protect you loot and your keep. You then build armies and attack other player's castles to try to destroy as much of their castles as you can. There are 10 historical missions you play as well."

What other features will make Age of Empires: Castle Siege stand out from the many mobile strategy games currently available?

"In the mobile arena we feel our touch based direct control sets us apart and really gives an RTS sensibility to the title. Each troop type has a specific combat role and players will have to master ordering their troops to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Hero special abilities can really turn the tide of the battle and are a lot of fun to use. Players can also do research on both an economic and military tech tree. We feel we've given the player lots of flexibility to lay out their castle with many tactical options available. The combat is truly a skill based game, which will take time to master but still accessible enough for the casual user."

How easy or hard was it to make the game work in Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 and will it be a universal app with cross platform support?

"There are challenges with any platform, especially with the range of devices available. We also had challenges making the game support both touch and keyboard/mouse input for desk top users. In the end we landed with something that really worked well for touch and PC. Yes the game is compatible on all platforms so you can attack players on PC from your mobile device and vice versa. You can log into the same account from multiple devices as well. So do some attacks from home, continue on your mobile device and when you get to work log in and continue from there."

The game will have some in-game app purchases. Can you talk about what these elements will be like and if they will be needed to successfully play the game?

"It takes time to build everything in the game. Players can skip the wait buy purchasing and spending gold (you can also acquire gold by attacking other players or setting up trade routes). There are no power ups or other consumables for purchase so even if you accelerate your castle's progression, you will still have to develop your combat skills to be successful. Everything is available in game without having to purchase, so you don't have to spend a dime, if you don't want to."

What can you tell us about the art design and the graphics for Castle Siege?

"We wanted to make sure the game read well on smaller phone displays. We also had to support a wide range of devices with different resolutions and abilities while still allowing the player to be able to discern gameplay elements. It is a departure from the original AoE, but we were going for a balance between the original more realistic style and yet still appeal to a mobile audience and have art that was instantly recognizable on smaller devices. It's a fine line, but we fell we struck a balance that works well for both PC and mobile. There are lots of little touches in the game from collapsing wall animations to smoke and fire effects that give a real visual punch."

If the game is successful, could we see it on iOS or Android devices at some point?

"For now the game is being released for Windows 8 PC and Windows Phone 8."

Any plans for additional content to be added to the game after it is released?

"Yes. We do have plans for additional content."

Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about Age of Empires: Castle Siege?

"We're very excited to see the game get released. We worked very hard to make a game that, hopefully, appeals to both casual players and fans of the franchise. We are hoping to bring in a whole new audience to the Age franchise. We're especially pleased at the level of player control and tactical gameplay depth we've been able to add to a mobile strategy title and we hope people like it."

We would like to thank John for taking the time to answer our questions!

Dungeons & Dragons is a super-popular tabletop role-playing game. There have been numerous titles released in digital format for players to enjoy on their consoles and gaming rigs, but many have failed to replicate the magic of tabletop. That could change as Backflip Studios is looking to bring a new Dungeons & Dragons game to mobile platforms and it's set to introduce some neat features.

Backflip has announced that it's creating a new mobile game and while it doesn't look like the tabletop role-playing game, the development team is working hard to implement some key elements. The team will also look to add some unique touches to the game, including real-time combat (as shown in the development video below) as opposed to the usual turn-based. That all said, looking at the video itself, it does seem as though this could be a freemium title, which could put off some of the potential player base.

Not much else is known about the upcoming title, including which platforms it will be released on. We'll hopefully have more details in the near future, but it's certainly one to keep an eye on. It's safe to not expect a hardcore Dungeons & Dragons experience, but an easily approachable title for everyone to enjoy on their mobile device.

What would you like to see in this game?

Via: The Verge

Alkekopter is not your typical endless runner styled Windows Phone game. You play the role of a floating skull that is armed with a floating fireball that is dangling from a chain.

Your job is to guide the floating skull down an endless path that is filled with evil minions and other skulls that are intent on doing you harm. The game does have a few power-ups to help your skull survive all the attacks.

Available for low-memory devices, Alkekopter has simple controls, challenging game play and isn't a bad time waster of a game.

Simple layout, challenging game play

Alkekopter's main menu offers links to jump into game play, to view the how to play screen, to view the credits and to view information on contacting the developer.

Game mechanics for Alkekopter are rather simple. You have your floating skull and fireball slowly drifting across the screen. You can control the skulls movement and position by dragging your finger along the screen. As the skull moves, the chained fireball will move accordingly as well. If you make a slight circular motion with your finger, the fireball will begin to spin.

It won't take long for evil minion skulls to begin to attack your skull. You spin your fire ball to knock these skulls and any other enemy for that matter out of the sky. The fireball won't take out your enemies by simple contact and it's best to have your fireball spinning counter clockwise. Any contact made by an enemy skull (alive or other) will drain your skull of health points. If you spin your fireball clockwise, you will knock the enemy upwards and run the risk of getting hit by them as they plummet to the ground.

Power-ups include such items as health restore, a blast the will take out enemies in the vicinity and other weapons boosts. These power-ups drop from the top of the screen and have to be collected by the skull. If your fireball hits them, they will go sailing off the screen (which sucks).

The game does have an endless runner feel in that you continue to travel down the playing field until you die. However, you do not earn points for how far your skull travels but rather how many enemies you send to their fate.

Periodically you will face your nemesis skull that is also armed with a chained fireball plus the ability to steal your power-ups. There is also a giant skull that you will run across who shoots fireballs at your skull.

Overall Impression

Alkekopter is a nicely animated, challenging game for your Windows Phone. Game play has a nice pace right out of the gate that only slows down momentarily before you run across your nemesis or the giant skull.

I would have liked to have seen a reference page on all the power-ups available and the ability to collect them with your fireball. I don't mind the endless runner style of play but the game would also do nicely with set levels of play.

Overall, Alkekopter makes a nice first impression and after playing the game for the past few days it comes across a fun time waster of a game. While the game is relatively new, it holds a 4.5 star rating in the Windows Phone Store and has a Windows 8 version available that is well suited for tablet play.

Alkekopter is a free game title and if you take it out for a spin, let us know what you think in the comments and toss out a review in the Store to share your thoughts with the developer.

• Alkekopter - Windows 8 - 21.7MB - Free - Store Link
• Alkekopter – Windows Phone 8 – 22MB – Free – Store Link

Destiny, Sunset Overdrive and Halo: The Master Chief Collection are just some of our picks.

Microsoft launched the Xbox One console less than 10 months ago, but the launch titles that were offered at that time were something of a mixed bag. That's usually the case for the release of a new console but there's a lot more to look forward to for the fall and holiday season as a flood of new Xbox One games are set for release.

It's not a shock to learn that the fourth quarter of every year is also the biggest sales period for console games in general, which is why we see a ton of new titles released between September and November. Game publishers like to flood the market with new games so that when the holiday shopping season rolls around, there's a variety of new games to purchase.

So which Xbox One games are the ones that we most want to get, either on the day of their release or as holiday gifts? We managed to cut down our selections to our top 10 picks, and put them in order based on their current release date, but as always your personal list will likely differ than ours. Keep in mind that while all these games are scheduled for release before the end of 2014, their publishers could still delay one or more of these titles into 2015. In fact that's already happened with games like Battlefield: Hardline, Evolve and Batman: Arkham Knight.

Destiny - September 9

Bungie created the Halo franchise for the original Xbox, and it is still the biggest game series in the history of Microsoft's consoles that is exclusive to that platform. However, Bungie decided to ditch both Xbox exclusivity and the Halo series for its latest game, Destiny; in addition to the Xbox One, it will be released for the Xbox 360 and Sony's PS3 and PS4 consoles. That doesn't change the fact that this game is likely to be a huge hit for the Xbox One.

On the surface, Destiny looks like a next-gen Halo game in terms of its graphics and art style. Like Halo, Destiny is a sci-fi first person shooter but in this game the humans are on the verge of extinction several hundred years in the future, as the player controls a character who has to fight to save humanity. Yes, there will also be online multiplayer battles in Destiny as well. Will this game be the next Halo? Only time will tell.

Forza Horizon 2 - September 30

Microsoft's first Forza Horizon game, made for the Xbox 360, was an attempt to make an open world racing game with elements of racing sims. The sequel, which will be released for the Xbox One and Xbox 360, takes place in a world located in southern France and northern Italy where street races can happen at any time of the day or night.

Playground Games is developing the Xbox One version, and it will use the same incredible graphics engine as Forza Motorsport 5, and thrown a dynamic weather system to boot Over 200 real world cars will be in the game, and if you want a taste of it Microsoft will release a free demo for the Xbox One version on September 15.

Alien: Isolation - October 7

Games based on the Alien/Aliens movie franchise have been a mixed bag at best, but we are really excited to check out Alien: Isolation as the development team at The Creative Assembly is trying to bring back the horror and scares that gripped us when we first saw the original Ridley Scott-directed 1979 film that started it all.

Alien: Isolation, to be published by Sega, is set in between the events of Alien and Aliens as Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda has her own encounter with the xenomorph. The gameplay videos suggest this title will have a lot of "jump out of your seat" scares. Pre-orders for the game will even get to relive some of the events in the 1979 Alien film via DLC packs, which will include many of the movie's actors voicing their characters. Nifty.

Sunset Overdrive - October 28

This game may be one of the oddest first party Xbox titles Microsoft has ever released, and that could turn out to be a good thing. Developed by Insomniac Games, Sunset Overdrive is an open world third person shooter set in a near future where most of the humans have been turned into mutant monsters, and all thanks to the consumation of an energy drink.

Yes, this is a game that not only looks fun to play but has a satirical message about consumerism, which is something that's rare in a AAA game release. The player character will use parkour like acrobatics to evade enemies and lots of weapons to take out the energy drink-created mutants. Sounds like it is going to be a blast to play.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - November 4

Yes, 2013's entry in the first person shooter series, Call of Duty: Ghosts, was a bit dull but we have much higher hopes for this new installment. Developed by Sledgehammer Games, this game takes place a few decades in the future, where the fictional private military contractor Atlas has lots of cool high tech weapons to take out enemies all over the world.

Publisher Activision says this game, unlike previous games in the series, took three years to develop instead of the usual two, which hopefully means a better quality game right out of the gate. The single player trailers look cool, and actor Kevin Spacey both voicing and handling motion capture as the head of Atlas doesn't hurt either. The multiplayer portion looks like a cross between Call of Duty and Tribes (Jet Packs! Laser guns!)

Halo: The Master Chief Collection - November 11

Halo fans will be able to play Halo 1-4 on the Xbox One for the first time thanks to this collection. In addition to both the original and remastered versions of Halo 1 and 2, made for the original Xbox, it contains Halo 3 and 4, made for the Xbox 360, in full 1080p resolution.

Oh, did we mention that this game lets users access the upcoming digital live action feature film Halo: Nightfall? Oh, and the game will be the only place players will be able to access the upcoming multilplayer beta for Halo 5: Guardians, which will begun on December 29th. Add it all up, and this is a must have for any Halo or Xbox One owners.

Assassin's Creed: Unity - November 11

Ubisoft's latest game in its long running action/stealth series has been developed specifically with current gen consoles like the Xbox One in mind. This time the setting is the French Revolution with the player taking on the Templar assassin role of Arno as he gets caught up in the middle of the fight for France.

The game will also have a separate four player co-op experience, where players must take up missions and team up in order to ensure their completion, while also performing some cool parkour moves. We can't wait to see how this game looks on our big screen.

Dragon Age: Inquisition - November 18

BioWare knows how to make great role playing games and the release of the third game in their critically Dragon Age fantasy series, via publisher Electronic Arts, is certainly something to look forward to. Players will be able to choose from one of four difference races to portray in the game ( human, dwarf, elf or Qunari).

Besides larger environments to explore and improved graphics, Dragon Age: Inquisition will let the player choose how it wishes to engage in combat. Characters can fight in typical action-RPG fashion, or they can switch to the good old fashioned tactical RPG viewpoint, where players can pause the action, give orders to their characters and then watch the battle commence. It sounds like old school RPG combined with action gaming, and that works for us.

Far Cry 4 - November 18

Ubisoft brings one of the best open first person shooter series back in this new installment, which takes place in the fictional Himalayan region of Kyrat. The player, a native to the region, soon gets involved in a civil war. Of course, that means guns are used. A lot.

Beyond the shooting, Far Cry 4 promises to offer the player things like experiencing a Shangri-La fantasy world to explore, tigers to control and elephants that can attack. All of this happens in a beautiful but deadly setting that we can't wait to explore.

Grand Theft Auto V - Fall 2014

Yes, this is a port of a game that came out a year ago for the Xbox 360 but we can't help but be excited about the fact that we will soon be able to explore the sights and sounds of Los Santos with higher resolution graphics, more content and hopefully some surprises.

Rockstar Games is scheduled to bring GTA V to the Xbox One, along with the PS4 and PC, sometime later this fall and thankfully the Grand Theft Auto Online multiplayer portion of the game will not only be included, but Xbox 360 owners of the game will be able to transfer their characters and progression to the Xbox One port. Add it all up and it equals a game we have to own, even if we still have our Xbox 360 version.

What are the Xbox One games due out this fall that you are most looking forward to playing? Let us know in the comments and we may post a future article based on your selections.

Super Time Force is now free on Xbox One. Head to the Xbox Store and you can grab this side-scrolling shooter game Super Time Force without spending a dime. You will of course need to have an Xbox Live Gold membership since this deal is part of the Games with Gold promotion. Anyone with Xbox Live Gold will have a few games available for free on Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Is Super Time Force worth playing? Yes. It's easily worth the normal asking price of $15, but for $0 you have no excuse not to grab it. The game commands an 81 Metascore on review-aggregate site Metacritic. Download it and let us know what you think!

• Download Super Time Force for Xbox One

On Xbox One you'll still find Crimson Dragon as the other free game in the Games with Gold section. The game has mixed-reviews, but it's hard to complain when you're not buying the game.

• Download Crimson Dragon

Xbox 360 owners also get two free games for the month of September. First up is Monaco: What's Your is Mine and then on September 16th you'll be able to download Halo: Reach for free.

Anyone grabbing these free games with their Xbox Live Gold membership?

Source: Major Nelson

Scorched Toast is a unique Windows Phone arcade game that has you playing the role of a toaster who has to launch toast at various breakfast plates that serve as targets.

Scorched Toast isn't exactly an action packed Windows Phone game but it is a fun game to pass the time with. Available for low memory devices, the game includes online leaderboards, a gaming store to pick up a few power-ups and Cloud game saves to synchronize your progress between Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices.

Don't burn the toast

The main menu for Scorched Toast is fairly simple. You have options to mute the sound and music, view the game's About Screen, hop over to the game store and jump into game play.

As you play the game, you will earn toaster bucks that can be spent in the game's store. Scorched Toast's store has purchase options for bonus items to help your toast land on the target plate, buy hats for your toaster and make in-app purchases for toaster bucks.

The game screen will have your toaster and breakfast plate (the target) randomly placed on the screen. The terrain is also randomly generated with various hills and valleys, some of which you can bounce your toast off and onto the plate.

In the top center of the screen is your toast supply and in the right corner is your score and heart count. Hearts can be used to continue a game that when you run out of toast. Once you purchase items from the game store, a backpack will appear in the lower right corner of the screen. Tapping on this backpack will give you access to your inventory.

Game Play

The object of the game is to shoot your toast on to the plate. You begin each game with eight slices of bread and the slices of toast you land on the plate will carry over to the next round of play. There are three rounds per day and at the beginning of each new day, you will receive bonus slices of bread. The game ends when you fail to land any of your toast on the plate.

Game mechanics are a little on the tricky side. You slide across the screen to adjust your toast's trajectory and when that is set, slide down on the screen to start your toaster. The longer you hold the screen, the more the bread is toasted and the higher it will be launched. You do get bonus points the higher you send the toast but hold the screen too long and a burnt remaining cinder of bread will be launched into orbit, never to be seen again.

While the game mechanics are simple, they can be tricky. As you slide down on your Windows Phone screen to set the launch power, the slightest of movements to the left or right will effect your launch trajectory. You may feel the urge to slide further down the screen than necessary, which will increase the chances of your aim being thrown off. Just keep in mind you only need to slide down far enough to turn the toaster on. It's the length of the toast cooking that sets your launch power, not how you slide down the screen.

Money is scattered about the sky that can be collected as bonus cash that can be spent in the game's store. You have bonus items such as maple syrup that will prevent your toast from bouncing off the plate and hats to dress up your toaster.

Overall Impression

Scorched Toast is a Windows Phone game that does grow on you the more you play it. The graphics and animations are nicely drawn up and game play does have a bit of challenge to it.

It is nice to see that your game progress on either the Windows Phone or Windows 8 version of Scorched Toast is shared between the two devices. I would have liked to have seen a Help Section to at least reference the bonus items available. There are pop-up windows that appear from time to time that covers new items but those of us who are short on memory would appreciate a follow-up reference source.

The lack of a Help Section is probably the biggest nit I have with Scorched Toast but by no means is it a deal killer. The game receives five stars over in the Windows Phone Store and while we would rate it more along the four star range, we still see it as an entertaining game for Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices.

• Scorched Toast - Windows Phone 8 - 19MB - Free - Store Link
• Scorched Toast - Windows 8 - 14.2MB - Free - Store Link

Space Squids is a endless battle game for your Windows Phone that has a retro feel that reminds me of the old Atari console games or maybe something from a Commodore 64 system.

You pilot a space ship through endless waves of enemy ships and bosses. It's a simple game that doesn't lack challenge and an update was released today taking the game to version 3.0.

The game has actually been updated several times since we last touched on Space Squids with today's update delivering a new gaming engine (Unity) to Space Squids.

Along with the version 3.0 update, we need to mention a few previous updates to Space Squids. The developers have kept busy improving the game and since we last visited the game they have added new enemy ships, new bosses, support for 16:9 screens, support for 720p and 1080p resolutions and an in-app purchase to customize your ship. You also have a new set of controls that helps with the playability of the game.

The ship customization includes eleven spaceships that include Flappy Bird, a squid, the Millennium Falcon and more. The only downside to these bonus ships is they are in color and stand out a little on the green/black retro screen.

Space Squids is a fun time waster of a game and the updates have only helped with the games appeal. With a 4.5 star rating in the Windows Phone Store, it would appear that many Windows Phone gamers agree.

• Space Squids - Windows Phone 8 - 1MB - Free - Store Link

It's been a big news day for Xbox One game debuts, and we're seeing three additional titles added to the mix with Dance Central Spotlight, Warframe, and Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate all debuting on Microsoft's living room gaming console. For gamers who need some entertainment after school now that we're in back-to-school season, these games should offer some entertainment reprieve.

Dance Central Spotlight continues with its dancing focus. There's a Practice That mode to help dancers rehearse difficult steps and moves within the song.

• $9.99 Download now

Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate is a tactical action game where warriors fight to bring down the Orochi Serpent King.

• $59.99 - Download now

Warframe is an army game where soldiers are summoned to join the war.

Are any of these games of interest for your relaxation and entertainment? Let us know if you pick up any of these titles.

• Free - Download now

Source: Major Nelson 1, 2, 3

Microsoft announced a big batch of upcoming ID@Xbox games for Xbox One at E3 earlier this summer. One of the more interesting titles from that announcement is Woolfe: the Red Hood Diaries from Belgian game developer GriN. Woolfe is a 3D action-platformer starring Little Red Riding Hood. The game intertwines her tale with several other fairy tales, creating a dark and unique fantasy world.

GriNrecently launched a successful Kickstarter campaign (with just over a day left to contribute as of this writing) to help finance Woolfe's development. We reached out to Wim Wouters at GriN to find out more about the studio's plans for the game, as well as their experiences with the ID@Xbox program and Kickstarter. Continue reading for our first Xbox One developer interview!

Hi Wim! Please tell me a little about yourself outside of the world of gaming.

My name is Wim Wouters. [Besides making games for a living] I am fortunate enough to spend most of my time playing games. Sometimes for entertainment, sometimes a little more serious. With two young kids (a three-year old daughter and 11-month old son), there is always some kind of gamification in progress, be it trying to make eating vegetables fun or finding distraction during diaper changes.

Although I am blessed with being able to work together with my wife (writer of the Woolfe story) and spend quite a lot of time with her, we also try to flee from this wonderful world of games sometimes, with the occasional wining and dining together or with friends.

Forgive me for asking, but this burns on my mind. I understand your studio is located in Belgium. Have you ever had the chance to meet Jean-Claude Van Damme?

Jean-Who? Ha ha, no. :)

What a shame! Getting back to business, how did you end up at GriN?

It seems like such a long time ago already. Before I founded GriN, I was self-employed, making 3D animations and Flash websites as a freelance subcontractor for advertising agencies. In my spare time, I created quite a few little Flash games that occasionally got a lot of attention. It was in 2002 that Director (a software tool from Macromedia) got an update that allowed the creation of online 3D games. This was a revelation. It allowed me to combine the two things I loved doing most: creating 3D worlds and programming.

With two friends also into programming and 3D we believed we could conquer the world via our online 3D games. We started the company GriN and launched a website to showcase our creations ( www.underdog.be– quite abandoned now). In a way, it worked… in the glory days our web games attracted more than 300,000 players per day!

Unfortunately, online advertising (or paying for online content, for that matter) didn't have the popularity it has today (Google ads didn't even exist). The only advertisers were online casinos and porn sites, [things to which] we did not want to subject our young players. So, we earned very little. So little, in fact, we had to find a new business plan. This turned out to be the old business plan, working as a subcontractor again. Soon after, my partners left the company and I was on my own again.

I continued making games after-hours. The company grew and downsized several times over the years, following the tides of the internet bubbles and my attempts to gain independence as a game development company. Today we are at a peak again, with a team of six full-time employees and almost three full-time freelancers, all working on Woolfe.

GriN shares the same name as a defunct Swedish game studio. Have you considered any measures to make the two company names more distinguishable?

The Swedish Grin was founded one year before us, in 2001. At the time we both were not so well-known. We didn't even know of their existence until we met them at a convention in The Netherlands. They were very friendly and we laughed about having the same company name. They were focusing on big titles already while we were struggling to survive, so they didn't really see us as a threat, I think.

Now that we are also starting to roam the seas of entertainment gaming, this question of what to do with our company name has also become an issue in our minds. How we're going to deal with that at this point is not decided yet. Perhaps we start a new company, or we might change our name, or we do nothing and see what happens.

Woolfe

Woolfe will be your studio's first console game. What inspired you to move into console development?

Actually, it was not our ambition to move to consoles in the first place. When we were nominated for "Best Selected Project 2014" at Game Connection (which took place alongside GDC) in San Francisco, one of the prizes was approval from Sony and a Playstation 4 devkit.

Our deal with Microsoft started at Game Connection too. They saw our presentation and found it quite interesting. While we did not fit in their portfolio as a game they would like to publish, three weeks before E3 they contacted us and asked if we would like to be part of their E3 ID@XBOX presentation. Naturally, we were quite honored.

One issue is that we're still working with Unreal Engine 3. This engine does not officially support PS4 & Xbox One. We're very lucky Epic is such a great company to work with, and they are really helping us quite a lot with… well, everything.

We had no idea these huge companies were so indie-friendly.

Woolfe is a dark, fairytale-themed action platformer. What are some of your inspirations for the game?

Old fairy tale books were the main sources of inspiration for character development. As for the environment, we love Tim Burton (from Batman to Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scisscorhands to Alice in Wonderland and many more), but Dutch painter Anton Pieck was an even greater influence in developing the Woolfe universe.

Gameplay that influenced us can be found in the original Prince of Persia, Crash Bandicoot, Batman, Darksiders, Limbo, Abe's Oddysee, and many many more.

How much story content will Woolfe have? Will there be moments of levity in the narrative, or does it remain serious throughout?

There's quite a lot of story to be told, so we've chosen to integrate the main part into the game through voice-overs, allowing Red to narrate her own history, the city's history and the events which occurred in her family. Additional story content (character backgrounds, fairy tale references, etc.) will be accessible as unlockables and secrets.

The overall story line is quite serious and tragic, but humor and sarcasm will definitely be present too, as Red faces challenges and opponents. We're aiming for a smile and a tear, so to speak.

Woolfe meshes characters and elements from multiple fairy tales. Will any of those characters from other stories be good instead of evil?

We are indeed integrating several characters from other fairy tales. Most of the characters encountered will not be so friendly to our protagonist. But that does not mean they have always been evil or are evil by nature. B.B. Woolfe, our main antagonist, has a very powerful grip on his environment and many have become victim to his reign. All the side-characters have their own back stories as well, which will probably be unlockable secrets or achievements.

Tell us a little about Woolfe's combat. It looks like Red Riding Hood swings a mean axe!

We're trying to create a really smooth hack-and-slash combat style that feels easy, but has a hidden layer of sophistication that will allow the user to execute wild combos and finishers. At the moment we're re-writing the whole combat system.

How much blood and gore will the game have?

It's not really such a bloody game at the moment. Our Gamescom rating was actually 12+, which is really sweet [given] that the German age rating is quite strict. Red Riding Hood only fights fantasy characters and when she dies you get an instant re-spawn – no gruesome death animations.

We saw some green items hidden out of the way in the current alpha build. What do these items do?

I see [you found] some secrets. Those green Ws unlock special content. This can be character trophies, background stories, concept art, and original fairy tales – things like that. [The bonus content] will give curious players a better understanding of the world we are creating.

Will the levels in Woolfe be more open or linear in design?

Actually our city level originally had a very open design, giving the player the freedom to roam and explore, but we noticed people started feeling lost, not knowing how to proceed with the current objective. Our environment design is filled with so much detail that it tends to be a bit overwhelming when we give the player too much freedom. We have made the game design more linear since then, although we have some surprises there too.

What are some of the bosses we'll encounter in Woolfe? Are they all characters from fairy tales?

The first boss Red Riding Hood will encounter is the Pied Piper. He fits really well in the story. You just don't know if you're chasing him, or if he is luring you. We'll also meet Sleeping, or rather, Creeping Beauty, as we call her. Pinocchio is all grown up by the time you fight him. He's one of the bigger bosses, more towards the end.

The others I cannot talk about yet. We want to keep it exciting for the players, but yes, most of them do come from popular fairy tales.

Xbox One and beyond

Woolfe is coming to Xbox One in 2015. Will you be releasing it on Xbox 360 as well?

No, we can't focus on the old-gen consoles anymore as we would need to do too much optimization, which is very time consuming for a team of only six people. Previous consoles are almost 10 years old by now. By the time we launch for consoles (planned for June 2015), we know more people will already own a new console.

Microsoft announced Woolfe as part of the ID@Xbox program during E3 this year. Can you tell us about your experience with the application and approval process?

It was a breeze. We had no idea communication with Microsoft would be so direct. We already talked to someone from Microsoft at Game Connection where we were nominated. All [of the subsequent] communications were very personal and straightforward.

Have you actually started working with an Xbox One development kit yet? Any challenges there?

We have, although we're not playing Woolfe on the system yet. It takes some time to get everything up and running.

Our biggest problem at the moment is that Unreal Engine 3 does not officially support Xbox One. So we're trying to "hack" our game on the system. Epic is giving us good support with the experience they have, but we're not there yet.

Finally, what has theKickstarterexperience been like for Woolfe? If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

We reached our goal, which is awesome! We're over the moon with joy! With the experience we have now, we would change a few things. We tried to go in prepared for everything, but with a limited team it's always hard to manage time. We had hoped to reach our goal a little faster so most of the updates we prepared were focused on stretch goals and extra rewards.

Of course, just like most Kickstarters, after a great start and reaching 50% in three days things started going slower. We needed to reach new audiences and that proves to be quite hard. We're getting quite a lot of attention in Europe, but the US market doesn't know us that well yet. It could be a cultural thing, or just Europeans being proud that not every game is made in the US.

More Woolfe to come

There's still time to contribute to the successful Woolfe Kickstarter. You can follow GriN and Woolfe on Twitter at @GriN_be and @WoolfeGame.

Microsoft has just announced that the long awaited Xbox One version of the highly popular sandbox game Minecraft will be released via digital download on Friday for $19.99, but people who already own the Xbox 360 version can get the Xbox One port for just $4.99.

The Xbox 360 version of Minecraft has sold over 13 million copies since it launched for the console in May 2012. The Xbox One port, developed by 4J Studios, will likely be a big hit as well. Microsoft says:

"With worlds up to 36 times larger than on Xbox 360, now there's an even bigger canvas to create on. Transfer your favorite Xbox 360 worlds and content to the Xbox One Edition so you won't lose your creations. Join a community of 13-million-plus Minecraft fans on Xbox Live that are continually laying down imaginative creations. And, with the widest range of downloadable content on console, you'll never run out of new worlds to explore with four player split-screen on one console or up to eight players over Xbox Live."

If you prefer to get your games on an old fashioned disc via a retail store, the Xbox One version of Minecraft will be sold in that form sometime before the end of 2014. If you are an Xbox One owner are you excited about Minecraft appearing on the console this Friday?

Source: Xbox Wire

Asphalt 8: Airborne is Gameloft's racing gem, available on a variety of platforms including Windows Phone. The recent Dubai update made its rounds and even hit the Windows 8 version, but Windows Phone owners were left in the dark. Today, all has been rectified as the Asphalt 8 update is now available on Windows Phone too.

It's a neat upgrade and one we're sure may will enjoy. As well as the new tracks in Dubai, here's what else is new in version 1.5.0.10:

• Five new vehicles, including the Mercedes-Benz Biome concept ar
• New season to test driving skills with 74 high-octane events

Be sure to head on over to the Windows Phone Store to either download the popular title or update your installation.

• Download Asphalt 8 for Windows Phone

If you are in the mood for a simple, challenging puzzle game, you may want to check out the Windows Phone gaming title Block x 3. The game has a casual pace with over five hundred puzzles that are scattered about four puzzle packs.

Block x 3 is not the most difficult puzzle game to pick-up on but don't let the simplicity of the game fool you. You are presented with an assortment of blocks that you have to line up in a row or column. The challenge is that you have a limited number of moves to accomplish this in and plenty of obstacles to get in your way.

Available for low-memory devices and Windows 8 devices, Block x 3 is an appealing choice of games to help you pass the time and to test your puzzle solving skills.

Four puzzle packs equals plenty of game play

Your main menu with Block x 3 isn't very complicated. You have a Start Button to jump into game play along with buttons for the game's store, view the About screen, mute the sounds and visit the game's Facebook page.

Currently, the only item in the game store is the option to remove the ad banner with a $.99 in-app purchase. The ad banner isn't overwhelming but if you prefer a cleaner appearance, the game is worth the $.99.

Block x 3 has four gaming levels (or maybe it's better to call them packs) that includes:

• Starter: This collection has a singular set of blocks that have to be repositioned into a single column or row.
• Extend Mix: Here you have enough blocks to create two columns of blocks of three. Just be careful, when you form one grouping of three blocks they are removed from play.
• Warp Warp: An interesting puzzle set with sets of warp grids on the playing screen that teleport your pieces around.
• Kids: A more gentler set of puzzles for our younger gamers.

Each pack contains level packs that currently total 540 puzzles with the first few puzzles starting out a little on the easy side. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it gives you a feel for the game's mechanics without too much pressure.

Game play

The game screen is a square grid with the blocks randomly placed in the center of the grid. Your move count is displayed in the upper left corner with a hint and pause button located in the upper right corner. Across the bottom of the screen your current level is displayed in the bottom left corner with options to toggle from puzzle to puzzle or reset your current puzzle.

Again, game play calls on you to line up your blocks in either a row or column. You have a set number of moves to accomplish this task. To add to the challenge of Block x 3, some puzzles require the blocks to form a "T" shape, some have different colored blocks to arrange and some have obstacles (such as grids that you cannot move a block to) to overcome.

Block x 3 is one of the few multi-level games that doesn't have the levels progressively unlocked. When you first begin game play, all 540 levels of play are available. You can solve them in sequential order or skip around however which way you would like. However, I would play the first handful of levels in each pack in sequential order to pick up on any game changes that may be present.

Block x 3's casual pace lends the game as either a fun way to pass short bits of time with or a game to lose track of time with.

Overall Impression

I liked Block x 3. Game mechanics aren't difficult but solving the puzzles will test your skills at strategy and patience. The minimalist design looks good and with the number of puzzles in all the gaming packs, Block x 3 won't grow stale quickly.

Do you prefer to play puzzle games from the larger screen of a tablet or PC? Block x 3 is also available for Windows 8 devices. The Windows 8 version does not have the Kid's Pack and hopefully that will change with the next update.

Block x 3 scores 4.5 stars in the Windows Phone Store which, based on our experiences, is spot on.

• Block x 3 - Windows Phone 8 - 10MB - Free - Store Link
• Block x 3 - Windows 8 - 9.21MB - Free - Store Link

After previously releasing their free-to-play fantasy themed collectible trading card game Order & Chaos Duels for Windows Phone earlier this summer, Gameloft has now ported the game over to Windows 8.1 as well.

Just in case you are not familiar with the game, here's a quick list of its features:

• Nearly 300 gorgeous cards to collect, with all the heroic fantasy-art style of the Order & Chaos games (MMORPG & MOBA)
• Fast & accessible duels on the go with spectacular special magic effects for the cards
• Deep content & strategy with the game mechanics of a traditional trading card game (TCG)
• Epic live and asynchronous online multiplayer games
• Quests & adventures to fight against evil and free the world of Haradon
• Optimize your deck for battle in solo & online multiplayer PvP modes

What do you think of Gameloft bringing this game to both Windows Phone and Windows 8.1?

• Download Order & Chaos Duels for Windows Phone 8
• Download Order & Chaos Duels for Windows 8.1

Rovio has announced the release date for Angry Birds Transformers. The game is a result of their collaboration with Hasbro, and will be released on October 15, though whether it will arrive on all platforms at the same time is unknown. The announcement was made by way of a video in the style of the 1980s Transformer cartoon.

As part of Rovio's agreement with Hasbro, Angry Birds Transformers will have not only the smartphone game, but also Hasbro's TELEPOD toys. TELEPODs are action figures that you hold over your device's camera, which will then add that character into the game.

Will you be playing Angry Birds Transformers? Let us know below in the comments.

Source: Rovio on YouTube

Microsoft is letting Xbox One owners who have a paid Xbox Live Gold subscription play the full version of the racing sim Forza Motorsport for free for four days starting tomorrow.

The free period begins at 12:01 am Pacific time on Thursday and ends at 11:59 Pacific time on Sunday. Microsoft says:

"The Forza Motorsport 5 weekend will allow you to check out the full Forza experience with special in-game challenges, play against others online and build your achievements and Gamerscore. Throughout the weekend, you will have the chance to compete in a special multiclass endurance in-game race event, Grand Tour of Prague. Complete this endurance event and drive at least 130 miles in the race to earn a new title and badge for your Forza Motorsport 5 profile. After the weekend, you'll have the option to purchase the game online from the Xbox Store or visit your favorite retailer and continue playing. You will also get to keep your Gamerscore and achievements earned while playing, so invite your Gold friends to play and see who has the best driving skill."

The free weekend is part of a promotion for the upcoming spin-off game, Forza Horizon 2, which will be released for the Xbox One on September 30. Will you be playing Forza Motorsport 5 for free this weekend?

Source: Xbox Wire

Star Command is a great real-time strategy game where players blast their way through all manner of ridiculous interstellar shenanigans, and it's coming to Windows Phone. The developer has announced that they're in beta testing now, and should launch alongside their next big update which adds galactic free roaming, a new combat system, crew equipment, lots of space pirates to blow up.

Star Command boasts excellent writing that constantly pokes fun at sci-fi tropes, with more than a few Star Trek references. The new ship-to-ship combat system will be rejiggered so that you don't have to go through mini-games to fire when playing in free-roam mode, plus you'll be able to target specific subsystems.

As always, there are boarding parties to contend with, long-term character progression which advances skills based on what kind of duties you put them on, and losing all of those built-up abilities because of one pesky hull breach that sucked your lieutenant into the icy embrace of the void. Wrap all of that up in chunky retro graphics, and you've got a really fun little game.

There's no hard and fast timeline for when we'll see Star Command for Windows Phone, but we're eager to see it go live sooner than later. Any takers?

Source: Warballoon

With the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie doing fairly well (although this lifelong fan didn't bother to see it) and new episodes of the latest animated series airing on Nickleodeon, the Ninja Turtles have really returned to the public limelight once again. This would be a great time to announce an Xbox One TMNT game, but we're not quite that lucky.

Still, Activision does have a new title called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze on the way to Xbox 360 and other platforms. Turtles fans have two good reasons to be excited for this one. First, it comes from Wayforward Technologies, who have made some great licensed games like Ducktales Remastered and Batman: the Brave and the Bold. Second, it's going to be a Metroidvania-style platformer à la Guacamelee and Ori and the Blind Forest.

Here we go with the lean, green ninja team

Activision has previously published two Turtles games on Xbox 360 last year – TMNT: Out of the Shadows for XBLA and a retail title simply called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Neither was very well received, although Out of the Shadows has some genuinely cool fan-service elements. The new game Danger of the Ooze at least comes from a better developer, even if the announcement screenshots indicate it won't be wowing anyone visually.

Don't worry about seeing the Shrek-like behemoths from the latest movie in Danger of the Ooze. This one will be based on the excellent Nick series, taking place between the second and third seasons of the show. The Turtles will face familiar threats like the Shredder, the Kraang (a race of alien invaders in the new series), and Tiger Claw, a mutant tiger assassin. Not only will they defend New York, they also get to visit the alien realm Dimension X.

Danger of the Ooze will be a single-player game. Following in the footsteps of the original NES game, players will be able to swap between the four Turtles at will. Each has his own stats and abilities. The game world itself will be vast and nonlinear. The Turtles will have to discover new items and abilities to reach different areas, just like all the best Metroidvania-style games.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Danger of the Ooze is due out in Fall 2014 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and 3DS. We'll have some exclusive details on this one soon!

The New York Times Crossword is now available on Windows Phone and Windows 8. The NYT crossword puzzle is a daily puzzle published by the New York Times newspaper and on their website. The New York Times crossword puzzle was started in 1942 and is one of the most popular crossword puzzle series in the history of the game. Now you can play on your Windows smartphone or tablet.

Here's what you get with the app:

• Lay anywhere: Your subscription now gives you access to The Crossword on NYTimes.com at no additional charge! Just connect or create an account in your account settings and Play Anywhere. Your Windows puzzle progress will be saved and available on the web and vice versa!
• Daily puzzle: It's the same puzzle that's printed every day in The New York Times newspaper. All daily puzzles are available the previous day at 10p EST with a subscription, so enjoy Tuesday's puzzle on Monday at 10p! Practice and learn how to solve the puzzle on Monday or Tuesday or challenge yourself with even harder puzzles later in the week.
• Stylus: If you have a Surface tablet, you can solve the way crosswords were meant to be solved: write directly on the puzzle as you would in the newspaper! (Windows 8.1)
• Mini puzzle: Short, sweet and available without a subscription every day! Get a quick crossword fix when you don't have time for the whole thing. (Windows Phone)
• Past puzzles: Subscribers also enjoy nearly 20 years of classic puzzles from our archives.
• Modern puzzle features: Solve puzzles that include new tricks like rebuses, highlighted or underlined squares, and more!

The New York Times Crossword app is free to download and let's you get unlimited access to the daily puzzle and the calendar archive for seven days. After that, you can subscribe to the newspaper for full access.

Take the crossword for a spin and let us know what you think!

• Download NYT Crossword for Windows Phone
• Download NYT Crossword for Windows 8.1

Thanks for the tip Kurt!

The Ministry of Silly Walks is the new funny game now available on Windows Phone. Already loaded on both iOS and Android, the title is based on the hilarious Monty Python sketch. We previously looked at John Cheese confirming the release of Ministry of Silly Walks on Windows Phone and today's the day, thanks to "silly demand".

There's nothing new about the gameplay that hasn't been done already, but it's hilarious to play regardless. Players are tasked with taking John Cleese on the longest silly walk, collecting coins and avoiding obstacles. If you're a massive fan of the Monty Python series, you'll definitely want to grab this for your Windows Phone.

So who will be picking this title up?

• Download Monty Python's The Ministry of Silly Walks - $1.29