Gameloft has had a presence in the Windows Phone and Windows Store for some time now. The developers have built up a respectful collection of fantastic gaming titles that can easily help you pass short bits of time with or satisfy your itch for longer gaming spurts. Many of their gaming titles are universal, being available for both Windows Phone and Windows devices and many allow for game progress to be saved across devices.
There are the likes of Asphalt 8: Airborne, Dragon Mania Legends and World at Arms to stock your gaming library with. Additionally, many of Gameloft's titles have been adopted as Xbox gaming titles and while some stand out stronger than others, it is hard to find a terrible Gameloft game.
For today's roundup, we are going to focus on four of the top-rated Gameloft titles that are available from the Windows 10 Store. While these games are also available in the Windows Phone Store, with many of our readers discovering the Windows 10 Store experience we wanted to focus on those titles available for the larger screen.
If we have overlooked your favorite Gameloft game from the Windows 10 Store, don't be shy and toss out your recommendation in the comments below.
Rival Knights
Full of bone-breaking action, Rival Knights places you in Medieval times, taking on the role of a gallant knight. You work your way across the land, competing in jousting tournaments where you battle rival clans across five leagues. Defeat the clans and you can lay claim to their castles and thrones.
Along the way, you can upgrade your Knight by purchasing new gear, horses or upgrade the equipment in hand. Rival Knights has over 120 lances, sets of armor, helmets and banners available for purchase in the game's store with your event earnings.
Game play with Rival Knights will test your timing and reflexes. As your horse races down the track, you tap a meter (much like you tap the screen to shift gears) at just the right spot for the horse to pick up speed and momentum. Once your opponent gets in range of your lance, you will target your point of impact. Should everything go as planned, your opponent will be removed from their saddle in an explosive manner. If your aim is slightly off or your opponent has the edge with momentum, you may find yourself sailing off your stead.
While I don't play Rival Knights regularly, every time I visit the game I find the different camera angles deployed and ragdoll physics very impressive.
Along with the main storyline, Rival Knights includes an asynchronous multiplayer game mode and weekly player vs. player tournaments. All in all, Rival Knights is a fun way to pass the time competing in a rather unique sport. The game is available for both Windows Phones and Windows devices. The larger screened tablets and computers will pull out a bit more detail in the graphics, but both versions play out nicely.
Please note that while there is support for low-memory Windows Phones but the graphics and animations may lag slightly.
Download Rival Knights from the Windows 10 Store (Free)
Download Rival Knights from the Windows Phone Store (Free)
Pastry Paradise
Pastry Paradise is a match-three styled game with a slight sweet tooth. You join pastry chef Hannah in her quest to stop the evil Mr. Moelleux from filling the land with cheap mud cakes and canned custard.
The multi-level game has you traveling across fantasy worlds such as Gingerbread Gardens, Wafer Woods and Mount Mudcake. The goals of each gaming level will include one of two objectives. You will be tasked in achieving a certain score within a set number of moves or you will be required to match and collect baking ingredients to complete the desert you are cooking. You also have boss fights that are turned based competitions where you try to collect a number of gaming squares before your rival cook does.
Game mechanics with Pastry Paradise is not much different from any other match-three styled game with one possible exception, you can swap out game pieces diagonally. Otherwise, you shift your gaming pieces around to create matches of at least three of the same desert to remove them from the gaming screen and work towards your level objective.
While appearances may lead one to believe Pastry Paradise is more of a kid's game, if you give the game a try you may discover that the game's appeal spans all ages. Graphics are nicely drawn up and game play is challenging. I like the competitive levels where you face off against the boss bakers. You also have an online multi-player game mode to take on other Pastry Paradise players or your Facebook friends.
Pastry Paradise is a free game that is available from both the Windows 10 Store and the Windows Phone Store. The game does support low-memory devices as well.
Download Pastry Paradise from the Windows 10 Store (Free)
Download Pastry Paradise from the Windows Phone Store (Free)
Despicable Me: Minion Rush
Endless Runner games can be fantastic games to pass the time with from your Windows Phone and may translate well to the larger screen of our Windows computers. Despicable Me: Minion Rush is one such game and features the lovable Minions from the motion picture Despicable Me. The game has been tweaked and updated over the years where missions, mini-games and a multi-player mode has been added to the endless runner aspect of the game.
You still run your Minion through Gru's Lab and Residential Area, El Macho's Lair, Minion Beach and Super Silly Funland avoid a wide assortment of dangers. You still have tons of bananas to capture as you run through the game and an assortment of bosses to battle. However, instead of simply seeing how far you can run your Minion, the game has the Jelly Lab where you have multiple gaming levels to tackle. Each gaming level has a specific objective or mission such as collecting a number of bananas with the vacuum cleaner power-up or roll under a number of obstacles.
You can use your bananas to purchase costumes for your Minion (or buy them via in-app purchase), unlock power-ups and even unlock new Minion characters.
While I may not play Despicable Me: Minions Rush every day, whenever I visit the game I am reminded how entertaining this game can be. Truth be told, I play the game more times than not from my Windows Phone but in working up this roundup I have discovered the game is just as fun from the larger screens of a Windows tablet or laptop. I liked playing the game using the directional keys from the keyboard a little better than swiping at the screen. In using the directional arrows you can have an unobstructed view of the screen (no stubby fingers to block your view) and the game flow seems to be a little smoother as well.
Despicable Me: Minions Rush is a free game, available for both Windows and Windows Phones, with a few in-app purchase opportunities.
Download Despicable Me: Minion Rush from the Windows 10 Store (Free)
Download Despicable Me: Minion Rush from the Windows Phone Store (Free)
Kingdoms and Lords
Kingdoms and Lords is one of the many city builder styled games from Gameloft such as World at Arms, Dragon Mania Legends and Kingdoms and Lords. In Kingdoms and Lords find the peace and quiet of your village has been disrupted by a Barbarian invasion. Once the dust settles, it is your job to rebuild your kingdom and defeat the Dark Knight and his Barbarian forces who have laid waste to your land.
The Xbox gaming title is part strategy game and part simulation. The strategy aspect has you raising an army and attacking your neighbors' strongholds. You hire, train and grow your army to improve your chances for success in combat. The simulation aspect has you expanding your lands, building and improving structures, managing farms and raising livestock for money and food.
Game play with Kingdoms and Lords is task driven with missions ranging from installing streetlights, recruiting soldiers, building farms and battling barbarians. Combat is turned based and will pit a collection of your soldiers up against those of the enemy. There are some magical tricks that can be used to give your troops a slight advantage but much of the battle is strategy oriented.
There is a multi-player element with Kingdoms and Lords where you can visit your Xbox friend's villages, invade their villages and chat it up. While I found the game entertaining, unfortunately, the connectivity issues we mentioned in the initial review of Kingdom and Lords still exist.
If city builders are your cup of tea, Kingdoms and Lords is a well animated, challenging option to consider. Kingdoms and Lords is a free game, available for both Windows and Windows Phones, with the customary in-app purchase opportunities.
Download Kingdoms and Lords from the Windows 10 Store (Free)
Download Kingdoms and Lords from the Windows Phone Store (Free)
