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Welcome to PocketGamer! Please feel free to submit news and product announcements, or post in our forums. Monday, August 18, 2008
 This is tied in with the previous news post from WinPlay, but I always feel that free games deserve a bit of extra attention. At the time of writing, if you subscribe to the WinPlay newsletter you'll can pick up a free copy of Ka-Glom, which usually sells for $8.99.
"Ka-Glom is a high-pressure game of falling blocks. Of the two block types, only the Ka-Glom jelly is explosive. Connect four Ka-Gloms of the same color to start an explosive reaction eliminating all connecting blocks of that color. In building huge chain-reacting explosions your Ka-Glom Factor increases and the bonus points multiply. Play in Survival mode for a classic puzzle experience or try some deep thinking with the Puzzle mode."
Once you subscribe, the email with the download link arrives virtually instantly and the game installs via Activesync after downloading. Don't be deceived - the setup file is only 230kb but the full game downloads shortly afterwards through the installer.
 Smartphone: Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, othersWe're all familiar with the console versions of Guitar Hero, but an offshoot of the game has now made it to the Windows Mobile Smartphone platform though the work of Winplay - a company completely new to me, although they've obviously been working for a while!
It's heavily adapted from the original to only use three buttons, and will only work on Smartphones. In fact, while the majority of the games on their website offer Pocket PC compatibility, gameplay videos indicate that these are very typical Java-style "phone games", and not in the same technological league as titles like Call of Duty 2.
It's all offered through what appears to be a subscription based service called Magmic which provides games for virtually every phone platform imaginable. This is where it gets a little confusing, because games are available both as direct download and on subscription, and I can't find any details on the subscription side. I've emailed the company to ask for further details, and will update you when I hear back.
There's a fairly impressive selection of games on their website, including Hold 'Em, The Chronicles of Narnia, Miner 2049er, and Leisure Suit Larry. Sadly, none of them have demos available but they're all fairly reasonably priced. The full list of games is available here... I'm beginning to think it's time I got myself a new Smartphone. :-)
Thursday, August 14, 2008
 As spotted on XFlib is a release I missed at the time, Double Skill. The concept is simple but rather challenging to master, with the aim to simultaneously play a game of Arkanoid while balancing a ball on a bar linked to your paddle.
According to the blurb, the game speeds up over time. Sadly, I was so shocking at it that I didn't really notice this but you might have more luck! This is a first version so the developer notes that it's a bit rough around the edges. Double Skill is available to download for free for all major Pocket PCs.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
 As spotted on Clickgamer is Firetop Adventure, a brand new platformer from inoGames. "The lands of Kildarn have become plagued by an evil, taking innocent creatures and twisting them in to devilish beasts. Quest forth, find the evil and lift the curse. You are our only hope! Navigate through large varied levels in this fast action platform game, collect gems to boost your lives, kill monsters and collect special items to help you in your quest."
Features include:
* Large scrolling levels
* Special inventory items
* Fully animated enemies and a great variety of traps.
* Use bombs to blast through walls
* Jump to new heights using spring platforms.
* Solve puzzles to progress through the levels
* Use potions to kill large monsters or simply squash small ones.
Firetop Adventure is available to try or buy for $4.95, while a short in-game video can be found on YouTube.
 Many thanks to Alison Barclay from Astraware (and equal apologies for the delay in posting this news) for writing in to announce Insaniquarium Deluxe. From the press release: "Whilst original Insaniquarium was based on PopCap's simple webgame, Insaniquarium Deluxe is based on PopCap's later, and much more fully featured PC game, with shinier graphics, more game modes, more unlockable pets, and more challenging aliens than the original.
"Insaniquarium Deluxe is the craziest aquarium game ever - tend to your fish and keep them happy and they'll reward you with precious coins and jewels. Use the money you earn to buy upgrades for your tank or egg parts which hatch lots of different in-tank pets with special powers. These pets can help you feed your fish, collect coins, or even protect against the aliens that will invade your tank and wreak havoc. You can also use the money you earn to buy better weapons to see the aliens off quicker!"
Features:
* Feed your fish and keep them healthy
* Protect them from dangerous alien creatures
* Collect coins and jewels to make money and upgrade your tank and weapons
* 3 fun game modes - Adventure, Time Trial, and Challenge
* Enjoy hours of frantic aquarium fun!
Insaniquarium Deluxe is a completely separate game from the original Insaniquarium, and consequently registration codes from that game won't work. However, you'll find the new version available to try or buy for all major Palm and Pocket PC devices for $19.95.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
While I'm basking in 40C temperatures in Phoenix, I gather that the UK isn't enjoying one of its best summers. Fortunately, this hasn't stopped Astraware from launching their hot summer sale, with at least 25% off a selection of 25 games.
The full list of titles on offer is available here, and while there's no official end date I'd bear in mind that the British summer ends abruptly and without warning about halfway through August...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
 Jeff Lait has released Powder, a Windows Mobile port of the open-source rogue-like by the same name. According to the blurb, "Roguelike is a term applied to a wide variety of games which share a common inspiration from the game Rogue. A non-exhaustive list of such games would be: ADOM, Nethack, Crawl, Diablo (I & II), Moria, and Angband. A roguelike isn't primarily about plot development or telling a story. It is about killing things and acquiring treasure."
"Your goal is simple: dive to level 25 of the dungeon to reach Baezl'bub, slay him, and return to the surface with his black heart. Plenty of nasty monsters stand in your way, however. Fortunately, the dungeon is littered with useful equipment."
With a description like that, what's not to like? Powder is featured on FreewarePPC and is, naturally, freeware.
 Pocket Lemmings drops inAlso announced on FreewarePPC is Pocket Lemmings, a port of the insanely popular and brain-taxing puzzle game. This obviously isn't the first time Lemmings has made it to the Pocket PC, but it's regularly updated by the developer and, even better, is completely free.
Due to copyright issues, the developer hasn't included the core graphics files (main.dat) so you'll need to supply your own. While I would dearly love to post it up here for everyone, I don't think it's worth the risk. Fortunately with Lemmings being considered abandonware, links are plentiful after a Google search...
Pocket Lemmings is currently at version 1.0c, and if you run into difficulties the official forum might be able to set you straight.
 As seen on FreewarePPC is Pocket Racko, which according to the description is a Windows Mobile variant of the "Parker Brothers card game. The object is to score points. Each round, you replace cards in your rack so their numbers read in any numerical progression from a low number at the front to a high one at the back (the racks hold the cards behind each other) - achieving this ends the round."
"The cards are numbered from 1 to 60; you initially place them in your rack in the order they're dealt. On your turn, you draw from the deck or the discard pile, swapping the card with one from your rack."
Pocket Racko is, obviously, completely free and compatible with all major Pocket PCs.
Monday, August 4, 2008
While sadly defeated on a comical headline for this game (I don't even know what a xump is, let alone come up with a witty pun about one...), I'm delighted to announce that XFlib has added another free game to their arsenal with Xump, an "addictive puzzle game with unique levels. The game consists of a 20x12 playfield which is filled with various types of blocks. Your job is to make the blue blocks disappear from the playfield by stepping on them. There are five main types of block, each of which behave differently."
A bit of research reveals that this is based on the GP32 game of the same name, with a Windows port also available. Further details on Xump may be found on the XFlib website.
Friday, August 1, 2008
 Well, you shouldn't because The Memory Collection is the newest in the series of puzzlers from Pocket Adventures. According to the product page, if you "want to improve your memory [or] your logic and reasoning skills, or perhaps you want to calculate math problems without a calculator, this collection can help, and you'll have fun at the same time."
Features:
* Six different brain-building games
* Three difficulty levels for each game
* Always-enjoyable audio by Jaybot7
* Five user profiles with statistics for each game
* Customizable themes and pieces for each game
* Top ten lists for each game
* Automatic save and resume
The Memory Collection is available to try or buy for $9.95 for all major Pocket PCs. A saving of 33% is on offer if you choose to buy all three games in the puzzle collection for $19.95.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
 PDAmill has released Jaybot's Catchy Cadence, a completely free game expanding on the ideas inspired by titles such as Guitar Hero. "Don't worry, Free doesn't mean we didn't spend over a year in development and pour our hearts and souls into the game. We did, quite a bit, in fact. We just thought it was so darn exceptional, that everyone and anyone should be able to experience it."
"What the heck is the game? It's a Rhythm-Music-Action Game designed by our in-house maestro Game-Designer-Musician, Jason Surguine (aka Jaybot) with over 12 separate games and songs to play along with!"
Chances are that if you read PocketGamer you'll already be familiar with Jason's exceptional music, and building a game around 14 brand new tracks is a splendid idea. I'm already addicted, which is a problem since I have a 3.30am start tomorrow...
Jaybot's Catchy Cadence is, as mentioned earlier, completely free, thoroughly recommended by PocketGamer, and available for all major Pocket PCs as well as desktop PCs. In addition, all the tracks featured in the game are also available online through Jason's website.
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Ka-Glom: free for Pocket PC
