When you take a 2D block game into the third dimension, do you still have a winning game? Ewan finds out in his review of Blockfest by Arctica. "You’re in a 3D world, looking into the grid. Laid out flat before you, all you can see are the tops of the stacks, and the tile you are about to throw down."
"No..." "No..." "There he is!". Yes, for some Friday fun it's Capcom Europe's port of the popular children's book series, Where's Wally! How well does an artwork based book translate to the gaming world on your smartphone? Ewan decides to risk a pun and takes a look.
What’s the best game in the Ovi Store? Nokia asked last week with ten games to choose from, and the result are available. But in a lovely nod to their ability to spot a top game, the write-in "others" category provided the runaway winner with 36% of the vote. The winning garland has been placed on Angry Birds, available for the N900. Which isn’t that surprising given that (a) it’s a runaway hit on the iPhone and (b) the N900 version sold six times as fast as the iPhone version!
One of the more interesting challenges for developers (especially those making games or leisure applications) is how much of their application to show in the 'demonstration' version of their pride and joy. Is there a magic point where 'full' and 'lite' versions cross over to help maximise sales?
What is your favourite game? Nokia are asking Ovi Store users that very question over on their Conversations Blog, partly because it’s a polite question to ask (especially as sales figures aren’t the same as satisfaction), but also because it’s a rather subtle way to say “look at these great games on Ovi!” Match this up with the special offer on a number of top games and you can see them building more momentum behind the store.
In all the talk of user interfaces, promises, updated software and hardware, there is one other area that Nokia need to look at. Making the Nokia name one that everyone is the world is happy to be associated with. How can they do that? Here are some thoughts.
With both classic and (ahem) 'pursuit' game modes, Trivial Pursuit in the Ovi Store has been impressing Ewan in terms of sheer playability and implementation - here's our Ovi Gaming review. The only flaws seem to be the relatively low number of possible questions and the lack of true multiplayer action, but hey, isn't this on sale at the moment as well? Run, don't walk around the TP board to the Ovi Store and grab this for the holidays right now.
The Ovi Store has regular discount offers on applications, and the current one is for some of the great games available for your Symbian smartphone. The list includes some favourites from Ovi Gaming, including Farm Frenzy (reviewed here), Doodle Jump (review) and UniWar (review). No word on how long this will last (or which regions it’s available in, so your mileage may vary), so have a look around and see if anything catches your eye.
"It's a cross between an adventure game and carpet bowls..." From such a startling mix comes 'The Big Roll in Paradise', created by Symbian legends Infinite Dreams and reviewed here by Ewan Spence. The core engine is a physics-perfect implementation of Bocce, in which you throw a jack and then vie with another player to throw your bocce/boules to roll closest to it. Accessible to casual players but with long term goals for more serious gamers - and with mini-games and side-quests to enjoy along the way, The Big Roll in Paradise comes highly recommended, it seems. The introductory 'free' offer may be over, but it's still a steal at £1.50.
Nokia's latest first party game title, The Big Roll in Paradise, is now available in Ovi Store. The title is based around games of bocce (similar to bowls and pétanque) played in a resort setting with multiple challenges, tournaments and collectible items. At first glance this might not catch your attention, but the game has been extremely well implemented and is surprisingly addictive. The game, which has been developed by Infinite Dreams, will be available for free until the 2nd of July, but after that it will cost €2. Read on for further details.
Steve Litchfield tries to use his golf game skills in 3D Nine Hole Golf for S60 3rd Edition, gets seriously impressed by the graphics and physics engine, but then finds himself frustrated by a poor interface and general gameplay. The title gets a 65% score and a 'must try harder' summary on its term report. Here's the full Ovi Gaming review.
Remember my review of Exclusion and the closing line of "I'm not yet convinced that collecting swirls to reveal a hidden picture adds anything to the game..." Turns out that this is only part of the bigger picture, as the Nokia Ovi Blog now reveal Exclusion is a gateway drug game into the Conspiracy for Good project. Developed by Nokia and Tim Kring, the writer of US TV series “Heroes”, it’s going to mix Alternative Reality Gaming (ARG) music, storytelling and other elements to “effect social change.”
Here on our Ovi Gaming specialist site, Ewan uncovers and reviews Exclusion, a new arcade puzzler from Nokia, released for free in the Ovi Store. A crazy combination of Bejewelled, Life and some Star Wars light sabre slashing title, Exclusion ticks all the boxes, features never-ending, always challenging gameplay, works brilliantly on Nokia's S60 5th Edition phones and seems to thoroughly deserve Ewan's 84% score. Not that the score should matter, given the price, but... hey, just download it, will you?
In this Ovi Gaming review, Ewan plays through the 50 provided levels in Gears, a new cog-based puzzler in the Ovi Store. Despite the superficial similarity of the levels, he feels that there's enough here for a recommendation for anyone who fancies "a mix of Tetris and a jigsaw puzzle". Ovi Gaming is our gaming-specialist site, here's the full list of Ovi Store game reviews.
It used to be just receiving a call, or picking up an email via a push SMS (good old email-to-text gateways back in the nineties). Now, to impress people with your phone in the pub, you need something a little bit better - and it tends to be a game. So what should your Symbian-powered touchscreen smartphone be ready to show off when called into action? Ewan and I run through the Top Ten contenders...