Games

King Poker for Windows Phone 8 landed in the Windows Phone Store and offers fifteen video poker variations. What's neat with King Poker is there's a Windows 8 version of the game available that lets you sync game data and tokens between the two devices.

King Poker, on either Windows Phone 8 or Windows 8, can be played as a stand alone game. However, you can log into your Windows Live account to enable to two versions to sync together. That way your gaming stats and token counts follow you around.

Ah, Chillingo. Where would Lumia owning gamers be without you? Just a couple of weeks ago, the indie-focused arm of Electronic Arts published a pair of new Nokia exclusive Xbox games: Dream Track Nation and Tiny Plane.  Those ports are a little rough, but the developer PowPowGames already has patches on the way. Besides, more Xbox games is always a good thing, especially after that drought we suffered at the beginning of the year.

Now Chillingo is back with two new Nokia exclusives for Windows Phone 7 and 8, each coming from a different developer. First up is the creatively named Storm in a Teacup from Cobra (makers of iBomber Defense), followed by Vampire Rush from Lithuanian developer A-Steroids. One game will be a hit, while the other seriously needs some work. Make your guesses about which is which and then head past the break to find out the answer!

It looks like way back in February we missed Monster Pinball HD coming over for Windows Phone--consider this our makeup. The game is normally found on iOS and Android hardware, but it recently made a transition over to Windows Phone. Going for $2.49 with no free trial, the game is by no means cheap but it’s pretty decent for what it is.

We’ll show you a quick video demo of it action, and while it could be better, Monster Pinball HD is probably the best we have right now for this genre.

A couple of days ago, Microsoft announced a slew of Windows 8 games that would be launching over the weekend. Today several of those games are readily available to download: Shuffle Party, Samurai vs. Zombies Defense, Bejeweled Live, and Delicious – Emily’s True Love. The only one that hasn’t shown up yet is Temple Run Brave (based on that movie I dislike), but I’m sure it will be along sometime soon.

Head past the break to check out our hands-on demonstration of Shuffle Party from GDC, plus quick impressions and download links for the games that appeared alongside it.

Back in February, PopCap surprised us by suddenly releasing Bejeweled Live+ exclusively for Nokia Windows Phones. Confusing name aside, that game is basically a mobile version of the phenomenal Bejeweled 3.

Well, it turns out that Windows 8 and RT were sorely in need of some Bejeweled love as well. Or should I say Bejeweled Live? Today at GDC 2013, we had the chance to talk with Jeff Green, Director of Editorial and Social Media at PopCap Games, who kindly demonstrated the Xbox-enabled Bejeweled Live for Windows 8 and RT.

Full video and more details after the break!

This week has been golden for Windows Phone, especially those of us who enjoy pouring some hours into available games on the platform. Microsoft teased a number of upcoming titles yesterday, one being Ruzzle. If you're not familiar with the name, it's a Boggle-style word game with online multiplayer capabilities. Think of it as a 1- or 2-player version of Wordament. 

Extreme Lines, sounds familiar? It should as we last reviewed this Windows Phone title back in 2011. It's a game for those who enjoy line puzzles with addictive gameplay. The overall goal is to form lines of balls with the same colour. Extreme Lines has been re-published to the Windows Phone store (under a different publisher account) and is available for free until March 30th.

The other day we shared that Chaos Rings from Square Enix was headed to the Windows Phone Store. Well... the Xbox title is now available over at the Windows Phone Store but only for Windows Phone 7 devices.  While a bit of a head scratcher, it is nice to see our older phones getting some exclusivity tossed their way.

Another couple of eye turners with the Chaos Rings release is that the game requires about 1GB of memory and is running $9.99. Due to the size of the game files, Wi-Fi is required for installation and it takes forever to download.  Thankfully, there is a trial to let you try things out before paying the ten bucks.

We told you this morning it would be a big day for Windows Phone 8 and indeed, it was bigger than we thought (we didn’t see the Nokia firmware thing happening). One of the big runner games today was Gravity Guy 2, which is now out, but a more “classic” game with a totally different perspective is Temple Run.

At the time of our writing, the app was not yet live in the Store but that has now changed. You can pick up Temple Run for $0.00 right now on Windows Phone 8. The game, like on iOS and Android, relies on in-app purchasing (optional) for revenue, hence why it can be free.

Subway Surfers doesn’t look to be coming to Windows Phone anytime soon (the teaser image was just a hoax), but worry not. Windows Phone 8 will soon have a 3D endless runner to its name. Speaking of names, that runner is none other than the original game that started the genre craze: Temple Run from Imangi Studios! We knew it was coming, but this is the first time we’ve actually played the port for ourselves.

Not only that, but in celebration of GDC week, Microsoft is releasing a number of indie games for Windows Phone 8 today. Read on for actual Windows Phone screenshots, video demo and quick impressions!

Spring break is in full swing for most folks in the US and Canada. The perfect time to get some sun, travel, and just relax. And there just so happens to be a sale on EA game titles for when you’re pool side and need to zone out with some Zombie or something. The sale will go on for one week and games are either at a 33% or 40% discount from their regular prices. Full list after the break.