The Arcade: A Monthly Roundup of Freeware Games

Posted by: dgoldring on Mar 28 2007

 

I am a little bit late with this month’s issue of The Arcade, mainly because I have been besieged by some amazing software and hardware products which I have been reviewing.  For example, in the last couple of weeks, I have reviewed Orions: Legend of Wizards, PhatWare Calligrapher, the MyVu Personal Media Viewer, the V-Moda Vibe earphones, Novii Wake and Watch Alarm, and Spb Air Islands.  So, it goes without saying that March has been a busy, but exciting month for me here at JAMM.  That being said, the games featured in this month’s edition of the Arcade may be the best group of games we have featured so far in this column.  The latest group includes:

1. 15
2. Allure Xonix
3. Kevtris
4. Xplodus
5. Hitofri

15.  Fifteen (actually "15") is the electronic version of the classic puzzle game from my childhood.  Back when I was a lad (in the mid-1980’s), a portable game meant a Rubik’s Cube, travel board game, or other other plastic and cardboard games (usually with magnets to hold the pieces in place).  The only digital games we had involved LED lights for both the players and footballs.  One of my favorite of these lunchroom diversions  was the sliding tile puzzle game.  The object was fairly simple, you have a square board, consisting of 16 small squares (4×4).  Fifteen of these squares contain a tile, while one is empty.  The idea is to solve the puzzle by sliding the fifteen tiles around the board until they are in order (usually the numbers 1-15 or a picture of some kind).  

The Pocket PC version of this game is fantastic, and brings back a lot of fond memories.  Solve the puzzle by placing the numbers 1-15 in the proper order.  If you are feeling extremely adventuresome, try switching to Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, or Thai. You can even upload any images and create your own puzzle.  I did find, however, that many of the images were resized in such a way that they became difficult to work with.  For this reason, it would be nice if it included a library of images which were already properly sized for the game.  The sliding puzzle game was a fantastic game when I was a child in the school cafeteria, and it remains a challenging and exciting game on the Pocket PC today.

 

Allure Xonix.  This is a remake of a classic arcade game.  Many of you may also be familiar with it as one of the three mini games which is included as part of the Spb Air Islands package.  In this rendition of Xonix, you are represented by a spider attempting to skirt across a field of blocks.  As you move, you leave a trail of web.  Once the web connects with two outer edges (one on either end, obviously), the field will be cut with the excess disappearing.  Cut off enough of the field and you will advance to the next level.  Beware, however, an array of monsters will appear on each level to try to stop you from cutting up the field.  If they touch your spider or his web trail, then you will lose a life.

 

 

Kevtris: Everyone knows how to play Tetris, the classic arcade game, made popular by the original Nintendo system.  For those of you have not yet been initiated, it is a fairly simple concept.  Different combinations of four bricks join together forming a variety of shapes from a straight line to a zigzag and more.  These shapes fall from the sky.  Your job is to piece them together in such a way that they complete one or more horizontal rows of bricks.  When a row is completed, it will disappear, creating extra space for you to work.

Now, you can relive those classic Tetris glory days with Kevtris.  Sure, there are dozens of Tetris clones and variations available, however, Kevtris, with its outstanding graphics and customization stands alone, as the king of the Tetris mountain for the Pocket PC. 

Kevtris features some extremely nice QVGA graphics.  I was disappointed, however, that the game did not offer VGA graphics, but hopefully that will be coming soon.  So, download the game and start practicing.  Once you feel ready to show off your high scores, you can post them online —  particularly if your name is R.A.M.  Check out how hard this game can be and then prepare to be impressed by R.A.M.’s high score of 48,994,805. 

Xplodus!: Xplodus is another clone of a classic arcade style game.  This time: Bomberman.  You portray Private Pete, an astronaut in trouble.  Aliens are invading the space outposts, and only Private Pete can defend them. Help this brave soldier plant bombs to blast the aliens out of existence.  Don’t forget that all of the walls may also be destroyed to reveal special items, power-ups and, of course, the exit.

I have been a longtime fan of this game.  It is a quick, single-screen arcade game, which provides the perfect combination of action and puzzle.  Xplodus does the title proud by sprucing up the graphics and adding some new elements and enemies to the game (including Private Pete and his backstory), while remaining true to the gameplay of the original.

5. Hitofri.  The Japanese have proven themselves time and again as being simple masters of complex numbers puzzles games.  I have written here about their smash hit Sudoku (watch for my Sudoku variation roundup coming in the next couple of weeks).  In addition, they have also given us some less well known games including Kakuro, Japanese Crossword Puzzle, and now Hitofri (which literally means "let me alone".)

Hitofri is a simple, yet addictive game.  You are given a square grid (the size can be changed by adjusting the difficulty level), which is filled with seemingly random numbers, letters, or any other symbols.  Your job is to black out the numbers or symbols one at a time so that no single number is repeated in any horizontal row and vertical column (a number with no repeats will turn green).  Of course, that would be difficult enough, however, there are a few additional rules:

• two adjoining numbers may not be blacked out
• a group of numbers cannot be completely cut off from the rest of the field by blacked out numbers

Still think it sounds too easy?  For added difficulty, try playing with symbols instead of numbers.  This incredibly addictive game will have you scratching your head for hours as you try to solve each puzzle.

I thoroughly enjoyed all five of these games.  They are each unique and entertaining, and offer a level of gameplay and graphics which is usually reserved for commercial products.

To see previous editions of The Arcade, check out our archives, exclusively at Just Another Mobile Monday. 

If you are a game player or developer, and would like to recommend a freeware game for use in a future installment of The Arcade please email me at doug@justanothermobilemonday.com.  All requests are welcome.

 

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