I can’t believe it is already time for the April edition of The Arcade.  Maybe it is the fact that we are having almost record low temperatures here in Washington, DC.  It has been in the 30’s (Fahrenheit) and it even snowed…in April.  So, I am having a hard time believing that it is Spring.  Yet, my calendar tells me that May is right around the corner, so I am hoping for warmer weather soon.  Of course, being stuck inside during the cold and rain, gave me a great opportunity to check out some fantastic freeware games, including:

1. Chess 

2.Tangcode Jumble

3. Leo’s Flight Simulator

4. Moore Games

5. Shift Left

Chess: The game of Chess is one of the oldest, most well known board games on the planet.  It dates back to the early 15th century, however, that game was based on another game which dated back to ancient India.  Today, is one of the most instantly recognizable games, and is played by millions of people worldwide.  It has also been interpreted in hundreds of forms from pencil and paper to every computer operating system since the early days of MS Dos right up until today’s current offerings of MAC OS X and Windows Vista.  In fact, a Google search for "chess" returned over 34 million results.

There are numerous chess offerings available for the Pocket PC, however, I was extremely impressed with the freeware version offered by Valentin Iliescu.  In this version, you can enjoy one of four playing modes:

• against the computer
• locally against another person
• over the network against a chess web service
• over a network against any of your MSN contacts

If you choose to play against the computer, there are six different difficulty settings from which to choose.  Additionally, you can set the look and feel of the gameboard, and even create your own chess match with the board editor.  This is a game which any Chess enthusiast, from the casual player to the reigning champion, will enjoy.  It is offered for the Pocket PC, Smartphone and Windows desktop.  In order to play on your Pocket PC, however, you will first need to download and install the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework.

TangCode Jumble: Last month I introduced you to a great game called "15", which was reminiscent of the sliding tile puzzle games of my youth.  Today, I am sharing another variation of this game, TangCode Jumble. 

TangCode Jumble consists of a board covered in tiles with one empty space.  Slide the tiles around the board and put them in order to reveal the picture.  There is only a single default puzzle included, because Tangcode Jumble is designed to work with any picture on your device.  I had trouble with this.  Many pictures would not load (even though they were in formats which the game is supposed to recognize), and those that did load were not sized properly.  For this reason, it would be nice if the game included a variety of pictures which could be used rather than requiring you to load your own.

There are three difficulty levels, each of which divides the board into a greater number of tiles,  In easy mode, there are 15 tiles on a 16 square grid.  In hard mode, on the other hand, there are 63 tiles in a 64 square grid.  Additionally, the game will track your times and the number of moves it takes to solve each puzzle.  This is a great tool for tracking your improvement.  I enjoyed this game, however, I do wish that it had included preloaded puzzle images.

Leo’s Flight Simulator:  Yes, you read that correctly.  For those of you who are fans of flight simulator games on your computers…watch out because here comes one for your Pocket PC.  But wait, doesn’t a flight simulator need a large screen?  Nope.  A joystick?  Nope.  Complex keyboard commands?  Nope…and before you ask anything else…Nope. 

I really have no idea who Leo is or how he got a giant game like a flight simulator into a tiny Pocket PC package (the download file is under 3 megabytes), however, I am certainly glad he did.   This game is nothing short of amazing.  Like any flight simulator game, you control all of the switches, knobs, dials and levers inside the cockpit of an actual plane.  And Leo doesn’t just stick you in any old plane.  Use the options menu to choose anything from a classic propeller airplane to an ultra-modern military jet.

Now that you are familiar with the airplane, let’s take a look out the window.  Below you is an amazingly well drawn New York City…or is it San Francisco?  The answer is yes, because you can choose which of the two cities you fly over in your plane.  With dozens of other options available, you can customize the look and feel of your entire flying experience. 

 This is among the best freeware games I have ever played.  The 3-dimensional graphics simply should not exist in such a compact file on the Pocket PC.  This is a game which I would gladly have purchased if it had not been freeware.  I was absolutely amazed by the graphics and available options in this game.   Once you start playing, you will quickly wonder why you paid so much money for that dusty old flight simulator on your desktop PC, instead of heading straight for this portable free version on your Pocket PC.

MooreGames: I could write an entire article about the games included in MooreGames.  This package includes not one, not two, but 13 classic games, including:

• Boxes (otherwise known as Dots)
• Checkers
• Four-In-A-Row (Connect Four)
• Freecell
• Hangman
• Memory
• Mine Sweeper
• Reversi
• Scramble
• Simon
• Tic-Tac-Toe
• Word Hunt
• Yacht Z

I loved the fact that there was something for everyone here.  With 13 games to select from, you will never be at a loss for something to play.  Additionally, five of the games can be played as two player games, which means you can get your friends in on the action as well.  Even though there are no fancy graphics here, you will enjoy the classic games which we all know and love.  It is an ideal package for commuters or anyone else who has a few minutes to spare between appointments or meetings.  This package is sure to provide many hours of pleasure to even the most casual gamer.

Note that in order to play, you will first need to download and install the Microsoft .Net Compact Framework.

Shift Left: Shift Left is a card game, brought to you by SKKV (formerly SK Software), the same people who gave us such fantastic utility programs as SK Tool and SK Schema.

In Shift Left, all 52 cards in a standard deck of playing cards are used in a game which can be played as either a solitaire game or against an opponent.

In the solitaire version of the game, four cards are dealt to start, while the remaining cards are held in the deck.  The object is to clear all of the cards off of the table by "shifting them" to the left.  A card may be shifted in two ways:

• If it is immediately next to another card of the same number or suit
• If there are exactly two cards between the matching pair (number or suit).

Once a card has been played, all of the other cards on the table shift to the left to fill in the open space, creating the potential for additional moves.  If there are no moves available on the table, you may begin dealing the cards from the deck one at a time, shifting the cards as moves become available.  The game continues until there are no more moves to be made, or until all of the cards have been cleared from the table.

The two-player game follows the same rules as the solitaire game, however, players take turns playing one card at a time from the deck.  If a player is able to make a move, then he earns points based upon the value of the cards he is able to play (Ace – 1, two – 2, … , king – 13).  If a player cannot move, he has to add a card from the deck, deducting a point for every card.   A game ends as soon as no move can be made.

There are two variations of the game: Patience Mode, in which you start with one card instead of four, and All Cards, in which all of the cards are dealt onto the table at the beginning of the game.  Additionally, the game allows you to select from an extensive list of card backs and table colors, a customized touch which I really appreciated.

While I found Shift Left to be an enjoyable card game, I did not find it held my interest for long.  It was not nearly as entertaining as other freeware solitaire and card games I have played, including other offerings from SKKV.

That should do it for another month of The Arcade.  Once again, I tried to include several amazing freeware games from developers around the globe.  Some of them, such as Leo’s Flight Simulator, are simply too good to remain free for long, so get them while you can.  See you back here next month, when I will be looking at five new freeware games, including a recent offering from Inscenic, whose games have previously been featured here at JAMM, and a surprise request from none other than Judie Hughes of Gear Diary.  Stay tuned to learn what game she asked me to include.

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 here at JAMM.  All requests are welcome.

 Technorati Tags: freeware – chess – jumble – flight simulator – mooregames – shiftleft – pocketpc – justanothermobilemonday

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