If you ever owned a Windows Mobile device, it is a fairly good bet that you owned a game by PDAMill.  We have featured almost all of their offerings here at JAMM, and it is quite an extensive library.

Well, they have not quite brought all of their games to the iPhone platform, but even the fraction of their games which made the leap so far require their own zip code in the iTunes App Store library.  They have 13 games available for the iPhone platform, seven of which are free (eight if you count the Lite version of Arvale).  So, as you can imagine, we are going to have a lot to say here.

So, let’s take a look at which games PDAMill will offer on your iPhone:

• Arvale: Journey of Illusion ($2.99 with a free Lite version)
• Snails Reloaded ($2.99)
• Gamebox Classics (FREE)
• Arvale Ocean of Time ($4.99)
• Gamebox Solitaire ($0.99)
• Bowling For Burgers (FREE)
• Gamebox Asia ($2.99)
• Gamebox Gems ($2.99)
• Fun Factory (FREE)
• The Corsair (FREE)
• Melonchi Minecarts (FREE)
• Glyphos: Visual Puzzle (FREE)
• Gamebox Sudoku (FREE)

One thing which always impressed me about PDAMill, and which is readily apparent from this list, is the breadth of their library.  The really offer games in a wide variety of genres (adventure, puzzle, Japanese puzzles, board games, even bowling…)  so they really do offer a little something for everyone.  And with over half the games prices at FREE (and the others prices at $2.99 or less with the exception of Arvale: Ocean of Time) there is really no excuse to skip past these fantastic games.

One thing I did notice about all of the games PDAMill offers, however, was the lack of any significant updates to these games.  Some of the games are getting a bit long in the tooth, and it would have been nice to see updates to the graphics, which are really showing their age these days.  Take Arvale (above), for example.  This is a fantastic game, but the graphics simply cannot compete with some of the more current offerings in this genre available for the iPhone.

Likewise, on many games, the controls remain much the same as the Windows Mobile counterparts.  I was thoroughly disappointed to find no use of the tilt controls or even multitouch.  In fact, some of the games were downright difficult to control, with buttons which felt almost designed for a stylus.

It is a shame that PDAMill did not do more to update the graphics and controls for these games.  I am sure many users will never see past these shortcomings.  but I implore you to do so.  Once you look past what can be outdated graphics and out-moded controls, you will find a baker’s dozen of fantastic games.  Let’s take a quick look at each of them.

Free Games

Gamebox Classics: As the name would imply, this is a pack of PDAMill’s interpretation of five different classic game themes: Aqua Blocks and Aqua Blocks Plus are based on the gameplay of Tetris; Jewel Master is a classic color matching game; Cannons is one of my personal favorite game themes, in which you control a cannon.  Adjust the ammo, firepower, and angle and fire away before the enemy cannon destroys you; Snake is…well, pretty much like the game called Snakes.  you control a snake which grows as you eat fruit.  try not to bump into yourself or eat your own tail.  On the old Atari 2600, where I first met this game, it was called Surround.  The last game, Fireball, is follows the classic brick busting theme, another of my favorites.

Like I said, each of these are based on classic game themes.  So, right off the bat, you know you are in for something good (even if it is a nostalgia trip).  But I also really liked the way PDAMill made these classic games their own.  They did a great job of not just recreating the old games, but updating them and adding their own unique spin.

Bowling For Burgers: In case you were confused, this one is a bowling game.  Shocking from the title, I know.  Again, PDAMill has taken an oft recreated them and added their own spin by putting the bowling alley in a 1950s era diner, where the food is only half the fun.  Bowling for Burgers features tournament between the three top burger makers in the country, each trying to prove that they are the hippest burger joint around.  Now, at first glance, it may seem that this burger theme is only skin deep, but keep playing and you will quickly find how entrenched in the game this theme can go.   Periodically, you see, seemingly random events occur, which leave the lanes littered with burgers, drinks, french fries, and more.  Hitting these objects can affect the speed, spin, and trajectory of your ball.  But watch out, because not all of them are helpful.  I found the controls to be a bit difficult, but once you get used to them, the game works pretty well.

Fun Factory:  PDAMill calls their take on the latest brain training craze, the funnest game on your mobile device.  And based upon the fact that you spend the game working in a fun factory, they may be right.  But watch out because although you play games in the fun factory, it is not all fun and games there.  In this one, each day you go to work, there is a different task for you to perform.   Mondays will find you testing classic slider puzzles.  On Tuesday, you will operate the crane to remove defective toys from the line.  On Wednesdays, it is matching, where you will have to find like items hidden under boxes.    On Thursday, you will be sorting boxes as they travel along a track.  Operate the switches to put the correct balls in each box.  Finally, on Friday, you can relax a little with some nice and easy balloon popping.  This is one of PDAMills newer games, and I thought that showed, particularly in the graphics.  Nonetheless, again, I felt the controls could have made much better use of the iPhone’s unique interface options.

The Corsair: This is an arcade style shooting-gallery game.  You are the Captain The Corsair, a ship which is about to be overrun by pirates.  Use your sword and pistol to fight off marauding pirates, and even the occasional ghost or two.  I really enjoyed the back story on this one, and loved how each level built off of the last.  This is much more than just aim and shoot.

Melonchi Minecarts: This may be one of the more interesting games I have played from PDAMill.  While you do not need to have played Arvale in order to play this one, it takes place in the Arvale universe, and utilizes characters which might be more familiar to Arvale fans.  In this one, you must guide the mine cart over a single screen track, collecting gems.  Sounds easy enough, but here is the real trick.  You cannot backtrack.  As you run over a section of track, it will disintegrate, so you have to find a path which involves touching each section only once.  Trust me…this is going to be much more difficult than it sounds.

Glyphos: Visual Puzzle: I love Japanese puzzles, and one of my favorites is called the Japanese crossword or Glyphos.  Here, you will face an empty grid.  Along the top and sides are number clues.  These numbers tell you how many adjoining squares should be colored.  All you have to do is color the squares as instructed by the clues in order to reveal the hidden picture.  Sounds easy enough, I know.  But just wait until they start adding color in the later levels.

Gamebox Sudoku:  Part 2 of the Japanese puzzles finds us in Sudoku.  Any long time JAMM readers know what a fan I have been of this game.  This one is a numbers game with no math.  All you have to do is arrange the numbers 1-9 in the grid so that there are no repeats horizontally, vertically, or in a 3×3 square.  I have to say on this one, there are a lot of Sudoku games out there, and I was not really sure that PDAMill brought anything really new to the table here.  It was a good game, and if there were no other Sudoku games with which to compare, I would have given it very high marks.  But when you look at it in the context of the myriad of Sudoku games out there, it is an average offering, with some things to like, and a really annoying approach to pencil marks.

Paid Games

Arvale: The Arvale series is PDAMill’s signature game, and has long been considered among their best game.  There are two Arvale adventures available for the iPhone: Journey of Illusion ($2.99) and Oceans of Time ($4.99).  For those of you who might be unfamiliar, the Arvale series is PDAMill’s take on the adventure/role playing game.  This is a great genre, which I have been enjoying since the days when I was, “too young to be the Dungeon Master” in Dungeons and Dragons.  I thought PDAMill did a fantastic job of injecting humor into a complex story, which will find you exploring a vast map as you gain strength, skills, and weapons.  PDAMill has really done a masterful job of creating its own world in which to weave its tales, and both of these entrants are fantastic additions to the Arvale saga.   If you enjoy a good role playing action game, or just killin’ stuff…then check these out.

Snails Reloaded ($2.99): Like I have said several times before, PDAMill seems to have mastered the art of taking a classic game or genre and putting its own unique spin on it.  And by unique, I mean…well…snails.  This is another cannon based game.  Again, select your weapon, aim, and fire.  Only you might notice that these cannons look a little funny.  That is because you control an army of snails, not cannons at all.  In fact, this game features three competing snail armies.  So, it is destroy or be destroyed in yet another fantastic take on this classic genre.

Gamebox Solitaire ($0.99) : Over the past couple of years, I have had the opportunity to Judge the Smartphone and Pocket PC Best of the Year Software Awards, and one of the categories which I enjoyed testing the most was always the Solitaire games.  And I must say that I have always had a tough time trying to find a Solitaire game which lives up to the standard set by Gamebox Solitaire, and its successor, Gamebox Solitaire II.  Unlike Gamebox Sudoku, which felt like a mediocre attempt in a crowded field, this is one of the top Solitaire games around, and one of the games I was happiest to find on the iPhone platform.

Gamebox Asia ($2.99):  This one features three games, all of which are based on Mahjong tiles.  The first, Mahjong is the game we are all probably most familiar with, in which tiles are stacked in a pyramid, and you must remove the matches.  In Nagori, tiles are stacked in piles.  This is going to be similar to a Memory game, after an initial glance, you cannot see the tiles until you reveal them briefly during gameplay.  Try to find all of the matches to win the game.  Shisen-Sho is similar to traditional Mahjong, but with various different tile arrangements. While I thought these were all good enough, I have to say that Gamebox Asia does not hold a candle to its successor, Gamebox Asia II (not yet available for iPhone), and I had hoped PDAMill might package them together.

Gamebox Gems ($2.99) : Well, it looks like we are going to wrap up in the same place we started: with PDAMill offering a collection of classic games.  In this game, it is eight color matching games.  Now, for me, this is way to many takes on the same basic game.  But that is just me and color matching has never really been my favorite genre.  But maybe it is your favorite genre, and if so, then $2.99 is a great price for eight games.

I have always been impressed by the breadth and scope of PDAMill games.  They range from classic board games to color matching, to vast adventures in the land of Arvale.  Aside from Astraware, I do not think any developer can claim the same cross-genre scope in their library.  And this is only a fraction of their offerings.   We still have not seen the Anthelion series, not to mention games like Maggot Attack Pinball, Pachinko, and Rats.  I will admit to a bit of disappointment by the graphics which frequently did not seem to have been updated since the early days of each game; and the controls which often felt like they could best be accessed with a stylus.  But these were more than compensated by the vast scope and quality of the games.  No matter which is your favorite genre of games, you are bound to find a quality entry from PDAMill.

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