Ovi wants to know how you satisfy your mobile-gaming addiction

I love playing games on my Nokia phones. Whenever I am in a position to try a new phone, one of the first things I will do is see what games are available in Store, and try something new. Of course, I also keep the long-time favorites close by, so ...

I love playing games on my Nokia phones. Whenever I am in a position to try a new phone, one of the first things I will do is see what games are available in Store, and try something new. Of course, I also keep the long-time favorites close by, so that I can play those games again and again. Some might call it a bit of an addiction. I try to tell those people – or perhaps convince myself – that it is just a requirement of doing my job properly. I need to play the games if I ever expect to be able to tell other people about them, right?

But there are so many – and the quality of the games available for Nokia’s smartphones today continues to get better and better. Naturally, games like Angry Birds and Doodle Jump spring to mind (no pun intended) … but we’re just scratching the surface there.

My latest game obession is Fruit Ninja by Australia’s Halfbrick. This game started out for one of those other mobile platforms, and was recently launched in Store for new Symbian devices like the Nokia N8. This game might look like child’s play, but don’t be fooled! Your task – like your blade! – is straightforward … your finger controls the blade, which must slice through randomly falling fruit as fast as possible, either before time runs out, or you miss one too many slices (or, you hit a bomb by mistake – but let’s not go there).

Fruit Ninja offers three ways to play – a Classic mode; Arcade style, which is only 60 seconds; and a Zen mode, for 90 seconds. I love the fact that the game is a quick diversion during the day – you can play, test your fruit-dicing skills, and then get back to work! My favorite of the three is Arcade mode, where there are banana-based power-ups that can affect your results and quickly help to boost your score. Additionally, as you play the game, you can earn a variety of goodies to help mix it up, including different types of blades.

The cartoon-like graphics are a hoot, the sound effects of the swooshing blades and squished fruit are fantastic, and it is a thoroughly addictive time-waster. Fruit Ninja is available in Store for $0.99 (USD).

Don’t want to hurt the fruit? How about space aliens? Maybe you want to take Star Invasion by Digital Chocolate for a test drive … this game harkens back to the classic Space Invaders, but with a few updated twists of its own. Just like its predecessor, Star Invasion pits you – in your spaceship – against waves of incoming invaders who are bent on taking over your planet. Your challenge is to knock them out of the sky with your laser cannon while also trying to avoid missiles that the aliens are aiming at you!

It is worth pointing out that this game has made some clever adjustments for the mobile format. Since there’s is not much room to move about on your device screen, as you scroll to the left and right your ship stays in the same place while the rest of the scene, including a starry background and multiple rows of invaders, shifts back and forth. Smart, right?

This quick video shows the game in action:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Star Invasion is a little more expensive – it is $2.99 (USD) in Store, but sill well worth it.

Yes, I can almost hear what you’re thinking … Why aren’t there any cool/addictive games in Ovi Store that are also free to download? Well, guess what – there are! One in particular that stands out for me is called Blockfest Deluxe by Arctica Software. So what is it? Imagine good old Tetris turned on its side and rendered in 3-D. That is pretty close to what you get with this game.

We had a hard time capturing screenshots of this game – maybe because it was moving so fast! – but this short video by the developers gives you a little taste of what you can expect:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Start up Blockfest, and you face several columns of blocks on the distant horizon that are slowly – and later, not so slowly – creeping in your direction. Within each column are one or more blocks of different colours. You, meanwhile, are given similar blocks to shoot at the columns to create groups that will explode in a confetti-like oblivion – it is really quite satisfying to watch on screen.

The free version of Blockfest Deluxe is ad-supported, but those ads do not interfere with your ability to enjoy the game. There is also a paid version of the game (which is ad-free) in Store for $2.99 (USD).

I could go on and on about the games available for your Nokia smartphone, but then my boss might start to wonder if I ever get any real work done … Before I go, two other games I want to mention that are super fun, and worth a closer look if you haven’t tried them for yourself are Lively Cubes by Shamrock Games; and Yumsters by HeroCraft – both companies are based in Russia. (You can impress your friends with that random fact of the day!)

So, how do you fulfill your personal mobile gaming addiction? Tell us about the games you crave in the Comments section below.

Source : http://blog.ovi.com/2011/03/16/ovi-wants-to-know-h...