Faeria is a free to play card game that mixes traditional collectible card game elements with an actual playing field that players build before pitting their monsters against each other. Few card games are as strategic or fun as this one.
We have several blackjack games to choose from on Windows Phone and Windows 8, most being of the free-and-supported-by-ads variety. But hey, ads can be annoying!
With that in mind, I recently checked out a paid universal game called Blackjack Assassin from DeadCode Software (the trial is fully featured and ad-supported). With a name like that, you might expect a cool and quirky approach to the traditional game of Jack Black, I mean blackjack. Blackjack Assassin is actually a very straight-laced blackjack simulation, but dedicated fans of the card game might not mind. Head past the break for our full review.
Last month Disney released Disney Solitaire for Windows 8 with word that a Windows Phone 8 version would be released soon. We are happy to report that "soon" happened today with the release of the Windows Phone 8 version of Disney Solitaire.
Disney Solitaire does feature saving your game progress to OneDrive, which will allow to pick up things where you left off from a Windows 8 device.
Magic Realms is the Windows Phone and Blackberry version of Elemental Kingdoms, a popular collectible card game/RPG. It also happens to be a re-skinning of an existing game called Lies of Astaroth, with the same game mechanics but totally different cards, art and story.
Origins aside, Magic Realms is a vast and endlessly enjoyable card game. You get a lengthy story mode, online player-versus-player battles, clan support, semi-weekly live events, cloud saves, and even cross-platform compatibility with the Blackberry version of the game. That’s quite a lot of value from a free to play game. Learn more in our in-depth review.
Collectible card games are a fairly popular genre of video games as of late. You’ve got the likes of Hearthstone in closed beta from Blizard (the company behind World of Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo), but there are also small gems out there looking to tap into the market. This movement includes the likes of Permia Duels (www.permiaduels.com) from Seepia Games. If you’re seeking a fantasy adventure, while being able to build an unbeatable deck of cards, pass the break for more details as this is the mobile game for you.
Great Ceaser’s ghost, Microsoft has finally delivered on one of the all-time time wasters: Solitaire. Not only is this collection of solitary card games now available for Windows Phone 8 devices, but it even comes with Xbox LIVE support for you achievement hunters out there.
Microsoft Solitaire Collection comes in at 42 MB and with five different games, including Klondike FreeCell, Spider, TriPeaks and Pyramid. After 20 years of playing them on various PCs, it’s great to see them finally arrive for Windows Phone 8 in late 2013.
Lies of Astaroth is a fantasy card based battle game that has seen a bit of success over on iOS and now is available for Windows Phone 8.
Game play has you dealing your characters from a deck of cards to do battle against a wide assortment of creatures. The strategy battle game reminds me of the card games like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh.
While card based battle games may not be everyone’s cup of tea, Lies of Astaroth does have a certain level of appeal. Graphics are attractive, game play is fairly simple and challenging and we suspect the game will find its fair share of success on the Windows Phone platform.
Having reviewed Gameloft’s Order & Chaos Online last week, today we look at the publisher’s latest release UNO & Friends for Windows Phone 8. That’s the title, not “UNOFriends” as it’s inexplicably listed in the Windows Phone Store. It’s free and runs on all Windows Phone 8 devices (even low end ones), so it’s definitely worth a look.
There's a new card game in the Windows Phone Store. Card Arcade is a collection of four card games that include Old Maid, Go Fish, Memory, and Blackjack. Memory is a matching game where the cards are faced down and you have to find all the pairs. It's a nice cross section of games that will appeal to younger players as well as old.
Game stats are gathered and coins awarded for trophies earned that can be used to unlock gaming content. Card Arcade is a fairly basic card game with a relaxed pace, nice graphics and decent game play.
Last week’s Xbox Deal of the Week was a repeat sale on the less-than-impressive Windows Phone port of Earthworm Jim from Gameloft. This week, I’ve got both some Aladeen news and some Aladeen news to share with you. First, the Aladeen news: we’re getting another repeat deal on another so-so Gameloft game – UNO HD. Now the Aladeen news: it’s going on sale for just 99 cents, down from $4.99, making this a much better deal than last time.
El Cagao is a fun, easy card game that you can take on three computer opponents or challenge up to three of your friends. Then game is nicely animated, fairly easy to pick up and challenging within it's own right.
El Cagao is a card game where each player is dealt 12-13 cards. Amongst these cards is the Joker or El Cagao. On each turn a player will take a card from the next player and then discard any pairs in their hand. You continue to take turns until one player is stuck holding the El Cagao.
Looking for a simple game of blackjack? One with a pirate feel to it? Blackjack Caribbean from XIMAD is being offered over at the Windows Phone Marketplace that might fit the bill.
Blackjack Caribbean is a simply, yet entertaining, version of blackjack. The game's graphics are nice and the game ran smoothly with no bumps, glitches or crashes experienced. Blackjack Caribbean is a free, ad-supported game and to read more on the game, hit the break.
Looking for a simple poker game for your Windows Phone? Rick Keeney has developed Video Poker for Windows Phone 7 that puts five styles of video poker on your Windows Phone.
Along with the various styles of poker, the app will maintain your gaming stats to let you know how well your playing. There are two versions of Video Poker available. You have an ad supported free version and if you don't like the banner ads, a pay version is available for $.99.
To read more on Video Poker, ease on past the break.
At last check there were a couple of dozen solitaire game versions for Windows Phone 7. Jake Poznanski's Solitaire is one such version for your Windows Phone. The game follows the traditional solitaire game with a straight forward layout where you move your cards by touch.
Solitaire is a free game over at the Marketplace and to see if it's worth a download, skip on past the break.
Uno is one of those games whose rules are known nearly universally. Between the simplicity of learning the rules and strategy, and the flexibility of the game to handle small groups or large, Uno is one of the most popular games of all time. Card games translate extremely well to the small screen; the user interface is easy to replicate, and the graphics required for a game like Uno HD don’t even begin to tax the phone’s hardware.
To see how Uno HD stacks up against some of the other Xbox Live games in the Marketplace, see the full review after the break.
Pros:
Intuitive controls, customizable rules and game-play
Cons:
Some of the button-based controls can be hard to interact with.
If you haven’t noticed, one of the biggest things that I look for in a new game for my phone is how well it translates to the mobile platform. There are good reasons that my favorite game genre (First Person Shooters) haven’t made a big splash in the Windows Mobile arena; that is because there are certain controls that lend themselves to that type of game. Card games traditionally require a minimal amount of effort from the user to accomplish what they are trying to do, making them a good candidate for a mobile platform.
One developer that has made an effort to offer a number of different card games for reasonable prices is Panoramic Software. In addition to their card games such as Panoramic FreeCell and the subject of this review, BlackJack; Panoramic also offers other applications such as their Twitter client, moTweets.
To see if Panoramic BlackJack lives up to the standards that we have come to expect from Panoramic Software, hit the jump.
Pros:
Clean interface. Tutorials. Supports various card counting techniques.
