Following a release for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) devices earlier this year, Astraware(R) and Idigicon are excited to announce the release of Platypus for 3 more smartphone platforms. The squishiest shoot-em-up ever is now available for S60(R), UIQ(R) and BlackBerry(R) smartphones worldwide, including the new BlackBerry Bold!
Based on the cult classic for PC and Mac, Platypus is a fast, frantic and fun side-scrolling arcade shooter with a difference – the entire game is made from clay!
The vast continent-spanning city of Collosatropolis has finally reached the limits of its expansion, and tall buildings cover every available space. The Collosotropolan leaders decide to invade the neighbouring country of Mungola. They don’t anticipate much of a struggle as Mungola’s entire defence force consists of a single squadron of fighter planes – the venerable F-27 ‘Platypus’.
Your mission is to pilot your trusty Platypus and save peaceful Mungola! Fly across the squashy fields and trees, avoid the snowy mountains and protect your planet. Shoot down the enemy ships and marvel as they disappear in a splat! Collect fruit bonuses and a range of power-ups to aid you in your quest!
Platypus is a fantastic, fun arcade game featuring 4 massive worlds each with several challenging levels. It’s the perfect casual game for arcade gamers and the perfect arcade game for casual gamers!
Platypus is optimised to use d-pad controls on S60 phones, d-pad or touchscreen on UIQ phones, and the trackball on BlackBerry smartphones. For more information, visit http://www.astraware.com/platypus. Club Astraware members can get a substantial discount off all versions of Platypus for a limited time. Simply login here: http://www.astraware.com/club to check out the special price!
Astraware(R) is excited to announce the release of Bubble Babble – a brand new word game for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) smartphones and PDAs.
Challenge your word power with this undersea bubble-bursting brain teaser! Link together letter bubbles to form words and impress Wordsworth Smartygills – your friendly fishy host! Bubble Babble includes a fun interactive tutorial to teach you how to play with the bubbles and make words from them. Score points for each word you make. Impress Wordsworth with more complex or unusual words and he’ll reward you with shiny shells for your collection!
Bubble Babble has 4 entertaining play modes which are perfect for both adults and children, for all levels of skill or vocabulary:
Challenge – create a set number of words against the clock,
Target – reconstruct the separated word from the letter bubbles,
Mystery – try different permutations of letters to find the hidden word,
Freeplay – just enjoy making words to boost your points score.
Each day Wordsworth Smartygills will tell you the Word of the Day. Make this word during play to earn a special award!
Use multiplier bubbles to enhance your points score, and get help from Stella Starfish, in her wildcard bubble! Unlock higher difficulty levels as you play – it can help you keep your brain sharp and maybe learn some interesting new words!
Bubble Babble is available for smartphones and PDAs running Palm OS(R) 5 and above, and Windows Mobile Professional, Classic and Standard devices running Windows Mobile 2003 and later. The game is available from http://www.astraware.com/bubblebabble priced $19.95, with a limited time new release discount.
Astraware and Pazzazz Games are excited to announce the release of GTS World Racing for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) smartphones and PDAs.
GTS World Racing is the must-have sequel to the highly acclaimed GTS Racing Challenge, and has been created by Pazzazz and published by Astraware.
Fans of classic coin-operated arcade racing games will love the retro style graphics and exhilarating sound effects. Experience the roar of engines as you select your car, race your opponents, set the fastest laptimes, score points for most race wins and burn rubber to gain championship victory!
GTS World Racing offers 64 track layouts across 16 worldwide locations – from snowscapes to dusty deserts; 3 car types to choose from each with their own handling characteristics; and 4 difficulty levels from Easy to Extreme!
The game offers 4 play modes to satisfy every level of expertise:
Single Race – check out the tracks and practice your skills before heading for the main event;
Challenge Cup – race at each of the 16 locations and achieve the required finishing position for your chosen difficulty;
Grand Tour – complete all 64 tracks in all 16 locations and achieve the required finishing position in each; and
Championship – complete the full 16 race season and score the most points to win the championship.
GTS World Racing is available for a wide range of smartphones and PDAs running Palm OS(R) 5 and later, and Windows Mobile(R) Professional, Classic and Standard 2003 and later.
he Club Astraware Member-only discount offer for February 2008 is Plantastic! for just $9.95, that’s a massive $10 off the regular price!
Plantastic! is a fun combination of puzzle and strategy game where you create bouquets from groups of brightly coloured flowers to clear them from the play board and reach each level’s bloom target! With 5 play modes and 3 levels of difficulty Plantastic! offers hours of petal popping fun – certainly enough to last you long into Spring! It’s available for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) smartphones and PDAs with touchscreens.
There are 4 double points offers in Club Astraware this month, so members can build up their points even quicker and get bigger discounts on games in the future! The games offering double points this month are Text Twist, Astraware Sudoku, Mazera and Tradewinds 2! Simply buy any of these games at full price and get twice the regular number of points! For example: buy a game for $19.95 and you’ll get almost $4 worth of points to use against your next purchase!
These offers are only available in Club Astraware until the end of February 2008 so to get your hands on them simply join or login to Club Astraware at http://www.astraware.com/club. It’s quick to join and completely free too!
Astraware is pleased to announce an update to Astraware Solitaire which more easily allows the addition of new graphical features like extra card backs and backgrounds.
Whilst players will see no difference in the way the game plays, Astraware Solitaire version 1.20 now includes a different way of handling resources so instead of having multiple special versions of Astraware Solitaire on their devices, players can keep one copy of the game on their device and install seasonal card back sets as they want. Spooky Halloween and seasonal Winter card back sets which were included in special versions of Astraware Solitaire are now available separately, and a brand new Valentine-themed card set is released just in time for the most romantic day of the year.
Version 1.20 of Astraware Solitaire is a FREE upgrade for everyone who already owns any version of the game! Users wishing to upgrade from the standard version of Astraware Solitaire can simply install the new version over the top. Users of Astraware Solitaire Winter or Halloween editions should install the new version and add the card back packs they want.
Astraware Solitaire is available from the Astraware website – http://www.astraware.com/solitaire. New users can purchase a registration code for $19.95.
The Club Astraware Member-only discount offer for August 2007 is Astraware Sudoku for just $9.95, that’s a big saving of over 50%!
Astraware Sudoku is suitable for players of all abilities. Features include 6 levels of difficulty, pencilmarks in a choice of styles, optional completion and tracking of pencilmarks, a unique and innovative notepad, and an advanced hint system. The game includes a Puzzle Builder which generates literally billions of puzzles, the option to input puzzles from newspapers and books and get help in solving them, and Puzzle of the Day – download puzzles in a choice of difficulties, complete them and upload your times to see how you compare with other players worldwide.
Astraware Sudoku is available for Windows Mobile(R) and Palm OS(R) smartphones and PDAs. An update of Astraware Sudoku will be available shortly and upgrades to the new version will be free of charge to all registered users.
There are 3 double points offers in Club Astraware this month, so members can build up their points even quicker! The games offering double points this month are Bejeweled, Super Slyder and Ultimate Bowling Fighter. Simply buy any of these games at full price and get twice the regular number of points!
These offers are only available in Club Astraware until the end of August! To get your hands on these specials simply join or login to Club Astraware at http://www.astraware.com/club. It’s free to join and only takes a couple of minutes.
Astraware(R) is excited to announce their version of the classic card games pack – Astraware Solitaire for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) PDAs and Smartphones.
Astraware Solitaire features 12 of the most well-known and best-loved single player card games, chosen based on direct feedback and suggestions from Astraware customers. The games include Klondike, Pyramid, Spider, and Freecell, and to make the playing experience both familiar and fun, each game has custom gameplay options so everyone can enjoy the games using their favorite variation on the standard rules.
The game’s controls have been specially designed to be simple and comfortable with both stylus or 5-way play, and along with just the right balance of effects really make it easy to play and feel like you would when playing with a real pack of cards.
“We really wanted to capture the best things about Solitaire, easy to get into, enjoyable to play, and the nice feeling of playing with cards that sometimes computer games don’t capture.” Said Howard Tomlinson, Astraware CEO and Game Designer. “Playing just one game at a time is great, but we added the extra incentive of collecting trophies for various achievements within each of the games for those people who want to have a longer goal too. You can play straight off with the normal settings, or customise it in all kinds of ways – it’s your game, so we feel you should be able to play it the way you want to!”
PDAs and Smartphones are very personal and everyone loves to customise the look of their handheld. Astraware Solitaire also offers lots of choices including decorative backgrounds, changeable color themes, and a beautiful selection of cardbacks to enhance the look of your game.
Most important of all, there is a choice of card front including a familiar traditional set with beautiful face cards, and a clear card face which is better for those with visual impairments, or for playing in bright daylight.
If you like to track your progress, the game statistics will tell you how long you’ve played and how often you win, and Astraware Solitaire also includes a fun trophy system which unlocks extra card graphics and the highly sought-after golden trophy pack of cards. Once you’ve collected them all, you can even be use them to play with!
With 12 highly-absorbing, traditional card games, Astraware Solitaire is the perfect pastime for everyone’s handheld.
Astraware Solitaire is available for PDAs and Smartphones running Palm OS 5 (with hi-res screens), and Windows Mobile for Pocket PC and Smartphone 2003, 5.0 and 6.0, priced $19.95. To save $10 off the regular price, get Astraware Solitaire before 30th June 2007!
The complete list of games included is: Calculation, Canfield, Clock, Four Seasons, Freecell, Golf, Idiot’s Delight, Klondike, Pyramid, Spider, Sultan’s Harem, and Yukon. To try Astraware Solitaire for yourself, visit the Astraware website: http://www.astraware.com/solitaire.
Astraware is excited to announce their Packs of Fun promotion, where you can save bagfuls on their most popular value packs of games. From Friday 18th May to Monday 28th May you can save on a selected range of game packs with up to 6 titles in each.
Packs of Fun is a fantastic opportunity to pick up a bargain on PopCap Games Pack 1, featuring Bejeweled, Alchemy and 3 other great titles, or the Family Games Pack including Insaniquarium, Bzzz! and 4 more fun, family-friendly games. There are 6 different packs to choose from and every one is discounted by $10, so get them now, this offer is only available for a limited time!
To bag yourself a bargain, head over to the Astraware website at http://www.astraware.com, but hurry, the sale ends on May 28th 2007!
Astraware is pleased to announce a new way to buy games and applications from their online store due to customers’ requests for alternative payment methods. Many customers either didn’t have the particular types of card Astraware accepts or they didn’t have a credit card at all, and so requested that Astraware accept PayPal® as an alternative to cards. After a bit of nifty integration work from David Oakley, Astraware’s CTO, PayPal® is now live on the Astraware website.
“We get almost as many requests for different ways of paying and changes to our site as we do for developing different games – the number of PayPal requests has been steadily increasing over the last year until it was our most frequent request,” said Howard Tomlinson, CEO of Astraware.
“PayPal’s Express Checkout system was easy to integrate into our store’s checkout and also easy for our customers to use,” said David Oakley, CTO of Astraware. “For people who already use PayPal it significantly reduces the amount of information they need to provide to buy our games.”
Customers who choose to pay with PayPal® instead of the usual checkout system will be redirected to the PayPal® site to put in their login details and confirm the transaction. Once completed the site will instantly redirect the customer back to the Astraware website to complete the transaction and the customer will receive their registration code on screen there and then so they can start playing the game immediately. Their code will also be emailed to them as usual so they can keep a record of their transaction. Customers who are familiar with using PayPal® should hopefully find this will be just like their experiences at other sites!
The initial roll-out of this enhancement is for purchases of Astraware developed and published products, so the option to use PayPal® won’t be available at the checkout if customers have added one of the titles (from the Astraware Lifestyle catalog, for instance) that Astraware resells for other companies. All being well, Astraware hopes to extend this service across all products on its site in the near future.
For more information on Astraware accepting PayPal®, please visit the Astraware website at http://www.astraware.com.
In order to celebrate Valentines Day next week, Astraware and PopCap Games have introduced a Valentines Day version of Bejeweled, the bestselling game for handheld devices. This special version combines all the fun and excitement of the original Bejeweled with a few special editions, including red heart shaped jewels and a ‘Valentines Special’ option so you can bejewel your Valentine with special personalized messages.
Current owners of the original Bejeweled can download the Valentine’s day special for free. If you don’t have the original you can purchase it at a special Valentines spot on Astraware’s site.. If you purchase the Valentines day special, your code will also work for the original game, so either way if you purchase one, you get the other for free. It will only be available for a couple of weeks so get yours today!
The new version of this classic game is available for several new devices, including Smartphones (including landscape screens) and Windows Mobile users with 240×240 screens.