The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is in full swing in San Francisco this week, and the gaming gods must be pleased, because a ton of great new titles just went live in the Store. Scroll down for the full list.
The highlight of the bunch is Gravity Guy 2, sequel to the hugely popular platformer Gravity Guy. For the next month, the sequel is available only on Windows Phone. Other titles arriving today are already proven successes on other platforms, like Chaos Rings, 6th Planet, and Orcs Must Survive. (All these are available for Windows Phone 8—except Chaos Rings, which is available only for Windows Phone 7.5 devices.)
As our Developer Blog post about GDC notes today, new Windows Phone 8-compatible gaming engines make it much easier for programmers to quickly create Windows Phone versions of their Android and iOS games, so keep your eye on the Store in the months ahead for even more great arrivals. Case in point: Ratrod Studio, creators of another recent Store arrival Drift Mania Championship 2, announced today that their forthcoming Street Outlaws would also be landing on Windows Phone 8 this summer.
In other GDC news that caught my eye, check out this demo of PowerA’s popular MOGA game controller running with a Windows Phone. The company this week announced its support for the phone—which means a bunch of new high scores are in my future.
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Gravity Guy 2 (Exclusive!)
For the next month, you’ll find this new sequel to the hit platformer Gravity Guy only on Windows Phone. Gravity Guy 2 ($2.99) picks up where its predecessor left off: The laws of gravity have been broken, and you’re the guy who broke them. Now, you’re on a run for your life, sprinting rightside-up and upside-down to elude your pursuers. Captured? No problem—one of your clones takes over and the race continues. Buy it
Chaos Rings
If this role-playing game looks vaguely familiar, it’s because it’s from Square Enix, maker of the mega-hit Final Fantasy series. Some think Chaos Rings ($9.99) is even better. In this four-part epic tale for Windows Phone 7.5 devices, you’ll choose two characters to fight against other pairs in the Ark Arena, with the story behind your struggle kept a mystery until each part is complete. Learn the battle systems and prepare your strategy, then carry it out against your attackers. Buy it
6th Planet
Billed as a novel fusion between video game and comic, Monktube’s 6th Planet ($0.99) delivers fun, Lunar Lander-style gameplay and a gripping near-future storyline about the sudden mysterious habitability of the planet Saturn. The comic book cut scenes—which together comprise nearly two full comics’ worth of material—are amazingly well-drawn and conceived. No surprise once you know their pedigree: these scenes were drawn and written by some of the same people responsible for Marvel’s Wolverine series and the Oscar-nominated animated film The Triplets of Belleville. Buy it
Propel Man
Use the catapult to dispatch the Propel Man ($0.99) to dizzy heights in the sky and cross each level by landing safely past the finish line by deploying your parachute. Buy it
Fling Theory (Exclusive!)
When Coding Jar Studios says Fling Theory (free) is a physics-based puzzle game, they mean it. In this game, you wield electrons in an attempt to solve puzzles and destroy obstacles. The game starts by giving you negative electrons and introducing the concept of repulsion. Soon it introduces the ability to manipulate the charge of atoms by hitting them, switching your polarity to launch positrons, and damaging obstacles to progress. Download it
Orcs Must Survive
In this strategy defense-style game (think Plants vs. Zombies), you return to the medieval era to battle the black-hearted king and his royal troops. Fighting on the side of the orcs, your task is to regain the happiness that was stolen by the king’s evil spell. You’ll take on knights, wizards and ghosts of the king while advancing through the levels, gaining more troops and weapons as you go. $0.99; Windows Phone 8. Buy it