Remember when phones only had snake on a tiny, grainy screen? Back then phones were only used for communication, calling and maybe texting people. The smart phone industry has changed all of that; now phones are more than communication devices, they are integral parts of our lives.

Smart phones act as our daily secretaries, alerting us to events and daily tasks, keeping notes for us, storing music, taking pictures, keeping track of contacts, and much, much more. With all of the different kinds of smart phones out there – like the Apple iPhone and Google Android – almost everyone has one or wants one.

Smart phones don’t only record and maintain our lives, they also provide us with the essential service of entertainment. Whether one is waiting in a doctor’s office, traveling, bored waiting for someone, looking for something to do in between the slew of commercials, or really just bored for any reason, smart phones can help.

Most of the best smart phone games out there fall into two categories: destruction or classic. The destruction games are almost the opposite of most of the popular Facebook games like CityVille and FarmVille that rely on the user to build and care for something. The classic games are those that have been around since simple games were first introduced to phones and the internet that everyone loves and has played at some point. In both cases, phone games have to be simple and easy to return to, since most people will be playing these games while waiting for something that will eventually interrupt their game.

The number one smart phone game is – not surprisingly – Angry Birds. According to the Guardian, Angry Birds saw over 200 million downloads in 2011. This destructive and classic game has had more than a billion downloads since its creation and has led to several spin-offs including Angry Birds: Seasons, Angry Birds: Rio, and Angry Birds: Space.

The original game made the player use some of his or her physics skills while shooting angry birds at the fortresses of green pigs. The narrative behind the game is that these green pigs have stolen the birds’ eggs and the birds are trying to get them back. The game gets progressively harder, and with 270 levels, can become very difficult.

On a related note, last year The Guardian’s Game Blog listed Bird Zapper as one of the best phone games of 2011. In this game the player matches colored birds to then electrify those birds and get them off the phone wire – supposedly the plot of a vengeful squirrel. Apparently smart phone users have some kind of fascination with killing or harming those of the avian species.

The second place winner in best phone games is one of the newest, Fruit Ninja. According to Joystiq there have been over 20 million downloads across all platforms. There are several different modes to play Fruit Ninja in, but all of them share the same concept where fruits fly up and the player is supposed to destroy them by swiping his or her finger across the screen. If the player destroys a lot of fruit he can get bonuses, but the player also has to avoid fruit bombs.

In the Classic mode the fruit begins to fly a little faster and has more obstacles over time, so there are different difficulty levels. However, if a player prefers to zone out and play a simple game he can play in Zen mode that lets the fruit fly for a certain amount of time but at a fairly constant rate. It is a simple, mindless game that is extremely addicting.

In third place is the latest sensation since Words With Friends, Draw Something. Draw Something is a digital version of another classic game, Pictionary, but now the players get to use their own fingers as the paintbrush/pencil. The game became an overnight sensation that supplanted Words With Friends as the most popular game in 2012. The Telegraph reported that only about a month after its release in February of 2012 the game was averaging about 3,000 drawings a second by players of the game.

In fourth place on the list of best phone games is Words With Friends. A digital spin off the classic game of Scrabble, Words With Friends has quickly become one of the most popular phone and Facebook games. The game is played virtually with a friend as the players go back and forth placing words on the board.

There is also a chat function, a little pointless on a phone (that part was more made for Facebook), that allows players to leave messages for each other when the other player returns. One of the greatest parts of Words With Friends is that anyone can play whenever they want, meaning the players can think for as long as necessary.

One of the best features of Words With Friends and Draw Something is that the difficulty level varies depending on who the user is playing and the luck of the ‘draw’ whether the ‘draw’ is letter tiles or what he or she is assigned to draw.

In fifth place for best smart phone games is the long-lasting Tap-Tap Revenge. Although not necessarily one of the most downloaded games, it is definitely one of the most addicting and fun. In Tap-Tap Revenge, now in its fourth version, the player listens to a song and taps a pattern at just the right time; essentially the game is Dance-Dance Revolution for fingers.

For even more of the best smart phone games see ‘Even More of the Best Smart Phone Games of 2012.’

The article The Best Smart Phone Games of 2012 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

In ‘The Best Smart Phone Games of 2012′ we listed the first five of the best games to keep you entertained and occupied; this article continues that list. So far the list stands:

1. Angry Birds

2. Fruit Ninja

3. Draw Something

4. Words With Friends

5. Tap-Tap Revenge

In sixth place is the incredibly fun Temple Run. In the game the player is a character who is running from a mob of monsters. The character continuously runs and the player must swipe to the left, right, down, and up to make the character dodge obstacles and jump gaps. The player can collect coins for bonus points and speed/invincibility boosts, while the game gets progressively harder.

In seventh place is the simple, yet seriously addicting game, Flood-It. In Flood-It the player begins on the far left, top corner of a board of colored squares. The player then chooses colors of neighboring squares to expand his or her control of a board. The catch is that there are a limited number of moves before the game is over and the player has to start on a new board. The game is easy on the smallest board setting, but the medium and hard settings are nearly impossible and require a significant amount of strategy.

In eighth place is the Android original, Alchemy. Alchemy has players start with four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water. The player then combines the elements to make new things. For example, if the player combines earth and water it makes swamp. The combinations are endless since the new creations can be added to other elements to make new things, and the combinations get stranger and stranger – which also means they get harder and harder. Eventually the player will be able to create anything from worms to aliens.

In ninth place is Tetris, the Nintendo classic. Just like the original, the player rearranges blocks to get rid of rows and stop them from filling up the screen. In the smart phone version the player taps the shapes to rotate them and fit them into place. Ultimately, this has been a favorite of many for years and it should be of no surprise that it made the list.

The last game to make our list of the top ten smart phone games is Bejeweled 2. Also a favorite of Facebook users, Bejeweled 2 has the player match up gems in a row to destroy them and bring in new gems. The player must race against a ticking clock to destroy as many as possible. This game is yet another classic that many people have been playing for years; now everyone can play it on their phones.

Ultimately, what smart phone users seem to like in their games are destructive, mindless games that will keep them entertained while they are sitting around waiting for a friend or while traveling. These games are not only the best for that but some of them, like Words With Friends or Draw Something, are also a great one to stay in touch with friends.

Imag Courtesy of    Fruit Ninja

The article Even More of the Best Smart Phone Games of 2012 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

‘Parking Frenzy’ has scaled to the seventh position on ‘Free Games’ section in the Android market in USA making it probably the first game from India to have featured this high in the space. Traditionally, the top slots are occupied by games such as Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja.

A product of Games2win the Parking Frenzy game has been downloaded 2.3 million times (as per Google Android statistics) and played over 8.5 million times in a span of just 10 days since it was launched.

Flurry’s analytics revealed that the game has 2.2 minutes of median time spent, 20.7% returning users and 350k Daily Active Users (DAUs). Alok Kejriwal, CEO of Games2win said, ”I am happy that we have scored this hit, but honestly it’s about time many more Indian Gaming Companies began featuring in the top ranks on the Android and iOs Apps market places.”

“Parking Frenzy is not a Bollywood or a Cricket Game. It’s a game about parking cars in an increasing level of difficulty. That’s a game that people like to play all over the world, not just in India.” Alok observed. According to Alok Kejriwal, Parking Frenzy’s biggest downloads are from the USA, UK, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands.

“Going forward, we are aggressively creating more ‘global’ titles for Android and iOs, with the sole intention of being a global gaming company. “ Noted Alok Kejriwal Aakrit Vaish, Director of Operations, India, Flurry, said, “It’s not just about downloads, but also usage. That is where Parking Frenzy is up there with the biggest smartphone games in the world. Good to finally see an original made in India production make it.”

The article Indian Android Games Claim a Stake on US Market appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Exent’s vision of enabling anytime, anywhere game play took another step forward today as the company unveiled the first and only all–you-can-play subscription service for tablets offering unlimited game play of dozens of the hottest games on Android, including Fruit Ninja, Baseball Superstars, and T-Racer HD.

With this launch, Exent’s GameTanium service will now extend across all of the leading consumer electronics platforms – PCs, smartphones, TVs and tablets.

Coming off a 2011 holiday season that witnessed consumers purchasing tablets at a torrid pace, the recent exponential growth in sales promises to spur the consumption of games, which numerous studies indicate are the number one activity on tablet devices.  GameTanium Mobile capitalizes on this new demand by providing consumers an easy one-stop shop for filling up their tablets with only the latest and best graphically rich games available on the market.

With mobile game play continuing its dramatic growth curve, GameTanium now offers operators the ability to leverage Exent’s world leading Games on Demand service on the two mobile platforms their consumers want most.

Exent powers the Games on Demand offerings for the world’s leading service providers. With its suite of platform enablement options – from PC to TV to smartphone to tablets – Exent’s Built with GameTanium services give operators an incredibly “sticky” value-added service that increases average revenue per user (ARPU), strengthens brand loyalty and retention and can be merchandised in virtually limitless ways.

Combining GameTanium’s content and programming expertise with customizable elements ranging from a brandable UI to pricing and packaging, the service provides carriers with the industry’s most turnkey Games on Demand solution on the market.

For game publishers, GameTanium offers a rich channel for delivering their games across multiple platforms, increasing the life of games and royalties that games earn.  GameTanium’s exclusive catalog and merchandising expertise also enables premium pricing by elevating superior games above the overwhelming population of game demos, spam, broken apps and just plain boring games offered in the Android Market.

“The GameTanium tablet offering is yet another step in our anytime, anywhere game play vision,” says Zvi Levgoren, CEO at Exent. ”We now offer our world-leading Games on Demand service across all of the platforms necessary to enable games to be played wherever, whenever and however consumers want to play them.

As a result, the service represents a great opportunity for carriers to engage their customers on a more meaningful and ultimately, more profitable level and for game publishers to drive their games more deeply into players’ lives.” The GameTanium tablet service is available for Android tablets for a low monthly fee.  Users can start their free three-day trial of the service by visiting http://m.gametanium.com/tablet.html from their Android device.

Operators and OEM’s can try the new GameTanium tablet along with mobile and TV services by visiting Exent at the Israel Mobile & Communications Association Pavilion (Hall 6 C50) at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 27 through March 1. Android publishers and developers can also learn more about adding their apps to the service by visiting Exent at the show or by visiting http://exent.com/market-solutions/opportunity-for-publishers.html.

The article Extent’s GameTanium Service Launched on Android Tablets appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.