PapayaMobile's mobile social game network gets friendly with iOS

OpenFeint and Mobage might want to watch out ... or get a delicious fruit in their logo somehow. Beijing-based PapayaMobile announced that it has expanded its mobile social game network from Android to iOS devices. iPhone and iPad game developers can now incorporate PapayaMobile into their game much like they would OpenFeint or Apple's Game Center.

But not only that, developers can create their own social games from scratch through PapayaMobile's Social Game Engine, and launch said games across both iOS and Android devices at once. PapayaMobile's social game network works across both iOS and Android. This means that if a mobile game uses PapayaMobile on both its iOS and Android versions, players can issue challenges, send game invitations, view leaderboards and more between both versions of the game.

PapayaMobile's main goal is to connect both Android and iOS gamers through a single network, something that can't be said for most mobile social game networks (well, aside from OpenFeint). Surely PapayaMobile hopes this cross-platform move will boost its player base of over 30 million. It looks like the mobile social games arena just met a new challenger.

Well, make that a few new challengers. The first games to hit iOS with PapayaMobile include X-City by Aidi Game, Contagion by 2Clams, and Burger Joint by Arctic Empire. Something tells us Facebook missed a golden opportunity with Connect.

Do you think there's room for another mobile social games network? Which network do you prefer using right now with your mobile games?

Owen Good, Who Certainly Has Some Rock Star Facial Hair

and certainly is a novel piece of software. But my gut says no because of its tight niche appeal and its need for one hellaciously expensive piece of hardware. Further, I could see casually interested musicians, with a guitar gathering dust, buying into the snake oil that this really will teach them to play guitar. That’s a claim that’s been sold in the back of comic books for decades, and it’s one of which I am always sceptical.

The Top 10 Free iOS and Android Games -- September 2011

Alright, now the summer is really over. As we dry our eyes of those final sun-soaked tears, we at least have one thing to cheer us up: games. Ah yes, the ultimate digital pastime-meets-picker-upper just gets better and better now that we have access to a myriad of games right within our iPhones and Android phones.

And while the lot of them cost little more than $.99, the number of full-featured, free games on both platforms is only growing. Just for you, we've pruned the games that hit the top 10 on both platforms by the end of September.

You can expect to see everyone's favorite angst-ridden, wingless birds more than once among the newcomers. Rather than simply shut them out as we have before, how's about we take each opportunity to highlight some of the crazy news surrounding them? Away we go:

Top 10 Free iOS Games
1. Cross Fingers
Mobigame's goofy and visibly confusing puzzle game is free for a limited time only. The name of the game is tangrams, and it's up to you to use the oddly-shaped puzzle pieces provided to form the shapes featured in each level. The game also contains an Arcade Mode in which players must keep up with a "frenetic machine," solving puzzles rapidly to survive.
Oregon Trail iPhone
2. The Oregon Trail
Famed (or infamous) developer Gameloft and The Learning Company have made their mobile take on this classic PC adventure game free for a limited time. Frankly, the game looks and seems to play a lot like its Facebook counterpart created by Blue Fang, so check out our preview to get an idea of how it might work. Get this: It has Facebook Connect, too ... hmm.

3. Texas Poker
Another newcomer by Kamagames brings the live multiplayer poker experience to your iPhone. Players can invite friends to play with them via email, Facebook and Twitter. While it's free to play, players can, of course, buy chips with real dough from inside the game. Oh, and there's live chat, too. So, you can trash talk while you lay down that straight.

4. Card Ace: Casino
Boy, do people enjoy gamblin'. This game by Self Aware Games allows players to sit in on more than just poker like Blackjack (21), slots and the creator's very own "word-game-meets-Texas-Hold-'Em masterpiece." Of course, players can buy more chips within in the game with real cash, and each casino game has real-time chat and public rooms for live play.

5. Traffic Rush
Only free until Oct. 3, this game courtesy of Donut Games tasks players with keeping an intersection accident-free by touching and guiding vehicles away from one another. Oh, and the cross streets are two-way (and with two lanes), so we can already see this one getting crazy rather quickly. And the creators threw in a Rail Rush mode, too, which can only spell trouble.

6. Office Zombie
Just in time for Halloween, Fluik released this haunted take on its Office Jerk game. Ad-supported, the game lets players torment, well, a zombified office employee with anything they can dig up. We're not sure what the objective of this game is, really, but at least it might serve as a stress reliever? That's all I got.
High Caliber Hunting iPhone
7. High Caliber Hunting
EA's mobile take on the popular hunting sub genre of hunting games like Cabela's is free for a limited time. And it looks surprisingly graphic, displaying the vitals of the game's various, um, game as if you had x-ray vision. Simulation is the goal in this game, with real brand name rifles and equipment featured as well as a up close-and-personal "Bullet-Cam". Ew.

8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12
Another of EA's popular franchises is free on iOS for a limited time. Of course, you can play across multiple real-life golf courses controlling a number of professional athletes. But the most interesting news here is the Closest to the Pin Challenge, an asynchronous social mini game in which Facebook friends post their best shots and talk trash.

9. Pretty Pet Pony
Ready to overload your iPhone with cute? Good, because this game by Dream Cortex and Animoca has the pink stuff in spades. It's your job to clean, pamper and raise your own ponies in Cuby the Bear's stables. Then, it's off to the race track to compete with your friends on tracks made of rainbows ... I think I just threw up a little bit.

10. Stupid Ninjas
Stupid Zombies maker GameResort takes the same concept from its first game to the Far East: try to kill all the ninjas on screen with as few sword swipes as possible. Cause chain reactions from the shurikens that each ninja holds. The game comes with 180 levels and Game Center support to boast your ninja-slicing prowess.

Top 10 Free Android Games
Hanging With Friends Android
1. Angry Birds
Did you know that soon, you might be able to play Angry Birds with thousands of people through the sound of your collective cacophony? Crazy, we know.

2. Hanging with Friends
Zynga's adorable take on the classic game of Hangman was recently released to Android devices, and it's apparently already heating things up. The game is essentially identical to the iOS version released earlier this summer, so check out our full preview to get a better idea of what it's like.

3. Angry Birds Rio
Hey, did you know that co-star of the NBC show Chuck, Yvonne Strahovski, is an Angry Birds master? Yeah, we know, her and everybody else at this point. But hey, maybe there's a chance she'll become the next Rovio spokeswoman--yowza!

4. Words with Friends
Yup, Zynga is killing it on Android, we know. But what's more interesting about Words with Friends is that you can not only now play it on Facebook, but pick up your existing games on either platform through Facebook Connect. Living in the 21st century has its perks.

5. Bunny Shooter Free Game
Yes, that is the game's real title. (But finally, a new game!) Created by the painfully literal dudes at Best, Cool & Fun Games, this puzzler (picture below) tasks players with shooting these poor pink bunnies with as few arrows as possible. You'll do this across over 180 levels filled with obstacles and explosions ... and probably feel a tinge of guilt about it afterward.

6. Angry Birds Seasons
Dude, seriously--oh, sorry. Did you know that Rovio might be looking to get into publishing other indie games? Maybe that way, the company can turn around the next hit game to dominate the charts. (At least it'll be something new?)

7. Drag Racing
Creative Mobile's Drag Racing has enjoyed the same spot for two months now, and it's probably thanks to the support it has from real-life car brands. Players can also race each other in real time through the Pro League, which again is likely a major selling point. Oh, and watch out for when this game hits Facebook--come on, cross-platform play.
Bunny Shooter Android
8. Lane Splitter
Fractiv hits the top 10 with this "motorcycle survival game" in which players must make it to their wedding with a new character that sports a special ability. Players tilt their device to steer the motorcycle as it (hopefully) weaves in and out of traffic. With Facebook Connect, players can compete for the high score between their friends and post achievements.

9. Fruit Ninja
Guys, it has finally happened: The real Fruit Ninja by Halfbrick Studios has made it into the top 10. By now, you should know the drill--this game is dang near everywhere. Also, it just launched on Facebook, if you want to slice up even bigger fruit.

10. Tetris
A game as iconic as Tetris probably deserves to be much higher on this list, but hey, at least it's a spot. While there's not much to be said of Tetris after some 27 years, that doesn't mean the game is not worthy of your time. Just give it go already, will ya?

[Sources and Image Credits: Apple, Google]

Which of these games have you tried so far, and what do you think? What free iOS or Android games have you been playing lately that you want to share? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment

Go on a Buddy Rush between Facebook, iPhone and now Android

Now, that's what I call cross-platform. Budang, South Korea-based Team Sollmo announced that Buddy Rush, its RPG (role-playing game) in which players can use the same adventurer between Facebook and iOS devices, has hit Android devices. What this means is that now, you can access the very same game with your very same character across all three platforms.

"We've been truly honored by the reception Buddy Rush has received thus far, reaching hundreds of thousands of users on Facebook and the Apple App Store," said Company100 (the game's publisher) President Jin Cheon Kim in a release. "With the launch on Android, we're proud to offer Buddy Rush to the vast majority of smartphone owners and establish ourselves as the first to offer an RPG with true cross-platform capabilities across these popular gaming channels."

If Buddy Rush for Android is anything like it is on both Facebook and iOS devices, which we assume it is given Kim's wording, then this is essentially the same game offered across all three modes of play.

Players can take the character they're used to dungeon crawling with on Facebook, play with it a bit on their Android phone, conquer some more monsters on, say, their iPod Touch and proceed to enter yet another battle with the baddies back on Facebook.
Gallery: Buddy Rush
While it's largely a single player experience, Buddy Rush allows players to take their friends' characters asynchronously on adventures like in most Facebook games of its kind. (The main draw, of course, being that you can do so across three platforms with the same character, and arguably whenever.) So, it pays to have lots of friends in this game that I likened to a saccharine take on Blizzard's popular if terribly dark Diablo RPGs. And now that it's on yet another gaming platform, you have no excuse.

Click here to download Buddy Rush for Android Now >

Have you tried Buddy Rush on either Facebook or iOS? What do you think of Sollmo's take on asynchronous, cross-platform gameplay? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.