Microsoft themselves didn’t have as much of a presence at Casual Connect Seattle this year as we would’ve liked, but they did stage a fascinating presentation on the effects that switching to Xbox Live has had on popular free word game Wordament. We all know Xbox Live has helped Wordament become more popular, but the specific benefits and results of the switch are extremely encouraging and could have wide-ranging effects on future Windows Phone games.

Windows Phone Central has the full presentation video to share, plus a detailed summary and anaylsis. Check it out after the break.

About the speaker

Alex Tarrand, Senior Product Planner at Microsoft delivered the presentation entitled ‘Live Enable Your Game: Wordament Case Study.' Alex is a mobile advertising specialist, who has worked for Disney Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Microsoft on casual and freemium games.

Starting the presentation

Now we’ll run down the key points delivered during the panel, which naturally started off with an explanation of Wordament itself. Alex summed it up nicely as “a worldwide tournament that’s hosted again and again every three minutes." We’ll leave it at that for now; check out our review for a more detailed analysis. Tarrand then goes on to describe DiscoPigeon, the young overachiever, I mean winner, of the Wordament tournament that took place in the Bellevue, WA Microsoft store back in April.

Xbox Live

Alex proceeds to introduce Xbox Live to the audience. He touts the total number of hours spent on Live by users worldwide as increasing by 30 percent per year. Subscribers spend 70 hours per month on average (2.5 hours a day), making Xbox Live the most highly engaged gaming community in the world. It’s also very social – millions of users instant message and chat with each other daily.

Wordament

The magnitude of Xbox Live established, Tarrand moves on to Wordament specifics. It should come as no surprise that Wordament is the number one free puzzle game on Windows Phone. Even more impressive, it’s the highest-rated Xbox Live game ever across any platform. Three free Xbox Live games occupied the top five rated slots on Windows Phone at the time of the presentation, though the other two freebies go undisclosed.

Wordament’s raw statistics are quite interesting too. First, the player base skews towards males of ages 12-34. I’ve encountered some very enthusiastic female players, so (in the absence of actual hard data) I chalk the gender ratio up to more males owning Windows Phones than females.

As for player nationality, US players account for fifty percent of the worldwide player base. That percentage could easily change as Wordament introduces more playable languages over time of course. Overall, the game has been downloaded more than 580,000 times, and play sessions average out to 13 minutes – a very high number for mobile games.

Benefits of Live-enabling a game

Alex runs down the list of benefits to Xbox Live-enabled games on Windows Phone, most of which should be familiar to avid gamers.

• Association with a Gamer brand: Xbox Live is one of the strongest brands in gaming.
• Access to Gamers: Live games sell to the more passionate gamers on Windows Phone, and are advertised directly to them through the Games hub.
• Placement in exclusive list of Xbox Live games in the Windows Phone store, which Alex compares to being ‘Featured’ on iOS. Visibility can make a huge impact on downloads and sales.
• Attracts Achievement gamers (including yours truly and many of our readers)
• Friends socialize a game for free (since other friends can see users playing it)

The effects of Live enabling Wordament

Upgrading Wordament to Xbox Live status was clearly an experiment by Microsoft. If things went well, the big MS could then use that success to promote the idea of Live-enabling games to other developers. And it did succeed: just one week after Wordament went Live, the number of players quadrupled. Not only that, but game session length increased dramatically compared to pre-Live status. In turn, ad impressions multiplied by a factor of between two and three, a number that doesn’t quite match the overall number of users. Still, it means significant revenue for Microsoft as the game’s publisher.

Joining Xbox Live

At times Tarrand refers to the Xbox Live lineup as both a “curated portfolio” and “a relatively closed portfolio." But he claims that Microsoft is starting to open things up, meaning that it should become easier for games to gain Live status. (In the past, we’ve covered the frustrations of indie developer Karios, whose games have consistently failed to gain approval from the Live team. There may be good reasons for that, which I’ll explore in my upcoming MonsterUp Adventures review.)

More encouraging than simply promising the platform will open up to a degree, Alex Tarrand has offered to personally answer questions and offer advice to Xbox Live hopefuls. Developers can email him directly or contact the team at the email addresses in the image above.

Questions and Answers

After the core presentation wrapped up, Alex engaged in a Q and A session with audience members. The questions provide some insight into what the average mobile developer wants to or needs to know about Xbox Live, while the occasionally reticent response might reveal a thing or two as well.

Q: “When integrating a mobile game with Xbox Live, is that a Windows-only solution?”

• A: “It is right now, but it won’t be for very long.”
  
  My interpretation is that since Windows Phone 8 is moving away from XNA development, WP8 games will be programmable on other computer platforms like Mac now as well. Anyone get something different from this?

Q: “You’re bringing functionality [from] the Xbox to mobile?”

• A: “Absolutely. The same people who engage on the console are the same users who have the Live account who engage on the mobile titles. We find there’s a great deal of migration between the separate screens.”
  
  This is why we cover a smattering of Xbox 360 games and news, dear readers.

Q: “What [is the] number of games you’re looking for right now [for Xbox Live on Windows Phone]?”

• A: “Again, it’s a relatively curated portfolio. We’re interested in all phenomenal IP, but specifically things that would be debuting on the Windows platform. [So being exclusive to Windows Phone] is a plus.”

Q: “What are the device sales numbers for Windows [Phone] right now?”

• A: “High. Very high. I can [elaborate] more when contacted directly.”
  
  Uh oh! The elephant in the room: Windows Phone device sales numbers aren’t as high as anyone would like. Otherwise, he'd have shared some kind of figures.

Q: “You just said that [Xbox Live on mobile phones] is Windows Phone-only now but it won’t be for long. Do we have a [time table for when] you’ll be opening up to other mobile platforms?”

• A: “Yes. Our slate is in the process of expanding; we’re moving a couple of titles over to both iOS and Android… With the release of Windows 8, it’ll be opening up to Windows 8, web, Windows Phone, and eventually iOS and Android. As for timelines, Windows 8… later on in the year.”

That last response might just be Tarrand trying to keep the iOS and Android developers in the crowd enthused about Xbox Live with vague promises of full support for their platforms someday. Or it could be a sign that Microsoft actually does plan to take Live to competing mobile devices. (In the past, a handful of games like Kinectimals have shown up on iOS but without actual Xbox Live support.)

Should the latter prove correct, Windows Phone may one day lose a key selling point to the 'gamer' crowd touted during the presentation. After all, if gamers could unlock Xbox Live Achievements on the iPhones they already own, there would be much less incentive to adopt Microsoft’s underdog smartphone platform.

Update: Just to be clear, this is by no means an official announcement of full Xbox Live support coming to non-Microsoft platforms. Some of our commenters seem to be slightly confused by the admittedly confusing answers the presenter gave. I'd wait for a real announcement to that effect from Microsoft (which may never come) before getting worried.

Slides created by Microsoft and edited here for size and readability.

Windows Phone Central's Roundup of Go To Games

This week's Roundup deals with Go To Games for your Windows Phone. For the lack of a better term, Go To games are the ones that always find their way on to your Windows Phone and really never grow old. These games are amongst your favorites but always seem to rise to the top of that list. They are the games you go to for entertainment that are great time wasters that never disappoint.

The Windows Phone Central staff were polled on which two gaming titles are their Go To Games. We see a lot of games come and go on our Windows Phones but these titles seem to always be around. The Roundup contains a wide range of games that include a beauty salon, chickens and rainbows as well as a healthy selection of Xbox Live titles.

ORB (free version/$1.29): ORB is a challenging fast paced game for your Windows Phone where you have to navigate a rolling ball through a maze of tiles and avoid various pitfalls along the way.

The rolling ball is controlled by your Windows Phone and the goal is simple. See how far you can go before your ball falls off the grid. Along with dangers you will run across tiles that will help you along the way such a fan that will give your ORB a little lift to fly over large gaps.

ORB is a wonderfully drawn out game that will keep you on your toes. There are two versions of ORB available over at the Windows Phone Store. You have ORB Free that is ad supported and a $1.29 ad-free version of ORB.

Wordament (free): Wordament started out life on the Windows Phone Store as an independent title. Then Microsoft extended the invitation to have the word puzzle game become an Xbox Live title. Wordament was always a popular game but with the Xbox Live branding, it only became more popular.

For those not familiar with Wordament, it is a Boggle-styled word game where you have to create words from a 4x4 grid of letters. Game play consists of two minute rounds and you compete against other players (who are tackling the same puzzle) to see who can score the highest.

Every board is guaranteed to have over 100 possible words and is great for short spurts or marathon sessions. Just be careful, Wordament is a highly addictive game that you'll catch yourself saying "one more game and I'm done" repeatedly. Wordament is a free, ad supported game that you can find here at the Windows Phone Store.

Penguin (free): Penguin is a Windows Phone game we highlighted in the Slider Game Roundup a few weeks ago. Penguin is a great time waster that really doesn't get stale.

You play the role of the penguin and have to see how far you can slide, jump and fly across the frozen tundra before time runs out. Along the way you can gobble up fish for a boost of energy and the longer you spend in the air, more time is added to the timer.

There's not much to Penguin but it's has nice animations and you can't help but mutter "weeeeee" under your breath when the penguin catches big time air. Penguin is a free, ad supported game that you can catch here at the Windows Phone Store.

Sally's Salon LE (free trial/$2.99): Sally's Salon is another Xbox Live titles making its way on to this week's Roundup. It's a time management game where you tackle all the trials and tribulations of running a salon.

The Luxury Edition is described as the ultimate makeover of the original game that includes five additional locations that includes more challenges, customer types, trophies, graphics, and visual effects.

There is a free trial version of Sally's Salon LE available with the full version of the game running $2.99. You can find Sally's Salon LEhere at the Windows Phone Store.

Oh and in a related item, Sally's Spa was also among our staff's go to game choices. Sally's Spa is also an Xbox Live title and takes Sally's time management challenges out of the salon and into the day spa. Sally's Spa also has a free trial version while the full version is currently running $2.99. You can find Sally's Spahere at the Windows Phone Store.

Final Fantasy (free trial/$6.99): Final Fantasy has been around for a long time (1987) and has come to our Windows Phone as an Xbox Live title. You guide the Warriors of Light as they set out to restore the crystals through a series of quests.

The role playing game is well animated and an interesting way to pass the time. If you're into scouring dungeons and battling monsters Final Fantasy may be a good Go To Game for your Windows Phone whether you only have time to take out a few monster or are looking for a marathon dungeon quest.

There is a trial version that has limited game play with the full version of Final Fantasy running $6.99. You can conjure everything up here at the Windows Phone Store.

Relaxify X (free trial/$.99): Not sure if Relaxify X qualifies as a game but it is a neat time waster of an app for your Windows Phone. Relaxify X is a particle simulator that you manipulate by touch.

There's really no rhyme or reason on how to play Relaxify X. Just use your imagination to tap, swipe, and touch the screen to see what you can get the pixel particles to do.

The trial version will spark your interest but doesn't allow you access to the settings. The full version will run you $.99 and let you change the particle shapes, the environment, whether or not the particles bounce off walls or move continuously, as well as other environmental settings to keep Relaxify X from growing stale.

Again, it's a neat time waster. Just not too sure I'd call it a game. You can find Relaxify Xhere at the Windows Phone Store.

Chickens Can't Fly (free trial/$.99): Chickens Can't Fly is an Xbox Live game for your Windows Phone that has you guiding a chicken as it falls down a collection of obstacle courses. The story line has you playing the role of a scientist to see what chickens are capable of through a series of experiments (or obstacle courses).

As you control your chickens descent you'll have to avoid the dangers such as fan blades, kitchen utensils, saw blades and other items that will just ruin your chicken's day. You collect corn for points and the goal is to land safely at the bottom of the course. The game has five different laboratories and over fifty experiments that are full of challenges.

Prefer free form play? There's a Survival Mode that tests how far you can drop your chicken without getting plucked. Add a free Chickens Can't Fly ringtone and customizable skins to give your chicken a more personal touch and you've got a healthy go-to game.

There is a limited trial version (only one level of play) and the full version of Chickens Can't Fly will run you $.99. You can find Chickens Can't Flyhere at the Windows Phone Store.

Lode Runner Classic (free trial/$2.99): Lode Runner Classic brings the classic 1983 video game to your Windows Phone as an Xbox Live game. You play the role of the Runner who tries to stay one step ahead of pursuing enemies as he navigates through 150 levels of game play.

Lode Runner Classic has two game modes, Expedition runs you through the game level by level while Time Attack adds a game clock into the mix.

With the retro look, Lode Runner Classic should appeal to most gaming enthusiasts. There is a free trial version with the full version of Lode Runner Classic running $2.99. You can find it all here at the Windows Phone Store.

DODONPACHI MAXIMUM (free trial/$4.99): DODONPACHI MAXIMUM IS A MULTI-STAGE SCI-FI XBOX LIVE SHOOTER FOR YOUR WINDOWS GAMES. YOU DODGE YOUR SHIPS THROUGH (sorry cap lock got stuck) waves of enemy fire, collecting boosts along the way.

DODONPACHI reminds me of Impossible Shoota just with a little more gusto. Animations and graphics are no slouch with this game and fast paced might be an understatement. As an Xbox Live title you have Xbox Live achievements and leaderboards.

If you like games such as Galaga Legions DX or Impossible Shoota, DODONPACHI MAXIMUM should have equal appeal. There is a trial version available with the full version running $4.99. You can find DODONPACHI MAXIMUMhere at the Windows Phone Store.

BulletAsylum (free trial/$2.99): Where DONDONPACHI MAXIMUM is a fast paced sci-fi shooter where you pilot a space ship, BulletAsylum is equally as fast paced but you command a base station.

You control your guns simply by tapping the screen around the object you want obliterated. BulletAsylum has three game modes (arcade, survival, and architect), twenty five weapons upgrades, and seven game modifiers. Game modifiers allow you to change the rules of the game. For example you can purchase the Battle Cry which slows the game speed in half.

BulletAsylum is a well animated shoot-em up game that isn't a bad way to pass the time. There is a trial version available that is limited to the arcade mode. The full version of BulletAsylum is currently running $2.99 and you can find it here at the Windows Phone Store.

Rainbow Rapture (free version/$1.49): Simply put, Rainbow Rapture is a great time waster. You play the role of the rainbow who is fed up with society and decides to take his frustration out on humanity. You slide, jump and soar taking out little stick people and vehicles along the way.

The primary goal is to see how far you can travel before you run out of energy. You can recharge your batteries by soaring higher and longer while maintain a steady diet of humanity.

There are forty-five secondary challenges to take on as well as bonus wallpapers and ringtones with the paid version of Rainbow Rapture. Animations and graphics are well drawn out, the game is challenging, somewhat addictive and a very enjoyable way to pass the time.

Two versions are available over at the Windows Phone Store. You have Rainbow Rapture Free which is ad supported and Rainbow Rapture that is running $1.49 and is ad free (plus it has the bonus wallpapers and ringtones).

Mush (free trail/$2.99): Mush is an odd sort of Xbox Live game for your Windows Phone that does have a tendency to grow on you. You have to navigate a furry little creature, that would be Mush, through multi-level worlds in a game of hide and seek.

Mush is controlled by tilting your Windows Phone this way and that along with a series of twelve emotions that give Mush special abilities (e.g. drawing a smile makes Mush float).

Mush is a wonderfully drawn up game and the mazes of each level can be rather challenging. Mush is an Xbox Live title with twenty Xbox Live achievements to earn. There is a free trial that is limited to the first level of the game and the full version of Mush is running $2.99. You can find Mush here at the Windows Phone Store.

Trines Hangman (free version/$.99): If you like word games, Trines Hangman should be on your short list of Windows Phone games. Trines is a game of hangman that you play for points and compete against other players for leaderboard position.

You begin the game with seven misses (hangman parts) when solving the puzzle. As you move up the ranks and scoring level your possible misses reduce.

Add twenty two wallpapers to customize the game's appearance, free ringtones and some really challenging puzzles and Trines Hangman turns out to be a nice Windows Phone game to pass short bits of time with or play for an extended period.

There are two versions of Trine's Hangman available over at the Windows Phone Store. You have Trine's Hangman which is a free, ad supported version. Then there is Trine's Hangman Pro which is currently running $.99 and is ad free.

There were a few duplicate responses with Wordament, DODONPACHI MAXIMUM and the Sally series appearing to be the most popular amongst the WPCentral Staff. All make for great Go To games as do other Windows Phone gaming titles.

Now it's your turn. What is you're Go To game? Could it be Doodle Jump, ARMED!, Impossible Shoota! or Line Birds? Sound off in the comments and let us know which game is your Windows Phone Go To game.

WPCentral's Readers Roundup of games for your Windows Phone

Last week we posed the question, "What is your recommendation on Windows Phone games?" and you, our readers, tossed out your top three gaming recommendations.  We tallied up all the recommendations and this week's roundup highlights the top five games from these recommendations.

The results weren't too surprising but dragon themed games scored two of the top slots. The other three included two Xbox titles and one game that is a gaming library within itself. If you didn't get a chance to offer your recommendations in the WPCentral Forums discussion, feel free to sound off below in the comments.

Wordament (free): The Xbox Windows Phone game Wordament seems to make an appearance on every roundup or best of list for Windows Phone gaming. The boggle styled game started out as a popular independent game and exploded when it transformed into an Xbox title.

Wordament is an online game where you compete against other Wordament players to see who can score the most points solving a word puzzle. The game has you creating words by connecting letters on a 4x4 grid. Each round is two minutes and each letter has its own point value.

Wordament is a great game for short bits of time as well as marathon gaming sessions. Wordament is a free Xbox game for your Windows Phone that you can pick up here at the Windows Phone Store.

Fruit Ninja (trial/$.99): Fruit Ninja may have been around long enough to be classified as a Classic Windows Phone game. Classic or not, it's a fun, entertaining game for your Windows Phone.

For those not familiar with Fruit Ninja, it is a Xbox Windows Phone game that has you slicing and dicing fruit as it's tossed in the air. Fruit Ninja has three game modes, Xbox Live achievements, leaderboards and unlockable content.

You swipe at the screen to simulate your ninja sword slicing action as the fruit is tossed up on the screen. In classic mode, any fruit missed costs you a strike and three strikes ends the game. In Zen Mode you have ninety seconds to slice as much fruit as possible for score (you won't be penalized for missed fruit).  Arcade mode is much like Zen Mode but you have sixty seconds to slice the fruit. You do have bonus fruit that will slow the game or activate a fruit frenzy.

Combinations or multiple fruit sliced in a single stroke will earn you bonus points and bombs are thrown in the mix to make Fruit Ninja more challenging. Hint... don't slice the bombs.

While Fruit Ninja has been around for a while, it's still a challenging, entertaining game for your Windows Phone. There is a free trial available with the full version of Fruit Ninja running $.99. You can find Fruit Ninjahere at the Windows Phone Store.

Crimson Dragon: Side Story (trial/$.99): Our dragon influence begins with Crimson Dragon: Side Story, one the more recent Xbox Windows Phone gaming titles.

Crimson Dragon is a fantasy shooter game where you control dragons to defeat various enemies on the planet Draco. Virtual flight controls sit at the bottom left corner of the screen and you simply tap the screen at the targets you want your dragon to fire at.

As you battle your way through the game your dragon earns experience which in turn unlocks skills. Crimson Dragon has over 170 skills to unlock and you can even breed new dragons as you advance through the game.

Additionally, you can earn bonus items by using your Windows Phone location services. The further you physically travel outside of game play, the more jewels you earn which are used to unlock skills.

Nicely animated with challenging, fast paced, game play Crimson Dragon: Side Story is worth a try. There is a trial version available and the full version of Crimson Dragon is currently running $.99.

You can Crimson Dragon: Side Story here at the Windows Phone Store.

Dragon's Blade (free/$.99): Dragon's Blade is a turn based, role playing game for your Windows Phone. It has a bit of a retro feel to it reminiscent of Zelda.

The game contains seven classes of characters that includes warrior, templar, thief, juggernaut, archer, sorcerer and cleric. Once you've created your party of adventurers, you wander about slaying monsters and exploring dungeons.

There is an online component that allows you to chat and interact with other Dragon's Blade players.

As your character's experience grows, they build in strength and skills as you would see in any RPG games. All totaled there is about 60 hours of game play with Dragon's Blade. Plenty dragon slaying, treasure hunting gaming.

There are two versions of Dragon's Blade available over at the Windows Phone Store. There is Dragon's Blade which is an ad-supported version and Dragon's Blade DX which is ad free.

Taptitude (free): Taptitude is your one stop shop for mini-games. It is a collection of over seventy games ranging from Mahjong to Black Jack to Sudoku to Slots. Taptitude is a penny arcade of sorts for your Windows Phone and is a great choice for challenging games to pass the time with.

Games are sorted in Tiers that are progressively unlocked as you earn gaming stars. You earn gaming stars by play the games in the lower tiers.

You also have features such as weekly codes that can be used to unlock coins and upgrades, leaderboards and achievements. Coins can be used to buy credits, which in turn can be used to unlock games that are in locked tiers.

While there are over seventy games to the Taptitude collection now, more games are added on a weekly basis. To help keep you up to date on things, there is a Message board (accessed through the main menu) for Taptitude. Messages include information on updates, new games and a Redeem Riddle whose answer can be redeemed to unlock coins and upgrades.

Taptitude has a healthy collection of challenging games that continues to grow. Taptitude is a free, ad-supported game for your Windows Phone that you can snatch up here at the Windows Phone Store.

That's your top five recommendations, in order of vote count. Honorable mentions goes out to Wheel of Wealth, Geodefense Swarm, and Dalton the Awesome.

We'd like to thank everyone for participating in this un-scientific straw poll on Windows Phone games. We'll have more Reader's Roundups in the future but in the meantime, if you've got a gaming recommendation to share... toss it out in the comments or head on over to the WPCentral Forums and strike up a discussion there.

Alright, so Nokia has a good grasp on what the word exclusive means. But Microsoft takes a more liberal stance towards supporting other platforms. We’ve seen the big MS publish previously Xbox Windows Phone exclusive games to iOS before, such as Kinectimals and Tentacles. It always hurt, but we sucked it up and complained only in small doses.

Yesterday, another exclusive turned coat and migrated to iOS: Microsoft’s own Wordament. I had previously speculated that Wordament could function as a killer app, attracting gamers to Windows Phone with its highly addictive gameplay and smart design. That will no longer happen, but here’s the really bad news: Wordamenton iOS is an Xbox Live title complete with real Achievements!

Migrating Achievements

Yes, Wordament has become the first game on a non-Microsoft platform with Xbox Live Achievements. Sure, it only offers 50 GamerScore worth of Achievements as opposed to the Windows Phone and Windows 8 versions’ 200 GamerScore, but it’s only a matter of time until that 50 GS limit rises to 200 GS.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by this move. After all, during the Wordament presentation at Casual Connect Seattle, Microsoft’s Alex Navarro basically hinted at this future when answering the following questions from an audience member:

Q: “When integrating a mobile game with Xbox Live, is that a Windows-only solution?”

• A: “It is right now, but it won’t be for very long.”

Q: “You’re bringing functionality [from] the Xbox to mobile?”

• A: “Absolutely. The same people who engage on the console are the same users who have the Live account who engage on the mobile titles. We find there’s a great deal of migration between the separate screens.”

At the time, I hoped that he was just stringing along the attendant iOS and Android developers with deliberately vague answers. But the iOS version of Wordament was likely already in development. Knowing that Xbox Live Achievements would spread to competing mobile platforms, Navarro’s encouragement was subtle but honest.

Cross-platform boggling

iOS screenshots from Wordament.com.

Wordament is also the first Xbox Live game with cross-platform multiplayer. iOS players compete against Windows Phone and Windows 8 players in real-time, trying to find as many words as possible during each round. Existing Wordament players who sign in on an iPhone or iPad will see all of their existing Xbox Live Friends and frenemies. Presumably, stats and rankings carry over as well.

Now, I can’t rally against this feature because if you’re going to port Wordament, of course you want everyone to play against each other. The ability to play the same game simultaneously with non-WP friends is alluring. A fair chunk of Wordament’s appeal is seeing so many other players sharing the same experience and comparing your own results against theirs.

On the Xbox 360, Microsoft has long opposed cross-platform multiplayer of any kind, even when developers wanted it. That’s why Playstation 3 and PC players can enjoy Portal 2 together, but Xbox 360 players cannot. Hopefully Wordament is proof of a new stance on that well-liked feature from Microsoft.

Why WP needs exclusives

Wordament, we used to be proud of ya!

Now, every time we complain about the loss of an exclusive, somebody hops in and responds that they hate exclusivity and that Windows Phone doesn’t need exclusive apps and games. And let’s face it; Windows Phone exclusivity is bad for some people: iPhone and Android users who have no plans to switch to WP and don’t want to be incentivized to make that switch. For them, every little thing that makes Windows Phone look better is a curse instead of a blessing.

But let’s remember that Windows Phone continues to be an underdog platform. Android and iPhone have a huge lead, both in market share and the public mindset, which makes it hard for Windows Phone to compete on even ground. For Microsoft’s scrappy little mobile OS to win over new users, it needs features, apps, and games that those users can’t get anywhere else. Why else would an average Joe give up the iPhone he already owns hundreds of games on and throw in with Microsoft?

MS, I find your lack of faith disturbing

The offending Achievements

Make no mistake; Wordament popping up on iOS with Xbox Live Achievements is a vote of no confidence in the Windows Phone platform from someone at Microsoft. In case you didn’t know, Microsoft is comprised of multiple teams housed in separate buildings, each one responsible for its own little niche in the company’s business. These teams have little incentive to cooperate with each other when they’re not forced to do so by senior management. In fact, even within a team employees actually compete with each other in various ways, but that’s a story for another day.

So the situation is that many portions of Microsoft simply don’t care whether Windows Phone lives or dies. They’re just concerned with turning a profit for their divisions rather than helping out a floundering mobile division.

That’s exactly why:

• We still don’t have a mobile (and exclusive) Halo or Forza game (two of Microsoft’s strongest console game brands).
• Microsoft doesn’t just throw money at big developers to get them to bring big name games to WP even though they could afford it a thousand times over.
• We got no new Xbox games for two weeks within the last two months.
• There are exactly two Xbox Windows Phone 8 games after two months of the new OS’s availability.

Appearances matter

Don’t think this is the end of days for Windows Phone or that I’m ready to jump ship over Microsoft’s mixed signals. But you know, not everyone understands Microsoft’s divisive nature. They look at the big MS publishing games and bringing Xbox Live to iOS and they see a company that doesn’t believe in its own mobile platform.

You will never catch Apple releasing one of their hot products for Windows Phone, nor Sony bringing their games to the Xbox 360. They’re focused on making their own products succeed, not competing against themselves. If only Microsoft would show the same solidarity and commitment to their brilliant Windows Phone platform.

Play it anyway

Windows 8/RT version

All implication aside, let’s not forget that Wordament is simply a fantastic word game. It did make our list of 5 Must Have Xbox Games, after all. And just look at our review!

Wordament, much like Boggle, involves trying to find as many words as possible from a field of 16 letters, all within a time limit. The hook? You’re competing against hundreds of others in real-time over the internet. Rounds last for a couple of minutes. Once they end, you get to see how you compared against everyone else, and then the next round starts a few seconds later.

Some rounds have hidden themed words and digrams (words that use a specific combination of two letters) to find as well. You can also add specific players to your Frenemies list and keep track of how you stack up against them. It’s all incredibly addictive.

Wordament is free and supported by ads on all platforms. Seeing as how each version counts as a separate game Achievement-wise, GamerScore fiends might as well play every version they can. I'd certainly be tempted to if I had an iDevice!

Get each version of Wordament with the following store links:

• Windows Phone
• Windows 8
• iOS

Update: Check out sister site iMore's impressions of the iOS port. It sounds a little rough compared to our version, but those kinks will surely be smoothed out over time.

Update 2: As it turns out, the iOS version was developed by Babaroga, makers of Zombies!!!, Shuffle Party, and several other Windows Phone games.

When exclusive Xbox Windows Phone/Windows 8 game Wordamentjumped ship to iOS, we were perhaps a little disappointed. Windows Phone needs all the exclusive games it can get, and Microsoft doesn’t need to do Apple any favors. Still, the game has gone multiplatform now and there’s no turning back.

In fact, Microsoft just published the most platform-agnostic version of Wordament ever. This one’s playable via HTML5-enabled web browsers. Best of all for Xbox gamers, the web game comes with 50 GamerScore worth of Achievements!

Finally, a browser game worth caring about

Xbox.com has hosted a small selection of browser games for a while now, including PopCap’s Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, and Zuma’s Revenge. Fine games, but you can already play them for free at PopCap.com. All three games are also available for Xbox 360, and two of them for Windows Phone. The Xbox.com versions don’t offer Xbox Live Achievements, so there’s really no point to them other than entertaining a few random visitors who don’t know any better.

Wordament Web, however is a fully-featured port of the existing online word game we all know and love. This port comes from Babaroga, who also handled the iOS game. The visual interface is amazingly close to previous versions, though the lack of a full-screen option (that I could find) makes the game appear tinier than necessary. Just like the Windows 8 version, playing with a mouse is slightly less intuitive than touch screens, but still doable.

The options screen looks much more web browser-y, but it allows users to choose between the game’s impressive array of languages. During gameplay, tabs on the right side of the screen toggle between Frenemy display (including Xbox Live friends), Achievements, Other (web) Games, and Notifications (whatever those are).

Achievements

Wordament is incredibly fun for word game aficionados, but the Windows Phone and Windows 8 versions both have a handful of Achievements that will take either pure dedication or some cheating to unlock. Thankfully none of the web game’s Achievements are tied to being the best player in the world or having a dictionary built into your brain. Anybody should be able to unlock them all in 15-30 minutes.

Sort of a three-screen experience

Wordament Web is the first Xbox-enabled game that can be played on multiple platforms via one single version with no porting involved. In fact, it runs on both Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone 8. There’s a catch though: swiping up and down on Microsoft’s touch-screen devices also scrolls the screen up and down, making it difficult to actually play the game. You can’t lock the screen scrolling in place.

On the Surface users can get around that problem by using a mouse to play the game. Windows Phone unfortunately doesn’t support alternate input devices, so don’t expect much success when attempting to play it from your phone.

Good for the gander?

One could probably make an argument that Xbox Live Achievements should be restricted to Microsoft platforms and kept off of the web. Still, I don’t think putting real Achievements in a browser game is such a bad thing.

Most computer users rock Windows, after all. Whereas Windows Phone is an underdog OS and needs all the help it can get to compete with iPhone, Windows rules the computer roost and won’t be losing any competitive edge by letting a few misguided (I kid!) Mac users enjoy a taste of the fun.

One thing’s for sure – Achievement hunters won’t turn away 50 free GamerScore that doesn’t require a new hardware purchase.

Time to play!

Try out Wordament Webhere at Xbox.com.

Thanks to TNTJudbud for the tip!

Wordament is a boggle styled Xbox Windows Phone game where you have to create words from a 4x4 grid of letters. You earn points based on the letters used and compete against thousands of other Wordament players to earn the most points.

Wordament was recently updated to version 2.5 and adds the ability to login with your Facebook account so you can play against your Facebook friends.  You can still log-in with your Windows ID with the Facebook log-in being optional.

Other features of the version 2.5 update include:

• The ability to share your scores on Facebook and Twitter
• Game themes are now independent of your Windows Phone theme
• Puzzle language support increased to cover fifteen languages.

You also have a few under-the-hood tuning to improve overall stability and performance and a slight design change to accomodate the new theme and Facebook login options.

If you haven't tried Wordament, it's a rather addictive word game for your Windows Phone. Wordament is a free app for your Windows Phone 8 and 7.x device and you can find Wordament here in the Windows Phone Store.

Thanks, Pulkit, for the tip!

Wordament is a game of many firsts. It was the first game with Xbox Live on iOS and on the web to offer achievements. It started as an internal project between two Microsoft employees, but was quickly bought by Microsoft once the potential was realized. It hasn’t seen an update on Windows Phone for quite some time, so let’s check out what’s new as of today.

The last update for Wordament came in late June. The big update there was adding the ability to login via Facebook, post scores to Facebook and Twitter, and increased language support. Here’s what’s new in the latest version of Wordament:

• Native Windows Phone 8 version
• New puzzle languages – Norwegian and Turkish
• Xbox Live connection fix
• Android version of Wordament

Yes. The Wordament you’ve been using on Windows Phone has been the Windows Phone 7 version. While it worked fine, if you were on a device like the HTC 8X you would experience letterboxing. Now Wordament has native support Windows Phone 8 devices and resolutions. Hopefully they’ll be ready for a quick update in a few weeks when we see the Lumia 1520 and the various 1080p displays.

There are also two new languages in Wordament. All our friends in Norway and Turkey can join in on the fun in the language they’re most comfortable with. There’s also now support for new puzzles in non-English languages.

And the final piece isn’t exactly Windows Phone related, but does highlight another way Wordament does something first. It appears it’s the first Xbox Live title with Achievements for Android devices. If you’ve got friends or family point them to the Google Play store to try it out. Pretty cool to see everyone get the chance to play Wordament. It’s a ridiculously fun game.

Want to get Wordament on Windows Phone? It’s free and available for both Windows Phone 7.x and 8. Grab it in the Windows Phone Store, use the QR code below, or swipe to the right in our app.

Source: Wordament

Thanks for the tip Chike O!

Microsoft's popular Wordament game has enjoyed success across the board and the game is set to sport a sequel as early as tomorrow – Wordament Snap Attack. If you're not familiar with Wordament, it's a word game putting players against each other in a continuous series of two minute matches to find as many words as possible. Snap Attack will be changing things up without sacrificing on gameplay.

The sequel is set to launch on Windows Phones and Windows 8 from tomorrow, and later this summer for both Android and iOS hardware. Snap Attack will be a Scrabble-type sequel tasking players to utilize seven letters and create as many words as possible during a 2:30 minute session. Provided letter pieces snap onto an on-screen board with a handful of words already present.

Much like the original Wordament, Snap Attack will display words the player could have created at the end of each round, should they happen to miss any. You then have the leaderboard and multiplayer aspects of the title, which make it incredibly addicting to try and beat friends.

Source: Seattle Times; thanks, Mohammed, for the tip!

Wordament Snap Attack has just been released and we’re already addicted. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, this word-building game is available for Windows Phone and Windows tablets or PC’s. Players from around the world compete on the same board, using the same clock, making as many Snaps as possible. Don’t have time to play it yet? Head past the break to watch our hands-on video and gameplay.

The game runs 24 hours a day and everyone plays the same 2 1/2-minute rounds. The goal is to get the highest score among other online players. You score points by building words (also known as Snaps) with the colored movable tiles that connect to the fixed black tiles on the game board.

Every unique Snap is scored, and you earn points by trying to build as many Snaps as possible. You may reuse your tiles to build many Snaps. You will need to move your tiles around often each round if you want to get high scores.

To help you get higher scores, keep a lookout for the bonus 2x and 3x tiles. Having the letter S is also a good way to extend words that will earn you more points. Another tip is to know some of the two-letter words. You don’t lose points with incorrect words, so you can keep trying.

The top right corner displays the amount of time left in a round. Your score and Snap count are at the top left corner. After a round, there’s a recap of the board you just played. It shows every Snap you found as well as the top single and multi-Snaps that were possible. Click on any of the snaps to see how they look on the board. The screen then automatically transitions to display a list of other players that participated in that round with you. You can see your rank compared to others.

Proud of your score? Tap on the percentile at the top left corner, and you can share score via email, Facebook, or Twitter. It looks like this:

I just scored 802 points and ranked 84% in Wordament Snap Attack.  Can you do better? #wordament

You can tap on any player’s name to highlight and follow them as a frenemy. Frenemies are players you want to pay extra attention to during game results or in the leaderboards.

If you’re not currently playing in a round, you can see your overall rank and stats in the main screen. Since Snap Attack is part of Xbox Games, you can also view game achievements. Want to display a flag in the leaderboards? Swipe over to the options and tap Leaderboard flag. If you’re from the US, make sure to scroll all the way down to select your State’s flag.

Snap Attack is a free download from the Windows Phone Store and the Windows Store. Ads are shown at the bottom of the screen during gameplay, but they don’t get in the way. Check out Snap Attack on your device and let us know what you think in the comments!

A few days ago we asked you to nominate your favorite Xbox game on Windows Phone. We had a few hundred suggestions, so we gathered up the most popular into a poll. Now it's your turn to vote for your favorite Xbox game on Windows Phone.

We picked out the top seven games that kept getting nominated. Here they are:

• Age of Empires: Castle Siege [Download]
• Terraria [Download]
• Tentacles: Enter the Mind [Download]
• Halo: Spartan Assault [Download]
• Wordament [Download]
• Skulls of the Shogun [Download]
• Hungry Shark Evolution [Download]

Vote for your favorite Xbox game!

We'll announce the community favorite later this week!

Not seeing the poll? That's probably because you're reading this in our app. Hit up the article in Internet Explorer (or your browser of choice) to see and participate in the poll.

The popular word game Wordament went to full Xbox LIVE status this week and in our previous story on the brain straining game we mentioned how Microsoft would be promoting the app with a Wordament Tournament.

Happening right now at the Bellevue, WA Microsoft store, there's quite a crowd there evidently getting into the game. With food, giveaways and prizes (no human sacrifices though), it looks to be a fun time and a great celebration for a unique Windows Phone experience.

If you're there, send us some more pics and we'll throw 'em in this post. Also leave some comments based on what you've experienced . Pick up the free game here in the Marketplace, if you haven't already.

Update:"Here is a picture of WicketEwok in the left and DiscoPigeon on the right, two of the top players going head to head."  Thanks, Dustin S., for the photos!

What's the best word puzzlers on Windows Phone? We rank the best of the best in our new guide!

Keeping the "Best apps for your Windows Phone" series going, today we turn our attention to the best word games available at the Windows Phone Marketplace. We've looked at the best free apps, photography apps, must have games, weather apps and must have apps.  Now we take a gander at the games that test your spelling abilities as well as your powers of observation and speed.

Word games are a unique category in that they are great ways to pass long and short bits of time. Plus you might learn something along the way. We've compiled a short list of the Windows Phone word games we think top the charts. As with any of our "best of" lists, there might be one or two titles we overlooked. If so, feel free to speak up in the comments.

WPCentral's list of the best word games for your Windows Phone

Wordament (free): Wordament is an Xbox Live title started out as a humble independent game that was very impressive from the get go. Add Xbox Live integration and this boggle-styled game advances to a new level of gaming.

You are presented with a 4x4 grid of letters that you drag your fingers across, connecting adjacent letters to create words. You have two minutes to create as many three or more lettered words and you're competing against hundreds, if not thousands of players world wide.

Every game board has over one hundred possible words and after each round, all the word possibilities are revealed. If you like word games, Wordament is a must have app for your Windows Phone. If you don't like word games, Wordament might change your mind.

Wordament is a free Xbox Live app for your Windows Phone and you can find Wordament here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Trine's Hangman (Free/$.99): Simple way to describe Trine's Hangman is that it is an entertaining, highly addictive game for your Windows Phone. You compete on a World Wide leader board for ranking by solving hangman puzzles for score. You earn bonus points for consecutive puzzles solved.

Along with the online competition, you have a local, pass and play, two player version. Add 22 background pictures, five ringtones and a Live Tile that will take you straight to your gaming screen, Trine's Hangman leaves a fantastic impression. Trine's joins Wordament as a must have game for your Windows Phone.

Oh...one really nice feature with Trine's Hangman is that you can save your game progress on Trine's server so if you switch Windows Phones you won't lose your progress.

There are two versions are available for Trine's Hangman. You have Trine's Hangman (free) which is ad-supported and can be found here. If you don't want ad banners, there is Trine's Hangman Pro ($.99) that you can find here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Words by Post (Free/$2.99): We could have easily chosen Spell It or Alpha Jax (both quality games) for our scrabble-type game but we choose Words by Post because of its a cross platform feature. The game is available for your Windows Phone as well as the iPhone and Android platform which opens up the possibilities for more gaming opponents.

Words by Post is a turn based game of scrabble. Along with playing online, you can challenge a friend to a pass and play game. Words by Post also includes a chat feature and you can choose your opponent or let the game find a random opponent who matches your skill level.

You have two versions of Words by Post available at the Windows Phone Marketplace. A free ad supported version of Words by Post can be found here and a $2.99 ad-free version that you can find here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Word Search (Free): We've all played word search puzzles either from the dime store puzzle books or the Sunday Paper. The Windows Phone game Word Search brings ninety different categories of puzzles with three difficulty levels.

Your job is simple, find all the hidden words within the field of letters. Word Search has an auto-save feature should you need to leave the game before finding all the words. You then can pick up where you left off when you get a chance to play again.

Word Search is a free app for your Windows Phone that you can grab here at the Marketplace.

Word Mints (free): Much like Wordament, Word Mints has you trying to find words out of a grouping of random letters. Instead of a 4x4 grid, Word Mints presents you with six letters. Just tap on the letters to build the word and then the enter button.

The more letters you use, the more points. Word Mints is played in two and a half minute rounds against other players online to see who can score the most points. Word Mints has Facebook integration where you can build your profile, challenge friends and keep track of other players through Facebook.

Word Mints is a free, ad support game for your Windows Phone that you can grab here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.

So there you have it. While it may be a short list, these are the word games that stood out to us.

Yes, we probably missed one or two and this is where you guys and gals come into play. If you see something missing, it's not that we don't think the game is good we just have to narrow it down a little or we'd be here all day.

So if you see something that's missing or disagree with one of our choices, speak up in the comments.

Windows Phone has long been host to a number of quality word games, but they were all indie titles rather than Xbox Live ones. In fact, all the good indie word games even boasted multiplayer features, something long and inexplicably missing from mobile Xbox Live games. Of those indie standouts, one reigned supreme: Wordament, from a developer called You vs. the Internet. As it turns out, You vs. the Internet is a side project of a couple of Microsoft employees. Once Microsoft saw how well Wordament turned out, they made the wise decision to publish the game and bring elevate it to Xbox Live status. Wordament truly deserves all the visibility it can get, because it happens to be one of the finest and most addictive games on the platform.

One versus many

First off, Wordament is a free, ad-supported game. Unlike previous free Xbox Live games, this one actually requires an internet connection (Wi-Fi or cellular) to play. Why? Well, Microsoft doesn’t make money if you don’t see ads. But more importantly, Wordament is built around a massively multiplayer component and live-scheduled games. Xbox 360 owners who experienced the now-defunct 1 vs. 100 game a few years ago should be familiar with Wordament’s multiplayer setup. Both games broadcast specific challenges to all players simultaneously; each person’s performance is then ranked leaderboard-style. Wordament differs from 1 vs. 100 in one major way: games take place all day, every day. You can play as much as you want – hop in, take on a few rounds, and quit when you’re ready.

Mind-boggling

Wordament plays a lot like an MMO version of Boggle.  Each round, the game presents a four by four grid of 16 letters. Players then madly scramble to find as many words as possible by touching and connecting sequentially adjacent letters. In other words, each letter in any given word must be adjacent (touching) the letter that came before it, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Naturally, you can only ‘find’ each word once per round – try to spell the same word out again and the letters turn yellow. Variations on a word: singular and plural, present tense and past tense, etc. count as separate words though. Spell a word that isn’t in the game’s dictionary (proper nouns and abbreviations are prohibited) and the letters turn red. Guess wrongly too many times in a row and you’ll lose the ability to input words for a brief time, Butterfingers.

Wordament differs from Boggle in many ways beyond the number of simultaneous players. For one thing, rounds last only two minutes instead of three. More significantly, both games have different scoring systems. Boggle simply awards points by the number of letters in each word, regardless of the actual letters. Wordament uses a Scrabble-style system in which each letter has a point value based on its rarity. It adds the value of each letter to assign the word’s final point value. Words with four or five letters get a 1.5x bonus, six or seven letters 2.0x, and 8+ letters 3.0x.

Special rounds

Special rounds affect scoring as well. Every few games, a Diagram or Themed puzzle pops up, signified by a sound effect at the start of the round. Digram tiles have two letters instead of one, such as –er or –at. Words spelled with these tiles get an extra scoring bonus. The number of possible digram words remaining is displayed at the top of the screen, creating an optional objective besides just hunting for points. Find them all (never easy) and you’ll get an Achievement. Themed puzzles look identical to normal ones, but offer scoring bonuses for finding words based on a specific theme like fairy tales or sports words. Locating every word in a themed set unlocks its own Achievement, too.

Rosetta stone

In case special rounds didn’t add enough variety already, Wordament even features alternate languages to play with. As of this writing, the in-game dictionary can be switched to Spanish or Dutch (both in beta form), with more languages on the way. People who speak English as a second language will benefit the most when their native languages are offered, but any multilingual person should enjoy playing in his or her own second language.

Between rounds

45 seconds elapse between teach two minute game. This down time has two distinct phases highlighting the results of the previous round. For the first half, you can browse some personal stats like number of words found and average word length. At the bottom, two columns list of the words you found, as well as high-scoring words you didn’t find. Tapping any of these words will demonstrate how it can be located on the letter grid.

After a few seconds, the results screen shifts to the leaderboard for the last round. At the top, your position number is displayed as a fraction, with the denominator representing the total number of players for that game. Below that, the leaderboard is divided into up to three categories: Frenemies, Top players, and Players near your rank. The latter two are self-explanatory and show about 15 GamerTags a piece.

The Frenemies feature greatly enriches Wordament’s competitive aspect by making it more personal. I may not care a lot about how I compare to a sea of faceless names, but I do care about beating my friends! Any Xbox Live friends that played during the same round as you will automatically show up on the Frenemies list, making it easy to see how you stacked up. You can also tap on names from anywhere on the Leaderboard to make someone your Frenemy.

Improving the downtime

Wordament does a fair job of keeping players interested during the downtime of the results screens, but it still has room for improvement. For one, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to switch back and forth between the first results screen and the leaderboard. Sometimes I might be more interested in studying the word lists than who played during a round. In fact, for some people the leaderboard phase may seem like enforced boredom.

Second, the multiplayer nature of the game is somewhat undermined by the complete inability to communicate with other players. Obviously messages from random players would be obtrusive, but I wish we could message our friends. Sure, the time between rounds is brief, but at least give us the option.

Finally, the timer that counts down to the start of the next round on the leaderboard page is small and easy to miss while browsing GamerTags. As a result, I often find myself thrust into a match slightly unprepared. The developers should really implement a countdown sound effect (like the one that plays at the end of a round) to the results screen as well.

Achievements

As much as I love Wordament, I’m not crazy about its Achievements. Four or five of them will be forever out of reach of most players: Digram master, Theme titan, Win the hour, World champ, and You’re on top of the world. Finding all the digrams and theme words is tough - if only we could specifically choose to play special rounds... The other three problem Achievements are Leaderboard related and require an extreme level of skill at minimum. World champ in particular has a bunch of needless extra requirements (as detailed here) that aren't even listed in the Achievement description - not cool. All told, I fear that only a handful of players will get the top spots and hold onto them, basically preventing other people from attaining those Achievements.

Overall Impression

Wordament is simply an exceptional game. You vs. the Internet has built on the foundation of a classic word game and reached new heights with their multiplayer component, scoring system, and special rounds. Not only is it super hard to put Wordament down once started, but we don’t even have to pay for it, either. This is truly Windows Phone’s first killer app, with the potential to catch on just as much as Draw Something or Words with Friends. Microsoft already plans to bring Wordament to Windows 8, where it will undoubtedly find huge success. This in turn could lead to Wordament becoming a selling point for Windows Phone – but only if it stays exclusive to Microsoft platforms.

Get Wordamenthere on the Marketplace.