Blackjack for Kindle (free) and other recently released Kindle games

HERE'S THE LATEST FREE KINDLE GAME

I was so caught up in the Books in Browsers announcements yesterday, I missed the alert from Golf11, who usually sees these things earlier than most.  Blackjack!  Of course, the display won't be in color but the Kindle-book covers are shown in color too.  This is playable on all Kindle 2, 3, and DX models.  As far as I know, Kindle  (UK: K3) games are not yet available outside the U.S., but the plan is that they will be eventually.  Here's Amazon's description:

' The Kindle version features all of the most common aspects of the game including splits, double down, surrender and insurance, as well as multiple options for customization that allow you to play the style of Blackjack that you want to play.  For example, you can configure the game to match specific structures like 'Dealer must hit soft 17' - a common rule variation in many Las Vegas casinos.

The built-in advice feature, which you can turn on and off at any time, applies basic strategy and will recommend the best course of action to maximize your chances of winning. '

I try not to think about Kindle games lately (they've been releasing quite a few) because I became a bit addicted to the first two games (Every Word and Shuffled Row) and wasn't reading anymore, so I went cold turkey after reporting on Electronic Arts's Scrabble game.

Since then, Amazon has released other games, the most recent one being Mahjong Solitaire

This is also available for all Kindle 2, DX and Kindle 3 models.  Amazon's statements about shipping outside the U.S. eventually are quoted in the linked "Every Word" page above.

  The product page for Mahjong Solitaire shows it is "sold by Mobigloo" and that "This price [$3.99] was set by the publisher."

  Amazon's description:

' In Mahjong Solitaire, you match pairs of identical tiles in order to remove them from the board. Only free tiles can be matched. Tiles are considered free if they do not have other tiles to either the left or right of them, or on top of them. The objective of the game is to clear all the tiles from the board. The game ends when all tiles have been removed or when there are no more free tiles left to match.

Mahjong Solitaire tracks the number of pairs of free tiles available to be matched for you. In addition, the game allows for unlimited undos, and contains a Hint feature that will give you suggestions for your next move, as well a Shuffle feature that will rearrange the tiles when you get stuck.

Mahjong Solitaire provides 10 different game board layouts to choose from. The game maintains game statistics that track your best time for each layout finished. '

On December 3, two other games were released.
  These are actually two versions of the popular word scramble game Jumble for Kindle: Jumble 10 which contains 10 Jumble puzzles ($.99), and Jumble 50 which contains 50 Jumble puzzles ($3.99).

You can read about how these work, at the linked pages.  Amazon says that Jumble "is one of the longest continuously running word games in the world. More than 60 million people in over 600 newspapers, in books and magazines, on dozens of websites and on mobile apps enjoy Jumble every day. Try out Jumble on Kindle today and find out why."

I must admit I've never heard of it.  Pricing above can be changed at anytime, and these are shown just to give you an idea.  The Kindle forums have positive word on most of these.


ALSO relatively new: Hangman for Kids and EA Sudoku.
  You'll see various other Kindle games recommended too on those pages.  While the Kindle Apps store is not "launched" yet, it seems to be churning out games and there are customer ratings for them.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Amazon releases 3 more word games - one enhanced and still free

For those who don't follow Amazon's Daily Kindle Post,  Paul Biba does, and I read his tweet today on the new releases.

Here is Amazon's info for those who want to put more text games on their Kindles.

Amazon released 3 more word games on Oct. 14, the first one free.

MINE SWEEEPER - For Kindle Devices
The newly reworked Mine Sweeper for Kindle, at $0.00.

"Mine Sweeper is a free Kindle game where you have to clear a minefield without detonating a mine."

"The objective of Mine Sweeper is to find all of the mines that are hidden on the game grid. When you uncover a location on the grid, the number of mines adjacent to that location is revealed. The game ends when you have successfully identified all the mines and uncovered all the unoccupied locations - or, when you inadvertently uncover a location that contains a mine. The clock is ticking, so challenge yourself to go faster and faster with each game."

The new Kindle version of Mine Sweeper "contains 3 different grid sizes for various levels of difficulty and thousands of different puzzles ... If you are new to Mine Sweeper, turning on 'Tips' will provide helpful hints to get you started."

  There are some early customer reviews with tips on playing this.

  . Helen Gaimari writes:
"This is SOOO much better than Kindle's built-in Mine Sweeper game (which you can access by pressing ALT+Shift+M)! The graphics are really good on an e-ink screen.  Unlike the Kindle's built-in Mine Sweeper, this version keeps track of your high-scores as well as your play-time. You can choose between easy, normal, and hard mode. The harder the mode, the larger the board. You can set this app to give you tips, and it has several extra features that aren't present in the Kindle's built-in Mine Sweeper.

  . Montgomery Scott, a MineSweeper aficionado, says that he was skeptical about its playability
but writes "I can assure you that the game is not only playable, but quite enjoyable" and gives a lot of tips.

EA SOLITAIRE
EA Solitaire - (12 Card Games to Play on Kindle)
by Electronic Arts Inc.. EA has set the price at $3.99

EA Solitaire contains 12 different modes of play--the Klondike game and 11 other variants: Pyramid, Yukon,
Golf, Freecell, Wasp, Peaks, Canfield, Spiderette, Eliminator, Easthaven, and Baker's Dozen.
The game is for both experts and novices alike.

"This version of Solitaire comes with handy features such as a "Tutorial Mode" that will get you started on the different game play variants, optional in-game "Tips" as well as an "Auto-Move" feature that will help you out when you're stuck and don't know what to do next.  For the Klondike game, there is even a "Vegas" mode to track your winnings in (virtual) dollars."

There's only one review so far.

TRIPLE TOWN FOR KINDLE DEVICES
Triple Town -(a Puzzle Strategy Game for Kindle)
by Spry Fox, who has set the price at $2.99

This is a new puzzle, strategy game "exclusively developed for, and available only on Kindle.
  The objective is to try to grow the greatest possible city. You build your city by matching three or more game-pieces: combine three grasses to make a flower, three flowers to make a bush, three bushes to make a tree...until you've filled the board with houses, cathedrals and castles. Along the way, you'll have to outwit evil barbarians and wizards who will try to block your progress. "

  It can be can be played for minutes or hours at a time.
  "You'll have to think several turns ahead if you want to avoid inevitable gridlock as unfinished buildings, barbarians and wizards start to pile up.  And sometimes, if you're lucky, you'll be helped along by a magical crystal (which combines with anything) or a powerful bomb (which wipes nuisances off the board). But luck won't save you forever!"

One review so far on this also.

They're all available for download now though Amazon has not mentioned whether these are available outside the U.S.
Update - jwenting from the Netherlands has added the following comment:
  "Listed as 'not available' outside the US, not even the dreaded 'not available in your location'"...

However, Kindle Support has posted in the Amazon Kindle Community forum that they expect all apps to be international eventually.  I suppose it has to do with the complexities of digital rights and agreed pricing (though I don't know).


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Free word games: Zork for Kindle, Parchment: The Interactive Fiction Archive

ZORK FOR KINDLE
Bill Ray, at TheRegister (UK) reported today that "Kindle users get Zorked out" and says it's "Better than a bonkbuster."  He discovered that "Kindle users can now lose themselves in the worlds of Zork I, II & III..."

 Yes, for free too, in that Kindle 2's, DX's and Kindle 3's  (UK: K3) can use the 'Experimental' web browser to go to kindlequest.com and play the "minimalist version aimed specifically at Kindle users."  (I imagine that Amazon will be happier if you can use the WiFi capability with this.)  I tried it with the Kindle 1, but that model can't handle the interactivity aspect since it handles only choices from rows of words instead of actual words.

Ray adds that "Zork was one of the first text-based adventures, spawning a legacy that led to generations of gamers screaming 'pick up the bloody thing' while trying to guess the exact phrase required to complete the desired action...."

DownloadSquad's Erez Zukerman headlines his report "Zork for Kindle makes e-paper a next-gen gaming platform"  In the picture at the top, from their site, you can see they've just used the Kindle's web browser to go to kindlequest.com.

To get there:

Turn your wireless On - using the Menu's topmost option

At the Kindle Home screen, you can just start typing "kindlequest.com" -- the Searchbox will come up at the bottom to hold these words, and then you just move the 5-way button to the right until you get to the "go to" option.  Click on that to be taken right to the word game.

You may or may not see the following:

web

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'Welcome to KindleQuest.com! To jump in to a quick game at any
time, press 'Enter'.

Type 'help' to get some basic system commands and advice.
Existing users can log in by typing 'login '.

Zuckerman cautions that you'll often have to press the Enter key twice and that the screen blanked out at least once while while he was playing and it was resolved once he hit the Enter key again, but it was of course confusing.

Technology Punch says that according to Wikipedia, "'Zork was one of the first interactive fiction computer games and an early descendant of Colossal Cave Adventure...'" and adds that "Zork on Amazon Kindle and other e-Reader devices is condidered as the reinvention of three decades old game."

PARCHMENT -- and THE INTERACTIVE FICTION ARCHIVE.
At MobileRead Forums, Krystian Galaj writes:
"I heard this works on Kindle: http://parchment.toolness.com/ "

UPDATE 10/11/10 - The Parchment page and its interactive fiction games works only for Kindle 3.  The page uses javascript that the Kindle 2 and Kindle DXG doesn't recognize.
  Added info for Kindle 3 users. Type 'intro' when there to get info on the types of commands that are normally recognized in these interactive games (would apply to the Zork game too).

To get to the Parchment website:

Turn your wireless On - using the Menu's topmost option

At the Kindle Home screen, you can just start typing "parchment.toolness.com" -- the Searchbox will come up at the bottom to hold these words, and then you just move the 5-way button to the right until you get to the "go to" option.  Click on that to be taken right to the many word games.

When you get there, you'll see:
' Parchment is a web-based Z-machine interpreter by Atul Varma. It is powered by Tom Thurman's Gnusto engine.

Below is a list of z-code based interactive fiction titles made available by The Interactive Fiction Archive. You can click on an entry to start playing it. '

There are a ton of these to try.  I haven't tried any of them - am just reporting they're available and hoping they'll prove fun for some of you.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.