Games Universal Blog

This website, provides you with the latest, best and most fun games you can find on the universal platform. We showcase free games as well as paid ones, so everyone should be able to find something fun.

[gamesuniversal]

Blitz Brigade | More Like Aim-Bot Brigade

Adam Keays | 2016-19-2

I'm a man with few loves in this world. Doritos chips, Windows, very low idle temps, and first person shooters. When I was on the search for a good one for mobile that also happens to be on PC so I can pick right back up where I left off, my search led me to Blitz Brigade. Now, this game takes place in a cartoony, Team Fortress 2 style world where you need to pick a name so you can sta- oh nope, hold on it's crashed. Alright now you need to pick your name. Taken. Taken. Error 1-success. Error 1-success. Error 1-success.

THERE it is, now you're on the home screen; and oh nope it crashed again. Alright so you tap play.. Three times too many.. Great! Searching for server and sitting in this loading screen. Now pick the empty side and they're both empty, tap through TWO MORE MENU'S, then you're in the ga — OH! And you notice something else as well. The game, even in the menus is very choppy.

"Disconnected from server due to bad connection – 310000000"

You know what this means? This means go try it on the desktop. Great so you sit down in your walmart chair that you got on sale because it was on sale and how could you not get something that was on sale?  

You go to the store, download all 600 megabytes of the game, get in and find that there's more Error 1-success in this game than there is gameplay. But there's a fix for the Error 1-success —

Disconnect from your Wi-Fi network and reconnect.

So you get into your menus and repeat the whole process of getting into the game, but when you get to the part where you select your character, it actually works this time. Maybe. If it does, great. Then you're in the game but, it feels weird. It looks; weird. It's still got the touch-screen controls, regardless if you have selected keyboard or not, strafing breaks aiming, aiming breaks strafing; can't remap controls, you can't look up without the FPS dropping, and the FPS is an issue in itself! My laptop is pretty powerful, handling GTA, Crysis 3, Far Cry 4, and Minesweeper just fine at 60 Fps or right near it. This game runs at 20 FPS, on the Nvidia GPU, the Intel GPU, my Phone, maybe if I harnessed the power of my sun, then it would run better? Changing the only video setting to ‘Performance’ from ‘optimal’ only seems to give a few FPS increase.

The guns run out of ammo too fast and there's an auto lock on that DOESN'T EVEN WORK. The aiming is abysmal, on Mobile and even on PC. You have people from mobile who can't aim because they can't aim and move the camera or the character and shoot all at the same time. PC players end up dominating them. And there's nothing you can do about it!

Good.

You’re probably thinking about the game modes, right? Well, there’s: Quickplay, Domination, Death Match and Flag Capture. Which are exactly like you’d expect, but the rounds are shorter, it’ll disconnect you LONG before you even get to finish, others will do nothing and it even crashed on me trying to load into “Domination” several times. 

Now, to sum it up, don't play this. Don't go to the page. Just forget about it because Gameloft doesn't care about it, and neither should you. The game itself can't run without crashing every few minutes, or disconnecting, or if you're on mobile, going to a white screen with the navigation buttons, forcing you to restart.

The game is available for free with in app purchases in the Windows Mobile Store and Windows Store (if you are brave enough to want to download it).

[gamesuniversal]

Horror Fists For Band, But Why?

Adam Keays | 2016-02-15

Every once in a while, a game comes out that is special in its own way entirely. Horror Fists is one of those games. It requires a Band 1 or Band 2 to play or you won’t get very far. The point of the game is to hold your phone out in front of you, jabbing at the air between the two of you with the fist that the band is on like an old woman striking at a man much larger than her because he won’t move out of the way.

You don’t need to strike hard, but fast. You need to count the amount of monsters and deliver that amount of strikes before they reach the middle of the screen. I currently sit at #2 on the online leaderboard because I played in my car with my sister asking “what are you doing” every 4 seconds.

The game tracks really well after closing it and reopening it, not the first time after installing. The quicker you can count and start punching, the better chance you’ll have that it’ll count them all. After 10 it goes to double points and the monsters get slightly more difficult to count because the level backdrop changes. It runs just fine on the 640 XL and performs well, no vertical tearing or frame drop, switching out of the app and back into it has a split second of the title screen as it resumes, then right back into the game. Yes, there is a settings page, but it’s the same kind of settings page that a blank app would have with only 2 switches, one normal to hard switch, and one sensitivity switch. Even after you turn the sensitivity to high, it still only tracks 1/3 of your hits because, why would it? It’s a proof of concept, a proof of concept; that games for the band are possible. Maybe in the future, a baseball game? (please!) Or maybe a boxing game, or a football throwing game? This has a lot of potential and I’m very excited for it.

It is the first game for the Band, and it’s still really good. Right now, it might seem lacking, but that’s okay. Sure there’s some things I’d like, such as a launcher tile on the Band, or for the app to track better, but how it stands now it’s still really nice and I even gave it 4 stars in the store with feedback.

If you have a Band 1 or 2, and $0.99 to spare, grab this game in the Windows Store. It’s not going to train you to be the next Rocky Balboa, but it’ll be fun while you think that it will.

[gamesuniversal]

Flying tower? Tower in the sky review

Denniz Bednarc | 2016-02-09

The iOS and Android RPG game, has finally become available on our beloved Windows Platform! What should I begin with? Many of you may not know about the game, and that’s a shame. As far as I’ve come in the game in the little time I had, it was great.

I’ve always been easy to entertain in terms of the RPG genre, but this blew my mind. This South Park-looking little game, actually is a premium title. I didn’t expect to get so much gameplay from a mobile game.

What is the game about? Flying towers? The answer is, most probably no. This is more of a tactical RPG. The game takes you into a pretty 2D village where you start off. There’s a lot of explosions, and boom: You’re fighting with someone. This “someone” are actually small monsters that came from…. Wait, where are they from? I may have skipped too much of the dialog to know that, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the game, so if you’re an impatient or stressed player that wants something new, then this is definitely it.

The idea is simple: You start off with three characters - A Mage, a Knight and an Archer. Every one of them has a position. You can freely move them around, and you should if you want to win the fight. The monsters come from the right and try to attack you. When they finally reach your characters they start to deal damage. When your HP reaches zero, that character dies (duh?), and cannot be used in that specific battle any more.

The three classes you start off with can be put into two categories: Ranged, and Melee. The Knight is a melee character, and the Mage and Archer are ranged. They both deal a little weaker damage but if used correctly, they can together prevent you from even needing to use a heavier class.

Alright. But where are the downsides? Well, it’s a pretty solid game but everything has it’s cons. The dialogs, are a little… Well… boring, and the field is very short, so it can be a little too hard at times.

The game overall is great, and I really do recommend it to people who enjoy immersive and simple games. However, as simple as it is, the game can get pretty complex later on.

The game is compatible with both Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10 Mobile, and Windows 10 PC, so go get “Tower in the sky” for $1.99 on the Microsoft Store!

[gamesuniversal]

T.H.I.S. Is it. T.H.I.S game short review

Satyendra Nair | 2016-02-08

Developers MadPerception have just released their first game, ’T.H.I.S.’ — a puzzle with a slight resemblance to Ultraflow. The objective of the game is simple —To drag, release and get the ball past various obstacles, to the final hole. While that sounds easy enough, the levels get nastier to beat as you progress through the game.

Albeit simple, the developers have paid good attention to detail, with the ‘doge’ ball even leaving behind the classic 'doge’ caption trails. Much detail, such wow. The sound effects of the game is slightly on the annoying side, as an apt in-game caption suggests, “Turn off the SFX if you are prone to seizures”. T.H.I.S. presently only features 25 levels, with more promised to be added soon. Also, there are six different balls and 8 themes that the player can currently choose from, with more coming in future updates.

The game is great to kill time with and can get you addicted to it pretty quick. It is lightweight and runs without any hiccups on Lumia 640XL. It is completely free with no in-app purchases.

Find the game in the store here.

[gamesuniversal]

Tap - Defeat - Repeat. Tap Orcs Review.

Satyendra Nair | 2016-02-07

If you like tapping the life out of your phone (and possibly enemies), you are bound to like Tap Orcs. You start off as a measly little Hobbit King who steps forward to save his kingdom from an orc infestation; and then, with other heroes you start off on your quest of endless tapping.

Tapping, tapping and more tapping until your fingers start hurting.  

The game has over thirty different enemies you face (and tap the life out of), and six heroes that you can summon, who help you fight the orcs. It can be played by either tapping away lazily, or going god mode with you fingers and up and over 300 taps a minute. After each ten 'minions' you defeat, out comes a Boss to be defeated with yet another tap-frenzy. After each boss, you are taken to another location and off you go again, Tap – Defeat – Repeat.

What's more, our hero can also summon pets to help him out on his quest! The character and other heroes can be upgraded, and more powers and abilities can be unlocked with the Insane amounts of loot that you collect as you kill orcs and out of chests that tiny hovering fairies drop around once in a while. Alternatively, you could buy gems and coins via in-app-purchases. Daily challenges, where you have to defeat one boss and are awarded loot for doing the same are also offered along with a free daily spin.

The concept of the game is very interesting in itself – an endless tapping RPG with a steady growth of characters and difficulty level. Whether you're looking for something to kill short bits of time with, or like games that make you want to throw your phone out of the window, it will not disappoint you. The graphics are simplistic enough and it runs without any hiccups on my 640XL.  

This game is free and available on Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile; so head over to the store and give it a shot!  

[gamesuniversal]

Traffic Rider speeding its way up the long list of endless-racers.

Melvin Tham | 2016-02-07

I've always been a fan of endless-racers. I was glued to Temple Run when it first came out for iOS, and now and then I find myself going back to the game even in 2016. There are a lot of endless-racers that came after, but nothing beats the original for me. Not even Temple Run's sequels and spin-offs. The other games usually have clunky controls and typical mechanics, so it's definitely refreshing when I gave Traffic Rider a shot.

Traffic Rider puts you into a first-person view of a motorcyclist. You get to upgrade your ride, and there are more than 20 bikes to choose from. There are 4 different game modes, career which is mission based, endless for you to grind for that high score, time trial to race against time, and free ride (which has a required level to unlock) which I assume it's just for you to ride without any objectives.

It's almost like Temple Run all over again. It has a simple game play. You just have to tilt your device left or right to steer your bike and there are on-screen controls for the gas and brake. You get extra score for speeding, overtaking(near missing) other vehicles, and going against traffic, or even doing wheelies. As you progress, the number of vehicles on the road increases forcing you to weave through the traffic.

The game features real sounds recorded from real bikes, beautiful and detailed graphics which runs really smooth on my Lumia 950 and decent on the Lumia 640XL. It's nice to see that the developers have included a graphics options in the settings for you to choose between high, medium, and low. The experience is remarkable and thrilling for such simple game play and mechanics.

Traffic Rider is a free game with ads optional in-app purchases for in-game currencies. I do wish that there is a way to remove ads, as I don't mind paying a few dollars for a game of such quality. It has been my go-to game for the past few days.

All in all, Traffic Rider is a must-have if you're a fan of the genre or even if you just want to have a game that is able to help you kill some time.

The game is currently only available on mobile and you can get it from the Microsoft Store.

[gamesuniversal]

Wait, is that Monument Valley? EVO Explores Review

Alexander Black | 2016-02-05

A puzzle game by Stampede Games

EVO Explores is, to say the least, an interesting game. Not because it’s concept is any bit original; it’s quite the opposite, but rather because of the spin it puts on the game it tries to emulate.

From first glance, you should immediately recognize EVO’s shameless resemblance to Monument Valley. Shameless, indeed, so far that the developers themselves admit it

“was inspired by a beautiful game Monument Valley. We are big fans of the original game but we love EVO Explores even more!”

Therefore, if you’ve played Monument Valley before, you’ve played EVO Explores. You lead your character (a very talkative alien named EVO, rather than the silent Princess Ida) through various three-dimensional puzzles that will question your perception of space. Most all of the mechanics function similarly, but you will find as you progress the developers have added their own spice to the gameplay.

For starters, the level system works differently in EVO Explores. In Monument Valley, the levels are selected in a separate menu, whereas in EVO, the menu is integrated into the game, making for a fluid, unbroken experience as you progress through the game.

I don’t want to spoil any of the puzzles, so I won’t go into detail on the bevy of new, mind-boggling mechanics. It suffices to say you will be very pleased with how this game works if you enjoyed Monument Valley.

Performance on my Microsoft Lumia 640 XL was very good. It performed at least as well as Monument Valley, so if your device can run that, you’re set.

Best yet, is that this game is a Universal app, unlike Monument Valley, which currently is only on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. If you loved Monument Valley and are looking for more, or just want to try out a new mind-bending game, then EVO Explores is the one for you.

Pick up EVO Explores at the Microsoft Store

[gamesuniversal]

One More Line, much more fun

Denniz Bednarc | 2016-01-31

A classic in my opinion. As far as I remember, the first game I ever played on a Windows Phone, aside from Asphalt 8 which I got to know, during my die-hard Android fanboism period. I still, after those years, play it. It’s the only game ever, that I didn’t stop playing in favor of another game. Why is that? Well, most games tend to get boring after some gameplay, but this one managed to keep me entertained.

Usually the only reason I play games like this, and the former reviewed Circular Force, is because I compete with my friends. This one however, isn’t the case, as almost none of my friends play it. I still enjoy the game, and try to beat my own highscore. The game is beautiful with it’s minimal graphics, and because of it’s two dimensional nature, it runs buttery smooth even on the oldest devices.

The principle is simple. Tap and hold to swing, release to lose. This game is also one of the frustrating types, but with the difference that this one is easier. That is why I like it so much. It almost feels like I’m Leveling up when I find out new tricks on progressing through the game. For example, that I don’t really have to do a full circle around a dot, but half is enough. That really sped up the game for me. As this one is easier, you don’t get that frustrated while losing, that makes you like the game, instead of hating it at the end. *Cough, Cough... Flappy Bird, Cough Cough...**

As far as support goes, It supports all Windows Phone versions up to 8.1, and Windows 10 Mobile. Unfortunately, this app is a silverlight one, so It’s not universal, therefore cannot be played on a computer which I wold like to, during class. (Don’t judge. My Spanish teacher is really boring).

Update: It’s universal and works on PC.

To sum this up, It wont hurt to try the game, as It’s free, and I have yet to see somebody that disliked this game. Unfortunately, this game is missing some features compared to the versions of our world dominating Mobile OSes, Android and iOS, but that hasn’t hindered me from enjoying this amazing game!

Head over to the Microsoft Store and give it a shot!

[gamesuniversal]

You spin my head right round... Circular Force review

Denniz Bednarc | 2016-01-30

A free, highly addictive game, for killing time. Just as other games of it's kind, It's simple, seems easy, but is actually an app made by Satan himself, to frustrate you to death. Tap once, the square reacts to gravity. Hold down, and you lost.

The game is made out of one screen, with some kind of planet, with it's gravity field around it, some "aliens" like I call it, and a spaceship (?). That is how I imagined the game. The point is to collect the blue dots, and to do so, you have to hold down on the screen, and release before you hit the ground. Seems easy? Sure. It's super easy. Like really. Very easy... Mhmm...

So what happens when you finally get the dot? Go catch another. Just like Flappy Bird, this game never ends. You can't win this game. All you are rewarded with at the end is frustration. So why do we keep on downloading these kind of games, and play them? Good question I am asking myself since 2012. I still don't have an answer.

If you're like me, and have a lot of more complex games on your phone, that usually take a lot of time to complete stages on, like Overkill or Asphalt, but you still want to kill time, when you're waiting for the buss for example, then this game is for you. If you start up a race on Asphalt and the buss comes in the middle of it, you lock the screen and you're greeted with a "Resuming..." screen that takes you to the main menu of the game. How fun is that? This kind of game, is exactly what we want in these situations. I highly recommend it, and If you don't like it, you can simply uninstall it.

The game is available on Windows Phone and on Windows 10 Mobile from the Microsoft Store