In the spirit of Pac-Man, MaSta Software is offering the Windows Phone 7 game Prof. Stone over at the Marketplace. The Windows Phone game has you playing the role of Professor Stone who has to work his way through a multitude of mazes, collecting diamonds along the way.
While Pac-Man had cute little ghosts such as Blinky, Pinky and Inky that chased you about the screen, Professor Stone has various monsters (they appear to be an alien, wild boar, and mutant chicken) that chase you down. To help combat the monster, torches are scattered about the maze that will fend off the monsters and make them vulnerable to attack (you simply walk over them and they go running away).
Continued after the break...
Movement is accomplished one of four ways: Tap and Swipe - you tap or swipe the screen in the direction you want Prof. Stone to go. Tilt - you tilt your phone in the direction you want Prof. Stone to go. Joystick - a virtual joystick will appear to guide Prof. Stone with. D-Pad - directional arrows appear at the bottom of the screen that you guide Prof. Stone with.
The "tap/swipe" and "tilt" methods are the more difficult to control. While the "joystick" and "d-pad" methods have better control over movement, these two methods shrink your game view. If you prefer the larger game view, go with the "tap/swipe" method and be patient.
Along with the rows of diamonds Prof. Stone is to collect, bonus jewels will appear from time to time. There is an online leaderboard available with the pay version where you can share your scores with other players. The game also includes a game editor where you can edit or create your own mazes.
With more than 30 levels, if you like Pac-man styled games, Prof. Stone is worth checking out. Graphics were decent, the game ran smoothly. For those who aren't crazy about this style of game, it does have an entertaining quality but not much staying power. The weakness of the game comes with your controls. To the developers credit, they did include several styles to let you choose which one feels best to you.
There is a free trial version available with the full version running $.99. You can find your copy of Prof. Stone here (opens Zune) at the Marketplace. There is also a free, limited version of Prof. Stone which you can find here.
