This articles is a round up of Windows Phone 7 game development tutorials, game source code, and books to help you get started in creating your own games for Windows Phone 7 devices.
Once you have mastered your Windows Phone game development skills, check out these Windows Phone Game development jobs.
Do you know of additional Windows Phone 7 Game tutorials or source code projects? Share them in the comment section.
Tutorials
Windows Phone 7 Jump Start: Building Games for the Windows Phone 7 Platform
Using Silverlight as a platform for game creation, Rob and Andy show you how to get a draw/update behavior into your Silverlight games and give you a fully worked game to chew on. They also illustrate how a Silverlight game can leverage the XNA libraries to add sound effects to a game.
Whack Something Game for Windows Phone 7
The game is pretty simple – boxes displaying an object appear on the screen for the user to “hit” and make disappear. This can be done with a minimum amount of code but we still cover the most important methods of a game program.
Frogger game on Windows Phone 7 using XNA
In this blog post, we are going to see the classic Frogger game ported to Windows Phone 7. The game was created by Ionian University professor K. Anagnostou and his students (you can read more on prof. Anagnostou’s blog post here). He also gave me the kind permission to port his source code from PC to Windows Phone 7, and he also suggested that I could use an accelerometer to control the frog’s movement. Since I do not currently have a device, I decided to use the accelerometer and the corresponding library described in my previous blog post "Emulating accelerometer in Windows Phone 7".
Windows Phone 7 Game Development: Creating Tic-Tac-Toe with XNA
XNA is a high level game creation framework for Microsoft devices including Windows PCs, Xbox 360, and the brand new Windows Phone 7 operating system. In a previous tutorial, we covered the basics of the XNA framework including handling input and displaying sprites. In this article, you’ll learn how to combine those skills with a game idea of your own to create something fun to play and easy to pick up.
Invasion Game in XNA for Windows Phone 7
Invasion is a UFO-shooter game, originally designed by Mauricio Ritter. This article describes my port of the Invasion game for Windows (in C# and Managed-DirectX) to Windows Phone 7 (C# and XNA 4.0). The full source code is provided.
Building a Windows Phone 7 Puzzle Game
Get a head start with the new Windows Phone 7 developer tools. Learn how to create a Sokoban game in Silverlight for the WP7 platform.
Simple Puzzle Game for Windows Phone 7 using XNA
In this tutorial blog post we will discover how easy it is to implement a simple puzzle game in Windows Phone 7 using the XNA 4.0 platform. The game consists of a single image, split randomly in 15 tiles (each of them having the same dimensions). The player has to move the tiles one by one (using the “empty” tile), attempting to recreate the original image.
Bubble Breaker in Windows Phone 7 using XNA
Continuing my adventure in XNA after porting Arkanoid for Windows Phone 7, I’ve been busy during the last days in an attempt to re-create the famous Windows Mobile 6.x game called “Bubble Breaker” for Windows Phone 7. This is a great game to spend your time, and I find it highly addictive. I had two choices to implement it; either Silverlight or XNA. I chose XNA for this example, but I promise to also create a Silverlight version!
Source Code
Tetris7
This is a conversion of a Silverlight tetris-game (YYTetris) from YYGames. The user interface has been updated a bit and added a top score feature.
Memory Madness Lab
This lab is a full 2D touch-based memory game. Repeat the patterns of the blinking orbs before the buzzer sounds to make a new high score!
BeeHive
BeeHive for Windows Phone 7 is a port of the wildly unpopular game given in the examples at this training site for Microsoft Expression 3.
Marble Maze
The Marble Maze Lab is a complete 3D accelerometer-based game for Windows Phone 7. Move your marble through the maze as quick as possible, but beware of the pits that will force you to restart from your last checkpoint.
Catapult Wars
This lab is a full 2D gesture-based catapult battle game. Launch rocks to crush your opponent, but beware the changing wind! Two learning modules help you build the gameplay from scratch, then polish with animation, sounds, and menu screens, all in 90 minutes.
Books
Professional Windows Phone 7 Game Development: Creating Games using XNA Game Studio 4
Providing an overview of developing games for Windows Phone 7 while working within XNA Game Studio 4, this comprehensive resource covers such essential topics as device/emulator, development tools, device orientation, tilt and accelerometer sensors, multi-touch, working with Cloud and Web services, and more. Three complete games are included within the book plus hands-on explanations and clear example codes help you gain a deeper understanding of the Windows Phone 7 features so that you can start building a game right away.
Windows Phone 7 Game Development
Windows Phone 7 is a powerful mobile computing platform with huge potential for gaming. With "instant on" capabilities, the promise of gaming on the move is a reality with these devices. The platform is an ideal environment for .NET developers looking to create fun, sophisticated games. Windows Phone 7 Game Development gives you everything you need to maximize your creativity and produce fantastic mobile games. With a gaming device always in your pocket, as a phone always is, this is too good an opportunity to miss!
Sams Teach Yourself Windows Phone 7 Game Programming in 24 Hours
Now, there's a practical, hands-on guide to mastering game development for Windows Phone 7 with Visual C# 2010 and XNA Game Studio 4.0. One step at a time, this book teaches all facets of mobile game development, from design through publishing via Microsoft's Marketplace. Top game development author Jonathan S. Harbour starts with the absolute basics, making Windows Phone game development accessible even to programmers who've never written a game before. Then, one step at a time, he shows how to use Microsoft's free XNA toolset to design and construct high-performance, highly-playable games for the newest Windows Phone 7 devices. Friendly, accessible, and conversational, this book delivers a practical grounding in Windows Phone 7 game development without ever becoming overwhelming or intimidating. Each lesson builds on everything that's come before, helping readers learn core techniques from the ground up. Readers learn key concepts, syntax, and techniques through short, practical examples that reflect the realities of modern mobile game development.
Learning XNA 4.0
Want to develop games for Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7? This hands-on book will get you started with Microsoft's XNA 4.0 development framework right away -- even if you have no experience developing games. Although XNA includes several key concepts that can be difficult for beginning web developers to grasp, Learning XNA 4.0 shortens the learning curve by walking you through the framework in a clear and understandable step-by-step format.
XNA Game Studio 4.0 Programming
Get Started Fast with XNA Game Studio 4.0–and Build Great Games for Both Windows® Phone 7 and Xbox 360. This is the industry’s best reference and tutorial for all aspects of XNA Game Studio 4.0 programming on all supported platforms, from Xbox 360 to Windows Phone 7 and Windows PCs. The only game development book authored by Microsoft XNA development team members, it offers deep insider insights you won’t get anywhere else–including thorough coverage of new Windows Phone APIs for mobile game development.
Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 handsets have injected a new vibrancy into the smartphone marketplace and provided bold new opportunities for the Microsoft development community. Now in its second edition, Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development has been written to help you identify those opportunities and to learn the skills you’ll need to harness them. It covers the very latest developments in the field, including the extended APIs offered in Microsoft’s automatic platform update, so you'll have timely, accurate information at your fingertips. Beginning Windows Phone 7 Development, Second Edition starts with the basics, walking you through the process of downloading and setting up the right development tools, including Visual Studio, Expression Blend, Silverlight SDK, and Windows Phone SDK. It then takes you step-by-step though the development process as you build and deploy a working application, complete with a sophisticated user interface. Finally, you'll receive step-by-step instructions on selling your applications through the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Microsoft XNA Game Studio 4.0: Learn Programming Now!
Now you can build your own games for your Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, or Windows-based PC—as you learn the underlying concepts for computer programming. Use this hands-on guide to dive straight into your first project—adding new tools and tricks to your arsenal as you go. No experience required!
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