Recently I bought an HP iPAQ (running Windows Mobile 5) off of eBay, and now I wish I had bought one years ago! Using a text editor or Pocket Word helps me stay on top of my to-do list because I can move items around as their priorities change, and my kids and I are having fun downloading and playing lots of free games.

My nine-year-old daughter (Stephanie) designed this website of Pocket PC utilities and games that we like. We haven't tried every Pocket PC game or utility out there, but these are our favorites so far. We have loosely organized the games into three categories: Action Games, Puzzle Games, and Two-Player Games (i.e. you against the computer).

For some fun and free PC games, see our Fun, Free Educational Computer Games for Kids website.

Puzzle Games

All Mobile Mines http://www.binaryfish.com/windows_mobile/professional/all_mobile_mines/index.php?countryTabs=0 A nice MineSweeper clone. Tap any cell on the game board to start the game, then find all of the hidden mines using the numbers as clues. For example, if a light blue cell has the number 1 in it, then it is only touching 1 mine. If a light blue cell has the number 2 in it, then it is touching 2 mines, and so on. If you tap a cell containing a mine, you lose. If you think that a cell contains a mine, then mark that cell with a flag by tapping the cell and dragging the stylus up or to the right. If you accurately mark all of the mines, you win.
Arukone http://pagesperso-orange.fr/fingerchip/Pocket_PC/arukone.htm The object is to use up every cell on the board by drawing lines between matching numbers, letters, or symbols, making sure that none of your lines cross each other.
Binary http://www.xflib.net/index.php?action=games&name=Binary How fast can you compute in binary? In each row, tap the appropriate 1s and 0s to form the binary number which matches the number shown at the right of that row. When you get the correct binary number then the row disappears, and a new row appears. If you don't get the correct binary number in five seconds then another row of binary numbers will appear. If the rows of binary numbers reach the top of the screen then the game is over. You can continue working on a row even after it has moved up higher on the screen.
Black Box http://pagesperso-orange.fr/fingerchip/Pocket_PC/blackbox.htm The object is to find all of the atoms hidden in the game board by shooting x-ray beams to see how they are deflected. Tap a white cell inside the board to place an atom, which will either deflect or absorb an x-ray beam (the number of unused atoms is displayed as red balls at the bottom of the screen). An x-ray beam is absorbed if it directly hits an atom, and it will be deflected 90 degrees if it is diagonally next to an atom (see the screenshot). When you tap a grey cell on the edge of the board, then one of three things will happen: If a black circle appears in the grey cell that you tapped, then the x-ray beam from that cell is being absorbed by an atom. You must figure out where to place an atom so that the x-ray beam is properly absorbed. If a white circle appears in the grey cell that you tapped, then the x-ray beam from that cell is deflected by one or more atoms so that it returns back to the grey cell that you tapped. You must figure out where to place the atom(s). If a colored circle appears in the grey cell that you tapped, then another circle of the same color will appear in another grey cell. You must place one or more atoms so that the x-ray beam starts from the colored circle and ends at the matching colored circle. In the screenshot, one of the light blue circles has been tapped, so its x-ray beam is being displayed. If a grey cell on the edge of the board is flashing, this means that its x-ray beam is not being deflected or absorbed properly. When you win the game by finding where all of the atoms need to be, then none of the grey cells will be flashing.
BlackFlip http://www.xflib.net/index.php?action=games&name=BlackFlip&view=download The goal is to flip some of the tiles so that each row is all one color (different rows can be different colors). Use your stylus to draw a path over the game board, but don't let your path cross over itself. Tap the last tile in your path, then all of the black tiles in your path will turn white, and all of the white tiles in your path will turn black. If each row is all one color then you win.
BoxUp http://pagesperso-orange.fr/fingerchip/Pocket_PC/boxup.htm The object is to push the small red box into the large blue box. However, the only thing you can move is the small green square (the "pusher"). Tap an empty cell next to the pusher to move the pusher into that cell. Move the pusher into a box (through the opening in the box), then you can move the box by moving the pusher. In the screenshot, you can move the pusher down into the red box, then move the pusher to the right to move the red box into the blue box.
Cardhue http://pagesperso-orange.fr/fingerchip/Pocket_PC/cardhue.htm The object is to place the proper symbols in the proper positions. The outside of the board shows a heart, a spade, a diamond, and a club (in the Options screen you can choose Letters, Symbols, or Cards). Beneath the club symbol there are numbers which tell you how many clubs need to be placed in each column, and the same idea applies to the other three symbols. The challenge is to find a way to place the proper number of each symbol so that no matching symbols are touching each other, and no two blank cells are touching each other. For example, if two hearts are next to each other on the board (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) then this is an error. If you tap the lock/unlock button at the top left corner, it will turn purple. When it's purple then you can tap a cell on the board to make the cell turn purple, which "locks" the cell to prevent it from being changed accidentally.
Cube http://flyfgv.narod.ru A nice Rubik's Cube puzzle. The Help file and macros are not in English, but the features are easy to understand. Drag your stylus in the white areas around the cube to rotate the entire cube, and drag any part of the cube to rotate a section of the cube. Tap the Cube/Reset menu item to restore the cube to its "solved" position. Tap the Cube/Random menu item, and the computer will do 40 random turns. Now tap the Undo button (the arrow icon next to the Options menu) to undo the random turns until you get down to "Turns=3/40." At this point it's a nice challenge to find the remaining 3 turns to solve the puzzle.
HexaVirus http://www.xflib.net/index.php?action=games&name=HexaVirus The bottom left cell on the game board (the top half of the screen) is an active virus, and the goal is to turn the entire game board to one color. When you tap a colored virus at the bottom of the screen, then the active viruses on the game board will all turn to that color, and any cells of that color which are touching the active viruses will all become active. You have 30 moves to turn the entire game board to one color. If you succeed, then you start over but with only 29 moves. If you succeed again, then you start over but with only 28 moves, etc.
Magnets http://pagesperso-orange.fr/fingerchip/Pocket_PC/magnets.htm The object is to place magnets onto the game board in the proper way. When you tap a white cell, a "plus" sign is displayed in that cell (i.e. the positive pole of a magnet). Now tap a white cell next to that cell (horizontally or vertically), which will be the negative pole of the magnet. The numbers around the outside of the board tell you how many positive poles are in each row and column. Two positive poles can't touch each other, and two negative poles can't touch each other.
dfi Mastermind http://www.pocketpcfreeware.mobi/download-dfi-mastermind-v1-3.html A basic Mastermind game, in which you must figure out the colors (in the proper sequence) that the computer randomly chose. Tap a color on the right side of the screen to change its background to gold, then tap a circle with a gold background on the left side of the screen to change the color of the circle. Tap the Guess button to find out how well you guessed. The number of white circles which appear above the Guess button will tell you how many colors you chose correctly (but in the wrong position), and the number of black circles will tell you how many colors you placed into the proper position.
NeoTiles http://freewareppc.com/games/neotiles.shtml The object is to remove all of the tiles from the game board. Tap a light-colored tile, then tap a matching light-colored tile. If the tiles match properly then they are removed from the board, which allows two more tiles to become light-colored. Some tiles are stacked on top of other tiles.
Next Element http://www.zielok.com/?action=onegame&game=next_element Use your buttons or tap the arrow keys to move from the Start cell to the Goal cell. As you move past a cell marked with a 1, the cell will be destroyed. Cells marked with a 2 must be traveled over twice in order to be destroyed, and so on. If a cell has an arrow then you can only travel over that cell in the direction of the arrow. Some cells are teleportation cells, which will automatically send you to another teleportation cell. You must destroy all of the cells before going to the Goal.
Patiences http://www.not-big-deal.com/product.php?product_id=1 Allows you to play three different "solitaire" (also called "patience") card games: Freecell, Klondike, and Spider Solitaire.
Pipes http://www.xflib.net/index.php/index.php?action=games&name=Pipes The object is to rotate the sections of pipe (by tapping them) so that they all turn blue, which indicates that water is flowing through all of the pipes and gushing out of all of the openings. The water flows out from the orange cell in the center of the game board.
PocketLoop http://sourceforge.net/projects/pocketloop/ The object is to draw lines in order to create a closed loop (like a fence which completely surrounds a house). A black number in a cell tells you how many pieces of the fence must touch that cell. If a number turns red, this means that your fence will never be able to touch that cell, or you have too many pieces of fence touching that cell. Tap a piece of fence to turn it on or off.
RollerPPC http://www.pocketpcfreeware.mobi/download-rollerppc-v1-1.html The object is to remove all of the colored balls from the game board. Tap a white arrow to scroll that row or column in the direction of the arrow. All of the balls in that row or column will move one space in the direction that you tapped, and the ball closest to where you tapped will wrap around to the other side of that row or column. When three or more balls of the same color touch each other (horizontally or vertically), they are automatically removed from the board.
RushHour http://www.fredvonk.eu/downloads.htm A nice implementation of the RushHour puzzle. Use your stylus to slide cars and trucks out of the way so that the red car can escape through the exit at the right side of the board.
S3t! http://freewareppc.com/games/s3t.shtml A puzzle based on the Set card game. Twelve cards are displayed, each of which has a certain combination of properties: color, shape, shading, and number (i.e. number of shapes). You must tap a set of three cards which have the following conditions. For each property (color, shape, shading, and number), all three cards must match in that property or all three cards must not match in that property. In other words, if two cards match in a property but the third card does not match in that property then it's not a set. The screenshot shows two cards which are part of a valid set. One highlighted card has three red diamonds with no shading, and the other highlighted card has one blue rectangle which is shaded with horizontal lines. Therefore, the third card in the set has two green ovals which are fully filled in. The number of valid sets is shown at the top of the screen, based on the twelve cards which are displayed, but they are difficult to spot! When you highlight three cards in a valid set then a new set of 12 cards will be displayed.
Sequential http://www.zielok.com/?action=onegame&game=sequential The object is to clear all of the colored blocks off of the board. When you tap an empty cell, a block appears in that cell. When you tap a cell which contains a block, the block disappears. The challenging part is that when you tap a cell, the cell above it and below it and to the left of it and to the right of it will all change their state as well.
Sokoban http://www.teknowmagic.net/Sokoban.html A nice Sokoban clone. Use your buttons or tap the arrow keys with your stylus to move around the game board. The object is to push all of the boxes into the circles (in any order).
Sonart http://pagesperso-orange.fr/fingerchip/Pocket_PC/sonart.htm The bars of color above each column tell you what colors need to be placed in that column, and what order the colors need to be. The bars of color at the left side of each row tell you what colors need to be placed in that row, and what order the colors need to be. Tap a color square at the left edge of the screen to select that color (a paintbrush will appear in the selected color), then tap a cell in the game board to paint it with the selected color. When a row has the correct colors in the correct order, then the red X at the right side of the row will turn into a green circle (the same thing happens for the columns).
SuperDoku http://people.msoe.edu/millermj/superdoku/index.php A nice implementation of Sudoku with a number of options. You can play using numbers or shapes. Tap the pencil icon to write (or erase) small numbers in a cell to remind yourself of possible solutions for that cell. Tap the "crayons" icon to do freeform drawing on the game board (tap the arrow next to the crayons to choose a crayon color and thickness).
Tangrams http://www.yanceyware.com/products/tangrams_download.htm A nice implementation of Tangrams. Drag each of the seven shapes to the proper positions to build the picture which is displayed at the top left of the screen. Tap a shape to highlight it, then tap the icons at the bottom of the screen to rotate and flip the shape.
Vexed http://freewareppc.com/games/vexed.shtml The object is to remove all of the colored blocks from the game board. Depending on the options you select, use your buttons or stylus to move a block. With the stylus, tap a block and then drag the stylus. When you release the stylus, the block will move. If two or more of the same type of block touch each other then they will disappear.

Consider visiting my other websites!

You'll find:

• A Christian ministry with dozens of articles, and answers to many questions that I have received over the years (please feel free to send me your questions and prayer requests).
• A collection of some of the best self-working card tricks around (no sleight-of-hand required!).
• Lots of amazing/funny/fascinating/interesting videos from around the Web which are clean and family-friendly.
• Reviews of numerous fun and educational (and free!) computer games that you can download.
• Instructions and pictures which teach how to tie dozens of the most useful rope knots.
• A huge collection of cool science tricks and other fun stuff to try using things around the house.
• And more!

Modification History

12/13/2009:	Added Binary, BlackFlip, Cube, and HexaVirus.
11/26/2009:	New website.

Dave Root