New PSP mini games launched

LEADING Indian game developer GameShastra has just released three new PlayStation Portable (PSP) Mini games onto the PlayStation Network (PSN), bringing its total number of games available through the PlayStation Network to five.

The new games draw from the developer's heritage, bringing two titles based on classic Indian Strategy games to a global audience, alongside a game which takes players on a trip along America's most famous highway.

With origins dating back to 4AD, Pachisi is Indian's national board game. GameShastra's version is steeped in heritage, offering a perfect recreation of this absorbing Strategy game equally playable on PSP and PlayStation 3. Simple to learn, yet difficult to master, the fact Pachisi remains one of India's most popular strategy board games over two thousand years since its introduction speaks volumes about its core mechanics - perfectly recreated here, with sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) offering a challenge to players of all abilities.

Tiger Trouble, also available for PSP and PlayStation 3, is another strategy board game recreation - though this time based on a Nepalese pastime. The game offers two perspectives: playing as tigers, the objective is to kill seven out of fifteen goats; when playing as goats, players must trap the three tigers. Offering unique strategies depending on the side being played, it's a game of limitless possibilities, and one which has been developed with obvious affection for the original board game.

Finally, Route 66 offers a change of pace. A hidden-object game set along America's "mother highway", it's a game best played casually, with ample time to admire the stunning artwork and historical facts whilst hunting for the items deviously-placed within each lavish scene.