Astraware Launches Five New Games for Pocket PC Handhelds; Premier Developer of PDA Games Converts Popular Palm OS Puzzle and Strategy Games for Use On Pocket PCs

Business Wire, Sept 17, 2002

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

THE MIDLANDS, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 17, 2002

Astraware Ltd. today announces five new titles for Pocket PC handhelds -- Nisqually, Alchemy, Abysma, Elixir, and Bounce Out. Each of these games are versions of popular Palm OS titles, and are all optimized to take advantage of the color screens and sound capabilities of Pocket PC devices. Astraware is also announcing an upgrade to the company's popular Diamond Mine game, the Pocket PC version of its top-selling Bejeweled for Palm OS handhelds.

Nisqually is a handheld version of GameHouse's popular online puzzle game by the same title. Nisqually is easy to learn, but increases with complexity to complete each level. Gamers aim to clear a screen full of blocks by sliding them to make groups. The challenge is to arrange the blocks to be left with just the right amount of each type to complete the level.

"Nisqually is a deceivingly complex game that is consistently ranked as one of the most popular games on the Web," said Ron Powers, GameHouse's Director of Business Development. "Astraware's handheld version will rock your world just as our online version has done!"

Alchemy is a handheld version of the popular online game by PopCap Games. Players attempt to turn lead into gold. The goal is to become the mythical Alchemical Grand Master. They place runes of magical shapes and colors onto the screen, and turn the board to gold. This official Pocket PC adaptation retains all of the game play of the online version but allows players to take it with them anywhere.

In Abysma, players are opposed by both time and a descending "bar of doom." A bar descends downward across a screen of multi-sized blocks. Energy is lost when the bar of doom comes across a blank space, causing players to race to fill in the gaps with adjoining blocks before the bar hits the empty spots and saps all of their energy.

Elixir pits the player against the clock in a race to, literally, pop as many pills as possible. As iridescent capsules descend down the screen, the player must explode as many pills as possible, but only those that are not supporting the capsules above them.

Bounce Out is similar to Astraware's popular Bejeweled and Diamond Mine titles, except that players are rushed to swap colorful balls rather than gemstones in order to line up three or more in a row and players may swap vertically as well as horizontally and diagonally. As sets of three or more are formed, the balls "bounce out" and the balls above drop and wiggle into place -- completely reconfiguring the game-board. The colorful balls in Bounce Out make this game an especially attractive game for the high resolution color screens of Pocket PC handhelds.

Combined with Rook's Revenge, a raucous "kill-or-be-killed" version of chess released earlier this month, and the upgraded version of Diamond Mine, Astraware now offers a large stable of exciting games for Pocket PC users.

"We are very excited to expand our Pocket PC offerings, not only expanding the potential market for Astraware games but expanding our technical capabilities to develop new and exciting handheld games," said Howard Tomlinson, Astraware's CEO. "With the memory, high resolution screens, and quality audio capabilities of Pocket PC handhelds, our games really shine on this platform."

Astraware's new games sell for $14.95 each. Links for downloading the games are available on Astraware's Web site, www.astraware.com.

About Astraware Ltd.

Founded in 1994, Astraware Ltd. (http://www.astraware.com/) develops quality shareware games and utilities. The company provides a range of products available for Palm OS(TM) and Pocket PC handhelds, including the popular Zap!2000 and Diamond Mine. Handheld enthusiasts have downloaded more than a million copies of Astraware's products, and the company has customers in nearly 100 countries. For more information, contact CEO Howard Tomlinson at howard@astraware.com.