An apple a day keeps the doctor away? Forget it. Play a round of Bejeweled instead. According to a new study, casual games are proven to be beneficial for your health. Details in the full article.

PopCap Games has announced that it just had launched Bookworm for mobile phones. For those who are unfamiliar with this game, it is a port of the popular PC title which received numerous awards including Puzzle Game of the Year from Games for Windows magazine.

The game is deceptively simple, yet very addicting. Players have to create words using tiles on a grid. Want to find out more about the game, head on over to the full article.

Can't get enough of Chuzzle? Worry not. Blackberry owners and fans of the exploding fuzzy little dudes will now have the chance to play Chuzzle on their Smartphones. The game is now available for download and purchase on BPlay's website. Users can download it from their phones for US$ 7.99.

Users will be able to select it from the site's Top 10 list. PopCap Games, the developers the developers behind the casual games such as Zuma, is also proud to announce that Bookworm is still available for download and has been a consistent player in their top 10 downloads for the Blackberry.

Chuzzle has won "Casual Game of the Year" from Billboard's DEMX last 2005 when it was first released for the web and PC. For those unfamiliar with the game, it's kind of like Bejeweled where you have to connect three of the same colored jewels together to clear the screen and make room for more. Only instead of jewels, Chuzzle has Chuzzles, cute little furballs who "explode with happiness" when they come into contact with two more of the same color.

To download exploding happiness on your Blackberry now, visit the Read link after the jump.

Popping into the press wire is none other than PopCap Games, announcing that they've geared up their Flash game repertoire by adding an iPhone-friendly version of their classic puzzler, Bejeweled.

Via their website, you can access the custom version of Bejeweled, which is now tailored to by playable in the iPhone's Safari browser. And it's for free, too - that's enough for us to keep our eyes glued to the grid and match the gems three or more in a row. (Maybe say bye-bye to our social life in the process, too.)

With this release of the popular game, PopCap's director of the Mobile Platforms division, Andrew Stein, concludes with:

We're excited to be providing the most popular puzzle game of the 21st century to users of the most advanced mobile device yet created. We wanted to give the hundreds of thousands of iPhone users a fun, fast gaming fix -- and at no cost, no less.

Visit the Read link below to access the iPhone-friendly Bejeweled.

Casual games maker PopCap Games has just announced that a brand new position has been created in the company: VP of Video Game Platforms. Filling in this position would be Greg Canessa, former GM for Microsoft's XBLA service. With this appointment, the company is hoping to be able to further expand its reach to video game consoles, handhelds, as well as related online gaming services.

According to the newly-appointed Canessa,

From the Xbox 360 video game console to handheld videogame devices and more, PopCap's lineup of casual games are really well suited for a wide range of platforms, and I'm excited to have this opportunity to help guide PopCap's future growth.

For those who are not familiar with this man, he is one of those who helped define and manage Microsoft's online games strategy, and has been an early advocate of bringing casual games to the Xbox 360. To date, six titles from PopCap Games have already been released on the XBox and Xbox 360, both of which have proven to be successful.

So, does this mean more Zuma and Chuzzle goodness on all major platforms. We'll find out soon enough in the months ahead.

Well, line-up for half of the year, actually. Vivendi Games Mobile, the mobile division of Vivendi Games, announced that their line-up of mobile games for the first half of 2007. Its focus is more on casual games like those of MumboJumbo and PopCap Games. It will include, however, two classics from Sierra.

The 2006 award-studded publisher that received Spike TV's Best Mobile Game Award of 2006 for SWAT Force, Airgamer's Best Strategy Game of 2006 award for Caesar, and a Gold Award from Mobile Game Faqs for Spyro Legend will also be introducing new titles from its Centerscore studio in San Mateo, which joined VGM in September 2006.

The following titles are included in the line up:

• Crash Bandicoot Party - 14 mini-games available in solo or hot-seat mode;
• M.A.C.H. Air Combat - jet-racing, obstacle course fused with aerial combat;
• The Incredible Machine - the all-time favorite puzzler classic for all those fix-it geeks out there;
• Office Wars - get a lowly clerk to the office of the CEO through hard work;
• Shock Blocks; and,
  
• Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail - a faithful reproduction of the Leisure Suit Larry classic for all the Leisure fans demanding it on mobile.

That's not all. We've got an assortment of their screenshots right behind the "Full Article" link.

Arrrr! Avast, me 'earties! It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day on Tuesday, September 19, and Astraware is helpin' ye celebrate with discounts on their pirate games for mobile devices: Tradewinds and Seven Seas! Drink up me 'earties, yo ho! So while ye land lubbers be going 'round wearin' ye fake eyepatch and a scurvy breath to make yer mama proud, make sure ye bring yer mobile devices 'cuz yer in for a treat!

 

Tradewinds be about building yer empire by pillaging and trading 'cross the oceans, much like Sid Meier's Pirates! Seven Seas, on the other hand, is from PopCap Games and be all about navigating through islands and blastin' out other pirate ships to Davy Jones' Locker!

So grab yer barrels o' rum, and get clickin' with yer PDAs and smartphones, ye scallywags! You get some dubloons off from the price of these bloody games, ya-harrrrr! And in case the old hook-hand gets in the way of playin' yer mobile pirate adventure, why you can use yer teeth (if ye still have 'em)! Arrrrrr! Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!

Casual game makers PopCap Games are joining forces with Valve Software to release PopCap games through the Steam digital download service.

The makers of such popular games as Zuma, Hammer Heads and Heavy Weapon, PopCap's large selection of games has led to “over 175 million downloads and three billion player minutes per month." Coupled with Valve's Steam service, 17 games from their collection will be made available for trial downloads and, like PopCap's official website, sale through Steam.

This is going to be a nice set-up for everyone thinking of whiling away the time while waiting for their deathmatches to start, and should be a good way to avoid burning out on popular multiplayer games. Just buy a PopCap game and take a break. Sounds like a good business plan, for sure.