SkillJam Arcade is a slick bundle of minigames that points the way toward mobile gaming's future. Instead of offering a single, connected game for purchase, this game is actually a shell program that supports several interesting minigames at a time. It also plugs these games into a comprehensive online feature set that includes a Web site, leaderboards, and tournaments. For all of these reasons, SkillJam Arcade is a superior value compared to the vast majority of its competition.

Three games in one...and they're pretty good.

At the time of our review, SkillJam Arcade came with three preinstalled minigames: BlackJack Solitaire, Hex Twist, and Memory Match. In BlackJack Solitaire, you get to see three cards at a time, and you have to sort them into four columns to make as many blackjacks as possible. Hex Twist is a neat variation on the standard match-three genre, where all of the pieces are hexagonal, and you try to rotate triangles of three pieces to match like-colored groups. Finally, Memory Match is a simple memory game where you try to match face-down cards with pictures on them (there are several themes available). All of these games operate under a time limit, whether you're practicing offline or competing in an online tournament. The game menu also includes a "coming soon" menu that touts other games, like Music Trivia, QB Challenge, and Poker Solitaire, although there's no indication when these games will be available.

Regardless, the three provided games are high quality and a lot of fun. Hex Twist is probably the most compelling offering, since it's the most action-oriented of the three games--the rotation mechanic works well, and there's also some strategy involved, since certain bonus pieces can boost your score rapidly. BlackJack Solitaire is somewhat more straightforward, since you're just sorting cards into four columns, but it does require some mathematical thinking. Memory Match is the simplest and least interesting of the three, but it's not bad for what it is, although the ability to set the size of the card grid would have made it more entertaining. Each game features clean, sharp graphics and a smattering of sound effects--nothing spectacular, but certainly up to the standards of the genre on the LG VX7000.

SkillJam Arcade's most compelling aspect is certainly its online tournament play, which is probably the best we've seen yet. Once you create an account (you can do it on the Web or from your handset), you can log on and play the three games against others, either heads-up or in a party of four. Everyone competes for a high score under the time limit, and the winner of the game (or the top two, in the case of four-way play) are awarded a certain number of "FunPoints." FunPoints don't seem to do anything for you just yet, but it seems likely that they'll be redeemable in raffles or something eventually. You can also access online leaderboards from your handset, which indicate high scores and the greatest number of plays for each game.

SkillJam Arcade is a prime indicator that the tide is beginning to turn in mobile gaming. Mobile gamers are going to start to wonder why they should pay full freight for one minigame when they can get three fairly strong ones (or more, eventually) for the same price--and with good reason. If you're looking for a casual gaming experience on your mobile phone, and don't have any definite preferences, SkillJam Arcade is the way to go.