App developers prep games for Apple Watch

LOS ANGELES - With a tiny screen less than an inch large, who would want to play a game on the new Apple Watch?

Many of the same fans who idle time playing games on their iPhones are likely to use the highly accessible smartwatch for games, say developers. They expect to get new customers, too. That expected demand translates to 100 new games for the Watch when it begins shipping Friday.

"Our bet is that the watch is going to become a very important new media platform," says Andrew Stalbow, the co-founder of Seriously, a game developer based here. "It's important to be on the new platform from Day One, so you can learn what they audience wants."

His game, Best Fiends, a hit on iPhone and Android, is coming to the Watch in a truncated version. Like on the iPhone, the game is a touchscreen adventure, but Stalbow expects play time to be much shorter, with game play focused on just one character from Fiends, who invites you on his adventure, as he picks up goods to bring back to the phone game.

Some other new watch games to look for:

--LetterPad - A simple 12 letter puzzle game.

-- Rules!: a puzzle memory game featuring whales and monkeys.

--BoxPop: a Chess-like game with several different levels.

--Peak: A brain training game, to "assess your attention and visual memory," in short chunks.

--Zombies, Run! Exercise meets gaming as you go on a jog, and get motivated by the sight of zombies on your wrist.

--Trivia Crack: The app, one of the most popular smartphone games of the year, comes to the Watch. Friends ask trivia questions, and you answer the multiple choice offerings. Sometimes there can be a lag time on the phone as you wait for new questions to be generated, so now "you don't have to turn off the Watch and wait," says Maximo Cavazzani, the developer of Crack told us earlier this year. "You can answer them when they come in."

--Companions: Popular phone games like " Modern Combat 5," and "Real Racing 3," offer the ability to extend the experience from the iPhone to the Watch, giving gamers the ability to get notifications about new game additions, or to upgrade or interact with their character through actions from Apple Watch directly.

For "Racing 3," for instance, you can "manage your race teams from your Apple Watch," which means you can manage and get updates on your cars in the garage and schedule races.

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