With casual games becoming an increasingly large slice of the industry's pie, Amazon is jumping into the scene via the launch of a brand new game download service. The giant online retailer says its Amazon Game Downloads store has more than 600 casual titles available, with prices ranging from $7 to $10, and for the next week it is offering full versions of Jewel Quest 2, The Scruffs and Build A Lot at no cost.
Interestingly, the service also gives would-be buyers the option to sample a trial version of any game for 30 minutes before deciding whether or not it's worth a purchase. As it stands now, it's definitely intended to be a service for casual games but Amazon could expand their reach in the future to perhaps even rival Steam. The decision to move into games is not at all surprising following Amazon's acquisition of casual game developer and distributor Reflexive in October 2008.