Protecting castles from marauding monsters is the idea behind Monster Burner, Ubisoft’s fast-paced, highly-rated hit that just arrived in the Windows Phone Store. The game, which runs on both Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 devices, is free. So there’s no reason not to give it a spin. Download it now

There isn’t much of a learning curve here: Your task is to torch every (admittedly cute) creature in sight by slinging fireballs and conjuring fire spells. The game is a nice blend of high-energy arcade and strategic puzzle solving. One nice touch: The built-in kids mode, which ratchets down the difficulty level but not the pace of the action, making it perfect for the preschool set. But my favorite thing about Monster Burner is that a typical game is all over in a matter of minutes, so it’s one of those titles that you can pick up or put it down whenever you’d like; a great way to shorten the wait at Starbucks or your next doctor’s appointment.