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Xider enters DS market

With Ankh and Lumines clone.

Xider Games plans to bring the previously-announced DS port of adventure game Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King to Europe in the second half of this year.

Speaking on Friday, the publisher also announced its intention to release music-based puzzle game Luminator DS in the same timeframe.

Ankh is a point-and-click puzzler in which a reluctant hero tries to overcome a curse by locating a Pharaoh, which he has to do by appeasing God of the Underworld Osiris' desire for him to locate the precious Ankh amulet. It's being ported by Deck13, and is billed as an original, humorous adventure with a lively atmosphere. So there.

Luminator, meanwhile, inevitably invites comparison to Q Entertainment's seminal PSP effort Lumines, mainly by virtue of basically thieving its name. "Build cubes to the beat of the music and see them turn into valuable points," it says. The rest sounds pretty similar too - with a 45-level puzzle mode also onboard.

Ankh should retail for GBP 29.99 with Luminator aiming lower at GBP 19.99 when the pair are released later this year.