It's taken awhile, but one of the best developers of games for mobile devices, Astraware, has just introduced its first title for handsets running on the world's most popular smartphone platform, the Symbian OS. The title, Astraware Boardgames, features eight boardgames—Chess, Backgammon, Ludo, Checkers, Reversi, Nine Men's Morris, Snakes and Ladders, and Tic Tac Toe&151;three levels of difficulty and support for multiple languages.

You can play the games by yourself, against the computer, or alongside other players. According to Astraware, gameplay and graphics are designed to evoke the feel of classic board games, played on wooden boards, with traditional playing pieces and believable piece movement.

Astraware Boardgames ($19.95) is compatible with Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices, including the Nokia N95 and E61, and with UIQ 3-run Symbian devices, such as the Sony Ericsson P1i and Motorola RIZR Z8.

It appears Astraware has a couple of additional Symbian-platform games coming soon. These include one called Hidden Expedition Titanic and a side-scrolling arcade title called Platypus, which is also slated for the Palm OS and Windows Mobile. Astraware Boardgames is also available for these other smartphone/PDA operating systems.