Amazon Air Patriots Game Released To Push Kindle GameCircle

Amazon Game Studios has launched its first title for Kindle Fire users, Air Patriots, complete with GameCircle achievements and Whispersync for synchronizing progress to the cloud. The game – also available for iPhone, iPad, and Android users – is a simple tower defense style title, but what makes it distinct is that it's the retailer's debut mobile game, as Amazon attempts to strengthen its position against Apple and Google.

In Air Patriots, players can guide a squadron of planes through territory by sketching out a flight plan with their finger. Bombs can be dropped on enemy tanks, and the route of the squadron changed midway through by re-drawing it.

Although the game works on iOS and other Android hardware, Amazon's real goal is to push its own cloud services. GameCircle, for instance, was announced back in July as a push back against Apple's Game Center, and allows multiple Kindle Fire devices to synchronize highscore tables and allow gamers to pause and resume gameplay on different units with Whispersync.

Seven maps and various planes are included, plus unlockable levels. HD-compatible devices get an HD version of Air Patriots, and the game is free to download on all platforms. Amazon's studio previously released Living Classics in August, built on Facebook's browser-based gaming platform.