Today marks what is called “Midsummer” in Finland (or “Juhannus”) and what better way to mark the summer months than with a new game that is all about fun in the sun? In fact, this game takes you to an island paradise, where you can practically feel the sand beneath your feet, and hear the gentle waves of the ocean.

I’m talking about The Big Roll in Paradise, a new game created by Infinite Dreams for Nokia! (For those with a good memory, you will recall that Infinite Dreams is the team behind the hit N-Gage game “Creatures of the Deep,” as well as the games in Ovi Store called Super Miners, and Sky Force Reloaded – among many others).

Big Roll in Paradise is all about the game of bocce. But let me assure you, you’ve never seen bocce quite like this before. In this game, you are a guest at “Paradise Island” in the Bahamas (no relation to the real one, I suspect), and you will encounter a wide range of other guests and employees on the island who are all skilled at the ball-hurling game.

You can play against other players one-on-one (where you must earn 5 points per game to win), or you can enter tournaments and compete with other guests in round-robin style matches to earn trophies (each tournament game requires 8 points to win).

Now, to be honest, I never imagined I could have so much fun playing bocce! And, as it turns out, when it comes to virtual bocce, I am a ringer – I have already won the first two tournaments that I have played in!  As you win matches against other opponents, you will earn new sets of bocce balls, made of different materials, and in a wonderful variety of colorful patterns.

As the game progresses – and as your bocce skills improve – you will encounter new challengers, and they will often present you with the opportunity to make wagers for cool, interesting stuff (artifacts and other trinkets) if you can win your match. As you are playing, your opponents will often try to taunt you with a little smack-talk of their own, but don’t let it get to you – it’s all in good fun.

I should also point out that to simply call this a mobile bocce game is just scratching the surface. For starters, the level of detail in the game is remarkably good. You hear the sounds of the ocean, and you see little critters skittering about on the sand – sometimes interferring with your ball! There are multiple surfaces for you to play on, including sanding, dunes, and hard courts (the tournaments I have played in so far are all on the hard surface). You can control the direction and force of your throw, as well as the angle of your throw (there are three options to choose from here), and the game responds in a very natural way to all of these variables.

At the same time, there is something of a mystery within the game, too – after all, you are in a place called Paradise in the Bahamas. Several of the guests will allude to the hidden treasure that may be found somewhere on the island!

The Big Roll is seriously a lot of fun. And even if you can’t take a vacation to an island getaway this summer, you can immerse yourself in this game, and pretend you’re there.

Now through 2 July the Big Roll in Paradise is FREE to download in Ovi Store. After that date it will cost 2 Euro (we will update the pricing information at that time.) It is available for most Nokia S60 5th Edition devices – see below – with more device types coming soon.

One final thing to note: the Big Roll is a BIG game. The installation file is 21.16 MB in size, so make sure you have a decent Internet connection when you download the app.