title: Developing a 2D Game for Windows Phone 8
body: <p>I would like to develop a 2D game for Windows Phone 8.  I am a professional Application Developer by day and this seems like a fun hobby.</p>
  
  <p>But I have been disapointed trying to get going.  It seems that 2D games (far and away the majority of games) do not have an API available.</p>
  
  <p>It seems the Windows Phone makers did not include support for Direct2D. So unless you are planning to make a fully 3D app, you are out of luck.</p>
  
  <p>So, if you just wanted to make a nice 2D app, these are your choices:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>Write your game using Xaml and C# (Performance Issues?)</li>
  <li>Write your game using Direct3D and but only draw on one plane.</li>
  <li>Use the DirectX Took Kit found on codeplex. It allows you to use the dying XNA framework's API for development.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>Number 3 seems the best for my game.  But I hate to waste my time learning the XNA api when Microsoft has clearly stated that it is not going to be supported going forward.</p>
  
  <p>Number 2 would work, but 3D development is really hard.  I would rather not have to do all that to get the 2D effect. (Assuming Direct2D is easier.  I have yet to look into that.)</p>
  
  <p>Number 1 seems the easiest, but I worry that my app will not run well if it is based off of xaml rendering rather than DirectX.</p>
  
  <p>What is the suggested method from Microsoft?</p>
  
  <p>And who decided that 2D games were going to get shortchanged?</p>