Just bought yourself a shiny new Verizon iPhone and want some games? Or better still, some FREE games? We've sifted through the massive collection of games in the iTunes store in search of the best free titles it has to offer and found 20 absolutely free titles. They won't cost a single penny to download, but don't let that fool you: these games will entertain you for a long time. And did we mention they're free?
Looking for more iPhone and iPad games? Check out our 25 Best iPad games and 36 Best iPhone Games lists!
Ngmoco has released several games that are essentially rips of Farmville, and Adventure Bay is their island paradise themed take on Zynga’s immensely popular sim. Plant crops, wait for them to grow, and then use the money to buy more buildings. It isn’t oozing with originality, but growing crops and slowly turning your island into a bustling tropical village is totally fun. Much of the enjoyment lies in playing with friends, so if you’re going to put any sort of time-investment into Adventure Bay, convince a buddy to download the app with you.
Chillingo’s Cut the Rope is an addictive puzzler that left pretty much everyone who bought it wanting more, but rather than release an add-on pack, they released a free standalone app called Holiday Gift. The holiday-themed app replaces many of the puzzle elements you know from the normal version of the game with familiar Christmas doodads like stockings and candy canes, but otherwise features the same types of puzzles that you’ve already seen in the paid version of the game. Whether you’ve already beaten the full version of the game or you’ve never played it before, Holiday Gift is a definitely worth downloading.
Dizzypad is a game with an easy-to-grasp concept and a grueling difficulty level. You control a frog who must leap from lilly-pad to lilly-pad to get as far as possible before inevitably falling into the pond. Each lilly-pad spins constantly in one direction or another, and you can cause your frog to leap in the direction it’s currently facing by tapping the screen. You’ll have to time your taps well if you hope to safely land each jump, and the game gets pretty challenging if you can make it far enough into the pond. It’s a great fit for the
iPhone, and its arcade-style gameplay makes it an excellent choice for when you’re on the go.
When I reviewed Farmville upon its release in June of last year, I complained that the game ran sluggishly and was ultimately a poor solution for Farmville addicts on the go. Zynga has faithfully updated the game since then, and the game now runs smoothly and even natively supports the
iPad. A Facebook account is still required to play the social networking megahit, so this is less of a way to get new people into the game as it is a way for existing players to take the game with them everywhere, but if you love Farmville, this free app is something you’ll definitely want on your iOS device.
Godfinger is a strange game that’s hard to compare to anything else out there, but imagine Pocket God with RPG elements and a heavy emphasis on social gaming. As the god of your small planet, you’ll use touch controls to guide your followers about their daily lives. Using “awe points” you can control the weather, and even command your followers to transform the planet (such as turning deserts into less arid areas). There are no real end-game goals, other than building a totally sweet planet with a lot of followers, but if that’s your type of thing, there’s no reason not to give Godfinger a shot.
Although you could make a case that Godville isn’t really a game, its ability to parody old-school RPGs using an innovative Twitter-inspired interface makes it well-worth checking out. In the game, you are the god of a lone medieval hero. As he goes about his daily quests, he updates his travel log (read: Twitter account) with humorous thoughts and anecdotes. You can interact with your hero minimally by encouraging or punishing him for certain actions, but the real fun of the game is simply seeing the goofy things he records in his diary.
Global War is one of the most interesting games on this list because it’s surprisingly addictive despite the fact that it’s driven by statistics and match. This “war management simulator” lets you attack other players with troops and earn both money and experience points by winning battles. The actual combat in the game is little more than a random dice roll to determine whether or not you emerge victorious, but it’s so fast-paced that it’s hard not to get sucked into building up your small band of virtual mercenaries.
Guns Bros is the only dual-stick shooter on this list, and that’s because it’s one of the best on the App Store (never mind the fact that it’s free). Sure, it’s heavily ad-supported and the freemium aspects of it can get pretty annoying, but leveling up your brotacular bro while you shoot robots in the face is a lot of fun. The game is completely stuff with unique weapons, armor, and other aesthetic gear to slap onto your bro of choice, and it’s pretty hard to put down. It helps that the game sports some of the best “dual-stick” controls on the iPhone, although console gamers might still find themselves longing for real sticks.
Lil’ Pirates is Capcom Mobile’s answer to the Farmvilles and We Rules of the world, and it’s actually pretty good. As the captain of a brand new ship, you’ll build up a crew, send them out to complete plunderous missions, and eventually earn bigger and bigger vessels. There are some fun little minigames to play with your crew, and customization options abound for everything from the length of your captain’s hair to the color of your ship. It’s a cute little game, and although there are ways that the game will allow you to spend money on frivolous things, Capcom has made it easy to ignore all of that and just have fun for free.
At first glance Mega Jump appears to be one of the dozens of Doodle Jump clones that litter the App Store, but this just isn’t the case. Whereas in Doodle Jump you climb by hopping on platforms, the weird critters that star in Mega Jump are propelled upwards by collecting coins. Touching a coin will cause your character to rocket upwards, and hitting long lines of coins consecutively will increase your speed and your score. It’s a unique and fun little mechanic, and there are plenty of customization options that serve as excellent side-dishes to the lone gameplay mode.
Ah, Paper Toss. This is a game that represents everything that people think of when they sneer about their perceived lack of “hardcore” games on the iPhone. Like it or not, Paper Toss is a lot of fun. Having compensate for things like distance and wind while flicking the paper balls make every successful basket feel like a well deserved triumph over the evil desk fans that aim to keep you down, and I can almost here the endorphin-producing areas of my brain activating when I get on a hot streak. There’s a reason GamePro editor Tae Kim calls this his embarrassing game that he
secretly loves
Pocket Frogs is from the same people who developed Dizzypad, but it abandons its predecessor’s arcade-style gameplay and instead focuses on collecting frogs. It’s an incredibly rich system that allows you to collect and catalog over 10,000 different types of frogs, and it partially reminded me of the breeding mechanic in the Pokemon games, albeit much more deep. It’s unapologetically casual, but something about leveling up while amassing an army of colorful frogs is strangely addictive.
Numerous publications have compared Pocket Legends to World of Warcraft, and for good reason. The animal-themed MMO clearly draws inspiration from Blizzard’s sales Titan, but at the same time manages some restraint so that the game actually feels good on a touch-screen device like the iPhone. All of the familiar MMO elements like loot and raiding parties are included, so WoW gamers that want something for on the go might be surprised by the sheer quality of Pocket Legends.
Robot Story
Robot Story takes more than a few cues from Miniclip’s hit Fragger, but it’s just different enough to be worth checking out if you want more of a good thing. Basically you’re a robot, and the sinister Doctor Manic stole your robot dog. This draws to mind questions about how this hierarchy of robots that are owning each other as pets ever got started, but the important thing here is that you need to bust up everything Doctor Manic owns. You’ll accomplish this by standing stationary and tossing wrenches into all of the gears in the bad doc’s factory. Later you get other weapons, but that’s the basic mechanic. Be warned: some of these levels are surprisingly hard.
Solitaire
Ah, Solitaire. I almost feel bad for putting the Windows pack-in on this list, but it’s a great game and it always will be. This particular version is (like many of the games on this list) ad-supported, but a clean interface and cool Game Center integration make it the best, cheapest Solitaire game on the App Store. It also comes packed with a ton of options, like draw-3 and draw-1 modes, and even Klondike. Alright, I can’t make myself write about Solitaire anymore. Just go get it.
Texas Poker
There’s no shortage of poker apps on the iPhone, but Texas Poker rises to the top of the deck by offering an excellent interface and some of the best drop-in-drop-out online multiplayer I’ve yet seen on the iPhone. Since the game connects to the Pokerist Facebook game (which has about 125,000 active monthly users), it’s never difficult to find a full table of people to play against. If you have regular access to an internet connection this is easily one of the best free apps on the entire App Store, but be warned that there is no offline mode.
Touch Pets Dogs 2
I’m not even going to tiptoe around the fact that this game is very
similar to Nintendogs. After adopting a new puppy from the animal shelter, you’ll bring your mutt home to a barely furnished house. Fulfilling your dogs needs will allow you to level up and gain access to new toys and furniture, and your primary source of income will involve forcing your dog to look under your couch for change. I’m not making that up. If rubbing a puppy’s face with your thumb sounds appealing to you, or you loved Nintendogs when that was released back in 2005, Touch Pets Dogs 2 is a decent enough alternative.
Waterslide Extreme
I had to play a bunch of games that I’d never bothered touching before while researching this list, and Waterslide Extreme was easily the biggest pleasant surprise on the list. In the game, you’ll earn points and a high score by using tilt controls to pick up glowing green... point thingies as you rocket down a 3D waterslide. There are also evil crabs and (for some reason) satanic ducks inhabiting the waterslide, and you’ll have to dodge them if you want to maintain your speed. Just let that sink in for a moment. Satanic ducks. You’ll beat the game’s 9 levels in less than 30 minutes, but the game is good, dumb fun.
We Rule Quests
We Rule was one of ngmoco’s first big forays into the “freemium” pricing model, and it worked out quite well for them. Much like the aforementioned Adventure Bay, We Rule is all about growing crops, waiting for them to become harvestable, and then using that money to buy more expensive crops that take a longer time to grow. It sounds boring, admittedly, but it has that same devious addictive quality that has come to define social games in this vein, and it’s actually one of the most well-polished of its type on the App Store (it runs much more smoothly than the iOS version of Farmville).
Words With Friends Free
I made a conscious decision to avoid listing “lite” versions of games when creating this list, as they’re often just trial versions of the full product, but I’m willing to make an exception to the rule for Words With Friends, however, as the only difference between the full version of the online Scrabble clone and the free version is that the free version includes minimal advertising. It’s not at all a bother, and it makes it even easier to get your friends or family who own an iOS device to get into the Words With Friends craze.
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