The free iPhone game Trawler report: ngmoco does the triple with Wordfu while Blades of Fury and Noiz2sa try their best to steal the spotlight

Christmas could well end up being the App Store’s busiest period. All those shiny new iDevices being unwrapped can only mean that we’ll also see boatloads of newly converted iPhone gamers by the time we’re all back at work, equipped with turkey curry packed lunches.

Exactly how much publishers are taking this on board remains to be seen, though. A 59p price drop over the Christmas hols could well prove to be the ultimate Peggling opportunity. (If you’ve not heard of the term before, it’s when publishers strategically drop the price of their games over the weekend. It’s an effective little tactic, too.)

Still, when everyone’s only too keen to splash out up to £40 on a console game for loved ones, maybe £5.99 will prove to be the golden price point for some titles, if they’re released at just the right time.

Imagine if the official iPhone GTA game was released on December 23 - those virtual cash registers would go crazy. Still, it’ll probably be a great time for freebies, too, and we’ve got another great selection for you this week, with two full games on offer.

The best free iPhone games on the App Store

Rolando 2: Chapter One
By ngmoco
What is it? It’s one of our all-time iPhone favourites
Type Demo

The original Rolando was one of the first iPhone games that managed to get us really excited about the platform as a serious PSP and DS worrier. Its sequel refined the experience to make it even more accessible and fun - plus those 2.5D graphics are pretty tasty as far as eye candy goes.

The Rolando elders are ill and it’s up to you to find the Golden Orchid, the only thing that’ll cure the poor chaps. You use the iPhone’s accelerometer to roll your Rolando around, while touchscreen taps make him jump. Playing to the iPhone’s strengths, Rolando 2 is more than a bit special.

This Lite version lets you play through the first chapter of the full game, which is pretty generous considering it comprises a fistful of levels.

Blades of Fury Free
By Gameloft
What is it? It’s a flashy fighter
Type Demo

Gameloft is up to its old - but admittedly great - tricks again. Following in the footsteps of a whole series of games that borrow heavily from big console franchises, Blades of Fury is Gameloft’s go at bringing a one-on-one fighter to the iPhone. Think Soul Calibur and, well, you’re there.

Your first thought might be that the iPhone’s control capabilities are way out of sync with this sort of game, but the touchscreen gestures used for special moves are actually pretty nifty.

This version lets you try out two characters from the total roster of ten in an instant play match.

Hi, How Are You
By Smashing Studios
What is it? It’s a Daniel Johnson-inspired platformer
Type Demo

If you haven’t heard of Daniel Johnston, introducing him as one of music’s great fruit loops is pretty much on the money. When not breezing in and out of mental institutions, he crafts strange tunes, with accompanying odd, childlike artwork.

Hi, How Are You is based on Johnston’s world, featuring characters derived from his drawings and some of Daniel’s own tunes. The gameplay itself is fairly simple and - gasp - ordinary. You guide a frog around mazes so that he touches every green floor panel.

The Lite version offers two levels to hop through, scattered through the main mode of the full game.

Noiz2sa Free
By Lazrhog games
What is it? It’s 1942 meets Tron
Type Full

Yes, friends, retro is rad and basic is back in fashion - in fact, it has been for years. It’s pretty hard for wannabe oldie style games to stand out these days, but making your game free is a good way to get a head start.

If you’re into your independent and homebrew games, you may well have bumped into Noiz2sa in a previous incarnation, too, since it originally hit the scene back in 2003 for the PC.

Noiz2sa is a retro-soaked shooter where you control a craft using your finger while enemies appear above you in vertical scrolling fashion. It’s as simple as that, but Noiz2sa’s visual style makes the game worth your attention. Oh, and there’s the freebie factor to consider too of course.

It’s a fully-fledged game, with ten main levels and four additional endless ones.

Pick of the Week

Wordfu Plus+
By ngmoco
What is it? It’s a word game for ninjas
Type Full

By jove, ngmoco has gone and grabbed itself the pick of the week prize for the third week in a row. Once again, it has made one of its games free to download in order to get all us iPhone gamers excited about the Plus+ network.

This time, you can get WordFu for free. It’s possibly the fastest-paced word game available on the App Store, giving you a handful of dice to make words with. Instead of having dots on each side there are letters, and if you haven’t got your linguistic kung fu skills honed, you may be faced with a game over screen in under a minute.

It’s really quite addictive though, and surprisingly exciting too. It’s like Countdown with samurai swords.

Crap Apps Box of Shame award

30 Kittens Per Second
By Album tArt
What is it? It’s an app that’ll melt your brain… with kittens
Type Full

If you’ve ever worked in an office, there’s a good chance a co-worker will have sent you a picture of a cat over email, most likely next to some kind of unfunny tagline.

30 Kittens Per Second takes this pastime and reduces it to an absurdity - and it was pretty absurd to start with. It flashes pics of kitties at you at a rate of knots that’s likely to cause epileptic fits or brain haemorrhages. The price of cute can be a high one.

You can even download scores of newly-uploaded kittie pics to make 30 Kittens Per Second take even more space up on your iPhone. Lolcats are one thing, but this is just ridiculous.