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The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Eliminate Pro and Gravity Sling usher in a new era of freemium titles...

...While The men who stare at goats keeps the advergaming side ticking over

The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Eliminate Pro and Gravity Sling usher in a new era of freemium titles...
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With in-app purchases arriving in earnest on the App Store, the free iPhone games landscape is priming itself for some major shifts over the next year. The arrival of the triple A, headline-grabbing Eliminate Pro feels like the start of something and it can only be the start of something good if it means players can get their hands on titles of this caliber for free.

But if FPS games aren’t what you’re looking for on your iPhone, you could always partake in what is surely the world’s first psychokinetic curse-em-up, which should be lots of fun, especially if, like us, you have absolutely no time for goats. Don’t ask us why.

There’s also a line-drawing slant nobody else has thought of yet, a re-visit to an App Store classic and something that we think is more a form of post-modern therapy than game. Read on for this week’s list of titles nobody can can afford to miss.

The best free iPhone games on the App Store

Eliminate Pro
By ngmoco
Type Full

Ngmoco’s latest doesn’t need much of an introduction, given the media blitzkreig it has received over the last week. All the same, in case you’re out of the loop, Eliminate is a new competitive online 3D first-person shooter.

It’s free to own and if you're a demon with a head shot, it’s free to conquer. If you have the marksman skills of a blind, excitable chimp and the killer instinct of a confused ostrich, however, you can opt to buy some in-app extras to help you pwn, own and roxr the living daylights out of your opponents.

So basically what we’re saying is, this game is worth checking out for FPS wizards and bumbling noobs alike. Who says the two should never mix?

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The Men Who Stare at Goats
By
Alliance Atlantis Releasing Limited
Type Full

This promotional title for the forthcoming film is exactly the sort of fare that could have appeared on the App Store all on its own, with no film necessary to legitimise its bonkers premise.

The aim? Simply to stare at a goat until your wrathful gaze causes it to die. You’ll need weapons grade concentration, though, so to help focus your thinker you can always read through the first chapter of Jon Ronson’s acclaimed non-fiction book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, which is also included.

We don’t think any goats were harmed in the making of the app, so stop your bleating and go get it.

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Crazy Smashing Computer
By
Smart Hand
Type Full We’ve all been there. There are times when our electronic companions really deserve a good shoeing. Sadly, the momentary euphoria gains are almost never worth the dire long-term financial consequences, so this app is probably a better option. Why? Because it allows you to beat a computer into robot confetti - laughing maniacally and grinning psychotically are entirely optional, of course, but it does help put you in the mood. Apparently there are updates planned for other expensive objects to batter, too. We’re hoping GPS devices, printers and USB 3G dongles all make the list. In the meantime, you can content yourself with the very thwackable looking grey hulking desktop PC included at the outset. We couldn't find a video of this one in action, so you'll have to content yourself with this relevant internet meme until you download the game. Don’t have too much fun.
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Jelly Car
By
Walaber
Type Full

App Store old timers will probably have played this already, but seeing as Disney has recently snapped up the license and released a paid sequel, it’s definitely worth re-synching the app, or indeed, downloading it for the first time if you haven’t played it yet.

Putting you in charge of a wonderfully wobbly automobile in a world governed by a curious perversion of Newtonian laws, Jelly Car is a plaything pure and simple. It’s just as much fun pranging your car around the game world as it is actually attempting to beat the levels.

There’s no word on a Lite version for the sequel as yet, so this costless first game should make a great introduction to what is no doubt set to be a popular iPhone franchise for Disney.

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Gravity Sling
By Riptide Games
Type Full

A line-drawing title with a difference, Gravity Sling charges you with propelling an anchor-less astronaut floating in the wastes of space safely back to his shuttle. The twist is, you need to use the gravitational pull of the various planets dotting the screen to sling-shot the astronaut into place.

The game makes use of the ever more popular in-app purchases feature, but grants 15 free levels before you need to make any decisions about parting with your cash.

There are gameplay enhancements and a level editor set to do a space dock sometime soon, so it’s well worth checking out this interesting slant on the ever more popular line-drawing genre now.

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