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The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Max Injury, Makeout Mania, and Rayman 2

7th April 2010

The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Max Injury, Makeout Mania, and Rayman 2
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The iPad is here. Well, actually it's not. We still don't know exactly when it'll come to the UK, and unless you have an aunt in America to send one on for you, getting an iPad can be tricky.

But do you need one? Will the iPad really change anything? It should mean we can try out a whole new generation of free games, but the cultural revolution it represents is yet to take place.

When the iPhone 4G hits, though, that'll be a different matter.

The best free iPhone games on the App Store

Bombardiers Guild Free
By Quantum Toast
Type Demo

Few, if any, of us will ever end up coasting through space, weaving between stars in a Buck Rogers-style craft. In case you do, remember to factor-in the gravitational pull of planets or you could end up flattened to space pulp.

There's your space traveller's tip of of the day.

Bombardiers Guild is all about managing gravitational pulls, but more for the sake of blasting than interstellar exploration. At each end of the screen is a big 'ole canon. You control one while your opponent is at the helm of another.

In between are several planetoids, each with its own gravitational pull. Manage your power and aim to blast your enemy even further into space. The free version includes a handful of levels from the full 500+.

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Makeout Mania! Lite
By StormHatch
Type Demo However you say it, a game with the premise of getting kids to "get it on" doesn't sound wholesome. Even though this is what Makeout Mania! is all about, it somehow maintains complete innocence.

Each level shows you the cross-section of a building, letting you see its inhabitants as they go about their lonely day-to-day existence. You play cupid, firing arrows at these characters, sending them into an amorous fury.

If they meet with a suitable partner, they too will go kissing crazy, heading off in search of another lipped victim. It's cute, it's casual, and occasionally requires more strategy than you might imagine.

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Rayman 2: The Great Escape Free
By Gameloft
Type Demo Rayman 2 for iPhone doesn't ace its interpretation of this platforming classic, but it is fun – and blooming' gorgeous. It uses the Dreamcast version of the game as its starting point, with textures far more detailed than those in the more simplistic N64 edition.

Unlike more modern Rayman universe games, Rayman 2 is a traditional 3D platformer, casting you as Rayman himself as you try to save your buddies from a gang of invading pirates.

The demo version lets you check out a chunk of the full game. Pay attention to the controls, as they might prove frustrating if you end up paying for the whole shebang.

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Fantasy Warrior Legends All Free
By Digital Chocolate
Type Freemium Digital Chocolate's latest iPhone adventure is initially confusing. It says it's a full free game, but you can buy stuff with real money in-game. It's not one of those massively multiplayer online games, though, so how does it work? Fantasy Warrior Legends lets you play a full game without paying, but to get ahead more quickly, you can fork out 59p to get yourself 400 gems, used to help advance your character.

Is Digital Chocolate banking on the idea that we'll all get tired of the grind and drop some cash in order to avoid killing X rats to get to level Y? Sounds like it, but role-playing fans should check this one out.

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Pick of the week Max Injury Free
By Box Shaped Games
Type Full DISCLAIMER: Do not push people down stairs. Pushing people down stairs would be great fun, if you could only cut out the pain, disfiguration, death and manslaughter/murder charges. There's something deeply satisfying about watching ragdoll physics do its work, which is intended to be roughly how a person's body would move after they've lost consciousness - probably around hitting step number three or four. Max Injury lets you push people down stairs without any of the pesky ramifications. In each level, you're given a huge set of stairs or obstacles to launch your ragdoll man into. Just try to cause as much damage to him as you can.

Max Injury Lite was released a while ago, but this new Free version gives you all the content of the full version, relying on an ad or two to bring in the bucks.

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Crap Apps Box of Shame Dog Poo!
By IntroWizard
Type Full DISCLAIMER: Do not touch dog poo, even with a stick Some apps are useful, some aspirational, and some are just plain pretty. Dog Poo! is none of these things.

Dog Poo! is meant to replicate what it feels like to squish a dog turd in your hand. Yep, getting right down in there, having it squelching through your fingers like fine chocolate fondant.

This isn't our fabrication either - it's what Dog Poo!'s creators suggest on the app's dedicated page.

All it really does it emit a few noises whenever you move your phone or tap the screen. Not only is it disgusting, it's also a huge disappointment. No turdular textures, no faecal mapping, and no real-life poop motion capture. Perhaps we're expecting too much – even the makers say it's a turd.