The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Collider, Liberty Wings, Solomon’s Keep

And so we reach the final Trawler Report of the year. We’ve seen some fantastic freebies over the past 12 months, and some absolutely stinky Crap Apps.

All have been memorable in their own way.

We’re not finished yet, though. This week’s mix will be perfect distractions during the endless re-runs and nauseating family films you’ll be forced to watch over the coming days.

We’ve got a physics puzzler, an old skool shooter with a twist, an epic outer-space MMO, and a dungeon-crawling action game. Something for pretty much everyone, I’d say.

Have a good break, whatever you’re doing. See you back here in 2011.

Collider!
By Berkeley Malagon
Type Full

Another of those moreish physics-based puzzlers, Collider has you placing positive and negatively charged balls into the field of play. The goal is to make them collide with one another.

Naturally, level furniture and assorted gadgets interfere, requiring increasingly convoluted solutions like flicking switches or using a solid ball to play particle pool.

The App Store isn’t short of games like this, but Collider is simple, accessible fun. And it’s free, so go and download it.

Get Collider! here

Liberty Wings
By Digital Reality
Type Full

On the surface, Liberty Wings looks like another old skool 2D WWII-themed shooter – and a pretty average one at that. Where it stands out, though, is in the variety of game styles it offers up.

As well as the default vertical blasting, there are levels where things switch to a MiniSquadron-style side-on view. Others have you free-flying around picking out targets to bomb.

In truth, none of these elements in isolation is spectacular, but they combine to form a nicely – and pretty uniquely - varied shoot-‘em-up package.

Get Liberty Wings here

Outer Empires
By Iron Will Studios
Type Freemium

If epic space-faring is your thing, there aren’t all that many options on the iPhone. The Galaxy on Fire series is your best bet, but what then?

Iron Will Studios’s Outer Empires is as good a next step as any. While it offers a more zoomed-out, less cinematic, less action-oriented approach, its rewards come from its MMO structure. Factions can be joined, ventures started, goods sold – all involving your fellow gamers.

If you want to get on in the game world, you’ll need to choose one of the subscription packages, but at least now you can get a taster for free.

Get Outer Empires here Pick of the week

Solomon’s Keep
By Raptisoft
Type Full

We covered the sequel to Solomon’s Keep – Solomon’s Boneyard – back in October. Somewhat surprisingly, though, the first game is the more involved experience.

Whereas Boneyard goes for twin-stick arena combat thrills, Keep is a more open, adventurous game. It’s a twin-stick action-RPG of sorts, with movement set to a left virtual stick and spell-casting to the right.

Tying it all together is a level-up system that proves predictably compelling.

Whether you’re a fan of dungeon-crawling RPGs or twin-stick shooters, there’s plenty to like in Solomon’s Keep.

Get Solomon's Keep here Crap apps

Avi Cule
By Narada Robotics
Type Full

What better way to send your loved one a Christmas message of love and good will than to email them a creepy 3D representation of an old man, dressed in a Barcelona football shirt, who lip-syncs your recorded message?

I can’t think of one.

In fairness, Avi Cule’s 3D talking head isn’t bad from a technical perspective, in a 2005 first-person shooter kind of way. It’s just that its application here is so odd and… well, pointless.

On the plus side, it would be a great way to scare younger members of the family. Use it to warn them to behave over the holidays and they’ll doubtless fall in line – although they might not sleep for the duration as a result.