The free iPhone game Trawler Report: 1000, Gedda Headz, Soosiz

This week’s selection of free games was the most tightly contested for quite some time.

There have been a load of excellent Lite versions released, one or two gems on the always-reliable FreeAppADay initiative, and the small matter of ten Glu games being made available for free. How do you pick through that lot?

Just to bring us all back down to earth in time for the weekend, there’s the weekly Crap App pick. This one has all the things we love to hate in an app – a questionable concept, poor execution, and developer blurb that’s jam-packed with unintentional double entendres.

Read on to find out more.

1000: Find ‘Em All
By Glu
Type Full

Glu has been holding a bit of a bumper sale this week, with the likes of Glyder and Bonsai Blast going for free. I thought I’d pick out 1000, though, as it’s a delightful little game that tries some interesting elements.

At heart it’s a heavily Nintendo-influenced RPG-lite, mixing Pokemon-style wandering and collecting with Animal Crossing-type item hoarding. However, it strikes out on its own with a clever location-based element.

Using both GPS, and wi-fi hotspots, the game awards you additional items simply by wandering around the real world.

Of course, you can just ignore all this and play the game as a straight-up adventure game, which is all part of its flexible appeal.

Cut the Rope Lite
By ZeptoLab
Type Demo

If you haven’t bought Cut the Rope yet, well, why on earth not? It really is a fabulous little physics-based puzzler, and this Lite version should serve to convince any remaining doubters.

The brains behind Parachute Ninja here have you swinging pieces of candy into the mouth of a ravenous Om Nom (a green fuzzy…thing). This is achieved by the strategic cutting of various lengths of rope, as well as the manipulation of assorted level furniture.

The Lite version features 18 levels, which should be more than enough to persuade you to upgrade to the full package.

Gedda Headz
By Acticom
Type Full

Gedda Headz has made its way over from the Java platform, but don’t let that put you off (you big snob, you). It’s a pretty unique offering that provides a solid basis for social gaming (including chat).

You have a persistent online profile – represented by your stylised Head – which levels up as you win online games. These games consist of stylised takes on simple classics such as Pairs and Connect Four.

Of course, the fact that you can challenge real people to play the games online makes each one far more interesting, as does the fact that you can use the points you gain against select real-life purchases (like Puma shoes). Well worth checking out.

Pick of the week

Soosiz
By Touch Foo
Type Full

Of all the traditional console genres, one of the hardest to get right on iPhone is the good old 2D platformer. In a genre all about feel and instinctive precision, having wishy-washy virtual controls is not ideal. Soosiz gets as close as any game on the App Store to achieving parity with console platformers – partly because of its sympathetic pace and decent control system, and partly because it nicks a lot of the best bits from the classics.

If you were summing it up in sentence, you’d call Soosiz a 2D Super Mario Galaxy. That’s because of its delightful 360-degree gameplay, which permits your cute little blob to wander all the way around each rounded platform.

This simple gravity-warping twist alone is enough to mark Soosiz out as special, but it’s backed up by some rock-solid platforming gameplay, loads of levels, and some gorgeously colourful visuals. Unmissable.

Crap apps

RubRub
By Vega Games
Type Full

“You can spend more pleasant time by enjoying playing RubRub with your friends.” If ever there was a more misleading recommendation from an app developer, I have yet to see it.

It also suggests that RubRub is going to be a lot more exciting than it is.

The idea is to rub the centre of the screen (a rather disconcerting pink spot) as much as possible within 45 seconds. Why you’d want to do this is a mystery, and any slim competitive urges you might have swiftly dissipate in a wave of boredom and aching finger tips.

On the other hand, it could also be viewed as the most fiendish puzzle game you’re ever likely to play. The developer lays down the challenge in the blurb: “Utilize it in a diverse way by making diverse rules with your friends.”

Anyone who can think of a single alternative way to derive pleasure from this game wins a million pounds*. Answers on a postcard.

^{*No prizes will be awarded for thinking of an alternative way to derive pleasure from RubRub.}