The free iPhone game Trawler Report: DrawRace, Into the Blue, Death Worm

So, 2010 has breathed its last and a new year – indeed a new decade – has begun in earnest.

Some things remain comfortingly familiar, though, such as the regular stream of quality free iPhone games. If you know where to look, of course.

Fortunately, you don’t even have to worry about that - we’ve rounded up another four of the best freebies on offer. Most, if not all of them, are available on time-limited offers, so get them while they’re hot.

Oh, and you know the drill with our weekly Crap app pick. Read, sneer, throw things if you have to. But do not, by any means, download the thing.

Whack ‘N Roll
By Ivan Thomas
Type Full

If one gaming concept remains stubbornly unreformed, it’s whack-a-mole. Pretty much every video game iteration has been a limited, shallow experience that completely fails to recognise that the appeal of the game is 99 per cent physical. Whack ‘N Roll realises this, and throws in a load of stuff that digital games excel at, like combos, mini-games, and irate birds.

As such it’s surprisingly involving, and suitably frenetic. Even if bashing animals in sequence isn’t your idea of fun, I’d urge you to give this a try. It’s free, after all.

Get Whack 'N Roll here

Into the Blue
By 2D Rockers
Type Full

What do you get when you mix a tower defence game, a twin-stick shooter and a line-drawing game? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but Into the Blue manages to get the balance of ingredients just right.

Your goal is to protect your transport ships by guiding them to your base, while fending off enemy attacks with your powerful twin-cannons. You also need to harvest crystals, which can be used to purchase additional defences.

Into the Blue manages to make this juggling act look comparatively simple, which is all part of its unique allure.

Get Into the Blue here

Death Worm
By PlayCreek
Type Full

Ever fantasised about being one of those giant worms from Tremors, then gobbling up a whole village-worth of people? Um, no, neither have I. Ahem.

Death Worm sits firmly in the category of ‘guilty pleasure,’ empowering you like no other game - well, except for Super Mega Worm, that is. This is better, though, as it’s a faithful conversion (and enhancement) of the original Flash game.

Viewed side-on, the games lets you control your giant beast (which is like a cross between a great white shark and a freight train) as it swims through dirt and leaps out of the ground, chowing down on people, ‘planes and camels.

Yes, camels.

Get Death Worm here Pick of the week

DrawRace
By RedLynx
Type Full

Maybe it’s just me, but I get the impression DrawRace is something of an overlooked classic. It’s got all the ingredients of a Flight Control, Angry Birds, or Cut the Rope-style casual gem, but I rarely see it mentioned in the same breath.

I suggest we all rectify that immediately. If you haven’t got RedLynx's slice of line-drawing racing, now’s the ideal time to do grab it.

It’s simple – you sketch a path for your little car around a 2D top-down track, slowing your finger for tight corners and picking up the pace on straights. Your car then follows your path to the best of its abilities. It’s genius.

Get DrawRace here Crap apps

BellyButton Free Navel
By Carl Herrmann
Type Demo

The belly button isn’t the most attractive or worthwhile area of the body. Not only does it lose its usefulness the moment you’re born, but it proceeds to spend the next 70 or 80 years attracting all manner of dirt and fluff.

Unless you have an outy, in which case it proves to be the source of much locker-room mockery. Either way, it’s not a particularly desirable thing.

Neither’s this free app, you’ll be unsurprised to hear. BellyButton Free Navel lets you tickle a zoomed-in picture of a belly button… except it’s not even a belly button. It’s an orange.

Anyway, if rubbing an orange to produce a selection of childish giggles is your kind of thing, you don’t need this app. You need psychiatric help.