The free iPhone game Trawler Report: Dropple, Aqua Moto Racing, Ash

Welcome back for another bout of free iPhone game recommendations.

Each selection is guaranteed to have you smiling guiltily, like you’ve just gotten away with a multi-million pound robbery scot free.

With one notable exception, this week’s selection of freebies goes to prove that you should never judge a book by its cover. They’re not much to look at, but persist with them and you’ll be richly rewarded.

If our recommendations are full of hidden depths, then this week’s Crap App simply sinks to new depths of incompetence. Stay well away.

GrandPar Golf
By Com2uS
Type Full

It has to be said that Com2uS’s bizarre little golf game looks and plays a little like a poor man’s Let’s Golf!. But that’s no disgrace, given the excellence of Gameloft’s series.

The sub-par graphics betray the game’s humble mobile origins, but GrandPar Golf isn’t a bad game by any means.

It has a fun two-tap swing system, some well-designed courses, and an unusual premise whereby your OAP golfer gets ever younger as his abilities improve. Far from essential, GrandPar Golf is certainly worth checking out if you’re a golf fan on a tight budget.

Get GrandPar Golf here

Dropple
By Foundation Mobile
Type Full

Dropple’s appeal is disguised by some pretty ordinary visuals, but don’t let its plain Jane looks put you off. It’s one of the most fiendishly addictive freebies of the week.

You guide a perpetually bouncing ball around a succession of levels, collecting coins while avoiding falling off into oblivion.

It would be overly simplistic in most circumstances, but the delicate accelerometer controls and some incredibly exacting levels (of which there are over 100) conspire to reel you in. OpenFeint integration finishes the package off nicely.

Get Dropple here

Ash
By SRRN Games
Type Full

Are you one of those sad saps who sits there wistfully yearning for the classic RPGs produced in the 16-bit era? Then Ash is for you. Okay then, you got me. Ash is for us.

Taking the simple top-down 2D graphics, typical fantasy setting and turn-based battles of the golden age of RPGs, Ash sharpens the edges and makes it all fit snugly on a touch screen.

It’s all set off nicely with some surprisingly sharp writing that’s definitely not reminiscent of the poorly translated fare you might be used to in games of this kind. An absolute steal for free.

Get Ash here Pick of the week

Aqua Moto Racing
By Resolution Interactive
Type Full

“It is, quite simply, the best water racer on the iPhone” said our very own Keith Andrew in his Aqua Moto Racing review almost two years ago.

Amazingly, that statement stood until very recently – and that was when the sequel arrived, bringing with it the usual graphical boosts and gameplay tweaks. Still, that’s not free for Thanksgiving. This is.

Resolution Interactive’s first effort remains a thrillingly slick arcade racer with well calibrated tilt-controls and a finely weighted “get as close to the buoys as you can” bonus boost mechanic. It’s a splash.

Get Aqua Moto Racing here Crap apps

Party Cup Maker Free
By Scott Falbo
Type Full

It’s the season of festivities for much of the world, which is obviously where the developer of Party Cup Maker though he’d nip in with a related app. Unfortunately, he failed to think of anything approaching a solid idea, and put this drivel out instead.

The idea here is to design a party cup. You pick a rubbishy-looking template, then stick on some tacky-looking gems and letters. You can change the background to four different tacky pictures. Then… well, I don’t really know what you’re supposed to do then. Save it and start on another one, it seems.

Party Cup Maker Free has no practical value – it won’t help even if you do, by some chance, want to design some cups for a party. It also has less functionality than a copy of MS Paint, and is much less fun than simply doodling your ideas on a piece of paper.

It is, quite simply, one of the most useless and – yes – crap apps in the history of crap apps.