The Trawler Report: Zen Bound, RastaMonkey and the unloveable Lovescore ease us out of the Easter break

The chocolate eggs have been eaten, the ensuing indigestion has almost died down and dozens of poor chicks have been locked away in cupboard drawers until next year. Okay, hopefully not the last bit, but the return to work does bring about a certain lull that can't be cured by cute and fluffy animals alone.

It can be cured by a new batch of iPhone and iPod touch freebies, though. There are a couple that we've been waiting for a while this week too, including a Lite version of one of our favourite iPhone games ever, Zen Bound.

From retro arcade hits to iPhone exclusives, there's quite a range of fun to be had in this week's report, so forget your office woes for a minute and remember: a chick is for life, not just for Easter.

The best free iPhone games in the App Store

Chopper Lite
By Magic Jungle
What is it? A game about flying a helicopter
Type Demo

It’s taken quite a while for Chopper Lite to land on the App Store’s freebie helipad. When we reviewed it back in July we were impressed with its accelerometer controlled airborne action and gave it a Silver Award. It’s a side scrolling game where you have to save hostages while avoiding the fire of enemy units.

Chopper offers a fairly simple gaming experience but wins enough points thanks to its fun controls, which make it a must for any action fans. The Lite version lets you play the first five missions. The full version contains 20, but it's pretty generous for a freebie.

Fruit Juice Tycoon Lite
By Minoraxis
What is it? It’s a finger-taxing fruit juice serve ’em up
Type Demo

We’ve seen a lot of serving sims on the App Store, but Fruit Juice Tycoon breaks from the traditional mould a little. Instead of rushing around from table to table, you have to match three symbols representing various fruits in order to prepare the juices, while carefully timing the pouring of drinks so that you don’t over or under fill the cups.

As mundane as it may sound, it works as a game. The Lite version lasts a while, too, letting you play quite a few levels of orange-squeezing action as well as giving you a taste of the between-levels concerns of upgrading your juice shack and buying stock.

RastaMonkey Lite
By Nitako
What is it? A tree-jumping, monkey-slinging plat former
Type Demo

We were very keen on RastaMonkey at review. You play as a dextrous little ape, swinging from tree to tree to gather fruit for your rasta monkey elder. It employs touchscreen controls that take a little while to get used to, so be prepared to fall off your perch a few times. However, the uplifting cuteness of RastaMonkey wins you over, helping to smooth over any memories of frustration.

The Lite version includes the first three levels of the full game. The full version is dead cheap at the moment, too, so check out RastaMonkey Lite as soon as possible, mon.

Galaga Remix Lite
By Namco
What is it? It’s two versions of the classic arcade blaster
Type Demo

Although the 'Remix' of the title rightly suggests that this package includes a suped-up version of the arcade space blaster classic, Namco has also been kind enough to include a warts and all classic version. In fact, the old dear hasn’t aged too badly. Pixels the size of cadillacs aside, its retro charms haven’t quite worn out.

The Remix mode features improved visuals, a landscape aspect ratio and a learning curve a good deal more forgiving than the original Galaga, thank heavens. The lite version lets you play through a couple of levels of each mode, and lets you sample each of the three control methods.

Freebie Pick of the Week

Zen Bound Lite
By Chillingo
What is it? It’s a genius puzzle game, not to mention a contender for best iPhone game
Type Demo

Breathe in and out, align your chakras and cleanse your aura for one of the best experiences you can currently have on your iPhone or iPod touch. We thought so much of Zen Bound that we bestowed it with one of our Platinum Awards.

If that’s not enough to convince you that Zen Bound is worth your money, Chillingo has kindly offered us a Lite version. The idea of the game is to wrap rope around objects. An area, or aura if you prefer, around the rope colours the surface of the object.

The aim is to cover as much of the object’s surface using as little rope as possible. Zen Bound is as much about the experience of the sound and visuals as the game objectives themselves, and is perfect for a few minutes of quiet meditation. The Lite version gives you two objects to wrap up.

Crap App Box of Shame Award

Lovescore Lite
By Iceblink
What is it? It's worse than astrology
Type Demo

People looking for a partner may get desperate sometimes, but such desperation can't be used as excuse for everything. We're not talking anything criminal here either, just embarrassingly cringy behaviour. Lovescore is an application pitched right between the eyes of those that pick petals off flowers in 'he loves me, he loves me not fashion'.

You input your name and the name of your prospective partner and Lovescore comes out with a percentage telling you how compatible you are. Without a sense of humour in its presentation or even any surrounding mumbo jumbo to reel in the truly gullible, Lovescore is completely and utterly pointless. There's even a version they expect you to pay for too, for shame.

If you absolutely do have to buy Lovescore, make sure you delete it before anyone sees. If you go find yourself out on a date with someone who has it nestled within their iPhone's app menu, look for an escape route straight away.