Top 10 best free Android games (2011)

While we patiently wait for the Amazon Appstore and its wonderful free daily deals to permanently pop up outside of the US, the hunt for literally priceless Android games is limited to two main avenues.

On the one hand, you have the official Android Market (a place where finding new games often requires heavy duty gloves to delve through the detritus of ‘Sexy Lady’ games and crummy clones), and on the other, GetJar’s Gold app service.

You need an app from the main site to download the latter, but once you've done that, finding and downloading stacks of quality free content is just a click away.

Yes, many of the games featured on GetJar are starting to grey around the temples, but if you missed them first time around, then there are some handheld treats to unearth for zero outlay.

We’ve handpicked a selection of the best completely free (no in-app purchasing here) titles available. If we have missed off your favourite gratis game, do pop a friendly little recommendation in the comments below and some good karma will be heading your way.

Like a cheerily demented mash-up of Peggle and Cut the Rope, Coin Drop is the kind of physics-puzzler that jangles with chirpy looks and deceptively tricky design. Plus, unlike the iOS original, the Android version is (aside from a few ads and optional level packs) completely free. Cue ‘kerching’ sound effect.

Ostensibly, your goal is simple: drop coins from the top of the screen into the neat little slots at the bottom. The trick comes from getting each coin past the multifarious items impeding your otherwise simple journey and hitting all the Bad Pennies - necessary to unlock the next stages - along the way.

As the levels progress, you’ll navigate pins, rotating discs, breakable blocks, wormholes, magnets, lasers (yes, lasers), and earn points for each one you get past.

Impeccable timing of your coin drops is the key here, but lady luck needs to be on your side, too - a problem that starts to rankle as the levels get larger and more cluttered with items.

Following up hard-as-nails retro platformer Meganoid was always going to be tough, so Orange Pixel produced an even harder title in the shape of Stardash.

Looking and playing like a lost classic from the Game Boy, the pixel-perfect platforming can be punishing, yet the short levels mean giving it ‘just one more go’ can quickly turn into a dozen more attempts and a lot of hair torn out in the process.

Johnny Retro’s hazard-avoiding, enemy head-bouncing ways have a definite old skool charm about them, and if you have a more accurate physical controller to hand (rather than just a slippery touchscreen), it’s significantly less punishing.

Plus, if you don’t want to stump up any cash, the ad-supported version won’t cost you a dime, a Euro, or even one of our British pounds.

In the world of Survivathons, where the object is to live as long as possible and rack up ridiculous high scores to taunt your Facebook friends with, appearances are everything.

You’ve either got to be cute (Doodle Jump), fast (Canabalt), or feature unicorns and a looping Erasure soundtrack (Robot Unicorn Attack). Lane Splitter falls into the middle category, with its ever-increasing sense of speed really adding some pep to the otherwise simplistic gameplay.

You control a man so late for his wedding that he’s prepared to risk his neck racing through unpredictable traffic on a motorcyle. A motorbike that curiously picks up speed every 30 seconds or so, too.

Zipping in and out of lanes by tilting your handset is the only way to stay on track - and alive - but you can perform a wheelie by tapping or holding the screen (which sharply changes direction).

We doubt the poor hero will ever make it to the altar, yet you’ll have a decent amount of free fun trying to keep his suit from getting stained with car rubber, engine oil, and, probably, blood.

If Doodle Jump is more to your Survivathon (if we keep using the name, it might take off) taste, then you should point your bouncing shoes in NinJump’s direction.

It’s been knocking around on the Android Market for nearly a year now, but it’s a lot smoother and action-packed than the sluggish version available at launch.

The objective is simple: propel your mini-Ninja up between two neverending buildings by swiping either left or right on the screen. Avoiding hazards, like squirrels and birds, will get you far, but bagging the highest scores relies on slicing up as many of them as possible with your trusty katana.

Timing is crucial here, and while it seems a little slow at first, NinJump soon hooks you in with its deft controls and online leaderboards to taunt your weak skills.

Like good hearts these days, quality pool games can be hard to find. Glossy screenshots often conceal wonky physics or AI that doesn’t know one end of the cue from the other.

Not so Pool Master Pro, a free title that's designed to be fun and accessible, and pulls off this delicate balance with the smoothness of Paul Newman in The Hustler.

Wisely, the game sticks to a simple 2D overhead view, so no having to wrestle with a 3D camera here, thank you. You drag your cue around the white ball to pick an angle, using an projected on-screen path as a guide and determing the power of the shot via a simple slide.

The physics can seem a bit bouncy at first, but once you account for this by taking gentler shots, the game quickly feels more natural.

Games can be played solo or against the mostly consistent AI, and you can pass the handset around for some old skool multiplayer. There’s nothing groundbreaking in Pool Master Pro, to be honest, just a solid game of casual pool that’s perfect to keep in your pocket.

Yes, this creepy puzzler is only 60-odd pence on the Android Market, but if you download it through the GetJar store, you can play the full version for zilch.

You'll be downloading a solid title, too, that, while cute on the surface, is tougher than that black spider hiding under your sink right now - you should see that sucker (shudders).

Helpless flies are trapped in an arachnid’s web, with one or more of the eight-legged beasts moving in for a light lunch. The only way to rescue them is to either snip away at the crisscrossing web to cut the spiders completely off, or free every fly by snipping the web strands holding them in place.

Gameplay has a definite turn-based ring to it - you get one chop for each space of movement by the spider and its pals (often two or three appear in levels at once) - yet the emphasis is on puzzling over strategy, with most levels having only one solution.

Like shooing a reluctant spider out of a window, it can occasionally be a frustrating experience, but there are plenty of ‘Eureka!’ moments to keep patient players snipping away.

The follow-up to iOS survivathon (are you using it yet? Are you?) Monster Dash, Age of Zombies is an excellent twin-stick shooter blessed with a childish, scatological wit that can’t help but put a grin on you face.

Duke Nukem-alike Barry Steakfries is on a mission through time to destroy a zombie menace that just won’t stop coming. Furthermore, he gets to fight a dinosaur with grenades - something you can never do enough of.

While optimised for the Xperia Play’s physical controls, the virtual joysticks for moving and firing work pretty well on touchscreen phones, too.

The action is colourful, relentless, and surprisingly gory, and while it can get repetitive over the long haul, the varied locations keep the action flowing (the gangster zombies of 1930s Chicago are a particular highlight).

Downloading the free version from GetJar saves you nearly two shiny pound coins, so grab a copy and start blasting those zombies.

This puzzler, currently free from GetJar, is one of the finest Cut the Ropeclones to emerge on Android.

For some reason or other (it’s sensibly not explained), the only way to destroy some evil atoms is to fire tiny pandas at them from cannons. The WWF might frown on such wastage of rare creatures, but there’s no denying that propelling the cuddly critters into the air and then tethering them with gravity wires has an intrinsically zany appeal.

The wire brings pandas together like rubber bands, and, when timed right, can ping them around the screen to collect the stars needed to unlock the next level.

With spikes and other hazards out to stop you, though, it’s never easy, and sometimes the unpredictability of the gravity mechanic can make deaths unfair or success a matter of luck over skill.

Still, occasional difficulty spikes aside, Nano Pandas remains a cute puzzler that’s well worth a try while it’s free to play.

Worthy of a six-gun salute, Guns ‘n’ Glory’smore hands-on approach to tower defence has deservedly won it legions of followers on iOS and Android.

Perhaps it’s because, for once, you’re not defending a base from an enemy onslaught, but instead you're trying to pick off helpless settlers as they try to flee through the Wild West. Frankly, being the bad guy rules.

With enemies popping up from spawn points around the canyon-filled maps, it’s your job to manually drag your handpicked selection of bandits around to ensure not one wagon makes it through.

This is significantly more involving than upgrading static towers, and the cartoony visuals make the action a hoot to watch. Guns ‘n’ Glory should be top of any strategy fans Wanted list, so GetJar’s free download is worth a celebratory hoedown.

If you’ve made it through this list with your eyeballs and thumbs intact, then you’re probably in need of something to soothe the nerves and the mind - something like Quell.

Currently free from GetJar, this polished puzzler is one of those rare titles that can lull you into a zen-like state.

Basically, all you do is guide a vulnerable raindrop around some increasingly complex mazes, while picking up collectibles in as a few moves as possible. The simple swipe-to-move controls work beautifully, and the laidback tunes and gentle visuals enhance the soporific mood.

Mechanics-wise, it’s not the most original title around, but it’s the gaming equivalent of a meditation tape, and sometimes that’s just what you need after a hard day at the office / coal mine / controls of a futuristic jet.