Yeah, so who would have thought I'd be making a thread like this? Though I know at least 3 other people on the boards with an iOS device of some sort (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad)...so now I have one and have been using it for games. LETS TALK!
I've been acquiring games for my iPod Touch for the last month or so. I have over 100, and amazingly I only had to pay for 3 of them. Not only are games dirt cheap as a general rule, but to boost themselves onto the Top 100 or Top-whatever list in the app store companies will lower their prices quite often, including having it completely free for a day or two. If you keep your eyes open you can get some cool stuff. But who has that kind of time (other than me)?
Thats where a handful of sites come in really handy.I will list them for you:
OpenFeint: OpenFeint is kind of like...Games for Windows Live for the iOS. It handles achievements and stuff, all in one account so you can compare them, have leaderboards, blah blah. Anyway, they talk to game makers and have them release their game for free for a day.
FAAD: FreeAppADay. It doesnt do the achievement stuff, its just about free games. And apps, I guess.
Free App Alert: If you don't want to look at the others, then look here. Usually it lists the same things as the others above, plus a bunch more. Every day a list of 40 or so free apps is updated. Not all games, but a good list to look at.
AppShopper: A very useful site. Makes it easy to browse and sort to find free or cheap stuff. If you sign up on the site, you can make a Wishlist of apps you want and they can send you an email (or update an RSS feed) telling you when the price drops on the things you want. This site also lists the price history of each app, so you can see if anything you're looking at has been cheaper or evern free in the past, and how often thats happened. Some apps fluctuate in price often so it can help you decide if its worth waiting for another sale.
AppShopper, FAAD, and Openfeint also all have their own apps for the devices themsevles, so you can just load them up real quick and see whats available. Handy.
There are also so-called "freemium" games, where they are free but have a catch of some sort. Some are microtransaction hellholes that should be avoided. Others, though, are free with some ads and you can pay a buck or two to remove the ads. Otherwise the game is really free. Those aren't so bad and generally need to be good to get people to want the ads removed. Words With Friends is an example.
So thats how I've gotten a bunch of free stuff. Now...is any of it good? There is a LOT of complete crap out there. I've tried my best to only grab things that sound good, but you still end up with stinkers. I've only had my iPod for two days and haven't tried everything yet, but I can talk about some.
Words With Friends: Scrabble, basically. Its free, but has ads. $1 removes them. It has asynchronous multiplayer, so you can play a move and its uploaded to the server. The person you're playing with gets notified and can take their turn when they get a chance. Its like play by email, only more automated. Ads pop over the screen after you've made a move, but as long as you're not playing in "real time" against someone then its not so bad. If you get into it it's probably worth it to pay to have them removed.
Chess With Friends: Same as above, only with chess.
Martian Chess: Formerly "Lunar Chess", but they took the game rules from Martian Chess so renamed it to match since people complained. Its half of a chess board, and each player owns half. There are fewer pieces, and only one really matches an actual chess piece (the queen). Anyway, the trick is you own everything on your side of the board. So if your opponent sends a queen over to kill one of your pieces, now you own his queen. Its pretty cool, with AI to play against.
Mega Jump: There are a lot of games like this on the app store, but this one seems pretty polished. Big vertical open space, and you fly up. As you fly up you collect coins which keep you boosting up. There are also powerups to grab to help you along. Control is just tilting the device left or right. Not a bad time killer.
Mooncake Share: Simple game. 4 creatures around the table. In the middle these cake slices appear and you swipe them to which plate you want them on. The rabbits want cakes with all the pieces the same, and dragons want cakes where all the pieces are different. Score points, then end. Another fun time waster.
Line drawing games: This is a genre more than any individual game. There are a lot of these...but I can see why. They play well on a touch screen. The big one is Flight Control. Top down view, colored planes come flying onto the screen. You draw a line from the plane to the runway so it can land. Do the same for helicopters. Make sure they don't crash into each other. There are lots of clones and variations. Personally I like Valet Hero (free with ads, pay to remove), where you have to park cars in a parking lot. Match the car to the space, and you earn more points depending on how well you parked.
Real Racing: Surprisingly well done racing game. Reminds me of Gran Turismo 2 in a way. Controls are pretty simple, with acceleration happening automatically. Touch the screen to brake and tilt to steer. Works well, looks good. I only have the demo version, but its nice.
Star Dunk: Another time killer game, but has an interesting feature. Gameplay is just making basketball shots. The ball appears in a random spot so you aim and set power with your finger and score points. Light up the backstop to gain powerups. The interesting feature is the "multiplayer". At times while playing and connected to the internet, a contest will start and everyone is automatically a part of it. So you go and try score as many points as possible before the contest ends. Times up, they show a leaderboard and give awards. Kind of a cool passive multiplayer contest.
Zombies Ate My Baby: This one was free a couple days ago and I wasn't expecting much. You're pretty much a stationary turret in the middle of the screen and have to tap to shoot the zombies before they get to you. Another time waster, but not bad. There are some nice comics to read as you go along, and its totally worth the game for the theme song.
And now...Pocket Frogs. This is my current addiction and its almost a non-game. Or at least not something you play for the gameplay itself. You breed frogs. Thats it. So you get a frog and take it to the pond. The pond is a bunch of randomly generated lilypads that you jump all over and catch dragonflies. This makes your frog happy. If you find another frog, you can jump on it and breed them. You'll get an egg in your nursery.
The trick is in the colors and patterns of the frogs. Each frog has a base color, a secondary color, and a design. You can breed just to make cool looking frogs, but the game has a bunch of achievement-like goals to reach by breeding specific frogs. Theres something like 13,000 different frogs to breed so making a specific one can be a challenge. You can also breed frogs to simply sell for gold to buy items in the game, like happiness bonuses for their habitats.
The game is free, and there are microtransactions but so far I don't see a need for them unless you are impatient. Things happen in real time and the microtransaction stuff just speeds that up, but you can just not play for an hour or whatever and you'll eventually get to where you need to be. For example, a frog can take 30 minutes to go from hatched to mature (only mature frogs can breed). You can either wait that out, or go to the pond and catch dragonflies (each one takes a minute or two off the time), or you can buy a potion that does it instantly. There are also gifts that spawn in the pond and these can contain new frogs, new habitats, net items for your habitats, potions, or stamps. So everything can be acquired without having to pay anything.
You can trade frogs with your friends, which makes breeding easier. You need stamps to send (find them in gifts or buy them...I prefer finding them).
So...uh, play this so we can trade frogs!
So yeah, thats about as far as I got on games. I've tried some other not really worth mentioning. A lot of games are nothing more than your typical flash game...but now they want to charge for it. Only a handful with any real depth or more than just a distraction while waiting for the bus.
So I'll try keep this thread updated if I happen to find a cool game, especially if its a free one.
