Not all great games feature slick, cutting-edge graphics. And not all great games for the iPhone require you to shell out some hard-earned cash. Here are five free iPhone games that are short on graphics, but long on fun.
1. Flood-It!
Flood-It! (free, iTunes link) is a a colorful grid game. The object is to change all the tiles so they are all one color. You start with the tile in the top left corner and choose one of the colors that is touching that tile. The starting tile will change to match that color. From there, you must choose colors that touch your color “flood” until the the entire grid is one color. This is not hard, but, you must do it within 22 turns. Tip: try to flood to the opposite corner as fast as possible.
Flood-it! is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
2. PapiJump
PapiJump (free, iTunes link) is a simple and challenging bouncing game–with an emphasis on simple. Bounce Mr. Papi higher and higher using the random platforms. Direct him with the iPhone’s accelerometers. Overall, it’s a fast-moving and fun game. Just be careful to always land on a platform or the game is over.
Download PapiJump from the iTunes App Store.
3. Smart Sokoban Free
Smart Sokoban Free‘s (free, iTunes link) simple design belies the challenge of the game. The object is to push boxes around until they all rest in their predetermined landing spots (the gray boxes without white borders). The game is a combination of trial and error and being able to think a few moves ahead. Very challenging but satisfying to solve.
Smark Sokoban Free is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
4. ReMovem Free
ReMovem Free (free, iTunes link) is a colorful match game. Tap the dots connected to other same-colored dots to remove them. Doing so will collapse the surrounding dots. The object is to remove all the dots by getting the right dots to collapse onto each other.
ReMovem Free is a free download in the App Store.
5. FireDrop
FireDrop (free, iTunes link) is a match-three game with Tetris-like pacing. Tap the cauldrons that have 2 or more adjacent cauldrons with the same color to remove them and score points. But here’s the the rub: the more adjacent cauldrons you can remove at one time, the more points you get. How many can you leave on the board before you starting removing them? It’s a simple but fun game with pleasant music and sound effects.
FireDrop is a free download in the iTunes App Store.