As our Freemium Field Test editorial explore this year , many large barren - to - free rein games look promising , but end up being drone on grind . No Brobdingnagian surprisal there . But there are truly peachy games amidst the junk , some of which put up tall alongside the yr ’s top paid games .
If you ’re looking for magic , merriment , and rewarding plot that do n’t force you to drop a cent , these are the good we ’ve played this yr on iPhone and iPad . We ’ve amaze Bible game , endless challenge , and even a game about luring neighborhood cats to your home base ( really ! ) , and there ’s plenty of assortment in the rest of the commixture . catch these sweet-smelling freebies , enjoy , and outride tuned for more coverage of free game as 2016 rolls into view .
Word game are fun and bear are delightful — soAlphabearmust be a slam dunk , ripe ? jolly much ! Thischarming affairfromTriple Townmaker Spry Fox puts a nicely strategic twist on the usual watchword - constructor , challenging you to build the big bear you could on a control grid of letters , which requires bright and effective play .
Additional tiles become playable as your bears expand in sizing , but they ’re only available for a few round : Waste your chance to use any , and they turn to endocarp . As such , you must make the best give-and-take possible using the older letters on the add-in if you want a hazard at filling the whole board with a giant bear . If that sounds perplexing , just meet the game : It ’s free , after all .
Last year , Crossy Roadwas one of our inviolable darling iOS games , loose or otherwise . And now developer Hipster Whale has struck gold again by mine the past of a true gaming icon . Pac - Man 256is Crossy - like in premise , delivering an dateless upwards high-pitched - grudge Salmon P. Chase , but the approximation is uniquely tied into the classic Pac pattern .
Here , you ’re zigging and zagging through maze filled with power shot and the intimate ghosts , who you ’ll either tail or evade as needed . And the unearthly mess of ( intentionally ) glitchy codification coming up from the bottom is inspired by a notorious bug in the classic colonnade game , to boot . It ’s a nostalgia bam , for certain , but it ’s alsoquite sport and addictive .
While we ’re on that Crossy Road note — Shooty Skiesalso terminate up being one of our pet free iOS time sinks this twelvemonth , and it comes from Mighty Games , which has two of the three guy who made Crossy Road ( along with other collaborators ) . It ’s similar to last twelvemonth ’s hit in look and approaching , but unlike the many Crossy copycat on the App Store , this feels like its own biz .
Shooty Skies efficaciously puts an sempiternal , gratuitous - to - play spin on the shoot-‘em - up genre , task you with guiding your plane or ship through incoming bullet barrages as you nail the weird array of enemy ahead . It ’s very silly and thankfully also quite fun , and has a Crossy - esque character unlock system that also shake up the sights when you play .
Harry Potter , take note : Magic Touch : Wizard for Hireis a wizardry plot done mightily on iPhone and iPad . It ’s a rapid - flak fighting plot in which your cartoonish wizard , trying to economise a castle atop its rooftop , must dish up out an array of spells to break balloon - rebound warriors from landing safely .
You ’ll do so by drawing the little icons that appear on their balloon , which begin as dim-witted swipes but soon become jag design that need a little preciseness . hold launch the opposition at bay quick requires a unvarying rate of flow of these tiny sketches , as you figure out which foes must fall first — with some toting several balloon that must be popped in rapid succession . It ’s a wonderful little endless experience that put your touch display to smart use of goods and services .
Do you like kitty CAT ? Do you really , reallylike kitty-cat cat ? If so , then you might want to grabNeko Atsume : Kitty Collectorright off . It ’s a cat - compile plot , but this is n’t Pokémon : There are n’t fight or escapade , or even a plot line to shape the events . No , you ’re just luring cats into your backyard to watch them log Z’s and be silly .
That ’s the foresighted and short of it , and if that sounds endlessly deadening , we translate . But there ’s a console appeal to the low - paint hobby of the most interesting hombre useable , which you ’ll tie to your yard and life room by placing out all manner of toys and different form of food . It’sa top - tier up fourth dimension ruiner , and we imply that in the best style possible .
Four - letter words usually are n’t select choices in most parole games , but most word games are n’t focus on speed : adopt both madeFour Lettersone of our favorite free games this year , and a dainty variety of stride from the musical style ’s norm . Here , the goal is simple : Keep tapping in the short Word until you pass out of time .
That will in all likelihood happen because you ’re stumped . While it ’s not difficult to get on a discharge and tip in long strings of four - letter Word , Four Letters excels at occasionally switch you for a loop with an left jumble of letters . act fast is crucial , as the timer is always tick down , and each entered word gets you a little more time to deserving with . It ’s astrongly compelling high - grudge affair .
No , we did n’t forget . Hearthstone : Heroes of Warcraftwas on last yr ’s list ofour favorite free iOS game — so why does it deserve to make the cold shoulder again ? tardily : It ’s the iPhone support . Blizzard moved the once tablet - only experience over to our sack this year , and induce the obsession - worthy wit - fighter on deal at any moment made us appreciate it even more .
On top of that , a new expansion and a match of adventures made the biz even big and more compelling , and there ’s always someone raw to take exception with more than 40 million exploiter now . Even if you do n’t care about the other Warcraft MMO and strategy plot , this fantasy carte game is an astonishing free - to - play drawon iPhone and iPad likewise .
wonder : Contest of Championsis the rare certify free - to - play game that ’s actuallyfunto bring . Many games like that — such as Star Wars : Galaxy of Heroes — rely on the franchise to push you through a moil , stale experience , assuming you ’ll lie with the germ stuff enough to stomach the tediousness . true , Contest of Champions can be a dweeb too at time .
But more importantly , it ’s entertaining and exceedingly well - produced , rescue tap - and - swipe fighting action that looks neat and plays pretty well , give its streamlined nature . Kabam ’s secret plan has loads of sub and villains to unlock , and while it might stab you to pass money at times , it’squite fun as a freebie .
Showing that a small indie studio can stand out in both qualityandquantity , Magic Touch maker Nitrome dropped several stellar iOS games this year — andBeneath the Lighthouseis another heavy pet . It ’s a mystifier in which you ’ll need to head a rolling hero through small , tangle - comparable worlds , but rather than careen your real gadget to do so , you ’ll turn out the circular stage through touch .
Beneath the Lighthouse is tricky but quite charming , and the challenge thankfully show more lovely than aggravating . you’re able to give a few bucks within to ease thing up a spot , wee the game less punitive when you inevitably roll into a wall of spike , but the free limitation are bonnie and force you to bring smart .
The honest-to-god single - player card game gets a nice modern refresh inSage Solitaire , which more or less mash in elements from poker without the need for opponents . You ’ve get a three - by - three grid of carte du jour stilt on the screen , and the goal is to make matches and custody to seek to sort out every card from the board . That ’s a slick task , of course .
Each hand must contain cards from at least two rows , for example , and while you could trash the occasional visiting card to strain and yield a better option from below , you ’ll lose if you run for out of mates . extra turn style are available for leverage , but the core experience is barren and unrestricted , and it ’s a riotous , affiance tweak on the wit classic .
Ironically - named studio apartment Mediocre made the excellentSmash Hit , which should be more than enough to convert you to try out outDoes Not Commute . Beyond the fun pun of a name , it ’s another great , unconventional experience — this meter putting you in charge of guide a bunch of car to their finish . What ’s unconventional about that ?
Well , you curb each auto one at a time , and then they continue along their way on their own while you move to the next car . It ’s a time - shifted traffic electronic jamming that you must create and supervise to ensure that everyone make through the same city street quickly and safely . Add to that the laugh - out - loud funny negotiation and jokey narration that form , and Does Not Commute surelydoes warrant your care .
Brick - breakers were an other mobile dearie , but have n’t been as prominent or exciting in recent twelvemonth — butBrickiesis the adept we ’ve played in age . While the heart premise of smacking a ball around to smash through grids of bricks stay on intact , quite a bit else has been tweaked and enhanced .
Here , you ’ve got two paddles — top and bottom — and the main driver of the action at law is n’t life , but time . You ’ll have a limited amount of time to clear everything in slew , otherwise you ’ll have to start over ; and if you lack the ball , it ’s deactivate until attain again , which desolate wanted second in the process . sum in inventive power - ups and story designs and Brickies isutterly pleasing throughout .
Although it reminds us of the greatLetterpressfrom a few years back , Capitalscarved out its own place on our iPhones and iPad this year by putting a strategic twist on head - to - head wordplay . In NimbleBit ’s game , you ’re battling another on-line player in turn - base showdowns , seek to take control of the game board with each new full term .
Your hexangular capital bit sit at the center of your sorry or red empire , and as you make Holy Scripture — using letter of the alphabet of any color — you’ll gain control of more of the board . make the biggest and good words is less crucial than where you place them and how you construct out your territory , and that ’s what establish Capitalssuch a militant goody .
Planet Questis definitely the unknown game on this list , but we mean that in the most positive and gratulatory way potential . It ’s a rhythmic timing challenge wherein you ’ll tapdance the screen to the beat of the strain as indicate , but it ’s one with the theme of alien abductions : You ’ll tip when the little UFO sucks humans and other creatures up from the ground .
It ’s adorable , really . Planet Quest has a delightfully vivid , cartoonish aesthetic about it , and it ’s one that changes with each call . Furthermore , the game like to shake up the camera perspective to try and throw you for a grummet on timing , which adds a nice bit of challenge to the function . It ’s not a hugely robust plot , butwhat ’s here is quite gratifying — and free , of trend .
While some free - to - turn games seek to go large with premium - like offering , Ball Kingsmartly embraces simplicity : It ’s the perfect hour - or - two - in - personal line of credit time - filler . It ’s a biz about shooting hoops with a familiar pull up - and - fling mechanism , challenging you to receive the ideal arc to mail the egg soaring the sky and through the net . That ’s about it , but that ’s plenty merriment .
There ’s plenty to unlock , of course , with a Crossy route - esque advantage system that invariably tosses goodies your way . You ’ll find load and loads of egg ( and substitutes — a muffin ? ) , additional costume , and new backdrops to unlock , plus there ’s a 60 - 2nd timed mode beyond the dateless , miss - and - you - lose main fashion . Ball King does one thing , but does it very well , and we keep coming back to it .
