Welcome to another edition of MakeUseOf’s free iPad games column. This month, it’s all about arcade. Be it shooting, running, slicing or rolling, no one is immune to the addiction of arcade games.
If you don’t want to spend the next few hours playing, save this post for later. Otherwise, dive into the world of arcade games, and find your next addiction. As always, if you know of a great game that should be featured here, be sure to let us know.
Temple Run [iTunes]
Temple Run is by no means a new game on the iPad gaming scene, but it is nonetheless one of the most addictive ones. If you haven’t yet realized how much fun this game is, I urge you to give it a try. If at first you die quickly, try try again. After 3-4 runs you won’t be able to stop.
The object in Temple Run is simple – run. On your way, you can collect coins and power ups, and with time, unlock all sorts of goodies. You’re not just running for fun, though. There are evil zombie monkey bats on your tail, and they won’t hesitate to eat you if you slow down even for a split second. The game is controlled by swiping and tilting, and is really exciting to play on the iPad.
PewPew [iTunes]
PewPew is an extremely fun retro-looking shooting game, which is absolutely free. There are five different game modes, in which you have to shoot or dodge enemies, collect goodies, etc, and it’s all made up of really basic lines and colors.
You can make use of two joysticks: one for moving your spaceship, the other one for aiming and shooting. Once you grasp the control system, you’re ready to start shooting for dear life. I especially recommend the “Chromatic Conflict” game mode, in which you can shoot only enemies who share the same color as your spaceship. You can change your own color during the game to go after enemies of any color.
A War On Geometry HD [iTunes]
War on Geometry is similar in concept to PewPew, but provides a very different experience. In War on Geometry, you control your ship by moving it around with your finger, and shoot your enemies by aiming at them with another finger. This control scheme is rather confusing at first, but you quickly get the hang of it.
War on Geometry starts out much more challenging the PewPew, and I was having difficulties finishing the first level at the easiest difficulty. But things start moving along once you get used to the game. There are 3 difficulty levels with 20 levels to play in each. The full version of the game is currently free ,and if that changes, you can try out the free version.
Labyrinth 2 HD Lite [iTunes]
If you love Labyrinth games, get ready for the motherlode of them all. Labyrinth 2 brings lots of new challenges and game elements to the Labyrinth gameplay, and provides an awesome playing experience on the iPad. Once you start, you’re going to have serious problems putting it down.
There are quite a lot of boards to play on, and different difficulty levels as well. There is also a multiplayer mode, where you can play against friends over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The full game is currently $7.99, but the free version is quite enough for hours of entertainment.
Fruit Ninja: Puss In Boots Lite [iTunes]
The lite version of this game is merely more the a demo, unfortunately, but I decided to include it for several reasons. One, it’s absolutely fun. Two, the full game is only $0.99, which is quite a deal. The game is a cute mash-up between Fruit Ninja and Shrek’s Puss in Boots character. It turns the Fruit Ninja game into a challenge which is divided into acts, which in turn are divided into 4 mini-challenges.
A challenge can be anything from slicing 15 plums to cracking a coconut. There are two acts available in the free version, and you can play these over and over again and try to improve your score. The challenges are not exactly the same every time you play, so you’re not going to get bored quickly. When you complete a task successfully, it’s marked with a a green check mark. If you fail, it’s crossed over with a red X and you can’t try again until the next game.
Final Note
I’m always on the lookout for great iPad games, so don’t hesitate to send over your game if you think it should be featured. Which games you find most addictive on your iPad? Is there a game you simply cannot put down?
If you’re more into puzzle games, be sure to check out last week’s puzzle edition. And stay tuned for the next edition, especially if you love classic games!