Not all iPad games are created equal, especially when it comes to cost. You might download a great game only to fall into a trap of ugly graphics, bad controls and in-app purchases.
Lucky for you, we've tested 15 games for their fun factors — and they're all free. You'll find complicated strategy games, creative titles and games you can play against your friends.
Subway Surfers
Since Temple Run, top-down endless runners have been in vogue, with many great variations. Subway Surfers is worth recommending because the brightly colored levels offer variety as you swipe to duck, jump, dodge, climb ramps and collect coins.
As you run to escape the ever-present train conductor, the level gets exceedingly more difficult and requires quicker reflexes. The coins you collect in-game can be used to purchase revives after you get knocked out -- or you can purchase them for real money. You'll end up addicted to Subway Surfer as you try to beat your score.
Haunted Hollow
Firaxis games has a reputation of strong strategy games, like XCOM: Enemy Unknown and the Civilization franchise. The company's first attempt at an iOS strategy is just as high-quality as its PC and console games, and it's free.
Haunted Hollow is a turn-based strategy game in which you must construct a haunted house and send monsters to terrorize a nearby town. Your goal is to beat your opponent by taking over the town with your monsters. Haunted Hollow can be played against the computer, an opponent via network play, or with two players sharing the iPad.
Wizard Ops Tactics
If you're looking to duel it out in a traditional fantasy tactical game, Wizard Ops Tactics is for you. This game is part army building and part turn-based strategy, as you send out your army of wizards against opponents.
Wizard Ops Tactics has detailed environments in which to play, with terrain that can help or hurt players. A "fog of war" system shields your movements from your opponent until you meet face to face. Each wizard has spells rendered with dramatic effects that add a level of fun to the game, and the sounds effects, all created by the mouth of Michael Winslow of Police Academy fame, will make you want to wear headphones.
Wizard Ops Tactics provides you with one army, which you can upgrade as you play, or you can spring for more stuff in the store.
Super Monsters Ate My Condo
Adult Swim has a reputation for amazing mobile games, and Super Monsters Ate My Condo is no exception. This is probably one of the most twisted renditions on the match-3 gameplay format: You must match colors of precariously stacked condos to clear them and gain powerups. The only problem? Angry monsters surround your stack and threaten to topple it, unless you feed them the matching color buildings, or clear three of that color.
Super Monsters Ate My Condo is actually a free sequel to Monsters Ate My Condo. It added a time limit for games and boosts that can be activated with in-game currency. This game is highly addictive, and will definitely suck hours of your time as you click for one more turn.
Whale Trail
Sometimes the most interesting games just make no sense. Take Whale Trail, a game where you, a whale, harness the power of rainbows to fly through the clouds to escape an evil monster. You know, just like real life.
Whale Trail is an endless runner style game, where you only control the whale's altitude and descent by tapping the screen as it swoops among the clouds. Your goal is collect more rainbow fuel to keep it flying, and avoid the grumpy nimbus clouds that will sap your juice. While Whale Trail is simple in premise, the short rounds will keep you coming back for more as you level up your whale. Keep chasing that rainbow!
You Don't Know Jack
If trivia is the name of your game, you've probably already heard of You Don't Know Jack. The trivia software relaunched last year with a free-to-play version on both mobile and Facebook, and it's a total blast.
You can play one or more episodes of You Don't Know Jack each day for free, and earn money to unlock new episodes. Each episode is recorded with different questions and original dialog, making for short bursts that only take about five minutes. The trivia references a lot of current events and popular culture, so you'll see questions occasionally ripped from the headlines.
War of the Fallen
Most people expect a genre like collectible card games to stay analog, and yet the addictive nature of card collecting and the deep strategy to building your deck works perfectly on a tablet.
Zynga, better known for casual games, created War of the Fallen to give players who are new to the idea of deck building and card strategy a game that would teach them the basics, offer some real challenge and get them hopelessly addicted to the format. War of the Fallen is a fun game with great art and funny, creative character designs depicted on each card.
If you've always been interested in card games without the investment, this is a game worth trying, especially at the nice price of free.
Top Bot
Racing games are hard to pull off with touch controls, so it's nice to see an arcade racer like Top Bot on iPad. In Top Bot you customize a robot to race against your friends or random challengers.
The Top Bot races are asynchronous, so you'll be able to compete any time a match is set up. The one-touch controls are easy to learn, and the race track is full of fun powerups and obstacles that make each race unique.
Spaceteam
There's some kind of appeal to sci-fi technobabble. It sounds silly, but shouting "setting phasers to stun!" makes everyone feel a little bit more awesome.
Spaceteam took that idea and turned it into a free party game playable on mobile phones and tablets. This multiplayer experience requires everyone in the same room to look at his or her screen and shout ridiculous sounding directions to each other. These directions correspond with the nonsensically named levers and dials displayed on other players screens, and it's up to them to recognize and then flip them.
If everyone works together, your spaceship won't fall apart, and you can survive to the next lightspeed jump. What sounds silly is probably one of the most fun party games available via mobile, and it's absolutely free.
Letterpress
Letterpress is a competitive game that won't annoy you with in-app purchase reminders, while testing your lexicon.
To play, challenge an opponent to make as many words as possible from a 5x5 grid of random letters. Once you've used a letter, you've claimed it, so players have to pick from the remainder. Players can steal letters back, though, if they surround tiles with the opposing color.
Letterpress runs quickly, much faster than a Scrabble-clone. The game is free; though if you want to play with more than two people at the same time, the game requires only a buck to upgrade.
DrawQuest
While DrawQuest isn't a traditional game, its fun daily challenges ask you to stretch your creativity, and then rewards the best work.
Every day in DrawQuest, a half-started drawing asks you to flesh it out to complete the prompt. It could be anything from "What's Under the Bed" to "Give this guy hair." Once you're done, you can see how other players responded to the prompt, rate your favorites and complete other challenges you may have missed.
It's delightfully right-brained, and aims to encourage creativity in all its players.
Clash of Clans
If you've always been interested in games that require resource and energy management, but don't find farming appealing, Clash of Clans could pique your interest.
Clash of Clans is a blend of that formula, with elements of a strategy and tower defense game. You must collect elixir and gold to power your town of builders and fighters, but you need to raise an army and attack goblins or other players. You'll be able to experiment with different troop types, spells and strategies as you level and gain resources. Of course, your camp is also under threat of attack, so you'll need strategically placed defenses to keep other players out.
You can speed up the whole process by buying gems, of course, but generally the game allows a lot of wiggle room without ever having to purchase squat.
Blendoku
If you love stretching your right brain with puzzles, Blendoku might be the game for you.
This game combines crosswords, Sudoku and color theory in an excellent brain-teaser game. On each level, you're given several color swatches at the top of the screen, then a crossword-style grid at the bottom. You'll need to put the colors in order based on various factors, including shade, hue and saturation. Puzzles eventually get much harder as you have to fill increasingly large grids.
The game is free with small banner ads at the top, but any purchase from the store -- including additional daily hints -- turns those off.
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol, by the legendary game designer, is a strategy title that puts you in the cockpit of fighter planes in World War I, where you'll dogfight against other aircraft for victory.
Sid Meier's Ace Patrol is another turn-based strategy game, a format that works great on touchscreens. On each turn, you'll pick your maneuvers from arrows that climb, swoop and bank your aircraft. You'll be able to attack other planes and dodge their guns.
There are several missions available free in the game, plus mission packs available for purchase if you've liked what you played.
Punch Quest
For those who like to punch down foes and relish the idea of a brawler coming to iPad, Punch Quest is unmissable. In this game, dubbed an "endless puncher" by its developers, you run through levels of enemies using two types of punches to bring them down.
The game features tongue-in-cheek humor and a great visual style. The different levels give Punch Quest a lot of variety despite its two-button design, and you'll get a lot of mileage out of the game until you finally beat it.
Do you have a favorite free game we missed? Share it with us in the comments.
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