When you have a little time to fill, and you don’t feel like something passive, pull out your smartphone and enjoy playing some of these free games for your mobile phone. Some are classics, and some are new, but all entertain and amuse – just the thing when an onset of boredom threatens!
Connected4
Hinting at the popular games, Bejeweled and Connect Four, this mobile game provides three options to win a round: You connect four same-colored balls in a row either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. This java-based game lets you select in what vertical row to place your marker, so you are in complete control of every one of your moves. Text your friends and challenge them to a faster time or a longer winning streak.
Cricket PowerPlay Lite
Bring this UK classic game onto your mobile phone for free. Test your skills against the java platform, and see how high you can score. Protect your wicket and keep the defense hopping. You get a choice of teams, customizable interfaces and fantastic graphics bring sports fun to a new level for iPhone or iPod Touch users.
Cyberlords
This free, RPG mobile game will delight adventure gaming enthusiasts. The world is being taken over by mega-corporations. Whatever governments still exist are nothing but figureheads. People have no political voice or power. You do, however, still have control over your own body.
Arm your four-member team with NanoGear and gain almost super-human powers, pitting yourselves with hacking, fighting and other skills against the Corporation that controls your sector. After its defeat, move on to free the world from imposters and secret alliances. Lure, tempt, fool or attack – use the strategies and tactics you choose. In a world with few rules, both brute force and sly cunning are necessary to prevail.
Glow Puzzle Pro
Puzzle fans may treasure this java game. Connect the dots along your matrix to shed light – make it glow. Choose the wrong point, though, and you could start all over again with a different pathway. Compete with your friends for bragging rights for the most puzzles solves in a given time or the most complex puzzle completed. And remember: It’s free!
Pocket Bubbles
This free game for Android mobile handsets is both simple and simply addictive. Akin to Bejeweled, groups of colored bubbles is the key to winning rounds. Don’t let the random bubbles fill your inverted barrel: Groups of three or more make those bubbles float down and away.
Penalty World Challenge 2010 HD Lite
This free iPhone sporting game of either soccer or football, depending on your culture, provides terrific fun and high-level competition. You have two basic modes of play: Opt for one of the 32 teams. Play matches and arrive at the knockout level: Win or hit the showers. Finger-swipe controls, amazing 3D graphics and an easily used interface allows either a quick shoot-out or the World Challenge.
Are you ready for superstardom? Check online leader boards at Openfeint. Post your own stats for others to beat.
by Jaye Ryan, a freelance author who loves to write about mobile gaming for MobilePhones.org.uk.