10 Great Free Games for Your iPad

By Steven Campbell, MakeUseOf – January 04, 2011 at 06:30PM

ipad games Who got an iPad for Christmas? I did, and I’ve been glued to it ever since. One thing I noticed right away, however, was the lack of quality, free apps in the App Store for iPad. It’s not like the App Store for the iPhone/iPod Touch, that’s for sure. Heck, just recently I was able to find enough beer apps for the iPhone to warrant a top 10 article. Sure, a lot of these work on the iPad, but where are the best native iPad apps?

I’m here to answer that for you, and now that I own an iPad myself, expect to never miss a great, free app again. I’m going to start with the iPad games section because, let’s face it — what’s an iPad really good for, if not fun?

1. Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift

ipad games

Here’s one last joyful thing from the holiday season. Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift is a twist on the hugely popular game Cut the Rope HD Lite.

In it, you have a creature named Om Nom that you need to constantly feed. The way you do this is by swiping your finger across the ropes and collecting the stars by touching them with the candy, but it’s not always simple. There are a lot of enemies and obstacles to avoid as the levels get harder.

In Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift you don’t just need to feed Om Nom, you also need to collect three golden stars in each stage. Don’t worry though, there are a variety of special tools to help you.

2. Fruit Ninja HD Lite

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As simple in concept as this next game is, you are not going to believe how much fun it is to play. In Fruit Ninja HD Lite, you swipe the screen as fruit flies around to “slash and splatter fruit like a true ninja warrior”. It actually gets pretty tricky as more and more items get tossed through the air, including bombs.

In Fruit Ninja HD Lite, you can even check out the Dojo, where your in-game success can unlock awesome new backgrounds and blades. There are also a small sample of achievements to unlock, with three exclusive to this version of the game. You can post your results to Facebook and Twitter, too.

3. Smurfs’ Village

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The simple fact that this game even exists makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. In Smurfs’ Village, you are faced with the task of creating your own village, which includes constructing buildings and bridges, growing gardens, and playing mini-games to create things like potions and cookies. Think Sim City meets Farmville.

All of your favorite Smurfs are in this game based on the original cartoon. You can even connect your account with Facebook and view all your friends’ villages in the game. Need I say more?

4. Puzzle Planet

Who doesn’t love a good puzzle game? In Puzzle Planet, you have to help the traveler Nur and his furry friend Glood navigate the wonders of Planet Earth and solve jigsaw puzzles along the way.

“Just so we’re clear, these aren’t your run-of-the-mill, sit-at-a-card-table-with-your-grandma-sipping-lemonade jigsaw puzzles. These are wickedly challenging and lightning fast. You’ll need lizard fingers and an alien brain to solve them fast and rack up the points.”

The game features three levels of difficulty, three special in-game power-ups, leaderboards, and achievements/souvenirs to collect.

5. Brickshooter Egypt HD

Free for a limited time, Brickshooter Egypt HD gives you the ability to unravel the mysteries of ancient hieroglyphs and help restore the pyramids to form. It’s a unique brain-teasing puzzle experience that features over 60 levels of addictive gameplay. Crack the intriguing puzzles of the past and unlock the secrets of the pharaohs!

6. Hungry Shark – Part 1 HD

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In Hungry Shark, you have to chomp your way to the top of the food chain. It’s a fast-paced aquatic eat ‘em-up game. This game has pretty amazing graphics and can be very addicting. Troll the seas and binge on pretty much whatever you want to try to beat your friends’ high scores.

7. Touch Hockey Extreme: FS5

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The most popular arcade game on the iPhone is now available for the iPad with enhanced 3D graphics. Touch Hockey Extreme: FS5 features enhanced multi-touch gesture recognition and it turns your iPad into a virtual air hockey table.

8. Bakery Story

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This game reminds me a lot of Cafe World, the hugely popular Facebook game. Bakery Story let’s you design your own virtual bakery to show off to your friends. Keep your customers happy and well-fed by creating tasty pastries and things. New content is released every week to make the game continually better.

Like the concept but not a fan of bakeries? Check out Restaurant Story and City Story too.

9. Can Knockdown

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You wouldn’t believe how addictive a simple game like throwing a ball at a bunch of stacked up cans can be until you play Can Knockdown. With this one, swipe your finger towards the cans to shoot the ball with enough velocity to knock them all down. There’s a strategy to it as the levels get harder because you only have so many chances. Be sure to utilize the exploding cans, too.

10. Simply Solitaire HD

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One game that just has to be on every electronic device is Solitaire. Simply Solitaire HD is the best Solitaire game available for the iPad and it has a lot of different modes and features for you. You won’t be disappointed with this app.