The Only 10 Games Your iPhone Needs

There are loads of games in the App Store for the iPhone/iPod Touch, but if you want to save money and space, which are the true essentials? Here are our 10 must-haves.

While there are enough good games in the App Store to fill up multiple pages on your iPhone or iPod Touch, you don’t need that many, nor do you need to spend that much money. If you focus on filling certain genres with single games and not doubling up on multiples, you can make yourself the ultimate “games page” of apps. Here’s the list.

Touchgrind: This skateboarding game was designed from the ground up for the multi-touch iPhone platform, and it shows. The completely unique control method of using your fingers as legs on a skateboard immediately makes sense and is totally addicting. As you get better, the new skateboards that are unlocked with high scores continually feel just within your grasp. $4.99

Galcon: Galcon is a space-based strategy game that delivers super-short games, which is perfect for the iPhone. Rather than getting dragged into games you won’t finish, Galcon lets you play a bunch of one or two minute games. You can refine your strategy with each game, and every time you lose it’s just too easy to try again. Lite: Free; Pro: $4.99

Fieldrunners: Many call this the best game in the App Store, and it’s tough to argue with them. A tower defense game with a super-high degree of polish, this is the definition of addicting. Basically, you want to set up weapons to stop soldiers for storming your towers. You earn more cash for more weapons for every guy you stop, and you lose health for every guy who gets through. And then you can’t. Stop. Playing it. $4.99

Line Rider iRide: You’ve probably played Line Rider on the internet in some form or another: you draw a bunch of lines, then a little man on a sled gets tossed down your makeshift track. The controls are simple and work great on a touchscreen, and you can play in short bursts, saving your maps for later. It’s intuitive enough that there’s virtually no learning curve, but you can spend countless hours working on your masterpiece of sledding physics. $2.99

Uno: You know Uno, you love Uno. But here’s a version that involves no pesky shuffling. If you’re more of a poker fan you probably went for Texas Hold ‘Em, which is cool, but if you ask me, Uno is a much more fun card game. After all, what fun is poker when you’re gambling with pretend money? $5.99

Rolando: This is a wonderful, cartoonish platformer that uses simple controls that are easy to learn but are used in increasingly complicated and challenging ways as the game progresses. You control a series of little balls—Rolandos—by tilting your iPhone and swiping up to jump. But you can control many of them at once, and there are also obstacles and switches you can manipulate. It’s got a high degree of polish and will suck you in from the first level. $9.99

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D: This is our favorite racing game, despite not being fully sold on the accelerometer controls of iPhone racing games. But because of that, you really only need one, and this should be it. Great graphics, good stability and plenty of variety add up to make this the essential iPhone racing game. $5.99

SimCity: This port of SimCity 3000 is stunning. This is no gimped version of SimCity, dumbed down for a touchscreen. It’s the full game, complete with advisers and all the building types you can handle, with intuitive touchscreen controls. Finally, you can build the epic metropolis of your dreams whenever you sit down and have a few minutes to kill. $9.99

Touch Hockey: FS5: Air Hockey on the iPhone is just like regular air hockey, minus the high probability of getting one of your fingers smashed with the puck. Simply put your finger on the mallet and try to score some goals. It’s also fun to play with two people, with each person holding an end of the iPhone. And hey, no quarters required. Lite: Free; Pro: $1.99

Trism: This is essentially a modified version of Bejeweled, and if you know that game then you know why you’d want it on your iPhone. It’s a classic puzzle game, one that makes the transition to the touchscreen beautifully. You’re trying to get three pieces of the same color together to make them disappear, and depending on how you’re holding your iPhone, the resulting tumble of pieces will happen in a different direction. It adds a new level of strategy to the game while retaining what made the original so awesome. $2.99

[A Bonus 11th game, From Brian: I’d like to add Motion X Poker Quest to the list for its amazing use of the accelerometer and in game physics used to roll the dice, as well as beautiful graphics and sounds and addicting game play. ]

The Week in iPhone Apps: Apps For Charity

Christmas and Hanukkah will soon be here. Many of you will soon have iTunes gift certificates to blow—why not support a good cause? This week’s apps give some/all of their proceeds to charity.

Songs of Love: The first (and as far as I can tell, only) iPhone app released by a charitable organization, Songs of Love’s mission is to create personalized songs to help cheer up kids who are battling cancer. It’s a free app, but it shows you some of their work and in video and audio form, and has a donations page.

Phospho: Yes, it’s another 99 cent flashlight app. Yes, you could just use a Safari page to find you keys. But if you’re going to buy a flashlight app, make it this one—Phospho donates 100% of your buck to charities that aim to fight blindness in children and adults worldwide.

iZen Garden: Another popular app genre is the Zen Garden. iZen happens to be among the more well reviewed of the bunch and actually looks pretty cool (different colored sands! Lots of rakes to rake it with!), and it gives 5% of the $3 to the Tibet Fund.

Gratitude Journal: Oprah claims to have changed her life with a Gratitude Journal; this app will give you the same chance. The idea is to write down five things you are thankful for each day—not a bad idea this time of year. You can add photos to your entries as well. 10% of the buck it costs is donated to charities, although the developers don’t say which ones.

Qur’an, Bhagavad Gita and Tanakh: The holy books of Islam, Judaism and Hinduism in their complete form, each fully searchable and bookmarkable. The Qur’an even has an audio recording of each Ayah in English and Arabic, and is discounted down to $5 (the others are $10). 100% of all proceeds goes to the Aga Khan development network which helps developing communities in Africa, Central/South Asia and the Middle East.

Now don’t you feel all warm and fuzzy?

We covered a lot of great new apps this week on Giz, here they are. And if you are hitting the slopes this holiday like our favorite snowbunny Blam is, check out his Ski and Snowboard app Battlemodo;

iPhone Geisha Will Dance For You For A Small Fee

I Love Katamari for iPhone/iPod Touch Lightning Review

Apple Warns Developers App Store Approval Process Sucking More Than Usual

Wazabee 3DeeShell Adds 3D Screen to iPhone

Tilt-Shift Photography On the iPhone, Sorry Starving Artists

Television App For iPhone is Not Quite Hulu, But Getting Warmer

Konami Releasing Silent Hill, DDR and Frogger for iPhone, Too (on top of METAL GEAR SOLID)

ReedBox Recreates Eno’s Bloom iPhone App With Magnets

Earth-Shattering Changes in Google iPhone App Update

Agile Lie Detector: Tell Me the Truth, iPhone!

Wazabee 3DeeShell Adds 3D Screen to iPhone

This list is in no way definitive. If you’ve spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a good weekend and a very happy holidays everybody.