Keeping in mind that Pirates of the Caribbean: Master of the Seas is free, it's a great companion to the recent DVD release. The "quests" are bit dull, but the mixture of duels, island building, and leveling up make for a pleasing time waster. It's an app worthy of anyone's mobile device, but Pirates fans should be especially pleased.

Hamster Cannon looks and sounds pretty cute, but it doesn't really break the mold. The hamsters are lovely, with cartoon-like appearances and ridiculous one-liners. But aside from the hamsters, the graphics are kind of generic, with plain backgrounds and unremarkable environmental objects.

Santa's Village has some plusses, but its core play is something that has been done to death time and time again. It is nice to build a village in a new artistic style (made even better by the 3D), but the expiration of toys when players don't return in time is a significant negative.

Zombie Cookin' had a lot of promise, it's just unfortunate that it fell into the same old traps and mistakes a lot of games like it make. If you want to make dishes on your iPhone or iPad, may I suggest Cooking Mama instead?

It looks pleasant enough, and has a surprisingly beautiful soundtrack, but the game itself is one you've seen many times before, only with new features that aren't all that compelling.

There are a lot of reasons not to like Dark Fury, from its shoddy production values to its crummy advertising to its underwhelming automatic gameplay. But the worst thing about the game is how it takes such a promising premise -of seeing an RPG from the villainous army's perspective- and utterly wastes it.

A well-implemented game that's entertaining for about 20 or 30 minutes. After that, most players are going to figure out how to rapidly make matches without thinking too hard about the math involved.

The music is perfectly tied to the DJ vibe, and the timing is spot on. I've really no complaints at all. Skillz: The DJ Game is one of the better rhythm games I've had the good fortune of playing.

Fantasy Safari certainly delivers on its title, letting you build a safari full of all sorts of fantasy creatures. Unfortunately the game isn't quite as fantastic. Aside from its unique creatures, Fantasy Safari is a terribly standard social zoo tycoon game that offers little new or especially interesting. The creatures are fun, but they don't elevate Fantasy Safari out the realm of simply being an average game.

A game that still needs some fixes to truly be enjoyable. Once controls work better, much of the frustration and perhaps even the slow pacing moments (as better control means players can move more quickly) will likely dissolve.

A game that, by moral imperative, should be passed on.

Even with the great presentation and nice twist on combat, though, the gameplay just doesn't feel as inspired as it should – especially for a spin-off that exists in the shadow of Mafia Wars 2. At its core, Shakedown offers very little that you haven't seen before.

Simply put, the game isn't terribly original.

Exquisite. Offering quick sessions, intuitive gameplay, and fast-paced, challenging fun, it's the epitome of what a mobile game should be. And better yet, it's free.

If you are one that likes history and learning, Road Trippin' is worth looking at. If not, you'll probably be quite bored.

If you used to love zoo games but grew tired of their repetitive nature long ago, Dream Zoo offers plenty of reason to get you feeding the giraffes again.

By making Holidaytown a standalone app rather than an update to the existing Hometown, Zynga was able to re-envision their entire offering with a Christmas twist without upsetting the status quo.

Heroic Legends, for all its simplicity, is still an oddly enjoyable companion. I hesitate to call it a complete game, but as a sort of virtual pet with RPG trappings, it's something mobile gamers might still want to take a look at. The price is right, and the community seems to be thriving.

If Toy Village is guilty of anything as a game, it's guilty of not being very interesting.

When Zynga released Mafia Wars 2 it felt significantly more modern than its predecessor. Mafia Farm, by comparison, feels ancient.

Whether you're a fan of the game and are always in want of an opponent, or you've never played and want a cheaper way to learn it and check it out, it's hard to beat this version. Kudos to Codito – they're quickly proving themselves to be among the masters of digital board game adaptations.

Between the interface issues and the unusual approach to gameplay, I can't bring myself to give Girl With a Heart Of a full-on recommendation.

Aside from the lack of attention to detail, NFL Pro 2012 is more an indictment on the platform itself rather than the ability of the developers. The freemium model, however, makes the game as vanilla as it is broken.

A quality game from a play stand point, but it doesn't offer anything truly new.

Though the title of the game is perhaps a bit deceptive, Modern War is still a great social gaming option for folks who dig war themes. The game can be a little slow going until you've built up a base that yields a steady cash flow, and the multiplayer is pretty lackluster. But in short spurts, Modern War is a fun way to pass the time.

With its paltry presentation and discombobulated gameplay, Last War not only fails to deliver an entertaining strategy adventure, it suggests that Gamevil may be having a bit of an identity crisis.

I can honestly say I was saddened by this release, as a simple port of the original would have been much better. Instead, this release is a stain on an otherwise great classic game. Let's just hope that if RollerCoaster Tycoon ever comes to the App Store, it'll receive more care than Theme Park did.

The game begs for greater strategy components in the battle system, or perhaps a means to customize the stats of one's avatar better. All in all though, the game is different than the majority of freemium releases and is still enjoyable to play, and is certainly worth checking out.