Pick-up-and-play iPhone games

Welcome to Tap that App, IÕm Jason Parker and this is the show where we cover the hottest apps in the mobile space. This week weÕre showing off a trifecta of iPhone games that are fun, challenging, and easy to pick-up-and-play (and no, we're not talking about Angry Birds). No, this week, we're talking about Skee Ball, Flick Football, and StarDunk. To get started, Skee Ball has been in the iTunes App Store for more than a year now, but remains an excellent way to waste a little time wherever you are. Just like arcades of old, the object of Skeeball is to flick 10 balls down an alley and try to land them in cups with different score values. Hitting lit cups add to your bonus and when you're done you can even spend your winnings on cheap trinkets and other items in the loot shop. Skeeball is a lot of fun and is 99 cents at the iTunes app store. If Skeeball is not your thing, check out Flick Football. Flick Football challenges you to flick a soccer ball into a goal around stationary defenders and sometimes a moving goal keeper. As you progress through the game, you'll need to hit skill shots near the edges of the goal to earn extra lives so missed shots won't end your game. You can even do curved shots to kick the ball around defenders with a curved swipe of your finger. Flick Football is surprisingly fun and challenging the more you play and you can get it at the app store for 99 cents. Our third great pick-up-and-play game is StarDunk, a basketball shooting game with an arcade twist. Shoot a basket by touching and moving your finger on the touch screen to adjust your shot trajectory, then let go to shoot. Hitting all four bars on the backboard gives you a random bonus that can make the hoop wider or let you shoot multiple balls at once. As you progress, you'll be able to unlock experiment with different balls with unique properties to see what works best for you. Best of all, you can play online against other players in a minute-and-a-half long shootout to see who gets the high score. StarDunk has no actual slam dunks, but is definitely fun and a steal at 99 cents. To sum it up, let's face it: some iPhone games are made for those times when you need a quick time waster and each of these fit the bill nicely. If you're an iPhone user, I recommend tapping all three of these apps. ThatÕs it for this week's show, if you have any suggestions, send them to Tap That App at cnet.com. I'm Jason Parker and weÕll see you next week.