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GLOBAL – There’s no better way of passing the time then getting out your phone and zapping some aliens, burning rubber on a race track or just rolling a marble round a maze trying not to lose the ball down a hole. That’s exactly what we’re talking about today in our three top free games for the Nokia N8.

As much as I love to get involved in work or hang out with my loved ones, sometimes I just love to kick back, put my feet up and zone out for a while. And I’ve been doing that a lot lately since I’ve found some new games on my Nokia N8. The three games I’ve been staring at intently for the past few days are Galaxy on Fire, Need For Speed Shift and Marble Maze Classic. All of which are free from Ovi Store.

Galaxy on Fire, £Free

Brought to us by FISHLABS who’ve been around since 2004 and has been developing high-quality 3D titles for every relevant mobile game platform since.

You’re a pilot named Keith T. Maxwell (I wonder if the T stands for Tiberius? What do you think, Star Trek fans?) and you’re at the helm of a small fighter ship, where every challenge means shooting something down that gets in your way. Usually an ugly alien that’s shooting back at you, so it’s all justified. Cruising around space earning credits to buy that next bigger and better fighter ship packed with the latest lasers makes this game really fun, as you’ll find it difficult to reach every corner of the universe. I’ve currently racked up about 8 hours’ game time and own a shiny battle ship that’s unstoppable. What ship have you got?

Need For Speed Shift, £Free

Electronic Arts are the guys responsible for this game as well as a whole heap more such as The Sims, Medal of Honor and FIFA on a wide variety of platforms including games consoles.

There’s one simple task in this game and that’s to be faster than all the other drivers. You can play in two modes; Quick Race and Career. Quick Race lets you just pick up your phone and take your car for a spin around a track while Career takes you on a journey across the world, conquering each continent, beating all the different car models. The further you progress on your career, the more money you’ll earn, leaving you with lots of spare cash to buy upgrades for your engine, a new spoiler or even a new car. You’ve got a choice of where you play the game from with Need For Speed Shift, either in the driver’s seat looking out from the windscreen or floating above the car which is where I usually drive from.

Marble Maze Classic, £Free – With ads

Marble Maze Classic is a digital version of those toys you used to pull out of a Christmas cracker when you were a kid. Hyperkani makes all sorts of classic games, mostly built for the Symbian platform.

The idea of Marble Maze Classic is to get a ball around a maze without losing it through an inconveniently placed hole. There aren’t many obstacles to avoid, just the holes and the walls, but some levels contain more holes than a block of swiss cheese and dodging them can be tricky. The Steel Ball is probably the easiest to roll around, but the Rubber Ball and Super ping pong Ball are more difficult to control as they’e got more bounce. Once you’ve mastered all 180 levels of the maze with all three ball types, you should try to make your own maze with the Custom Field option in the menu adding as many holes or walls as you like. Actually, the second image above is my custom made maze.

All these games are controlled by tilting the phone from left to right, or back to front, which makes a really interesting way of playing which you’ll soon get the hang of. You may get some strange looks if you play them on public transport, though.

Which is your favourite game? They’re all good for passing the time but my favourite is Galaxy on Fire. Let me know what spaceship you’ve managed to buy, or if you’re a Need For Speed fan, what car you’ve turbo charged, or if Marble Maze is your thing, send us a screen shot of your custom-made maze. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.