A friend of mine just purchased an iPad and wants to get a few games on it to play around with. As of now he is a bit short on cash. Can anyone recommend good iPad games that are either free or less than $2.99?
Take a look at http://appshopper.com/ for iPad only games and also for universal games. I hate war and rpg games so I am hesitant to recommend anything to you. I am more into hidden object and match-3 games (if you like those, maybe I could send you a list). There are a ton of great games for your price range. Carefully read the descriptions and see what the feedback is at the App Store.
Two cheap iPad games I enjoyed: Craft is a really pretty RTS-type game that starts out free but has extra features that can be unlocked for $3.99 Little Things is $2.99, and is a fun, good-looking take on the hidden genre. I also up Tetris, Scrabble, and Pictureka! during EA's 99 cent Christmas sale. When they go on sale again they're worth it at that price.
