There is such thing as a free lunch when it comes to mobile games. If you want fun on the go, you don’t always have to pay for it. There are lots of great mobile games you can get off the net for free, and we’ve picked out 10 of the best for your Nokia N81 8GB.

We’ve tried to cover most gaming genres, whether you’re more into falling blocks or firing guns. Just click the title of each game and you’ll be re-directed to a game page where you’ll be able to download the game for your Nokia N81 8GB. For the latest mobile and iPhone games coverage, check out our mobile games channel.

Planet Riders 3D
Forget Wipeout, Planet Riders 3D is the definitive futuristic mobile racer. Take control of a jet powered hover ship and race against opponents across several worlds full of tracks. With multiple championships and full 3D graphics, Planet Riders brings out the gaming potential of any mobile phone

Flexis
A next generation Tetris game, Flexis is a colour matching blocks game with a difference. It’s got a full physics engine within it, meaning that your blocks bounce off each other like rubber bouncing balls. Fast-paced and thoroughly addictive, Flexis is a must-have for any puzzle fan.

Tower Wars
The Tower Defence craze hasn’t passed mobile phones by, and Tower Wars is one of the best examples of the genre on mobile. Place your towers carefully and protect your castle from wave after wave of enemies. Boasting great graphics and an excellent tower upgrades system, Tower Wars will keep you amused for hours.

Emergency Mayhem
Play as the three emergency services in this free wheeling open world game. Tear around the city in an ambulance, police car or fire truck, looking for civilians to save. Be careful not to smash up the city too much! Emergency mayhem also contains a gallery full of mini-games to play whenever you get to the scene of an emergency. Put out fires, arrest criminals and resuscitate casualties. Get on the right side of the law in this Grand Theft Auto beater.

Deep 3D
A huge and engrossing adventure, you pilot a submarine around an underwater world in Deep 3D. You can play the game exactly as you wish, plundering enemy craft, fishing for trade or undertaking missions from the underwater stations. With dozens of hours of gameplay and the ability to buy new ships, weapons and fishing equipment, Deep 3D will keep you hooked.

Tank Raid 3D

Don’t you just wish you had your own tank? Traffic wouldn’t be an issue any more, and you could just park on top of cars rather than in between them. Since getting hold of one is unlikely, why not grab hold of Tank Raid 3D. It’s a cute 3D shooter where you get to drive a tank, blasting an army-full of enemies. Casual fun for all.

Rollercoaster Rush
A truly ingenious one-thumb game, Rollercoaster Rush lets you control a coaster full of theme park goers. Press ‘5’ to make the rollercoaster go faster, but watch out for some of your patrons might fall out. With dozens of tracks and a fully upgradeable coaster system, Rollercoaster Rush is a mobile gaming classic.

Darkest Fear 3
Few mobile games can genuinely cause fear, but Darkest Fear 3 is one of them. A horror adventure game packed with puzzles, you have to avoid the shadows to stay alive. Use light to your advantage to keep the night horrors at bay as you discover the mystery of Darkest Fear 3. The third instalment in mobile’s premier horror series, check out the previous two games for more top quality chills.

Townsmen 3
Townsmen 3 lets you run a whole community from your handset, and strangely enough it works! The Townsmen series is one of the most popular strategy series on mobile and has been going for absolutely ages. Build, manage and protect your city from its enemies, Townsmen 3 is a game with far more depth than your average mobile game.

Galaxy on Fire
Fly across the galaxy in this epic space adventure. Trade and fight your way to riches as you complete missions and explore over 500 different planets and space stations. After playing the intial 12 missions, you’re completely free to break away and do your own thing, whether that’s trading or just blasting away. Upgrade your ship, weapons and storage in this massive 3D space adventure.

You can now enjoy a whole new mobile gaming experience with the full launch of Nokia's N-Gage service - a sophisticated, interactive, multi-player platform that promises to take mobile gaming to whole new level.

Nokia's N-Gage mobile gaming platform delivers a great gaming experience, enabling users to enjoy sophisticated gameplay with superb graphics, have a trial of games before they buy, compete against other N-Gage users anywhere in the world via the N-Gage Arena, enter online tournaments, and communicate with other users, challenging them to games, sharing tips, and comparing scores online.

The new N-Gage platform has been initially launched for select Nokia Nseries handsets - the Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N81, N95, N95 8GB, and N82. So you can enjoy the full N-Gage service right now - all it takes is a quick download and installation of the service on your phone.

It's easy to download and install the N-Gage application. All you have to do is visit the Nokia N-Gage site, download the application to your PC or Mac, and then copy it over to your phone. You'll then be ready to create a player name and visit the showroom.

(Note, newer versions of the N81 8GB may come with the full application pre-loaded. If you have an N-Gage icon in your menus that immediately starts up the N-Gage application rather than just runs a video teaser, then you won't need to download the application - you'll be ready to play.)

Downloading the N-Gage application
First you have to download the N-Gage application to your PC or Mac. It is available from the N-Gage website at www.n-gage.com or by clicking on this download link for PC or Mac.

Installing the N-Gage application
You can install the N-Gage application from your PC onto your phone by using supplied Nokia PC Suite software and the USB cable boxed with the phone, or simply by dragging and dropping the file into the phone's mass storage memory when the phone is connected via USB. The drag and drop method is required if you're using a Mac rather than a PC. The application should be stored to the mass storage memory rather than the device memory.

Using PC Suite
If you're using a PC you need to have the right version of PC Suite. You can download a suitable version of PC Suite here.

Instructions for installing N-Gage to your Nokia N95 8GB are simple:

1. Start PC Suite on your PC.
2. Connect your device to your PC using the supplied USB cable.
3. Select PC Suite Mode in the dialog box on the N81 8GB.
4. Click the Get Connected button on PC Suite and follow the on-screen directions to enable the connection to your device.
5. Click the Install Applications icon on PC Suite.
6. Follow the on screen directions to transfer and install the N-Gage application (n-gage.sisx) file from your desktop to your N81 8GB.
7. Start the N-Gage application on your N81 8GB by clicking the N-Gage icon in the Applications folder.
8. Now you're ready to create a player name and visit the N-Gage games Showroom to browse, trial and buy games.

Using Mass Storage Mode/Data Transfer (for PC and Mac users)

1. Connect your N81 8GB to your computer using the supplied USB cable.
2. On your N81 8GB, select Data transfer (Figure 1). Press OK. Your device should now appear on 'My Computer/Finder' as an external drive or removable disk.
3. Copy the N-Gage install file (n-gage.sisx) from your computer to a folder on your N81 8GB's mass memory, such as the Other folder (Figure 2).
4. Disconnect your N81 8GB from your computer.
5. Click on the Tools menu in the N81 8GB's main menu (Figure 3). Click on the File Manager application (Figure 4), and from it navigate to the memory card/mass memory tab. Scroll down to the folder (Other) into which you copied the N-Gage install file (Figure 5). Press select
6. Scroll down to highlight the N-Gage install file n-gage.sisx and click to start the installation process (Figure 6). Follow the on-screen instructions on your N81 8GB. You will be asked if you want to Install N-Gage Installer? (Figure 7). Press Yes and then press Continue. It may take several minutes or more to install the application. You will be asked to select an internet access point (Figure 8). Highlight the one you wish to use and press Select.
7. You will be notified when the installation is complete, and asked to reboot the phone (turn it off and on) after installation.
8. Start the N-Gage application on your N81 8GB by clicking the N-Gage icon in the Applications folder (Figure 9).
9. The N-Gage application is now active on your phone (Figure 10). Now you're ready to create a player name and visit the N-Gage games Showroom to browse, trial and buy games. You can do this online on the N-Gage website or directly from your phone. Scroll across to see all the various options available on each tab (Figure 11).

Nokia's newly revamped N-Gage mobile gaming platform is set to launch imminently, delivering a sophisticated gaming experience with great graphics, multi-player interactivity, and much more. As well as being able to connect to other players, swapping tips, messages and screen shots, you can free trials of games to try before you buy.

The new N-Gage platform will soon be available to download on selected Nokia Nseries phones, including the Nokia N81 and N81 8GB, N95 8GB, and N82. However, although it's not been officially launched yet, Nokia is enabling owners of N81 and N81 8GB phones to download a First Access trial version of N-Gage - and a handful of sample games to play.

It's easy to download and install the N-Gage First Access application and games. All you have to do is visit the Nokia N-Gage site, download the application to your PC, and then copy it over to your phone. You can then be one of the first to try out the new N-Gage exerience for yourself - and, if you like, tell Nokia what you think about it...

Downloading the N-Gage application
First you have to download the N-Gage application to your PC or Mac. You can download the application with four trial games - Space Impact: Kappa Base, System Rush: Evolution, Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, and Block Breaker Deluxe - all in one bundle, in a Zip file. It is available from the N-Gage website at www.n-gage.com/firstaccess or by clicking on this download link.

The application and games bundle is contained in a 60.4MB Zip file; if you don't have broadband access, Nokia also offers another option for separate file downloads for the app and individual games.

Installing the N-Gage application and games
You can install the games from your PC onto your phone by using supplied Nokia PC Suite software and the USB cable boxed with the phone, or simply by dragging and dropping files into the phone's mass storage memory when the phone is connected via USB. The second method is required if you're using a Mac rather than a PC. The application and games should be stored to the mass storage memory rather than the device memory (or to the memory card, if installing to an N81).

Using PC Suite
If you're using a PC you need to ensure you have PC Suite version 6.84 or better installed on your computer. You can download the most recent version of PC Suite here.

Nokia's instructions for installing N-Gage First Access to your Nokia N81 8GB are simple:

1. Start PC Suite on your PC.
2. Connect your device to your PC using the supplied USB cable.
3. Select PC Suite Mode in the dialog box on the N81 8GB.
4. Click the Get Connected button on PC Suite and follow the on-screen directions to enable the connection to your device.
5. Click the Install Applications icon on PC Suite.
6. Follow the on screen directions to transfer and install the N-Gage application (.sisx) file from your desktop to your device.
7. Start the N-Gage application on your N81 8GB by clicking the N-Gage icon in the Applications Folder.
8. Now you are ready to install the games. Double-click the N-Gage game file (the .n-gage file) on your PC, and follow the on-screen instructions.
9. The on-screen instructions will remind you to have the N-Gage application installed, and prompt you to finish the installation on your device.
10. With the N-Gage application running, install the games to your N81 8GB's mass memory or memory card (note: the N81 8GB's mass memory is displayed as a memory card).
11. Complete the installation and start the game.

If at first you aren't able to complete the installation, you may need to attempt this process several times.

Using Mass Storage Mode/Data Transfer (for PC and Mac users)

1. Connect your N81 8GB to your computer using the supplied USB cable.
2. On your N81 8GB, select Data Transfer (Figure 1). Your device should now appear on "My Computer/Finder" as an external drive or removable disk.
3. Copy the N-Gage install file (.sisx) from your computer to a folder on your N81 8GB's mass memory, such as the Others folder (Figure 2).
4. Disconnect your device from your computer.
5. From the File Manager application on your N81 8GB (under the Tools menu), navigate to the memory card/mass memory tab (Figure 3). Open the N-Gage install file to start the installation process (Figure 4).Follow the on-screen instructions on your N81 8GB. It may take several minutes or more to install the application. You will be notified when the installation is complete.
6. Run the N-Gage application once to verify it is working. This can be found in the Applications folder in the main menu (Figure 5). Click on the N-Gage icon to launch the app (Figure 6).
7. Now you are ready to install the games. Re-connect your N81 8GB to your computer using the USB cable.
8. From your computer, copy the N-Gage game files (the .n-gage files) to the N-Gage folder on your mass memory/memory card (Figure 7). This folder is created the first time you run the N-Gage application.
9. Disconnect your device from your computer.
10. Start the N-Gage application on your N81 8GB by clicking the N-Gage icon in the Applications folder. The N-Gage application will detect your games and prompt you to install them (Figure 8). (If you are not prompted to install the game, use File Manager to open the game install file and start the installation process.)
11. Complete the installation and start a game (Figure 9).

It is possible to transfer the application to the N81 8GB via Bluetooth, but not the games files.

You can change the look and feel of your Nokia N81 8GB's display by changing its theme, either using one pre-loaded into the N81 8GB or by downloading a new one.

Installing a new theme can change the look of the display in standby mode, the background wallpaper for the menu system and the phone's screensaver.

Your new theme could simply bring a fresh colour scheme or design change to your phone's display, or you could choose a theme that includes images of your favourite movie star, football club or TV show. It's up to you, as there are numerous different theme downloads available to suit your tastes. You can find plenty of websites on the internet offering downloads, and while some charge, others can be downloaded to your PC for free simply at the click of a mouse.

Once you've downloaded new themes from the internet you can copy them easily onto your N81 8GB via Bluetooth, or using your phone's supplied USB cable.

Once you have copied a new theme to the phone, you will be required to save them and apply them via your Themes menu, but this is a straightforward procedure.

To see the themes available on your phone and to choose a new one, press the Nokia Menu key, situated to the bottom left of the closed phone (Figure 1) to take you into the main Menu.

In the main menu highlight Tools and press the central select key on the navigation pad (Figure 2).
In the Tools menu, highlight Settings and press to select (Figure 3).
In the Settings menu, choose General and press the select key (Figure 4).

Choose Personalisation and press select (Figure 5).

Scroll down to highlight Themes and press select (Figure 6).

Choose General and press select (Figure 7).

You will now see a list of the themes available on your phone, including the one you're currently using (Figure 8).

You can preview the themes available on the phone before changing your existing theme, or if you already know which one you want to set, you can choose to set the new theme quickly without previewing it.

Setting the theme
If you already know which theme you want to install, simply scroll down to the name of the theme and click to select (Figure 9).

When selected, the new theme will be installed on your N81 8GB in a second or two. A message will pop up informing you that the selected theme has been installed (Figure 10), and you will be able to see straight away that the background to your menus has changed (Figure 11).

Preview first
If, however, you want preview the theme first, in the Themes menu scroll down to the name of the theme you want to preview. Then press the key beneath Options (bottom left of the display).

Highlight Preview (Figure 12) and press select. The theme will be displayed oscreen (Figure 13). You then have the options to press Set to set the theme or Back to return to the Themes menu.

Also, You can quickly change the theme back to the original by following the same procedure, as all your themes will be stored on your phone for you to choose whenever the mood for a change takes you.

To get back to the original standby display at any time, simply press the red End key to the right of the navigation pad.