Jagex releases free old skool RPG Undercroft for iPhone

Jagex, the publisher behind Runescape, the world's most popular free MMORPG, has already released three games for iPhone.

Its latest Undercroft is the closest to Runescape in genre though, being an old school, turn-based and grid-based RPG.

Significantly, it's also free, without any in-app purchases, adverts, or any other way extract money from players.

"People think there must be a catch but really there isn't," we're told.

Presumably Jagex is experimenting in terms building the largest community it can on iPhone, although a bit of googling reveals the game was originally released on Pocket PC for $20 back in 2002.

The original developer was Czech outfit Rack in Grass, who seem also to have developed this version, although for some reason Jagex won't officially confirm this.

Anyhow, to get onto the game, Undercroft feels more like a 1992-era game in terms of aspects such as the tile-based movement, paper-style blocky graphics and its hardcore inventory and levelling up systems.

Newer comparisons are id's Orcs & Elves and Doom RPG games.

Not that these things make Undercroft a bad game, but it's certainly not the prettiest or the fastest RPG you'll play on iPhone.

You have to be prepared to spend time to get the most out of the squad-based combat, in which you set up four players from a choice of five character classes, and develop them through their skill trees, while fulfilling dozens of missions.

In total, 20 hours of gameplay are promised, and if you get stuck, you can check out the helpful walkthrough on the game's official website.