Grab Episode 1 of The Walking Dead free on iOS

For a limited time, if you own an iOS device and have Internet access, you can enjoy the first episode of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead (our 2012 Game of the Year) for free.

At this point, you have no excuse not to know of Telltale Games’ phenomenal adventure game adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. Not only did the episodic game earn Digital Trends’ first ever perfect 10 out of 10 review score, we also recently named it our 2012 Game of the Year, despite stiff competition from massive blockbuster titles like Halo 4, Dishonored and Borderlands 2. In short, we’re big fans of The Walking Dead, so when the first episode of the game’s iOS incarnation suddenly saw a drop from its standard $5 price point to an inarguably enticing “absolutely free,” we just had to let you all know about it.

If you fire up your nearest iOS gadget and pay a visit to Apple’s App Store this very minute, you’ll find Episode 1 of the first season of The Walking Dead available for free download. While you’re there we’d recommend downloading it, as this is a limited time offer. You won’t find specific dates listed anywhere on the app store, but we contacted Telltale and the company told us that this deal will only run from now until the beginning of 2013.

Hopefully we’ve already impressed upon you that this first episode is certainly worth a few moments of your time and a modicum of bandwidth, but perhaps you’re concerned that the game might not run very well on your iOS device. Fortunately, we’ve tested this iOS release on a number of Apple devices: All iPads will run The Walking Dead flawlessly, and both iPhones 4S and 5 have no problems with the game. The iPhone 4 can run it, but it does exhibit a bit of slowdown in particularly hectic, action-packed scenes. We wouldn’t describe these moments as game-breaking, but know that if you’re still using an iPhone 4 you may see periodic technical hiccups. That said, given the game’s slow pace and focus on characters interacting with one another, these action-packed scenes are the exception rather than the rule, so even at its worst The Walking Dead is perfectly enjoyable.

In addition to this very generous offer, Telltale Games is discounting a huge number of its other titles. The company’s adventure game adaptations of Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Law & Order join Sam & Max, Hector and Tales of Monkey Island at a newly reduced $1 price point. Unlike The Walking Dead however, these discounts apply to every episode of the aforementioned games, meaning that from now until the end of 2012 you can snag the full versions of any of those titles for no more than $6 total. As the adventure game genre is one of the few gameplay styles that perfectly suits the buttonless iOS control scheme, there’s little reason to miss out on this offer.

Speaking of full versions, if you do download the first episode of The Walking Dead and find yourself craving more (and trust us, you will), you can then purchase the other four episodes of the game for a mere $15. Just be sure to ignore the in-app purchase option that has Episodes 2 through 5 listed at $5 a piece and instead grab these episodes bundled from the App Store directly.