AOL will be adding an ad-funded games channel to its mobile portal, with games provided by Cellufun. The games will be free, and do not require any special downloads to play.

AOL has announced that it will sell the ad inventory through its existing Platform-A Third Screen Media division, which it acquired last year (see MobiAd post).

All of Cellufun’s most popular games will be available on the portal, including Space Wars, Ice Fishing, and Call of the Pharaoh. Call of the Pharaoh actually requires that players set up a “pyramid scheme”, in other words getting other players to join in order to finish the game. This game won the “Best Mobile Game” award at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona recently.

Another of Cellufun’s games, The Mobile Boxing Ring – Obama vs. Clinton – has over 2 million mobile plays in the past 120 days (see more on this game here).

Cellufun is an off-deck mobile gaming community that has grown from 1 million unique visitors 12 months ago to its present size of 5 million uniques. Their approach is basically mobile social networking mixed with mobile gaming, as many of their games are designed for multiple users playing or completing experiences together.