How to play soft launched games right now, in any country

Soft launches are often a great way for a developer to test out its games before it's released everywhere. That's where things can break and when a lot of tweaks can be made.

But if you can't wait, and you need to play that game right now even though it's not out in your country, there is a way to do that:

We need to create an email address for this new iTunes account.

If you have a spare one lying around, you can use that - otherwise, head over to a service like Gmail or Yahoo and get yourself a fresh address.

The details don't matter, as long as you can access the inbox.

Open iTunes on your PC or Mac, and if you're already signed in to your main account, sign out.

Then scroll to the very bottom of the page and you should see a flag of your country in the bottom right hand corner. Click on that to get a list of every iTunes-accessible country.

Find the flag you need (usually New Zealand) and click it.

Navigate to the App Store section of iTunes and search for the game you're looking for. When you find it, hit the "Get" button.

Click "Create New Apple ID" on the box that pops up. It's vitally important that you create your account this way (while trying to get a free app) rather than signing up from the settings menu. Otherwise you may be forced to provide payment details.

Agree to Apple's terms and conditions, and then when you get to the details screen, pop in the email address you made earlier and set password and security questions.

You'll now be asked to select a payment option - pick "None". You'll also need to enter a valid address in the country that you've selected. This can be found with a little creative Googling.

Apple will now send you an email to that address you set up. Go find it, and follow the instructions within to verify your account. Done? Good.

Go get your iPhone or iPad, open the App Store, and find the button at the bottom of the screen that shows your Apple ID. Click it, and choose "Sign Out".

The button should now say "Sign In". Hit it, and then enter the email address and password you set earlier.

A box will ask you if you want to switch to that country's App Store. Hit "Yes" with all the force of a vengeful Norse god.

All that's left to do now is to search for the game you're looking for, find the app, and download it to your device.

Once you're done you can sign out of this account and sign back into your main account (and back to the App Store for your own country) - you'll still be able to play the game without hassle.

Just note: you'll need to log again in this account to download or check for updates when it's still in soft launch.