By TAN KIT HOONG
bytz@thestar.com.my
Draw your way to some rollicking fun.
IF YOU own an Android or iOS device you probably would have already installed Draw Something on your device recently - not surprising as the game has already got some 20 million downloads in the five weeks that it's been available.
If not, well you should because Draw Something is a properly fun social game that takes Pictionary (on which it is obviously based) and brings it into the digital realm.
Like that other popular game, Words With Friends (which is based on Scrabble), Draw Something has you playing one on one with either your friends or a random person online in a turn-based game.
However, unlike Words With Friends, where one can be soundly trounced by the Scrabble elite, Draw Something is almost an equaliser, where the ability to convey an idea is more important than the ability to draw well.
Anyway, the idea in Draw Something is simple - you are given a word and you are supposed to draw anything that will convey the idea of this word to your opponent, short of writing it out of course.
If you draw well enough, then you earn gold coins (up to three at a time depending on complexity) and then it's your opponents' turn.
Coins can be exchanged for more colours that can be used in your drawings or for "bombs" which remove some of the unused letters in your letter list.
OBVIOUS: Sometimes the subject matter makes it very easy to draw an image.
Impatient players unwilling to slowly gather coins by playing can also opt to purchase more coins with real-world money.
You can run several concurrent games against your friends at once. Although not necessary, there is a Facebook link if you want an easy way to connect to your friends.
There are a couple of bugs -- for one, the lower part of some drawings tend to be obscured by the letter list, making it difficult if an important part of the image is at the bottom.
Also, while it is a universal app for iPhone and iPad, it certainly works a whole lot better on the iPad thanks to the extra screen real estate.
Overall, the game is loads of fun and could suck hours of your life away, so be warned!
Draw Something
(OMGPOP)
Casual game for Android, iOS
PRICE: Free (ad supported) or 99 cents (RM3) with in-app purchases