Hasta La Gadget!

Drawing a simple picture on your phone might seem like an easy task. But try drawing a picture in under 2 minutes with enough detail that other people can guess that it’s a tarantula.

If you’re a Pictionary fan, you’re in luck. A modern rendition of the classic group game is available in the Android Market. What The Doodle?! is the first touch-screen drawing app that utilizes mobile internet connectivity and social gaming.

When you play, you have the option of going up against players around the world.  There are plenty of options for game styles and skill levels: easy, medium and hard; team modes; freestyle; and “private rooms” to play games with your invited friends. There’s also a “simulate strokes” feature that makes up for a lapse in a stroke caused by slower data connections.

The social side of the app is even more extensive; emphasizing the multi-player fun of Pictionary. There are friend lists, chatrooms, data connectivity stats for each user, an overall ranking score, the option to accuse someone of cheating and even a mini-democracy to boot someone out of a game by a majority ruling.

There are a few minor issues. The database of words seem to be limited in some of the game modes. I was doled the same topic twice in 10 minutes. Watch out for avid players who remember these frequent topics because they can (and will) correctly guess “watering can” from a desolate square, just 3 seconds into a round. If you’re a myTouch or Hero owner, you might have trouble with the soft keyboard covering the picture-in-progress as you type in your guess, but there’s an integrated voice recognition alternative to help you out.

While games on the Android haven’t exactly created the same aesthetic experience on the iPhone, What The Doodle?! encompasses the very essence of Android — functionality — in gaming form. It’s challenging, it’s fun and you might make a couple of new friends.

There are currently 233 people playing live games compared to the 17 people when I first downloaded the game during the second round of judging for the Android Developer Challenge 2.

What The Doodle?! is the 2nd overall winner of this year’s Android Developer Challenge and winner of the casual/puzzle games category.  Check it out for free in the Android Market.

By the way, can you guess the right answer for the picture above? The user “Sexyredhead” seemed to be having some trouble.

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