SXSW App Wrap: "graFighters," "Draw A Stickman: Episode 2"
YNN highlights the coolest and newest apps for your cell phone or mobile device in the twice-weekly segment “App Wrap.” YNN's Adam Balkin filed the following report.
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Creativity is what really sets the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas apart from so many other big events. Over at the Screenburn Arcade, there were a handful of apps that allow users to express their creativity.
graFighters
You know those pictures you've been drawing since grammar school, sometimes in class? Those creations no longer have to just sit on the page as a reminder of squandered school time. The app "graFighters" lets users snap a photo with their phone of a drawing, and then they can send their cartoon characters into combat in a browser-based video game on the computer.
"You doodle something on a piece of paper, take a picture of it and you go through a process. Then it comes to life and can fight other doodles," says Dave Chenell of graFighters. "Your computer analyzes it, so if you draw a big, burly guy he'll be high in strength. If you draw a small little guy he'll be really speedy."
The game is free to play online at graFighters.com, and the utility apps for iPhone and Android are also free. A future version of the app will allow users to play the game on their own phones.
Draw A Stickman: Episode 2
The first version of "Draw A Stickman" was so popular developers decided to release a second episode. Once again, users draw a stickman and then help him through an adventure. Every few seconds he'll encounter an obstacle or problem and then the user is asked to draw something, from clothing to a weapon to a trap in order to help him out.
"You have to draw him in a costume, you have to draw him flying, you have to add things to him and at the very end he always comes out ahead," says Chrystal Mills of hitcents.com.
"Draw A Stickman: Episode 2" is a free app for iOS devices.