Piclings [99�] from Pan Vision Games is one of the most interesting uses of augmented reality in gaming that I've seen. It's a simple platforming game that can take any picture and turn it into a playable level filled with coins, items, and enemies. The tech works surprisingly well, and it's undeniably fun to think of new and silly pictures to create levels from. Unfortunately, the underlying gameplay mechanics aren't the greatest, though they're serviceable. Despite this, Piclings is still a unique enough experience that's worth checking out.

The game includes 7 levels to play including a tutorial which walks you through the basic controls. A touch anywhere directional stick moves you character left and right, and you can float like a helicopter in the air for a limited time by pushing up. The floating mechanic is pretty awkward to use, and I would have much preferred the ability to just do a standard jump. Tapping anywhere on the screen will drop the Picling through the surface he's currently standing on and down to the next.

There are a couple of enemy types to worry about too, like one that will slowly follow you around and one that constantly wanders the surfaces in each level. The only way to kill these guys is by luring the follower into another enemy, killing them both, or by grabbing an invincibility butterfly that lets you kill every enemy that you touch. Trying to make enemies collide to get rid of them is another awkward part of the gameplay, and again I'd prefer if it was just a standard "jump on their head to kill them" method.

In addition to the 7 included levels, you can also import any picture from your device or use a picture taken directly from the camera to create a new level. Piclings will intelligently determine what parts of the picture act as walkable surfaces, and for the most part it works really well. You can also go into any created level and edit your own surfaces in or out in order to get the level just how you want it. Enemies, coins, and special items are also automatically placed in your created level.

The level creation is where Piclings really earns its stripes. I've already spent an embarrassing amount of time just trying out different photos to make levels with, and I'm impressed every single time by how well it works. It's not perfect, but it's pretty close, and the ability to edit custom levels means you can spend the time to perfect it if you wish. You can also share your created levels, though this is only by way of emailing your photo to someone so they can save it to their device and use it in their copy of the game.

Taking Piclings as strictly a platforming game, it's a fairly weak offering. The control mechanics are odd and probably would have worked better if modeled after a more traditional platforming game which has been done well many times on iOS. There also isn't much to do in the game, as there's no real story or campaign progression and the only real goals are earning Game Center achievements and uploading scores for each level to the leaderboards. Despite this, Piclings is still a lot of fun based solely on the ability to create your own levels. This novelty alone means I'll be playing the game for a good long while until I run out of funny ideas for levels.

If that sort of thing sounds interesting to you, then Piclings is easily worth the purchase, and players in our forums seem to be enjoying it as well. But if you're looking for the next great iOS platformer, then you'll want to look elsewhere.

Just last Monday we checked out the trailer for Kiloo's Frisbee Forever [Free], and were impressed with what looked like a bright, colorful, arcade-style game of frisbee flying. It was a pleasant surprise to see Frisbee Forever launch for free, though it does contain rather prominent IAP. It doesn't appear anything will ever be required to be purchased in the game, as everything can be earned through just playing the game, it just looks like it will take a very long time to do so. Still, Frisbee Forever is an extremely well done game that is a ton of fun, and there's no risk for giving the game a try.

Frisbee Forever contains 10 different environments each with 10 levels for a total of 100. Flicking your frisbee will set it in motion and gameplay involves simply steering the frisbee left and right through each of the obstacle filled courses. There are touch or tilt controls, which both work nicely, and the elevation of your frisbee is handled automatically. Flying through various circular and triangular checkpoints will allow you to keep your momentum going until you reach the finish. As you fly through each course you'll try to collect the many stars along your route, with medals awarded at the end based on how many you're able to get.

Most of the realism of flying a frisbee is dropped in favor of a more arcade-style gameplay. Your disc will fly through loops, corkscrews, and perform other feats that would otherwise be impossible in real life. This serves to make the game a lot of fun. Just trying to hit every checkpoint and stay airborne until the end of a level can be tricky, and the medals awarded for collecting stars give it that "one more try" element.

As for the monetary portion of the game, for every 3 stars collected in a level, whether you complete the level or not, you're awarded a star coin. These coins are then used to purchase additional discs, upgrades for your frisbee, and unlock additional worlds. Naturally, these star coins can be bought as IAP in various denominations if you aren't patient enough to earn the coins yourself. Given the rate at which you earn star coins and the prices of many of the shop items, it will take an extremely long time to buy everything available without buying coins through IAP, though it's possible.

One strange thing to note is that there's an option in the shop to disable ads in the game for $2.99, though I have yet to encounter a single ad in the game. A few players in our forums are getting ads in between levels, though the majority are not. It's likely that there is a bug with the way ads are supposed to be displayed, and at some point they may end up appearing in the game, so just be aware of that possibility.

Overall I'm having a great time with Frisbee Forever, and it's definitely a high quality production. It will take a ridiculous amount of grinding in order to get all of the content in the game, but thankfully the game is fun so I'll be playing it a lot anyway. There are some seriously awesome discs among the 100 available to buy in the game that I'm already saving up for. Plus, I'm not opposed to throwing a few bucks in here or there to speed up the process.

I thought the original DrawRace [Free] was super cool when it was first released. It combined the familiar drawing mechanic that everyone at the time was going nuts over with a racing game. Playing the game amounted to drawing your path on the track, and the speed of your car was controlled by how fast you moved your finger on a particular segment of the racing line. It's a slick little setup, although it does seem to have a considerable learning curve since you need to draw your whole racing line at once.

Enter DrawRace 2: Racing Evolved, the sequel to DrawRace that just looks awesome. How awesome? Well, if I had to pick one thing to criticize about the original DrawRace it's that the game was a little basic. The sequel has a new career modes, leagues, leaderboards, 180 challenges, 16 cars, and 30 tracks.

For more information on DrawRace 2 check out the official site which also has tons more screenshots, or swing by the thread in our forums. I can't wait.

Have you played Let's Golf [99� / HD] or Let's Golf 2 [$4.99 / HD] yet? If you like arcade-style golf games, Gameloft has really nailed it with their clone of Hot Shots Golf. We liked the original a lot in our review, and the sequel improved upon the formula further. Gameloft released the following trailer this morning for Let's Golf 3:

What am I expecting from the third installment in the series? Mostly just further improvements much like Let's Golf 2. I doubt 3 will have anything that new or amazing, but I'd be happy as a clam with some new unlockables, a new set of courses, and some new characters. Let's Golf 3 is "coming soon" which in Gameloft-speak could mean next Thursday!

Back in March, Warner Bros. and Square One Studios released an official modern remake of the classic Tapper series for iOS called Tapper World Tour [99�/HD]. It took the same basic gameplay of the original where you had to man several bars at once, serving approaching patrons before they reach the end of the bar while collecting empty glasses and cash tips. Tapper World Tour added a few extra bells and whistles to this formula, like multiple drink types, specialty drinks that triggered abilities, and funny sideshows that would pause the action briefly and allow you to catch up on your orders.

We really enjoyed this reboot of the Tapper games in our original review, and especially loved the beautiful artwork that was hand-drawn by classic animator Don Bluth. The many different characters and environments oozed all sorts of personality, and allowed you to travel to locations around the world serving drinks. Today a new update is available for Tapper World Tour that expands these locations into Europe.

There are 40 new levels across 4 new European cities � Paris, Dublin, Munich, and Corsica � each with their own new type of sideshow, 20 new patron types, and 12 new drinks. There is also a new power-up, the "Lane Freeze", which will stop customers from approaching a bar counter of your choice for a short period of time. I really enjoyed Tapper World Tour before, and I'm having a great time playing through these new levels too. If you haven't yet checked out Tapper World Tour, the game is on sale for a limited time to celebrate the new update.