Draw a Stickman: EPIC 2

Despite its simple aesthetics, Draw a Stickman: Epic 2 packs a lot of charm into a little package and serves as one of the most delightful puzzle games available for mobile devices. This game is a sprawling adventurer that brings to mind the classic days of Sierra and LucasArts, but it really succeeds in putting the player's creativity front and center in the experience. This level of agency is apparent from the start, as you're asked to design your hero and the friend they're tasked with saving using your finger or stylus. It's a simple beginning that clearly delineates the core variables of the game.

That's because while Draw a Stickman: Epic 2 utilizes the same sort of problem solving skills as those adventure games of yore, it asks you to do so by drawing the tools and abilities you need to navigate the environment. This isn't a game on the scale of Scribblenauts where practically anything you imagine can be created. Instead, you slowly unlock new crayons over the course of the game that each provide you with access to new powers. And while this gives you a lot of options for decorating your character and the environments, drawings that have a tangible effect on the world around you are far more penned in, creating a world that feels less unlimited and more strictly guided.

But if you can look past the unrealized potential here, you'll find a lot to love. The characters and environments have the lovingly recreated look of a child's sketch pad, and there's an irreverent sense of humor to the whole adventure. The environments themselves are relatively small and short, and the relatively limited palette of roughly half a dozen crayons means that the solutions will seem rather easy to all but the youngest players. Children should get a fulfilling sense of accomplishment to beating the levels without having to worry about getting overly frustrated, while adults may find the charm and the short length of the game is enough to carry them through till the end.

And while Draw a Stickman: Epic 2 is neither especially lengthy or challenging, the developers have taken the effort to pack it full of side activities. Finding fuzzy friends in the levels allow you to unlock new colors that you can use to decorate the world around you, but the fact that they don't unlock new powers means that you don't have to go hunting if you don't want to. Then there are extra heart pieces hidden around the levels that can help make the game easier. Many of these challenges require powers you don't unlock until later, so there's plenty of incentive to go back and explore the bright and vibrant world.