We admit, we're a sucker for cool apps that do things we never even considered. Before Shazam, who'd have thought we could identify songs by phone? Make your own soundboards? Don't mind if we do.

Make your very own customizable video game based on your drawings that you take pictures of with your iPhone camera? Are you kidding?

No. Now we admit right off the bat that we haven't done as much testing of this app as we'd like to before bringing it your attention (mostly because we're poor artists and everything is such slow work for us). But don't let that stop you from plunking down a whole $0.99 to get your mitts on Engineous Games Inc.'s Sketch Nation Shooter. Even just for the gee-whiz factor to show off to your friends, this one is killer.

Brought to our attention by touchArcade, the game's premise is simple:

[Sketch Nation] allows users to create their own games by drawing a player, enemies and a level on a piece of paper and taking a picture of the drawing with their iPhone camera. Users can then share their creations with their friends and other users.

Don't just take our or their word for it. Check out the video that lays it all out for you.



By logging in to your Facebook account, you can upload your game to share with your friends and anyone else, and you can download any game anyone else has created and uploaded. As the press kit says, for one buck you're buying a virtually unlimited number of games. And iPod touch users can upload pictures to their Camera Roll to enjoy creating some of this sweetness too.

That's right. Sketch up your rocket, some obstacles to get past, enemies, and a goal, and you're good to go. Or whip up some cars and trucks to pilot your motorcycle through. Does your child like to draw? Encourage them by turning their doodles into their very own game. While the other kids have the latest DS, your children can make their own Star Wars Adventure or Catscratch Superhero Rescue. There are even pre-packaged doodles with the app that you can use just in case, like us, you're a little art-challenged.

However, we did dig up some of our daughter's drawings and threw together a quick game in less time than it took us to write this entire article. And when she gets home from school, this one's sure to be her new favorite.

Only available as an iPhone app right now, we can only imagine what possibilities the developers will bring to this when and if they create an iPad HD version. The possibilities are indeed endless.