Draw Something 2 is part game, part social network, but all awesome

While the original Draw Something shot to unprecedented popularity on iOS and Android devices, the game lost its luster over time as it simply wasn't the new "hotness" anymore. Zynga's newest mobile offering, appropriately named Draw Something 2, comes with the same basic gameplay that you remember, but it's been amped up with a slew of great new drawing tools and even elements that make the app more of a social network than a standard game.

For those just looking for the Pictionary-style "guess my drawing" gameplay, they'll definitely find it in Draw Something 2. The game allows players to challenge both friends and strangers alike to guess words using jumbled up letter tiles and power-ups that will show you the next letter in your answer at the cost of premium currency.

Coins are earned depending on the difficulty of the word, and score streaks will determine how well you and your partner can guess each others' drawings. You can even use those coins to purchase new color packets for your future drawings, but there's so much more to the game than just those expected features.

First, the drawing mechanic itself has been given a ton of upgrades. In addition to allowing you to choose from different brush sizes on the fly, you can also choose different pencils and brushes with which to actually create your drawings. A Pixel Pencil, for instance, allows you to make pixel art one square at a time, while a Watercolor Brush adds depth and shading between colors and eliminates harsh lines. A Crayon "pencil" allows you to draw somewhat jagged lines, and a Sparkle Pen adds glitter effects to your pictures, as examples.

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Each of these new drawing tools comes with color packets that are also available for purchase, or you can simply purchase a single color that you just have to have right now for premium currency. In addition to those options, you can choose from a variety of word groups for each round (like video games, country music, hip hop, and many others), instead of just choosing from the three free words. These packs cost premium currency to unlock, but once you unlock them, you're given much more freedom in the final word you can choose and aren't stuck drawing something that you, well, have no idea how to draw.

Outside of this standard gameplay, Draw Something 2 allows for plenty of social features, as players can follow others and keep track of their drawings over time. Since the first Draw Something was absolutely stuffed with artists that could create incredible pieces given fairly limited options, the artwork here has only become better with the addition of so many new colors and pencil types. Comments and "Likes" can be placed on each picture, and the game feels a lot like Facebook in these respects.

As you continue to play the game, your own personal gallery of images will become filled as well. You can pull these images back out at any time while playing if you'd rather show off your handy work rather than draw a new picture all over again, or you can simply share your drawings with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. While all of this social interaction may make parents nervous about their children seeing naughty drawings, the game does include a PIN lock feature that locks the game to simply that: its gameplay mode that allows players to play against friends and contacts, rather than opening them up to the rest of the game's social content.

Putting it simply, Draw Something 2 is an awesome experience, regardless of your own skill level of drawing on digital screens. If you're an artist, there are plenty of options here for you to create fabulous mobile works of art, but if you're just an observer, you can spend hours looking at the thousands of pictures that have already been created and curated by the community as being the "best of the best."

While the free version's ads do get in the way at times (or are simply annoying given their frequency), interested players can also purchase an ad-free version of the game for $2.99. Draw Something 2 is now available to download in both of those free and paid versions on iOS, and you can get your own doodle on by visiting the link below.

Download Draw Something 2 for free on iOS >

What do you think of Draw Something 2? Do you think this game improves upon the original, or are the social features too much? Sound off in the comments!