Etch A Sketch (Windows, Mac)

Who could forget the beloved 50 year-old children's toy, Etch A Sketch. You know, that rectangular red and grey gizmo that lets you unleash your creativity by using knobs to draw horizontal and vertical lines on a blank screen, and then shake it to start over? Of course you do. Now you can download a digital version of this classic toy, which goes above and beyond the original in the game-play department. In fact, it's really a few separate games and activities in one, and well worth the $20 purchase.

ETCH A SKETCH – yep, it's still goes by the same name – is a casual game with four individual modes available from the main menu. The meatiest is "Knobby's Quest," a story-driven campaign that puts a spin on classic fairy tales. You play as Knobby, a small circular and grey dude, who must navigate through obstacle-laden levels to reach the portal at the end, while also finding artifacts and rescuing hapless little creatures called Knergies (presumably pronounced "kinergies"). It may look like a platformer game, and yes, there's a bit of jumping and gem-collecting involved, but it's really a puzzle game because you must study the path Knobby must take and draw lines to help him get there, such as drawing a ramp from a low spot to a higher one, blocking the path of a nasty creature or drawing a line from ignited TNT to explosive boxes to free Knergies.

Other game modes include "Knobby's Bounce" (which resembles the classic "Arkanoid" or "Breakout" arcade games) and "Etch," where you use the four arrows to draw on the screen, and then save or print your creation. You can also email your drawing to someone -- right from within the game -- but when I sent myself an email with a crudely-drawn house, it never arrived in my inbox. The final mode is a "Color Sketch" art studio that lets you import your black and white drawings to color them and use other tools to dress them up. Great idea! A few pre-made pieces of art are included, too.

Available on: Windows, Mac
Not available online
Genre: Puzzle
Developer: Freeze Tag
Released on: July 7, 2008
Price: 19.99
ESRB Rating: NR