So I got an iPad for Christmas and now I need apps for it. Right now I'm mostly using it for reading ebooks, though I also picked up a drawing app for doodling.

does it have a cup coaster app?

I think thats as much use as id get from a tablet

i've had an iPad 2 for a about a year now, and, through the dizzying ocean of mostly terrible apps, just a few have stood the test of time:

Dolphin browser - an excellent alternative to Safari. For iOs, it's proven itself to be generally more functional than Opera and Chrome

Tunein radio - excellent little app for streaming radio. And it plays in the background!

IZip - unzip utility and pdf reader

Netflix - Netflix.

Only three game apps have survived:

Chess.com - best interface and most populated servers for playing free chess. No two ways about it.

Frotz - allows you to play interactive fiction games. More can be downloaded from ifdb.tads.org. If IF is your thing, there's a ton of content here.

Powder - a roguelike designed specifically for the gameboy advance. It ports nicely to iOs, and has, by far, the most ergonomic controls of any roguelike I've played on an iPad. There's a great deal more complexity in this game than you might have ever expected to find in any iOs game.

Other than that, the iPad, for me, is primarily a casual browsing/youtube machine that can't run Flash.

GoodReader - not just PDF reading but a whole LOT more.
Mr. Reader - the best RSS reader I've ever used, on any platform.
ArtRage - digital painting
Paper - digital sketching
Evernote - well yeah
1Password - see above
Textastic - if you're a programmer, this is amazing.
GarageBand - whatever your musical skill level, this has something for you
Monopoly, PvZ, RealRacing 2 HD, Anomaly Warzone Earth - all great fun.
Pocket - for reading stuff later
Pages - It's not perfect but better than most I've tried
Splashtop 2 HD - Remote desktop control

Above all, get AppShopper. It will save you a considerable amount of money.

There is a game called "The Room" or "The box" or something.

Which is a brilliant puzzle game that uses all the capabilities of a tablet. A must play.

sadly if you didn't jailbreak AND disable the Apple killswitch, you could install dosbox (if you bought it before it was pulled. If not let's not go there), you could have any GOG game you have that uses Dosbox on your ipad (speed not guarnteed)

If you feel confident, jailbreak it first. (Can't do that with iOS6 yet, or maybe never)

Take control of your devices!

Then you can start wading through the piles of crap to find a gem in the appstore.

+1
This post is hilarious - and true.

There's a thread on this forum called "iPad gaming" so google that if you need some game suggestions.

Regarding apps, both iTunes U and TED are indispensable for me. Lots of very interesting content there.

As far as gaming goes, I've probably enjoyed Carmageddon and Final Fantasy 3 the most thus far.

For me my most used app is Guitar Pro. Similar to the PC/Mac version but in a form factor that will fit on a music stand for when I practice. If you are a guitarist I would call it indispensable.