Verdict: A delightfully new puzzler experience.

In a Nutshell: George Washington riding a pegasus over a UFO occupied by a ninja. Scribblenauts.

(from the game’s website)

The goal is simple — help our hero Maxwell reach the starite by solving each challenge — but the mission before you can range from straightforward to downright tricky! To catch the Starite, write any object you can think of and watch as it comes to live. Try another word and watch as a completely different scenario unfolds right before your eyes. How you play and whatever object you put into use is completely up to you!

• Fun Rating: Really Fun
• ESRB: E
• Players/Mode: single-player / level editor
• Game Duration: As long as it keeps your interest
• System: DS
• Developer: 5th Cell
• Website: http://www.scribblenauts.com/
• Cost: $28 at Amazon.com

Playing the game

You are Maxwell, or at least some kind of disembodied being with absolute (if somewhat imprecise) control over Maxwell and his world. The main game is divided into ten worlds with two sets of eleven levels each: Eleven “puzzle” levels, and eleven “action” levels. Generally puzzle levels are ones in which you must meet certain conditions to make the Starite appear, while action levels begin with the Starite visible, but in a difficult to reach location.

Tap on the notebook & pencil icon in the upper-right corner of the lower screen and type a word to summon new items to solve the puzzles. Most anything you can imagine (as long as it is not lewd or trademarked) will probably spawn something, even if it may not be quite what you were expecting. Controlling the game is somewhat unconventional, with motion of Maxwell being controlled entirely by tapping the screen. The d-pad scrolls your view of the screen and the shoulder button flips spawned items, with a/b/x/y mimicking the function of the d-pad, which means the game plays the same left or right-handed.

What the game gets right

Simply put, Scribblenauts is puzzlicious. It’s the old-school classic “The Incredible Machine” on steroids. That said, it’s definitely a departure from your conventional puzzle game. If you like puzzle games like Picross or Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis that have a single clear solution to most puzzles, you probably won’t get the most out of Scribblenauts.

The biggest strength of Scribblenauts is the incredible depth of its dictionary. Want to spawn an igloo? A minotaur? Abraham Lincoln? A GPS? A waterfall? Go for it, it’s all in there. Of course, that means that there are inevitably some “super” items that can make quick work of most any level. So if your single-minded goal in playing a puzzle game is to figure out every level as quickly as possible so you can beat the game and move on, you may find Scribblenauts to be somewhat disappointing.

What the game gets wrong

As I alluded to earlier, the biggest downside (though I consider it to be a pretty minor one) to the Scribblenauts experience is the awkward control scheme. In concept it’s not a bad idea, but in practice, Maxwell often does not do quite what you were intending. Fortunately most of the levels are so short that when Maxwell jumps into a lake of lava instead of onto the bridge you spawned for him, you’re probably only out about thirty seconds to restart and get back to that part. A little frustrating, but not a deal-breaker.

There are also a few levels that have rather ambiguous goals that you must achieve in order to unlock the Starite. Fortunately, the way the game world is designed (new worlds are unlocked with points earned by playing levels), you can easily skip any level and come back to it later (or not).

Sum it up

Personally, I don’t think Scribblenauts was meant to be “beat.” It was meant to be explored. To be imagined. To be orchestrated. To be experienced. Hyperbole? In a word: Yes. In two words: It’s possible. In three words: Not at all. Anyway, if you’re only interested in finding the easiest way to beat every level, you’re cheating yourself out of the real fun of Scribblenauts.

Other games you might like to read about:

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Comments

1. AdamC Says:
   July 20th, 2010 at 11:14 am

   This game is fun, but challenging. It’s definitely a good one to break out and play while waiting for a plane or bus.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 10:01 pm and is filed under DS, Nintendo, Really Fun. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.