Scribblenauts

Scribblenauts is a unique puzzle game that has been impressing a lot of people. The concept is simple, but very ambitious: present players with small 2d levels where the goal/mission/end can be reached using anything the player can imagine. You’ll get sort of "quests" to beat and the tools at your disposal to solve them are completely unlimited.   The main character, Maxwell , is given a notepad at the beginning of the game, during the tutorial. At any time, you can access the notepad with a tap of your stylus, opening up a keyboard interface. Simply type in a word (with a few exceptions, i.e. nothing vulgar or copyrighted).The only real limitations in this game is you can’t use proper nouns or anything vulgar or copyrighted. (ie. You can’t use "Godzilla" or "Superman") with your stylus and what you type will appear in the level you’re playing. Every object has it’s own cartoonish 2d artwork, behavior, properties and abilities. The way these objects interact with Maxwell, the environment and each other is the focus of the game. It’s a big departure from pretty much any other game available. It’s a giant, exciting sandbox to play in…for the most part. Here is an example of the kind of puzzles you might get: The shepherd has lost one of his lambs and you have to cross a river and get by a wolf to get to him. The sheep are scared of weapons and explosives so you can’t use them. Now, you can use anything you want to get back that lamb. Chainsaws, helicopters , mummies , butter, mountains, you can really use just about ANYTHING! Which idea appeals to you more? Getting a starite out of a tree by climbing it, or digging a tunnel underneath the tree, setting explosives in the tunnel and blowing up the ground, causing the tree to fall so that you can reach the starite. If you’d rather do the former idea then begone, this game is not for you. If the latter idea appeals to you, then you think like an evil genius and this game is a delight. You can create any object. And as most evil geniuses know, the objects are perfect in thought but sometimes don’t work exactly the way you thought they would. Like you may summon a Tyrannosaurus to help you take over the city, only to find that he also eats Maxwell, your clumsy goon. Drat, foiled again! In many games, you are the main character. That is not true in this game. You are the brains behind the operation, and Maxwell is your assistant. You are giving him the things he needs, and then tap the screen to tell him where you want him to be or what you want him to do. It is up to Maxwell to figure out how to get there. Sometimes he can’t. Sometimes he doesn’t do the jump just right and plummets down the chasm to an untimely death. But it’s part of the challenge in the game: coping with Maxwell’s inability to do exactly what you want. GET

ABOUT    AT 

Many times, you tap on the subject, intent on telling Maxwell to shoot it (for instance, a scorpion) but you miss slightly and Maxwell tries to go to the scorpion instead, only to be stung to death. The fool! Ah, but being an evil genius, you already know what it is like having to deal with idiots in your employ. Hopefully 5th Cell will improve next time by allowing direct control of the character with the dpad/buttons and let the stylus control the view on the screen and select items. Their lack of thought costs them one star! After you have acquired enough wealth, you can purchase other minions (avatars) to do your bidding. I have a pirate, zombie, witch, and ninja. They are all as clumsy and stupid as Maxwell. You can also design your own worlds, where cops are afraid of donuts, and T-Rex defends your minions instead of eating them. There’s plenty of meat to the game. The developers of Scribblenauts took their time crafting hundreds of levels. Most levels require coming up with the right tool(s) for the job. This may sound too simple, but as the game progresses, the challenge ramps up. Also, you are encouraged to go back to previously completed levels to replay them in advanced mode – you’ll be tasked with completing the level three times in a row without being able to call upon objects used in previous attmepts. Another excellent incentive to flex your creative muscles is the reward of Ollars – the games currency used to buy unlockables. You receive more Ollars from a board when you complete with style, few objects and a quick time.

Overall, this is just an amazing concept for a DS game. It’s execution is certainly shy of perfection, but offers more than enough to warrant a purchase. Given the scope of the game, it’s hard to fault the developers for much of anything. My biggest worry was never the controls or the amount of obscure objects included; it was whether or not Scribblenauts would end up being fun. It is a lot of fun! An educational problem-solving game that appeals to such a wide audience and is this much fun rarely comes along.

If you like to have a challenge when you play video games and you want to be creative, this game is for you! All you have to do is type in a word, like…giraffe, and a giraffe appears! POOF ! I bet you think you can’t make every item appear, but you pretty much can! You can run around with a slice of pizza and have a princess follow you because she wants to eat it! The game isn’t really violent, yes your charecter can die and there’s bombs and stuff, but there’s no blood. It’s just a little cartoon. It’s like Mario, if you die,you try to beat Bowser again. There’s animals, clothes, food, gross stuff, and so much more! You can just sit around and do stuff, or figure out a ton of puzzles instead. This is a game you need to have!

ABOUT AT

Scribblenauts Items, AI, Touch Control, Object, Logic and Hints

Items in the Scribblenauts

Not everything is in there, obviously. Now you might look at the number of items in the game but that is false. Many items have more than one word associated with it. You could probably cut the list of items down to 1/4 of the actual list by taking out duplicates. There is a large number of items that no english speaking person would ever know or understand. They are mostly food items. Many everyday items are not included in the game. Like pancakes or waffles. In one challenge you have to serve children breakfast. You can’t give them waffles but you can feed them raw eggs.

AI in the Scribblenauts

There is none. A maid will sometimes clean up garbage but most of the time just stand there. A truck driver will not drive a truck but just sit in it. Only 3 AI functions exist in the game; protect, kill, and do nothing. Overall the creations are all stupid. Sometimes exterminators will be scared and run from bugs. Sometimes nice animals will just decide to attack other friendly things. Apparently dogs kill cats no matter what. Dog catchers protect dogs not catch them. Animals and people will eat anything remotely considered food even if they wouldn’t normally eat it. Their preference is to eat over anything else and they will do it endlessly.

Touch controls in the Scribblenauts

Sometimes if you touch an item the game won’t know what you touched and misreads it as you’re trying to move. In some cases this will send you into a pit of death or an enemy. This can happen repeatedly. You might be almost done with the puzzle but one slight miss on what you touched and you fall into a pit of lava. Some items you assume can be thrown can’t. A few items are so small they are nearly impossible to pick up and will be the cause of your death many times.

Attaching objects in the Scribblenauts

Some objects just won’t allow you to attach them. Other objects will show the green dots but won’t let you attach to any of them. According to the tutorial in the game it automatically picks the closest attachment to where you have a rope or glue. I have limited success with this since it almost never works.

Logic in the Scribblenauts

This game has none. One puzzle has you start a car. Here’s what won’t work; a driver, trucker, mechanic, wrench, antifreeze, car key, or pushing it. What will work? Jumpstarting the car with a battery, the pole, or another vehicle. That’s it.

Item usage in the Scribblenauts

Many items can only be used once which makes sense unless it’s an item that in real life has multiple uses. Some guns can only be shot once or twice then they break. Some items don’t do the damage or do things they are supposed to. Things like a boulder won’t crush someone or destroy fine china. One time I was riding a tank and it just flew all over the screen and landed upside down, then did it again and again even though I wasn’t touching it. Some things like vehicles will randomly explode and kill you. A regular bridge is smaller than a car and won’t cover a gap so you have to make 3 bridges and glue them together.

Puzzle hints in the Scribblenauts

One hint is given at the beginning usually a visual hint and a text hint. Sometimes the hints make no sense and are so vague that the puzzle is impossible to figure out without trying everything you can possibly think of. How do you hatch an egg? Hammer? Chicken? Gun? You hatch it with fire. Not only that you hatch the same egg twice and hope the things inside don’t kill you before you get the stupid star.

ABOUT AT

Scribblenauts Pros Cons and Recommendation

Scribblenauts Pros

• This is a great first point of entry into the series. Since there’s no real plot, you can start this game without needing to have played the first Scribblenauts.
• The achievement-like Merit system is an addictive way to encourage you to try certain things in the game, and Merits can be earned even in the title screen sandbox.
• Buying costumes for Maxwell is a lot of fun. You can play as a girl, if you want to, even though you’re still technically Maxwell in disguise.
• The game offers purchasable hints if you’re really stumped in a level, and these hints will even unlock on their own if you wait long enough.
• Adjectives. I can’t imagine playing Scribblenauts without them!
• Two different control schemes: stylus only, or the d-pad/buttons. Both schemes are lefty-friendly. The custom level creator is fun and very easy to use.
• Most levels aren’t timed, giving you room to think.
• 3 save slots, so multiple people can enjoy this game without stepping on each other’s toes.
• The in-game dictionary is impressive. You can summon a surprising range of things, and they’ll be relatively accurate. (I was very surprised to find I could create a Teratorn.)
• This game will make you actually reach for a dictionary just to see what kinds of fun things you can summon. A great way to expand vocabulary and sharpen spelling!
• In-game spelling suggestions can lead you to new, strange objects.

Scribblenauts Cons:

• Custom levels can only be shared with friends. I can only imagine how long the life of this game could be extended if the developers let people share levels with the world.
• Some of the story levels are uninspired.
• Not every object behaves as it should, or as you’d expect it to. Some objects are copies of others, or are otherwise useless.

Scribblenauts Recommended for:

• Creative children (probably ages 6 and up, because you need to know basic spelling and language to effectively play the game).
• Creative adults (who will totally feel their inner child awaken as they play this game).
• People who want some novelty in their games.
• People who haven’t played the first Scribblenauts and want another great title for their DS.
• ABOUT AT

Search terms:

scribblenauts com (38),Scribble Nauts (10),scribblenauts people (8),scibblenauts (8),Scribblenauts org (8),scribblenauts tips (6),scribblenauts tricks (6),scribble nauts com (6),skribblenauts (4),scribblenauts remix hatch egg (4)