Scribblenauts: A review… more or less

Do you remember Simon and his land of chalk drawings?

Simon had super powers. Anything he drew would come to life. As a child, I thought this would have been the coolest power ever. I would have drawn things like… um… rocks. Actually, I have no idea what I would have drawn, things were different back then. I wouldn’t have drawn an AT-AT because I don’t know if I knew what it was at the time.

Anyway, I bet some guys got together and thought that this would be the most awesome game ever: What if the things you drew came to life?

And then came the horrible realization that the majority of us can’t draw worth piddle.

So came the next best idea: What if the things we write came to life?

And thus you have Scribblenauts: a game for the Nintendo DS.

This is Maxwell. He has some turkey thing for a hat and looks like he’s one of those entitlement kids with an ipod permanently affixed to his head. That thing in the tree is a Starite. Maxwell has to collect the starites but they are usually placed in difficult out of reach places like a tree or a pit filled with spikes and vipers and bitter brussel sprouts.

To help Maxwell, you can write things. If you write ‘ladder’, a ladder will appear and Maxwell can climb it and collect the starite. Mission solved! (Of course, I didn’t think to use a ladder when I first solved this puzzle. I used an axe. Then a beaver. Then a termite. Then a woodpecker.)

And that’s it! That’s the game! There are over ten worlds to explore. The first world has about 20 puzzles each, some of them simple, some of them quite hard. You can also solve a puzzle three times in different ways so that you can “Master” it. As you finish puzzles, you get ‘ollars’, (which reminds me of a Simpson’s episode, but what doesn’t?) and with these ‘ollars’ you can buy things like… avatars. I don’t really know. I haven’t used my ‘ollars’ yet. Except to open up the second world.

Anyway, if that game sounds boring to you, then you have no soul.

Look, I needed to get this cat off of the roof for this kid in one puzzle. Ladder worked fine, the cat was rather amiable. But I wanted to try something else. What about a fireman? (Or firefighter as they are now called) Look, he happily gets the cat too (once I put him on the roof). What else can I try? What about a tractor beam?

Lo and behold, this huge tractor beam occupies half the room. Since the cat is on the roof, I position the tractor beam in the air… and it pulls the cat off the roof as it falls to the ground. I win the puzzle and get a starite.

Heck, if you don’t like puzzles, you can just stay on the start screen. It allows for free play and you can just write anything you want. I figured I would try and get a monster battle going. I found that Cthulu can beat almost any creature out there, except for the Blob. And the Blob and Dracula are pretty much even. God beats Cthulu though. I didn’t try him against the Blob.

The game isn’t perfect, however. Rope-like things are amazing but they do weird things to the physics engine. Tie a rope to an object, and that object begins to go through things. Sometimes it’s hard to attach a rope to an object, but I love the rope. You can attach ropes to almost anything, and I attach it to even more ropes and try and tie to animals together. Wait, I haven’t tried duct tape yet! (Mental note).

Furthermore, a rope is heavier than a steel box. What? I tied a rope to a steel box so I can climb the rope, and the rope starts dragging the steel box down. Oh, and I also like magnets, but they too are heavier than a steel box. What? I would put a magnet on the ground, and it would drag the steel box towards it. Magnets attached to ropes do even more fun things!

And I still haven’t figured out how to use the tsunami without killing everything on the screen and ending the puzzle. I will one day, though, I will!

I bought this game on Friday. I shouldn’t have. I have this children’s musical to write. Yes, I did finish a song last night, but still, the last thing I need are more distractions. But the great thing is, the puzzles are quick! At least in the beginning world. I can finish a puzzle in the time it takes me to do my business on the toilet.

And I’m just excited to see what else I can find. I refuse to look on the internets for suggestions because I want to discover new things. Of course, I am overusing the rope and the pterodactyl, but they’re so useful!

Is it worth buying? I think it is.

Even though it doesn’t have AT-AT in it.