Scribblenauts

I wanna talk about this new video game I just got called Scribblenauts. It is the best game you'll ever play.

Concept:

"Write Anything. Solve Everything."

Scribblenauts is a puzzle-based game from the people who brought you Drawn to Life.
Having wasted many hours of my life on Drawn to Life, I was sure that Scribblenauts would be the same way.
Being that it is quarter after three in the morning... I wasn't wrong.

Let me pull up some videos to show you gameplay.







Yes, this game is as amazing as these trailers and demos suggest. You really can do just about anything. With a database of over 28,000 items and 208 levels to try 'em on, this game sure is a force to be reckoned with.

Depending on what the level is asking you to do, your possibilities are endless. One level asks you to help a birthday boy open his pinata. Sure, you could hand him a stick. That's what sensible people do. Wanna know what I did? I jumped on his table, opened his fucking present, then took out a gun and shot his fucking pinata while he was playing with his new Game Boy.
The next time, I put a giraffe in his living room and used it to attack the pinata.
The third time, I called in a pyromaniac, who set the pinata on fire.
Another level, I had to steal a Starite without the harming the Security Guards. I used Chloroform and Dynamite.
You really can do anything.
The title screen itself is nothing more than a playground. You can build things, test out new objects, or my favorite - Mortal Combat.
That's right. Cthulu vs. Kraken. Knight vs. Dragon. Octopus vs. Shark. Bring it on!

There are some downsides to this game though. For starters, "Maxwell"'s controls are pitiful. You tap where you want him to go, what you want him to interact with, and how you want him to do it. Slow and jerky, he has a tendency to not respond when you need him to, and respond when you wish he wouldn't. For instance, you don't need Maxwell on the screen to create and manipulate objects... though sometimes, he'll come running towards these objects and die in the process, forcing you to start over. Or, sometimes, time is of the essence as you're being chased by a cop or being lazored at, and Maxwell might feel like jumping, or walking very slowly. Or as you're very precisely trying to attach a metal crate to a dolphin, Maxwell swims his way into a thunderstorm and electrocutes his ass.

Secondly, some of the challenges aren't really imaginative. Sometimes there really only is one way to do it, and it can get repetitive in that sense. Sure, there's always the "set-the-pinata-on-fire" option, but that can indeed get old (I know you don't believe me, but it's true.)

Now, it may very well be that I'm not imaginative enough, and lemme tell you, a semester of research methods will do that to you very, very quickly... but I can see the limits of this game.

Lemme tell you though, despite the kid friendly look, this is no kids game. It is not easy. I'm having quite a bit of trouble in some of these levels and I'm a 22 year old guy. I can imagine a ten year old having a huge bit of trouble with this game.

all in all, I give Scribblenauts a 9 out of 10. It's an amazing game and well worth the buy... but it can be incredibly frustrating.