Let your imagination loose in this innovative masterpiece of a puzzle game.
As for any plot or story, there is none. That is excusable though given it is a puzzle game after all. The only character named Maxwell will quickly grow onto you with his blank happy stare. Help him find each "starite" in 200+ puzzles. You will either have to solve a puzzle to make the starite appear or reach it somewhere in the level.
Every level gives you a hint and a specific number of items to use, or par. Puzzle levels make you spawn an item that satisfies whatever the level wants. Action stages can be an ordeal though sometimes. The controls for this game rely on the touch pad. You touch somewhere on the touch screen and Maxwell moves there. This seems like a simple concept but it may be your worst gripe with this game. It doesn't help that he runs faster than an Olympic relay racer straight out of Kenya. A lot of times you may send Maxwell into a pit of lava or running off a cliff on accident only to watch him die with his blank happy stare still on his face.
When you do finish a level and obtain the starite, you are rewarded with "ollars" which can be used to buy songs and avatars to play as and unlock new areas. Besides from the numerous puzzles to be solved you can also play in the playground which is at your fingers right after the title screen disappears. It is easy to spend hours in this area if you have a wild imagination that begs to be let loose. When you write a noun down on Maxwell's notepad the item will appear in game. You will realize soon though that the game's internal dictionary does not include dirty words or copy written objects but with its enormous amount of words and objects to create it is easy to spend many hours seeing if the game has what you are asking for.
This game will have everything you can think of as well as some internet memes such a long cat and "O RLY?" and many mystical creatures. You will have a blast conjuring various objects and silly scenarios. The gamer is even able to unleash his or her wrath upon a defenseless baby. That's right, the game allows you to kill babies, as well as puppies and other innocent creatures. This has to be one of the most violent games I have ever played. I am VERY surprised to see it received an ESRB rating of everyone 10+. Though it will never ask you to kill a baby, you can still do it.
The game does offer a level editor but it is a little restricting on what you can do. It is very hard to explain it but it is a nice novelty that you might spend some time on. These levels are sharable via wi-fi and local multicard play. Unfortunately in able to receive custom levels through wi-fi you will need a dreaded friend code.
It is easy to conclude that the production value of this game is huge but with so many objects comes a small price. Some gamers may not be a fan of the doodle themed graphics but they do fit well with the game. Some items barely represent what they are supposed to. As for the sound, it is decent. Gun shots vaguely represent the real sound and most creatures use the same roar. Thankfully the soundtrack is filled with many catchy tunes.
Scribblenauts is a superb puzzle game and it is one of the year's best games for the DS. It is clearly a must have no matter what. You will spend hours just letting your imagination loose.