Scribblenauts

 DS
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 125 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 76 out of 125
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 125
  3. Negative: 12 out of 125
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  1. aditya1101
    Oct 6, 2017
    6
    It's a pretty innovative concept, and I definitely had a lot of fun with it. But at the end of the day, it's basically a **** platformer with a cool gimmick to make you forget about its flaws.
  2. DrewtheDude85
    Jun 20, 2014
    7
    I heard a lot of recommendations for this game, so I decided to give it a try and overall, I have been having a pretty good time with this game just solving puzzles and things like that.

    Pros: -Creative Puzzles -Extensive amount of Words -Cool and fun Easter eggs (One of the levels parodied Back to the Future which I thought was very funny!) -Definitely a game I kept coming back to,    I heard a lot of recommendations for this game, so I decided to give it a try and overall, I have been having a pretty good time with this game just solving puzzles and things like that.

    Pros:
    -Creative Puzzles
    -Extensive amount of Words
    -Cool and fun Easter eggs (One of the levels parodied Back to the Future which I thought was very funny!)
    -Definitely a game I kept coming back to, I remember being very addicted to this game when I first bought it.

    Cons:
    -Puzzles can get really repetitive.
    -Level Editor could be better.
    -Replay value may be there, but what it has to offer is not very fun, but just more repetitive puzzles.

    Overall, Scribblenauts is very innovative, but it's not one of the best. I'd still think it's worth picking up if you can find it for cheap.    … Expand
  3. SupaChigga
    Nov 19, 2013
    6
    Single Player/Multi Player (2/2)

    (If the single player is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no multplayer) (If the multiplayer is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no single player) Gameplay (2/2) Visuals/Story (0/2) (If the visuals are better than the story, review this section as if it had no story) (If the story is    Single Player/Multi Player (2/2)

    (If the single player is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no multplayer) (If the multiplayer is better than the multiplayer, review this section as if it had no single player)

    Gameplay (2/2)

    Visuals/Story (0/2)

    (If the visuals are better than the story, review this section as if it had no story) (If the story is better than the visuals, review this section as if the visuals didn’t matter)

    Accessibility/Longevity (1/2)

    (Review this section only on Accessibility if the game has no longevity) (Review this section only on longevity if the game isn’t accessible)

    Pricing (1/2)

    Wildcard (0)

    This is a guideline for how to properly review games. Many reviewers like to get a “feel” for a game, and arbitrarily give a game a score that they believe it deserves. This results in wildly different scores between different reviewers, and vastly different scores between similar games. This guideline addresses these problems and scores games fairly and consistently. This guideline also gives scores that are usually similar to the metacritic score.

    The review score is based out of 10 points. There are no “half” or 0.5 increments. It is impossible to have a score above 10 or below 0. The review score will change as the game gets new dlc, drops in price, or if more secrets are found through the game increasing its appeal.

    The scoring is split into 6 sections. The first five sections can add a possible 2 points to the final score. The first 5 sections are Single Player/Multi Player, Gameplay, Visuals/Story, Accessibility/Longevity, and Pricing.

    Notice that 3 of these sections have two parts. These particular sections will be scored based on the stronger part of the game of the two. For example, if a game has a lousy single player campaign, but an excellent multiplayer component, that section will be based solely on the multiplayer as if the single player did not exist. This allows games to be based on their own merits, as many unnecessary features are shoehorned into video games by publishers to reach a “feature quota”. Games that excel in both areas of a section don’t receive should be noted in the written review, but cannot increase the score past 2 in that section. However, it can be taken into account in the final section

    The final section can add 1, add 0, or subtract 1 to the final score. This final section is the “wildcard” section. This section is for how the reviewer “feels” about the game, but limits this only to this section, rather than the entire 10 point review. This section can include any positive or negative point that was not covered in the previous 5 sections.    … Expand
  4. MIDP
    Aug 4, 2013
    7
    A really fun game that lets you create anything you can scribble pretty much.

    They fixed the controls in the newer version as they are what slows this one down a lot.

    Otherwise it has a lot of clever puzzles and is worth checking out.

    7 out of 10.
  5. ricklongo
    Mar 15, 2013
    7
    This is the perfect example of a premise that gets anyone wide-eyed in astonishment. I mean, you write up any object and it's in the game. How the hell did they manage that?

    The game itself is beautifully colored, with just the right amount of silliness, and a LOT of extremely cool easter eggs (if you write up "time machine", for example, you get an actual time machine that gets you out    This is the perfect example of a premise that gets anyone wide-eyed in astonishment. I mean, you write up any object and it's in the game. How the hell did they manage that?

    The game itself is beautifully colored, with just the right amount of silliness, and a LOT of extremely cool easter eggs (if you write up "time machine", for example, you get an actual time machine that gets you out of the current puzzle's ambient and into one of many different pasts or futures).

    Where things start to fall apart is the actual gameplay. As puzzles get garder, it gets increasingly annoying to try to control the main character. A lot of the times, he just refuses to obey the obvious commands, which results in a whole lot of wasted time. As a result, I never really found it in me to play this game all the way through.

    Final verdict: one of the most fun premises ever to grace a video game, significantly doused by half-assed controls.    … Expand
  6. Chammy
    Feb 14, 2013
    7
    This game is based on a brilliant idea. Some of the stages are a little frustrating, but overall it's awesome and really fun. This really has a future.
  7. Ztride
    Jan 22, 2012
    6
    The game features an excellent and very original idea, that there is over 20 000 items you can spawn into the level just by typing them. However, poor controls, uninteresting levels and the fact that most objects don't function the way they should, or atleast could, prevents this game from reaching a higher score.
  8. Zorgly
    Feb 10, 2011
    5
    A great idea that ended up being more frustrating than fun. your character often will knock over elaborate set ups because you cant control him yourself. and half of the games puzzles are solved by simply creating death or a helicopter with a magnet on it. The best part of the game is on the main menu staging fights between various mythical creatures ridding skateboards...
  9. Wormoid
    Jan 8, 2011
    5
    The first problem with this game is that the title is a lie. Saying write anything solve everything is a complete lie. Many times when you say you want a spanner you will end up with a drill, because any type of tool you type in has the same result. Many of the items you can't use anyway, and movement is extremely annoying. I got to world 3 before puttingthis down, avoid.
  10. Some1n
    Nov 20, 2010
    7
    It is a brilliantly innovative game. This really had the potential to be an excellent game. However, it fell flat completely. One of the major problems was the controls. I don't know why it even used the touch screen to begin, but Maxwell is hell to control. The touch screen was bad enough but they are really floaty and irresponsible. However, you'll spend hours using your imaginations onIt is a brilliantly innovative game. This really had the potential to be an excellent game. However, it fell flat completely. One of the major problems was the controls. I don't know why it even used the touch screen to begin, but Maxwell is hell to control. The touch screen was bad enough but they are really floaty and irresponsible. However, you'll spend hours using your imaginations on the title screen, doing whatever, pitting God against Satan, or a tiger against a lion, or whatever your imagination takes you to. The vocabulary on offer is amazing too.… Expand
  11. JamesC
    Nov 29, 2009
    6
    This is a brilliantly original concept, but a concept doesn't make a game. Several words are given the same sprite, the controls are annoyingly fundamental and the physics are just abhorrent (it *is* Warner Bros, so it isn't a surprise). The only forgiving feature is the massive range of (barely) interactive scenes you can create. Warner Bros blew it big time.
  12. KenW
    Oct 27, 2009
    5
    This is not innovation. This is just a silly gimmick which gets dull extremely quickly. Yes, you can create Satan and God, dress them up and make them fight. You can also create bricks and watch them do nothing. They're pretty much the same thing.
  13. RobertB
    Oct 7, 2009
    6
    I really wanted to like Scribblenauts. Although I found the art direction charming, the core mechanic fascinating, and the premise engaging, ultimately the games challenges left me... wanting something with a bit more substance. Scribblenauts is half a game, or rather a game without a real end goal . Certainly the puzzles force the mind to wrap around problems in interesting ways, but the I really wanted to like Scribblenauts. Although I found the art direction charming, the core mechanic fascinating, and the premise engaging, ultimately the games challenges left me... wanting something with a bit more substance. Scribblenauts is half a game, or rather a game without a real end goal . Certainly the puzzles force the mind to wrap around problems in interesting ways, but the lack of guidance, the clumsy camera controls, and the funky physics made playing this game difficult. Add in the frustration of the user interface, the difficulty in simply playing the game combines with the games unusual challenges to create more of a sense of frustration rather than wonder.… Expand
  14. rbee
    Sep 28, 2009
    7
    For gamers buying it for themselves: excellent. For parents: Good but not great. The puzzles can be exceptionally easy or exceptionally challenging, and hinge on, yes, creativity, but also the kind of lateral thinking that does not come easily to all, and even when it does, the game function does not always work the same way the player wants it to. My son is excellent with maths and For gamers buying it for themselves: excellent. For parents: Good but not great. The puzzles can be exceptionally easy or exceptionally challenging, and hinge on, yes, creativity, but also the kind of lateral thinking that does not come easily to all, and even when it does, the game function does not always work the same way the player wants it to. My son is excellent with maths and science, but this game could not compete with his Pokemon obsession, particularly after he stumbled and could not "get the starite" within ten minutes. I played through and enjoyed it myself, but I also enjoy Picross and brain training, neither of which are "games" my son cares for. Educationally the game is also very limited, as it can be beat through same-object repetition. If you're a parent who puts a daily minute/hour limit on game time, the frustration your child feels about Scribblenauts will more often drive him or her to quick-finish levels than to really enjoy the game. My experience only. Also: I love the game, but have already gone back to older titles with stories and character development. We might find more life in Scribblenauts if we created and exchanged levels on WiFi, but cannot.… Expand
  15. Lagann
    Sep 24, 2009
    5
    The game offers an incredible database that's impressive at first, but very quickly becomes obvious that most of the items are completely useless. It is rare that they work in any way that you would expect. At best it's worth a rental to play around with the summoning, it gets very old very quick though, and quickly forgotten about.
  16. KyleK.
    Sep 16, 2009
    7
    The concept behind this is indeed pure genius, but let down quite a bit by the very clunky controls and the inability to pause while adjusting objects. Still, I can see myself playing around with the start menu alone for months, and that's quite a feat.

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best DS Game of 2009
7
#7 Most Discussed DS Game of 2009
21
#21 Most Shared DS Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 72 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 72
  2. Mixed: 26 out of 72
  3. Negative: 0 out of 72
  1. Games Master UK
    90
    Scribblenauts is hugely ambitious, and the odd bit of buckling under its inventory has to be forgiven.
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  2. GameSpy
    90
    Even with the flaws in Scribblenauts' controls and the level editor -- which only allows you to make levels for use on your own card, and not share them with others -- it holds a special place in my heart for being the most fun I've ever had improving my vocabulary. It is, dare I say, the best piece of edutainment since Math Blaster.
    Read full review
  3. 1UP
    83
    You get a wholesome puzzle game in Scribblenauts, with challenges that may well last you longer than you think, but it's not perfect.
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