'Scribblenauts' revolutionizes puzzle play on the Nintendo DS

— -- Puzzle-loving gamers may feel a seismic jolt when loading Scribblenauts, a new puzzle game from Warner Bros. Interactive, because the game revolutionizes the way to play puzzles. This game distinguishes itself from the hundreds of other games releasing on the Nintendo DS this fall because it has a unique shtick: scribble the name of an object that you want to use to solve a puzzle, and it appears on the screen. With this think-it, write-it, play-with-it mechanic, puzzle solutions can be all over the map, limited only by your imagination.

Scribblenauts offers 220 puzzles spread over 10 themed worlds into which you can summon over 10,000 playable items. The glossary of words includes everyday items such as ladders, ropes and lassos, but also contains fanciful objects like unicorns, magic carpets and black holes. Summoning Death and God can be quite intriguing.

Each of the puzzles features Maxwell, a cute little guy that you control. The goal of each puzzle is to pick up a star which appears somewhere in the puzzle environment. There are two types of challenges: puzzle levels and action levels. The puzzle levels give you instructions about what your objective is and when you accomplish that objective, the star appears. The action puzzles are simply about manipulating an environment so that you can get to the unreachable star.

A puzzle level may be as simple as having Maxwell capture a butterfly fluttering above him. One solution is to scribble the word "flower" in the on-screen notebook called the WritePad, which then causes a flower to appear. By touching the flower with your stylus, you can place it right next to Maxwell. Seeing the flower, the butterfly will now fly down to it, which enables Maxwell to capture it.

An example of an action puzzle is figuring out a way to get a star out of a tree. You can conjure up a ladder to help Maxwell climb up to the star, or you might decide to use a lasso. Cutting down the tree with a summoned axe is also an option.

A more complicated action puzzle will involve a series of trip wires that open doors, which in turn cause the star to fall into a shark-invested pond. After trying words like "shark cage" (it was too big to fit the space), poison (it didn't work), typing in "Death" brought the grim reaper to deal with the pesky shark.

Each puzzle has a "Par" that is defined as the targeted number of objects you will need to "scribble" into existence to solve the puzzle. If you solve a puzzle with less objects than par, you will earn more of the game's currency called "Ollars". Ollars can be used to unlock new sets of puzzles, and purchase new avatars and music. Working quickly and creatively also results in more earned Ollars; as does solving puzzles in quirky ways that earn you one of the 80 special merits. Another interesting twist is that each puzzle has a "Budget Meter," a bar showing you when you have reached the maximum objects allowed to be added to the puzzle. An onscreen trash can is great for making unwanted objects disappear.

Since this is a very different way to play a video game, the game wisely starts with a series of helpful tutorials. However, some things are not explained, and players will have to figure them out as they go. We would have liked access to hints and the 10,000+ glossary of usable words, but those are not a part of this game.

What makes Scribblenauts so good is that it offers almost endless ways to play the game. It is only limited by your own creativity. Experimenting is encouraged because you can restart a puzzle as many times as you wish, and doing the same puzzle in a different way is rewarded.

But even better is that you are the master of this game. Most games impose their structure on you, and you play within their world. When playing Scribblenauts, you decide how you want to play the game, in a style that fits your personality. That said, two of the 220 puzzles force some violence; such as the one where you are instructed to "Find and put down the three rabid animals," but you can choose to not play those two.

This is one of those rare games where it is fun to talk to others about how they would solve a puzzle. We found that even non-gamers were interested in contributing their opinions. It is also a great game for a family to explore together, each person sharing ideas. But it's best for kids ages 10-up because of the mischief you can summon up. For example, you can shoot or club cute animals. There is even a Level Editor which allows you to create your own levels by using the backgrounds and puzzles that you have already solved. These can be shared with others on the same DS or by using the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection.

This is the most innovative new game to appear on the Nintendo DS this year.

Gudmundsen is the editor of Computing With Kids magazine. Contact her at gnstech@gannett.com.