Scribblenauts - God vs. The Kraken

[Relee]

Scribblenauts is a game where you can write anything, and it creates it in the game world for you. Well, not 'anything' obviously, but apparently a fuck-ton of stuff.

Check this out it's God vs. The Kraken.

Here's an official trailer.

[Relee]

Double Post; due to forum glitch the second post is better than the first, and the first is now this line of text.

[Relee]

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/05/hands-on-scribblenauts/

This review is awesome.

There's a growing sect of Joystiq writers who are walking away from E3 2009 with the same title constituting their Game of the Show. Surprisingly, it's not a big-budget blockbuster, or a groundbreaking advancement in storytelling, or a bold new method of how we interact with our video games. It's Scribblenauts, an unassuming DS puzzler with a massive lexicon, charming gameplay and, as far as we can tell, a large infusion of impossible technowizardry.

The premise of the game is simple -- you play as Maxwell, who must solve various puzzles to obtain Starites spread across 220 different levels. To execute the aforementioned solving, you write words to create objects in the world that your cartoonish hero can interact with. It's a simple concept that's bolstered by one astounding accomplishment from developer 5th Cell: Anything you can think of is in this game. (Yes, that. Yes, that too.)

There's no better way to relate how magical this game is than to simply present to you the challenges we were presented with, and the often circuitous methods we used to surmount them.

1. One level we played placed us in the desert with a thirsty, thirsty man. A cue appeared as we began the level: "Refresh him!" Of course, writing water would suffice -- but that's not very original, is it? My first time through, I managed to summon an oasis. It appeared, I dropped it into the ground, the man fell in, and the Starite appeared. At the end of the level, the game gave me a score based on how far I went over par (the target number of items you can beat the level with), and awarded me badges -- achievements for clever word usage.

Justin fed the man pomegranates until he fell victim to an overstuffed slumber. He created some lemonade, which the man then poured down his gullet -- level complete! Randy created a coffee shop. It appeared, the man ordered a cup o' joe at the carry-out window, drank it -- level complete!

2. Another level placed a pool of water with a shark inside between us and the Starite. While a few options may have allowed us to circumvent the shark-infested waters, we all decided to take him out. I tried dropping a sword on its head pointy-side down, but it bounced harmlessly off its thick hide. I then dropped a hair dryer into the water with more electrifying, fruitful results.

Chris attempted to drop dynamite into the water, though the splash extinguished the fuse. He then threw waterproof C Four into the water, effectively recreating the ending of Jaws. J.C. created a Kraken, which fought with and ultimately bested the shark.

Andrew created a teleporter in an attempt to instantly apparate to the Starite -- instead, it took him to a medieval world where he was besieged by shadowy assassins. He tried distracting them with candy -- really, Andrew? -- then created a fairly anachronistic nuke. The nuke didn't detonate, however, so andrew created a laser rifle to take out the assassins. One of his lasers grazed the aforementioned WMD, and blew up the entire level.



3. Ludwig was tasked with navigating through a zombie apocalypse to reach a helicopter with his brains in tact. He attempted to hold the undead off with a wall, but he couldn't get build it fast enough to hold off the horde. He whipped out a shotgun, but their numbers were too large to dispatch with a firearm.

Naturally, his next instinct was to craft a time machine, which took him into the prehistoric ages. Of course, he was surrounded by unfriendly dinos, so he made a robot dinosaur, which he then mounted and used to destroy his scaly adversaries.

In all of these scenes, only a few items we tried to create didn't appear. The guys from 5th Cell explained that there are some limitations -- modifying a noun with an adjective won't usually work as intended -- brown happy dog, for instance, will probably just create a dog, though its color and mood may not be to your liking. Also, trademarked items are out, from "Nintendo DS" to "Bungee."

Still, the sheer number of items the game is capable of recognizing, and the development that went into determining how these objects interact with Maxwell and each other, is simply astonishing. We've never seen anything like it -- and based on the long line of E3 attendees that wrapped around the Warner Bros. booth with hopes of getting their hands on Scribblenauts before the expo's conclusion, we're guessing nobody else has either.

Scribblenauts is going to be huge.

This one is good too: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/05/scribblenauts-passes-our-ten-word-challenge-with-flying-colors/

We were extremely impressed with our time with Scribblenauts on the E3 show floor, but in a weird way, we felt this primal desire to conquer it. After an evening of brainstorming, we developed ten words we were certain would stump the game's seemingly infinite vocabulary -- the surprising results of our little experiment are posted after the jump!

1. Internet -- While we thought the developer wouldn't bother including something as intangible as the intarwebs, entering the word actually spawns a little computer. A little adorable computer. Scribblenauts 1, Joystiq 0.

2. Tattoo -- How could the game possibly render a piece of body art? By spawning a sheet of temporary tattoos, of course. Clever, Scribblenauts. Very clever.

3. Air -- How could you even tell if the game spawned air? Inputting this word creates a tiny puff of air that, when dragged and dropped, is absorbed into the surrounding air. 3-0.

4. Molecule -- No object is too small for Scribblenauts' vocabulary. We entered molecule, and received a tiny model of a molecule in turn.

5. Scribblenauts -- Instead of causing the game to become self-aware, an event that would certainly lead to the destruction of mankind, entering Scribblenauts causes the original character model for Maxwell, the game's protagonist, to appear.

6. Narwhal -- Not only did it cause a horn-touting whale to appear, but we were able to ride atop its back, crossing the liquid divide between us and a Starite. Incredible.

7. Lutefisk -- Sure enough, a bright white fish appeared and began to flop around the level. Oddly enough, a previously spawned Santa Claus ran up and ate the Lutefisk. He must have a cast-iron stomach.

8. Plumbob -- No dice! The game's lead designer was hanging over our shoulder as we entered in this unrecognized word. He quickly asked what it was, pulled out his phone and feverishly sent some unknown party a text message. "Okay," he said. "It'll be in the final product."

9. Stanchion -- The bulk of us actually thought this word was made up -- but Scribblenauts managed to spawn a weight-bearing post, which is apparently what a stanchion is.

10. Joystiq -- Upon entering Joystiq, the game brought up the spell check menu, asking us if we meant to spell "Joystick." We're willing to count this, but we're hoping 5th Cell can manage to include some representation of our site in the final product.

Final score: Scribblenauts: 9, Joystiq: 1. Good game, 5th Cell. Good game, indeed.

[Alfador]

*jaw drops* I remember a game very much like this. It wasn't so puzzle-oriented, you just typed sentences, and as long as the words you used were in the game's vocabulary and it wasn't out of memory, it happened on the screen.

I think it was called "Story Maker." I know for sure what system it was for... the TI-99/4a.

My only lament was that the command to make something vanish--the verb "to zot"--could not be used with "everything" to clear the screen. This was most unfortunate when I ran up against the aforementioned memory limitations.

[Jennifer Diane Reitz]

Scribblenauts is a day one purchase. Damn this is awesome. With sauce. Which doubtless it will render.

[Relee]

*jaw drops* I remember a game very much like this. It wasn't so puzzle-oriented, you just typed sentences, and as long as the words you used were in the game's vocabulary and it wasn't out of memory, it happened on the screen.

I think it was called "Story Maker." I know for sure what system it was for... the TI-99/4a.

My only lament was that the command to make something vanish--the verb "to zot"--could not be used with "everything" to clear the screen. This was most unfortunate when I ran up against the aforementioned memory limitations.

I had that on the C=64, it was awesome. ^.^

Scribblenauts is a day one purchase. Damn this is awesome. With sauce. Which doubtless it will render.

Probably! XD

The best part is that it also has a level builder and you can share your levels over Nintendo WiFi Internet.

They gave out a lot of information about the game, and one thing I was glad to hear is that there's no hard limit on what you can create. Instead there's a 'par', the less items you use to achieve the level goal the higher your score. Apparently there's also points for using really wild items.

As for the Zombie Apocalypse level, I wonder if you can create a can of Zombie Repellant, or if you can only create things that exist?

[Monthenor]

I will make sweet stylus love to this game for weeks on end.

Also it will likely be possible to recreate You Have to Burn the Rope in its entirety, making this game of the year 2009 and 2008.

[Relee]

Well, it won't have the You have to burn the rope song. Or the Super Energy Apocalypse song. Or any other awesome song.

[Wizard CaT]

As for the Zombie Apocalypse level, I wonder if you can create a can of Zombie Repellant, or if you can only create things that exist?

They made both a kraken and god…

[Ejia]

...this is am automatic must-have. I womder if more words cam be added via WFC. If somethimg like this were to be developed om the Wii... there are mo words.

[Relee]

As for the Zombie Apocalypse level, I wonder if you can create a can of Zombie Repellant, or if you can only create things that exist?

They made both a kraken and god…

Well, those are obvious. And they're both probably in the dictionary. Zombie Repellant is kinda specific and not in a dictionary. ^.^;;

I wish I was at E3 so I could have tried it and they would say, "Oh that's a good idea let's put that in the game" like they did for that one guy who found a word that wasn't in the game's dictionary.

[strange_person]

It doesn't do multi-word objects. I think asking for "zombie repellent" would get you a can of generic-brand 'repel,' plus an additional zombie.

[Tychomonger]

I wonder if they have Ubik (use as directed)

[Relee]

It doesn't do multi-word objects. I think asking for "zombie repellent" would get you a can of generic-brand 'repel,' plus an additional zombie.

It does multi-word objects just not usually adjectives. Like, you can say blue cat and get a normal cat. But that doesn't mean Zombie Repellant isn't in there, it might be a specific case sort of thing.

It has to do multi-word objects in order to summon Keyboard Cat.

[Alfador]

If I typed Mario, would it summon some generic Italian guy, or THE Jumpman?

[Relee]

I doubt it would summon anything. ^.^;;

[Relee]

Skateboarding God vs. C'thulhu.


Scribblenauts also has the prestigious distinction of being the first handheld game to ever win Best of E3 Overall. It's just that awesome.

[Relee]

All sorts of things from shark repellent to the specter of death are in there for you to type up, call into the world, and use for solving puzzles and traversing over 2D platforming environments.

- http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6211254/sc ... id=6211254

Maybe there really IS Zombie Repellant?

[Relee]

5th Cell might be better known as the Drawn to Life guys, possibly even the Lock's Quest guys, but I'm fairly certain that - come September - they'll be known primarily as the Scribblenauts guys.

They're local, so when they asked if they could drop by and show it off, we didn't hesitate. I looked over at Gabe's screen, and saw a space shuttle crash into a schoolhouse. I don't think that was the goal. For my part, in order to secure a subterranean whooziwatsit, I needed to crack the crust of the earth. I wanted to create an excavator, and when I entered the word, it wanted to know: did I mean a tracked construction vehicle, or a person who excavates?

Um, SOLD.

Apparently some words actually have options for multiple potential meanings.

[Relee]

Here's a list of some things that are in or not in Scribblenauts: http://kotaku.com/5313896/some-words-th ... ibblenauts


And here's how the ESRB describes Scribblenauts: http://kotaku.com/5311425/scribblenauts ... y-the-esrb