Scribblenauts -- Where the Dictionary is the Answer Key.

[The Linker]

Alternate title: Scribblenauts -- Where 'God mode' means actually summoning God and having him beat the crap out of everything.

If you've never heard of this game, there's no way to better explain it than TVTropes' take on it: (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main.Scribblenauts)


Scribblenauts is a physics-based puzzle game for the Nintendo DS, developed by 5th Cell Interactive and published by Warner Bros. The premise is simple:

You are Maxwell. You want to get the Starite. (What's a Starite? Well, a shiny star-shaped thing, of course.) You have to figure out how to get the Starite. In order to get the Starite, you need to use the tools at your disposal to reach it.

What are your tools? Everything.

No, really.

A trampoline? But of course.

A football? Sure thing.

A bazooka? Might as well.

A velociraptor? Could come in handy.

A dialysis machine? Pancake mix? A windmill? A tornado? A yacht? A certified public accountant?

What part of everything don't you understand?

While Scribblenauts has a simple premise, there's more to it than is immediately obvious. Using a magical notepad, you can write—and summon—almost anything to the game world to solve puzzles. Call elephants. Call thunder clouds. Call all the zombies you can handle. By moving and manipulating objects, solve the puzzles. Of course, there's more ways than just one to solve a puzzle. Got a Starite stuck in a tree? Chop it down. Climb it with a ladder. Get a Lumberjack to help you. Make termites eat it. Kill It With Fire. In fact, the game prevents you from solving a puzzle the same way more than once until you've beaten it a certain number of times. Not like that's a problem. You have everything.

If you have heard of it... well, according to Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribblenauts) it comes out September 15th, at least in North America. Tomorrow.

If any game deserves a thread, it's this one. With an entire dictionary's worth of solutions to any given problem, one can only imagine the stories that will pop up about someone's method of getting to the top of a tree.

Case in point: Post 217. (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=16184727&postcount=217) (Warning: Swears!)

So have at it, Playground. Until we get our hands on it tomorrow... got any plans? What sort of scene do you want to create? :smallbiggrin:

[The Dark Fiddler]

I'm going to see how many puzzles can be solved with a combination of Rick Astley, God, and Lolcats.

[potatocubed]

I hadn't heard of this game until now... and I want it so much. Of course, since in live in the EU I get to wait another three weeks for no discernible reason. :smallannoyed:

[Oregano]

I hadn't heard of this game until now... and I want it so much. Of course, since in live in the EU I get to wait another three weeks for no discernible reason. :smallannoyed:

..and it releases the same day as Mario and Luigi RPG 3 and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. I'll be getting M&L RPG3 and KH over Scribblenauts.

I'm annoyed with 5th Cell anyway, shortly after people learnt who they were after E3 they said they'd not be making DS games, or not original games anyway. Which says to me that they're moving on now that they have publicity and the DS is only worth putting cash-ins on.:smallannoyed:

[The Linker]

Wait, what?

*looks up Mario and Luigi 3 on Wikipedia*

Woah! I've never even heard of this game and it came out today!

Well... Scribblenauts comes first (you crazy person! :smalltongue:), so I'll have to complete my M&L collection another day.

[Oregano]

Nooo, all three release on October 9th in Europe which is where I'm talking about.:smallwink:

EDIT: Or do you mean Scribblenauts takes priorities in which case I totally disagree. Scribblenauts is going to be overinflated with hype whilst M&L had almost no hype and a bunch of excellent reviews already. And KH is.... KH.

[The Linker]

Right, right. I just meant I'd rather have Scribblenauts than M&L3. But that is just me. :smalltongue:

Bet I could summon Mario, Luigi, and Bowser in Scribblenauts and pretend I have both games.

Edit: Going to be? I don't the hype can get any bigger. :smalltongue:

Edit edit: No, wait, that's not what that means. Ah, well.

[Drascin]

I will do my best to solve every possible problem through a judicious application of explosives and dinosaurs.

[deuxhero]

I'll wait till next week, after being burned on Brawl and a few other things, I want to see the reviews first (and get the money to afford it...)

[Zherog]

Case in point: Post 217. (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=16184727&postcount=217) (Warning: Swears!)

This makes a compelling argument in favor of the game. I believe I'll have to go check it out. I'm curious as to how sophisticated the dictionary/database is.

edit: NOOOOO!! It's a DS game. Why? Why does it have to be for DS and not for a PC?

[Myatar_Panwar]

Definitely considering this game.

Kinda off topic, but Tim Schafer's meeting with the lead designer of Scribblenauts in this video (http://www.giantbomb.com/giant-bomb-at-pax-09-a-tour-with-tim/17-1324/) is pretty hilarious. Its near the end.

[The Dark Fiddler]

This makes a compelling argument in favor of the game. I believe I'll have to go check it out. I'm curious as to how sophisticated the dictionary/database is.

edit: NOOOOO!! It's a DS game. Why? Why does it have to be for DS and not for a PC?

I agree. After I got over the whole "this game will be awesome, I need it ASAP" I wondered why they didn't put it on the PC.

Although I thought that because then they could have made a bigger dictionary, more levels, and add more content constantly through patches.

But then I got over it and moved it to "this game will be awesome and I will get it if possible", right behind Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

[Zherog]

Getting it won't do me any good since I don't have a DS...

[littlequietguy]

This game is worthy of utmost praise. How would one hypothetically make a sequel? More levels. More words. But what else?

[AgentPaper]

I'm not sure why everyone's so excited about this. It looks like it might be fun to play with for a few hours at most, then you run out of stuff to do and it gets boring. There's only so many times you can have fun watching god and the Kraken going at it.

[Lord Seth]

Is it just me, or does it seem like people should hold off the gushing praise until after they've played the game?

[The Linker]

I'm not sure why everyone's so excited about this. It looks like it might be fun to play with for a few hours at most, then you run out of stuff to do and it gets boring. There's only so many times you can have fun watching god and the Kraken going at it.

Well, there are 220 levels. And the game asks you to beat all of them in at least three different ways. :smallamused:

Besides, I think the idea is that I could come back to it years from now and still find something I hadn't thought of. I mean, somehow I doubt I'll be able to put in all 22,000+ options in just a few hours. :smalltongue:

[Zevox]

I've been interested in this game ever since I saw this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB1Wnbhlzrs).

I may buy it tomorrow, though now that I know that Mario & Luigi 3 and Kingdom Hearts come out tomorrow too, maybe not. Off the top of my head though, I think I'd take Scribblenauts and Mario & Luigi if I had to pick two. I may just decide to save the money, though, since I just spent hundreds on books for school...

Zevox

[Gralamin]

I'll be grabbing Scribblenauts tomorrow. I like my sandboxes. :smallbiggrin:

[Setra]

I remember seeing a demo of this game where they somehow summoned Cthulu..

I'm debating getting it due to that

[potatocubed]

Well, there are 220 levels. And the game asks you to beat all of them in at least three different ways. :smallamused:

Wikipedia informs me that there is a level designer also?

[Joran]

http://kotaku.com/5329596/16-attempts-at-scribblenauts

Here's 16 attempts at one level, describing the thought process and problem solving you can do in the game.


Attempt 1: Created bear to attack bee buzzing over first flower, so I could safely grab the flower. Bear killed bee. Bear then killed Maxwell. Level failed.

Attempt 9: Made gun. Shot bee dead. Made hand grenade. Tossed it into piranha lake. Greande killed fish. Grenade killed flower. Level failed.

Attempt 11: Made beekeeper. Beekeeper fled from bee (?). Made exterminator. Exterminator killed bee. Made fisherman. Fisherman cowered near piranha lake (??). Made fishing pole and gave to fisherman. Fisherman looked like he was about to fish but instead fell into lake and was eaten. (Some of the characters are kind of dumb.) Made another fisherman. Gave him pole. Couldn't figure out how to make fisherman fish. Accidentally made Maxwell fall in lake. Piranha latched on. Death. Level failed.

[Athaniar]

I demand that this game be released to computers.

[Zherog]

I may have to steal my daughter's DS. She's getting close to "tween" age and needs a reason to hate me anyway...

[potatocubed]

You can do better than that... buy her a copy of the game, then routinely demolish her high scores and other records.

I still can't play Tetris without flashbacks to my Dad's marathon sessions...

:smalltongue:

[Thanatos 51-50]

Sounds like Something I can Amazon
summon: Friendly Soldier
summon: Light Machine Gun

:smallbiggrin:

[Vorpal word]

Saw one of my friends playing this game today, though all he did with us was build up some crazy battles on the main screen. So far as combat stats go, here is what seems to be the top 5 (though of course we didn't try everything).

1. Dragon
2. Death
3. God/Zeus (they have the same stats)
4. Kraken
5. Cthulhu

You can also apparently summon evil Maxwell and Robo-Maxwell. They seem kinda useless though, they didn't really do anything when we brought them out.

[Zevox]

I has it. And it is fun.


http://kotaku.com/5329596/16-attempts-at-scribblenauts

Here's 16 attempts at one level, describing the thought process and problem solving you can do in the game.

Attempt 1: Created bear to attack bee buzzing over first flower, so I could safely grab the flower. Bear killed bee. Bear then killed Maxwell. Level failed.

Attempt 9: Made gun. Shot bee dead. Made hand grenade. Tossed it into piranha lake. Greande killed fish. Grenade killed flower. Level failed.

Attempt 11: Made beekeeper. Beekeeper fled from bee (?). Made exterminator. Exterminator killed bee. Made fisherman. Fisherman cowered near piranha lake (??). Made fishing pole and gave to fisherman. Fisherman looked like he was about to fish but instead fell into lake and was eaten. (Some of the characters are kind of dumb.) Made another fisherman. Gave him pole. Couldn't figure out how to make fisherman fish. Accidentally made Maxwell fall in lake. Piranha latched on. Death. Level failed.
My favorite solution for this level that I've done: summon UFO. Fly UFO into tree with beehive, knocking it over. Land UFO on bee, killing it. Fly UFO to cliff, retrieve flower from cliff. Fly UFO over water, causing Piranha to jump out at you, and lower UFO onto it, killing it. Land, trash UFO, retrieve remaining two flowers. Level succeeded, using only one object.

Also, anyone know how to survive using a Nuke? I tried a fallout shelter, but though it exists, it didn't keep me alive...

Zevox

[Myatar_Panwar]

Refrigerator? :smalltongue:

[Fawkes]

During a particularly difficult action stage, I decided to try to cheat the game. I wrote in "Starite" and an extra starite appeared next to me. Maxwell picked it up and held like any other object. So I tried "Win Button"... a third starite appeared on the stage.

The game recognizes the term "win button".


Saw one of my friends playing this game today, though all he did with us was build up some crazy battles on the main screen. So far as combat stats go, here is what seems to be the top 5 (though of course we didn't try everything).

1. Dragon
2. Death
3. God/Zeus (they have the same stats)
4. Kraken
5. Cthulhu

The Megalodon from Gardens 1-11 killed my Cthulhu. :smallfrown:

Edit: I did a rematch and Cthulhu won. Maybe they're about equal.

Btw, in case you were wondering, Pirates beat Ninjas.

[Zevox]

Btw, in case you were wondering, Pirates beat Ninjas.
Funny, I got the opposite result.

Edit: I have just been informed by my brother that, using a Mind Control Device, you can make any one thing friendly. And ride it, if it's big enough. Including Cthulu.

This game is awesome.

Zevox

[The Dark Fiddler]

I wonder how many memes they actually put in.

I think testing that will be the first... 3 hours of gameplay for me?

[The Linker]

I'm eager to try out Lolcats, and Ceiling Cat. I know they're in there. :smallbiggrin:

[The Dark Fiddler]

I'm eager to try out Lolcats, and Ceiling Cat. I know they're in there. :smallbiggrin:

I also know Longcat, Giant Enemy Crabs, and Rick Astley are there.

I'm sure they put more in though.

[Player_Zero]

I also know Longcat, Giant Enemy Crabs, and Rick Astley are there.

I'm sure they put more in though.

Tacgnol is in there. Also lolwut. And Your Mum.

[Fawkes]

Does anyone know how exactly to unlock the backgrounds for the playground? I have all but one, and I can't figure out how it determines when you get one. Water (Environment) gave me two.

Edit: testing memes.
Nothing for lolcats.

Ceiling cat works, and functions like a celestial object.

Longcat and tacgnol are both there.

Your Mom creates a zombie.

Lolwut creates a giant version of Maxwell's head. It's wearable.

No result for Rick Astley, but type in Rickroll, and the fun begins. Oddly enough, the character that appears is the same as a a normal Man, but Rickroll behaves much, much differently.

Giant Enemy Crabs produces the exact result you would expect. It only makes one at a time, however. Oddly, Giant Crab produces a normal sized crab.

Keyboard Cat is present in all his majesty.

Roflcopter presents a functioning, but apparently unique, helicopter.

Leeroy Jenkins summons a generic knight. I don't think it has any special powers.

Likewise, I Can Haz Cheezburger creates an apparently normal cheeseburger.

All Your Base makes a Castle.

Joseph, Jeremiah, Brett, Marius, Matt, and David all summon one of the developers. Jeremiah breakdances. Curiously, Edison, the lead artist, appears to be represented by a t-rex with a headband.

[Zevox]

I also know Longcat,
Apparently, this thing is all but immortal. I've been fiddling around in the title screen area, and decided to try killing this thing. It survived fighting - and killed - Cthulu, God, Zeus, and two Deaths (although one was pre-weakened from a struggle with another Zeus), plus weathered a lot of attacks from me wielding the first Death's discarded scythe, before it was finally killed by a Dragon. It didn't kill those opponents very quickly, either, so it isn't because it's that powerful... just that damn durable.

Edit: LOL. "Virgin" produces a guy in a shirt that has an old NES-style controller on it. (I was trying to see if it would produce any reaction to the Unicorn, for those wondering why I even typed that in.)

Edit 2: Apparently also among the Cthulu/Death/Dragon/God/etc level of creature is the Hydra, which just defeated Cthulu in combat for me.

Zevox

[Fawkes]

I cant figure out how to ride dinosaurs without the mind control device. I put a saddle on a velociraptor and got on, but i couldn't control him. I couldn't figure out how to get the meat on a stick to make him move. He kept eating it.


Edit 2: Apparently also among the Cthulu/Death/Dragon/God/etc level of creature is the Hydra, which just defeated Cthulu in combat for me.

Just had a Kraken beat the hydra. I think stats ight be randomized to an extent.

[chiasaur11]

Could someone try Bill Door for me?

Just wondering about something.

[Zevox]

Could someone try Bill Door for me?

Just wondering about something.
Produces a plain old door, which you don't seem to be able to interact with in any way.

Zevox

[chiasaur11]

Produces a plain old door, which you don't seem to be able to interact with in any way.

Zevox

Disappointment and sorrow.

[Fawkes]

If the last word in a string is in itself an item, it will just summon that item.

Btw, "popo" makes a police officer.

[chiasaur11]

So, am I safe in assuming Death has no unique and interesting interactions with cats?

[Fawkes]

He kills them.

[chiasaur11]

He kills them.

Oh well.

Was a bit much to hope for Death wise, really.

Alas.

[Zevox]

Disappointment: Phoenixes do not rise from the dead.

Fun: Bombers kill things fast. A few bombs from a stealth bomber are enough to kill even Cthulu and God.

Also, Sphinxes and Pegasi are available as friendly mounts. Hippogriffs exist as well, but are hostile, and apparently are killed by the mind control device (and, for some reason, turn into fried chicken when killed). "Griffon" just produces some sort of large bird, though.

Zevox

[Myatar_Panwar]

If the last word in a string is in itself an item, it will just summon that item.

Eh, not always. Machine gun or tranquilliser gun for example.

[13_CBS]

Shucks, no phalanx? How will I recreate my 300 Spartans vs. Chuthulhu battle now? :smallfrown:

[chiasaur11]

Any generic Space Marines?

Key to gaming, really.

[13_CBS]

Any generic Space Marines?

Key to gaming, really.

Speaking of which, are there any Emperor/Emprahs that you can summon?

[Zevox]

Eh, not always. Machine gun or tranquilliser gun for example.
True. Only if the full name you type out is not in the database does it bring up the object that the last word in the name says instead.


Any generic Space Marines?

Key to gaming, really.
Not sure why you think that, but "Space Marine" just calls up a basic modern-style soldier. Probably a case of not recognizing the full name but recognizing the last word in it.


Speaking of which, are there any Emperor/Emprahs that you can summon?
...okay, I don't know what an "Emprah" is supposed to be (unless it's a rendering of a mispronunciation of "Emperor"), or how those are supposed to be linked to chiasaur's space marines comment, but "Emperor" summons a generic King, and "Emprah" is unrecognized.

Zevox

[13_CBS]

...okay, I don't know what an "Emprah" is supposed to be (unless it's a rendering of a mispronunciation of "Emperor"), or how those are supposed to be linked to chiasaur's space marines comment, but "Emperor" summons a generic King, and "Emprah" is unrecognized.


Ah, "FOR THE EMPRAH" is a Warhammer 40k meme, and is indeed a mispronunciation of "Emperor". I guess they didn't want to tread on any copyrighted toes, but it's too bad...

[Gralamin]

I've played through the first 3 worlds today.
In addition, being bored in computers, I wrote a simple C program that if you have a txt document with all the words in it will generate random ones. (Do Note that my txt has a few spelling errors in the 22k lines.)

For example:

gralamin@gralamin-laptop:~$ ./scribbleMe 10
LONGAN
SHELF CLOUD
STARFRONTLET
ROAD THROUGH RAILROAD
BAKING SODA
LEAD VEST
INFUSION PUMP
MIDYIM
ROE
TUFTEDCHEEK
gralamin@gralamin-laptop:~$ ./scribbleMe
CULVER


Warning if anyone decides to use this: I haven't bothered to do error checking that would occur if you used a parameter other then a number. So don't.

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <string.h>

int randInt(int, int);
void randomize(void);

int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
FILE *myFile;
char line [128];
char *finalLine;
int size = 22802; // This is the number of words in Scribblenauts
int myValue;
int i;
char *argControl;
int control = 1;

randomize(); // set the Seed

if (argc > 1){
argControl = argv[1];
control = atoi(argControl);
}

for (int j = 0; j < control; j++)
{
myFile = fopen("scribble.txt","r");
if (myFile == NULL)
{
printf("Can't open input\n");
return 0;
}
myValue = randInt(1, size);
i = 0;

while ( fgets ( line, sizeof line, myFile) != NULL && i < myValue)
{
i++;
}
finalLine = line;
printf("%s", finalLine);
fclose(myFile);
}
return 0;
}

int randInt(int min, int max)
{
int random = 0;
random = rand() % max + min;
return random;
}

void randomize(void)
{
stand((unsigned) time (NULL));
}

Word List is available here (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=H6W2XVKV)
Put both in the same directory, compile, run in command line with parameters.


If it turns out anyone actually cares all that much about the random tool, I might put up a windows / linux download version.

Edit: Added in a paramaterless example.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Heard about on the PA board, placing here:

Both Leeroy Jenkins and Keyboard cat work. I am in awe.

[Fawkes]

I tested a bunch of other memes.
Nothing for lolcats.

Ceiling cat works, and functions like a celestial object.

Longcat and tacgnol are both there.

Your Mom creates a zombie.

Lolwut creates a giant version of Maxwell's head. It's wearable.

No result for Rick Astley, but type in Rickroll, and the fun begins. Oddly enough, the character that appears is the same as a a normal Man, but Rickroll behaves much, much differently.

Giant Enemy Crabs produces the exact result you would expect. It only makes one at a time, however. Oddly, Giant Crab produces a normal sized crab.

Keyboard Cat is present in all his majesty.

Roflcopter presents a functioning, but apparently unique, helicopter.

Leeroy Jenkins summons a generic knight. I don't think it has any special powers.

Likewise, I Can Haz Cheezburger creates an apparently normal cheeseburger.

All Your Base makes a Castle.

Joseph, Jeremiah, Brett, Marius, Matt, and David all summon one of the developers. Jeremiah breakdances. Curiously, Edison, the lead artist, appears to be represented by a t-rex with a headband.

[Gralamin]

I tested a bunch of other memes.

Have you tried to put a Walrus and a bucket by each other yet?

Edit: Obligatory XKCD Link (http://xkcd.com/637/)

[The Extinguisher]

So I am basically going to be spending all my money on this game on Friday.

How will I get through school when they keep making such awesome games!

[Fawkes]

Have you tried to put a Walrus and a bucket by each other yet?

If the walrus can see the bucket, it moves toward it. If you pick up the bucket, the walrus attacks! :smallbiggrin:

[Zevox]

Ah, "FOR THE EMPRAH" is a Warhammer 40k meme, and is indeed a mispronunciation of "Emperor".
Ah, explains why I didn't know it, as I've never played Warhammer 40k.


I guess they didn't want to tread on any copyrighted toes, but it's too bad...
Oh, definitely the case. Copyrighted material is one of the few categories they tell you at the beginning of the game is not in the game, along with obscene or suggestive material, alcohol, and proper nouns (i.e. Chuck Norris).


Have you tried to put a Walrus and a bucket by each other yet?
I just did. Don't understand the reference, but there does seem to be some reaction. The Walrus will sit there just sort of staring and barking at it, and follow the bucket around if you move it (so long as you don't move it too far away for it to notice it), and has this odd shield-in-a-speech-bubble icon above its head when it's nearby (that's something other characters exhibit at times too, but hell if I know what it's supposed to mean).


Edit: Obligatory XKCD Link (http://xkcd.com/637/)
...Holy cow, and it's not kidding either. You really can do that (the first two panels, not the last).

Zevox

[The Linker]

I just did. Don't understand the reference, but there does seem to be some reaction. The Walrus will sit there just sort of staring and barking at it, and follow the bucket around if you move it (so long as you don't move it too far away for it to notice it), and has this odd shield-in-a-speech-bubble icon above its head when it's nearby (that's something other characters exhibit at times too, but hell if I know what it's supposed to mean).

Sounds like it's supposed to represent "I'm going to protect this thing." Shields typically represent defense. It's certainly consistent with Mechafox's latest comment.

Also, love the new xkcd comic. :smallbiggrin:

[chiasaur11]

I just did. Don't understand the reference, but there does seem to be some reaction. The Walrus will sit there just sort of staring and barking at it, and follow the bucket around if you move it (so long as you don't move it too far away for it to notice it), and has this odd shield-in-a-speech-bubble icon above its head when it's nearby (that's something other characters exhibit at times too, but hell if I know what it's supposed to mean).


Zevox

Witness and be enlightened:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/2001982351398543517_rs.jpg

[Rogue 7]

Well I know what I'm buying the next time I go into a gamestop.

[Gralamin]

Stuck here for the night.
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7085/63081598.jpg
Obviously not to scale.

[potatocubed]

I have scored an imported US version. It should be with me by the end of the week. :smallsmile:

I hear that you can get a lightsaber by entering 'beam katana'.

[Shhhh!]

Stuck here for the night.
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7085/63081598.jpg
Obviously not to scale.
Hey, I was stuck there for a while too. I'll tell you what I did, if you'd like, but in spoilers. Cause...why not?
I set a slope mostly on the ledge, set glue to it's side, used the glue to support a floor, and another glue,floor combo. I then placed a superhero under the resulting contraption, and used a Fire ball to melt the ice. The Starite fell onto the floor mess, and I ran out to get it. So, good luck with that.

[Athaniar]

I wasn't interested in buying a DS before reading this thread. Now, I just have to get one. Immediately.

[Vizen]

Stuck here for the night.
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7085/63081598.jpg
Obviously not to scale.

Can you make Anti-Gravity? =D

[Thanatos 51-50]

Stuck here for the night.
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7085/63081598.jpg
Obviously not to scale.

Well, I don't have the game, yet, but:
Summon: Floor made of Obsidian
or
Summon: Lasso
or
Summon: Zero-Point Energy Gun
or:
Make a floor-platform
or
Summon: Vulcan, have Vulcan grabd the starite before it falls in the lava, then:
Summon: Fisherman's pole to reel it up to you
then:
Summon: Hair Dryer or Microwave to thaw the ice.

[potatocubed]

My immediate response to Gralamin's sample level would have been 'ice age' to get rid of the magma followed by 'sunshine' to melt the cube with the starite in (once it's safely on solid ground). I have no idea if that would work or not.

It's cool to see the sheer number of solutions we can think of, though.

[Zevox]

I hear that you can get a lightsaber by entering 'beam katana'.
I've been using "laser sword" to get lightsabers myself, but it appears that one works too.


Summon: Vulcan, have Vulcan grabd the starite before it falls in the lava, then:
Not an option. It seems as though they decided to hold off on the mythological gods, as Zeus is the only one I've been able to get to work. Not even big-name guys like Thor are available otherwise. Though a lot of mythological creatures are. As is Mjolnir, Thor's hammer.


My immediate response to Gralamin's sample level would have been 'ice age' to get rid of the magma followed by 'sunshine' to melt the cube with the starite in (once it's safely on solid ground). I have no idea if that would work or not.
It wouldn't. The thing you enter has to be a concrete object you can create in most instances, not something more abstract like "ice age." I even tried both "ice age" and "sunshine" to confirm this - not in there.

Zevox

[Sipex]

How about using lots of water to cool the magma?

Also, can you summon a bag of holding?

[Zevox]

How about using lots of water to cool the magma?
Maybe - I can't test it since I've not been to a level with magma yet. But fiddling around I did get a blizzard (which is just a cloud that drops ice) to put out the fire coming from a volcano, so that's promising.


Also, can you summon a bag of holding?
No. Though I haven't noticed any particular limit on the capacity of containers that I have used in the past, so there is that.

Zevox

[potatocubed]

It wouldn't. The thing you enter has to be a concrete object you can create in most instances, not something more abstract like "ice age." I even tried both "ice age" and "sunshine" to confirm this - not in there.

Drat. Glacier? Iceberg? After-dinner mint?

[Zevox]

Drat. Glacier? Iceberg? After-dinner mint?
Glacier and Iceberg both work (and both create the same thing). Whether they'd cool off magma, I don't know - like I said, not at a level with that yet. They did put out the volcano fire, just like the blizzard, though.

Zevox

[Myatar_Panwar]

Just tried it, the glacier just dissapears. I would have also tried tidal wave, but there isn't enough room for it on the screen provided.

[Zevox]

Well, I just reached the magma stage in question, and quickly found an easy solution.
Create a chain, attach one end to the starite's ice block, and the other to the high end of the tripwire. Trip the wire and this chain will pull the starite's ice block into the cave with you. From there, eliminate ice as you please (I used a poleaxe, because I had never summoned that particular type of weapon before).
Zevox

[Gralamin]

Zevox's Suggestion worked well. I had no idea the chain was that long :smalleek:

[Kris Strife]

Make a wizard, a ring, and then any random person and give them the ring, and the wizard will attack them!

It also recognizes Monk, Cleric, Druid and Ranger as the D&D type concepts. Atheists run away from God

[Ziren]

Make a wizard, a ring, and then any random person and give them the ring, and the wizard will attack them!

It also recognizes Monk, Cleric, Druid and Ranger as the D&D type concepts. Atheists run away from God

What do they do with Darwin?

More words to try out:


Time Machine
Teleporter
Confetti
Parade
Magic Carpet
Magic Lamp
Drill
Holy Handgrenade
Banana Bomb
Spy
Mad Scientist
Goatee (put it on someone friendly and see if it makes them hostile)

[Kris Strife]

Darwin and Holy Handgrenade don't do anything.

[AgentPaper]

Can you make....antimatter?

[Thanatos 51-50]

Some one needs to try Manbearpig.

[NeoVid]

Wondering what the results are for

Genie
Puppet
Santa
Satan
Terminator

[Myatar_Panwar]

All of those but terminator are in there. Thought I was trying to spell transilluminator, which is in there, and Google Chrome isn't recognizing as a real word. :smallbiggrin:


Some one needs to try Manbearpig.

Works. Creates a Minotaur.

[Kris Strife]

Antimatter: Yes
Santa: About normal, but if you make an elf as well, they produce toys
Satan: same as devil, demon, etc.
Puppet: makes a hand puppet, doesn't do anything
Genie: looks like a harem girl, dies and leaves a feather(?) if you interact
Manbearpig: makes a minotaur

Rabbits multiply, and if a zombie kills someone, they become a zombie.

Also: God, riding Cthulu and using an assault rifle to kill a dragon. That is all.

[Ziren]

Genie: looks like a harem girl, dies and leaves a feather(?) if you interact


Awesome reference.

What about my other words? I'm particulary interested in goatee and mad scientist.

[Kris Strife]

Goatee does nothing, I tried it on God. :smalltongue:

[Myatar_Panwar]

Awesome reference.

What about my other words? I'm particulary interested in goatee and mad scientist.

Both work, and

If you spawn Science in range of a Mad Scientist, he messes with it. It results in a black hole.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Also: God, riding Cthulu and using an assault rifle to kill a dragon. That is all.

I need this game.

[Sipex]

Mad scientist works, I know that. He tends to interact with things that you'd expect, random machinery (try Science), plutonium.

[AgentPaper]

Ok, so antimatter works, but what does it DO? And also how would the mad scientist react to plutonium/antimatter? (perhaps with some Science around as well)

[Thanatos 51-50]

Let's see:
Disarmed Thermonuclear Warhead
Dynamite
Elephent on a Circus Ball
Peanut
Spawn a mouse next to an elephant.
Axe murderer
Leatherface
Space Fighter
Orbital Battle Station
Doomsday Machine

[The Linker]

You know, if you keep this up, you're not going to have anything to do if you actually get your hands on the game. :smalltongue:

[YPU]

So I am guessing there is, by now, a wiki or other common edits site with a whole slew of words on it.

[Kyouhen]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone bothered to see what it does if you type in "Scribblenaut"?

[Fawkes]

Make a wizard, a ring, and then any random person and give them the ring, and the wizard will attack them!

The wizard refuses to wear the ring. :smalltongue:


More words to try out:


Time Machine and Teleporter - both work as expected. Takes you to a different place in time and space.
Confetti - A little pile of confetti. Maxwell can pick it up.
Parade - Doesn't work.
Magic Carpet - Works as a flying vehicle. Really useful!
Magic Lamp - Doesn't have any unique properties when summoned, by has a major role in several challenge puzzles.
Drill - Makes a hand power drill.
Holy Handgrenade - Makes a normal grenade.
Banana Bomb - Just makes a bomb.
Spy - Same as a Ninja.
Mad Scientist - Works, and is distinct from the normal Scientist. I'll have to see how he reacts to different things.
Goatee - Is wearable, but doesn't appear to change behavior.



Can you make....antimatter?

Yes, and the result is very similar to a Black Hole.


Just out of curiosity, has anyone bothered to see what it does if you type in "Scribblenaut"?

An early version of Maxwell appears.


Let's see:

Disarmed Thermonuclear Warhead - try fewer words. :smalltongue:
Dynamite - yes, and it explodes if Maxwell activates it.
Elephent on a Circus Ball - no circus ball
Peanut - The elephant ate it.
Spawn a mouse next to an elephant - scares the elephant
Axe murderer - Creates a "murderer", which is a hostile ninja-looking guy armed with a knife. You can give him an axe, though.
Leatherface - No copyrighted material.
Space Fighter - Doesn't recognize, defaults to Fighter. Gives you choice between Human or Plane.
Orbital Battle Station - Just Station.
Doomsday Machine - Just a machine.

Funny story: One of the puzzles asks you to reunite a baby with its parents. The level has a stork, but I couldn't get it to take the baby, so I just put the baby on a leash and dragged it home.

[NeoVid]

More test words....

Magic wand
Winter
Necronomicon
Black Magic
Rocks Fall
Do Not Want
Uber Weapon
Giant
Einstein
Teleporter
Dispenser
Sentry

....I'm having fun because of this game just by suggesting things for other people to try. I need a DS.

[Fawkes]

More test words....

....I'm having fun because of this game just by suggesting things for other people to try. I need a DS.

I've heard that Einstein works, but haven't tested it. I've covered teleporter (It works just like the time machine). I'll try the rest of those (and any others that get posted) after I take care of some other stuff.

[YPU]

wand works, turns stuff into frogs,
Einstein also.
but i have this from YouTube, dont know exactly.

[chiasaur11]

Nicolai Tesla?

[Myatar_Panwar]

Teleporter works, and sends you places. The first time I tried it I was teleported into a cave. Inside the cave were mummies, an archeologist, and a vampire hunter. :P

I guess most people get sent to a virtual version of the developers office, though.

[Copper8642]

Posting to affirm awesomeness, but want to stop reading, I feel the need to find this stuff out myself.

[Emong]

Both Hand Cannon and Potato Gun work.

I'd also like to note that this is the only game where I've died on the title screen :smallwink:

[The Dark Fiddler]

I'm only asking one more: do they have any dice in the game other than d6's?

[Myatar_Panwar]

No. And you cannot roll the dice either.

[The Dark Fiddler]

No. And you cannot roll the dice either.

This saddens me greatly.

I think I'll go cry myself to sleep.

[Fawkes]

So guess what? Spaghetti cat is in the game.


More test words....

Magic wand - equipable weapon. Turns target into a frog. One shot.
Winter - nope.
Necronomicon - equipable weapon. Turns targets into loyal skeleton minions. I also managed to somehow create one from scratch. Three shots.
Black Magic - summons a little bit o' black magic. Doesn't appear to do anything. Disappears on contact w/ ground. White Magic has a different sprite, but same effect.
Rocks Fall - nope
Do Not Want - creates a dog sitting at a table eating something. Disappears after a few seconds. :smallconfused:
Uber Weapon - creates a crowbar (the result for Weapon)
Giant - hostile enemy, about a head taller than most huamnoids
Einstein - creates a default Scientist
Teleporter - like time machine
Dispenser - a trash can.
Sentry - same as Soldier. Sentry Gun creates a mountable turret gun you can control.

Nicolai Tesla?

Nope.

[The Dark Fiddler]

So guess what? Spaghetti cat is in the game.


=D I'm no longer going to cry myself to sleep! Thank you for pointing this out!

[Fawkes]

I found an "Archaeologist" in one of the Challenge levels. Guess who he's dressed as. (http://www.indianajones5trailer.com/indiana_jones_and_the_raiders_of_the_lost_ark/indiana_jones_1.jpg)

[Thanatos 51-50]

No dice other than d6s? So no Exploding Dodecahedron?:smallfrown:

[Emong]

This just in: Black Magic turns people into skeletons and White Magic freezes them.

[KBF]

White Magic freezes people in general or just skeletons?

How about the Flying Spaghetti Monster? That would be interesting.

[Emong]

People in general.

Edit: Flying Spaghetti Monster just gives a standard monster

[The Dark Fiddler]

Edit: Flying Spaghetti Monster just gives a standard monster

And I'm sad again. :smallfrown:

[Emong]

And I'm sad again. :smallfrown:

Would it cheer you up to hear that the Philosoraptor is in the game?

[Myatar_Panwar]

Another meme discovered: Over Nine Thousand

Produces a monocle, no doubt used to represent the scanner.

[Enlong]

And "Ancient Japanese History" produces the Giant Enemy Crab. Gussy why.

[13_CBS]

Two quick questions:

1) Are there goggles?

2) Do they do anything?

[Gralamin]

Two quick questions:

1) Are there goggles?

2) Do they do anything?

Yes

I don't think so.

[Fawkes]

The goggles! They do nothing!

[Player_Zero]

Another meme discovered: Over Nine Thousand

Produces a monocle, no doubt used to represent the scanner.

Scouter.

Also, point of note: prefixing words it knows with other words makes it summon the word that it knows.

'Alien girl' will most likely summon the normal girl model. 'Green octopus' summons a non-green octopus. Et cetera.

[Athaniar]

Can is summon a Stargate, or is that too copyrighted?

So, there are no deities but God and Zeus? Have your tried all famous Norse, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman ones? What about Quetzalcoatl?

Is there any Lovecraftian stuff other than Cthulhu and the Necronomicon? Yog-Sototh? Nyarlathotep? Deep Ones? Lovecraft?

Also, weapons. Please check the SRD and tell me how many of them exist in this game.

[_Zoot_]

I must have this game! Is it out in Australia?

[Sipex]

I heard Ra the sun god is in it.

Also, if you equip someone with goggles then splash them with acid, what happens?

[Comet]

Is there any Lovecraftian stuff other than Cthulhu and the Necronomicon? Yog-Sototh? Nyarlathotep? Deep Ones? Lovecraft?

I think I summoned a shoggoth once.

[SITB]

I think I summoned a shoggoth once.

Does anything special happens if you summon a shoggth on a house (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Shoggoth_on_the_Roof)?

[Closet_Skeleton]

I managed to borrow this from a friend for half an hour.

President summons a guy in a blue suit
Cowboy and cowgirl both work and summon differantly gendered versions
Bandit summons an evil looking cowboy
Rabbi summons a Rabbi, who I used to pick up litter for me
hydrent summons a fire hydrent that sprays water if you attatch a hose to it.
Pogo summons a pogo stick which lets you jump higher
Spider summons a spider and web summons a spider web, but niether helped me kill a fly until I summoned a bin to attract the fly so the spider could kill it on the ground
Wyvern summons the same dragon that typing in dragon does
Katana summons a scimitar
Pillar summons a statue plinth that can be used to block enemy movement and stand on
Meteor summons a meteor that you can drop on things, but you can drop anything on things so it isn't really special
Armor gives you plate armor but Helmet gives you a modern soldier's helmet
the tree I summoned kept falling over
Earthquake doesn't go anything
Platform doesn't make a floating platform, though I didn't try it over water
Maxwell and Clone both summon a differantly coloured version of Maxwell

[Ikialev]

Does anything special happens if you summon a shoggth on a house (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Shoggoth_on_the_Roof)?

No.


Can is summon a Stargate, or is that too copyrighted?
No.


prefixing words it knows with other words makes it summon the word that it knows.Except for stuff like Tranquilizer Gun, MAchine Gun, Shrink Ray, like this.

[Fawkes]

I heard Ra the sun god is in it.

Confirmed.

[Athaniar]

Any other deities?

[Drascin]

Any other deities?

Well, God is in it. He can beat up Cthulhu, too, from my experimentation.

I'll go try God vs Ra now.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Sandworm gives you a skeletal worm thing.
Exorcist gives you a priest who is useless against ghosts
Coffin gives you a coffin that creates a ghost if you open it
Communist and President give the same guy

[Sipex]

Question:

What if you take a small animal and glue a fan to it?

Does it fly?

[Zevox]

I'll go try God vs Ra now.
Ra is kind of a wuss. I had to give him a weapon for to even beat a basic Zombie when I tried him out. No way he's up there with the Death/God/Cthulu crowd in terms of power.

Zevox

[MDK]

Any other deities?

Anubis is in the game.

Also, "Blob" is able to defeat even God and Death, so I think it's the strongest creature I've seen in the game so far.

[Kyouhen]

Hey guys.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v169/Balthasar_Gelt/EpicWar.png


I couldn't resist. :smalltongue:

[Athaniar]

That is Epic.

[NeoVid]

The generic "weapon" gets you a crowbar? All Valve fans snicker.


Anubis is in the game.

Also, "Blob" is able to defeat even God and Death, so I think it's the strongest creature I've seen in the game so far.

From what I've heard, the deadliest creature found yet is Longcat. Longcat vs Blob needs testing.

And there's some really, really obscure monsters in there. I'm told Nuckelavee works.

[Fawkes]

From what I've heard, the deadliest creature found yet is Longcat. Longcat vs Blob needs testing.

And there's some really, really obscure monsters in there. I'm told Nuckelavee works.

Longcat has obscene amounts of health, but does low damage.

Btw, Nuckelavee w/ scythe vs. Chimera ended in a draw. Scylla lost to Charybdis really quickly. Jabberwock isn't very strong, either.

On a less monstrous note, Lucy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Australopithecus%29) is in the game.

[Myatar_Panwar]

Question:

What if you take a small animal and glue a fan to it?

Does it fly?

I'm not sure. Though I did once put a Beanie on Max, put glue on the top of it, and attached a propeller. That made me fly.

[factotum]

Question:

What if you take a small animal and glue a fan to it?

Does it fly?

Tried it with a rabbit--didn't work, it just ran along the ground as usual taking the fan with it.

[Kris Strife]

Hercules is incredibly weak. :smallfrown:

Helm gives a knight's helmet, and kobold, orc, goblin, gnome, halfling, elf, fairy and dwarf all summon their fantasy versions.

Dingos will eat babies. :smalleek:

[Athaniar]

What is the kobold in this game? It tends to vary greatly from franchise to franchise.

[Kris Strife]

lizard person thing, hostile.

[Fan]

Hercules is incredibly weak. :smallfrown:

Helm gives a knight's helmet, and kobold, orc, goblin, gnome, halfling, elf, fairy and dwarf all summon their fantasy versions.

Dingos will eat babies. :smalleek:

He better be able to beat the Hydra even so. :smallannoyed:

[Kris Strife]

He better be able to beat the Hydra even so. :smallannoyed:

Nope, not even a regular lion. :smallfrown:

[Sipex]

Did you arm him or no?

[Kris Strife]

Shouldn't need to, not for a lion anyways.

[YPU]

Would prefixes like weak and strong have effect on stats?

[Myatar_Panwar]

Would prefixes like weak and strong have effect on stats?

No I don't think so.

Also, it appears that typing in Virgin gets you a Gamer. I know some people will find it offensive for some dumb reason, but I found it funny. :smalltongue:

[Sipex]

I've already found a few people complaining about that in other scribblenauts topics.

Then the topic ignores them and someone talks about how they created a rabbi powered chariot.

[YPU]

did anybody try flying dutchman

[Enlong]

It doesn't work.

Also, something funny. The Invisibility Cloak (more of a vest) is actually completely useless, because it makes Maxwell invisible, but doesn't make itself invisible. So people see the floating vest, which is totally powerful, but, like, lime green.

[Zevox]

Also, it appears that typing in Virgin gets you a Gamer. I know some people will find it offensive for some dumb reason, but I found it funny. :smalltongue:
I posted about that a few pages back. I, too, find it amusing.


did anybody try flying dutchman
Doesn't recognize it. "Ghost Ship" in general does, but it doesn't do anything special.

Edit: Good news/bad news. Chinese Dragons are available, but are wusses who get one-shotted by anything in the god-tier of combat, including the "standard" (western) Dragon.

Zevox

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Ghost Cthulhu?

[Xanedan]

Game still isn't in stock, and I'm getting a bit antsy. So could someone please confirm or deny something for me?

Is there anyway to brew up some sort of acid/corrosive with a chemistry set of some sort?

[Fawkes]

Game still isn't in stock, and I'm getting a bit antsy. So could someone please confirm or deny something for me?

Is there anyway to brew up some sort of acid/corrosive with a chemistry set of some sort?

You can make a little bottle of acid, but it's the same sprite as poison and I can't figure out how to do anything with it.

On the bright side, Soggoth is in the game.

[Justyn]

It doesn't work.

Also, something funny. The Invisibility Cloak (more of a vest) is actually completely useless, because it makes Maxwell invisible, but doesn't make itself invisible. So people see the floating vest, which is totally powerful, but, like, lime green.

Have you tried "Invisible invisibility cloak"?

[Fawkes]

More memes:
Weegee - (same as Plumber)
ORLY; NOWAI - (both make an Owl)
Monorail Cat
Lollerskates - (same as rollerskates)
Dramatic Chipmunk
All Your Base Are Belong To Us (type it all out, trust me)
Om Nom Nom Nom - (I have no idea what this is supposed to be)
Anonymous - (Invisible Man)
Invisible Bike - (functions as a bike, but you can only see the handlebars)
Feep - (looks like a cyborg zombie)
Loituma Girl (also known as leekspin)
I See What You Did There (a dude who sees what you did there)

[Xanedan]

You can make a little bottle of acid, but it's the same sprite as poison and I can't figure out how to do anything with it.

On the bright side, Soggoth is in the game.


='( I wanted to blind people with science.

[KBF]

But Loituma Girl is Orihime, a copyrighted character. What shows up, exactly?

[Fawkes]

A woman spinning a leek. She doesn't actually look like Orihime, she just has the same eyes and happens to be spinning a leek.

[jet082]

This is crazy. I need to try out some of these memes once I get done work. The game just became so much better for me.

[Atomsized]

I'm curious, as I haven't bought the game yet, but does typing in "Elite Beat Agents" or "EBA" do anything?

'cause uhhhhh. It would be awesome :smalltongue:.

@v: Alright, thanks.

[Sipex]

No copyrighted material.

I'd say no, sorry.

[Lord Seth]

Not to my surprise, Zero Punctuation (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/969-Scribblenauts) reviewed the game.

[The Linker]

Well, he certainly did manage to point out my biggest issue with the game -- the controls. I really, really dislike these controls. Ever try to fire your gun at a bee floating over a pit of lava? You miss by an inch and Maxwell happily takes a bath! :smallfrown: I think a good fix would be to have the option to hold down 'L' and your character won't move at all, despite your tapping. Less frustration that way.

I also noticed the bit about not finding just the right combination of words to spawn the 'huge boulder' or what have you, but I sort of found it neat. It's like an RPG where you learn the correct phrase and have this new awesome 'spell' to use. No, I had no way of knowing 'Fixed Ladder' would be the way to conjure a ladder three times as big as the normal one, but hey, now I know and I use it all the time. Same with 'Fixed Bridge Ladder'. It's nothing like a ladder! But it makes an awfully good bridge.

I have to disagree with the complaint that you can solve every puzzle with the same things. Like the VG Cats guy saying "Wings, Black Hole, Wings, Black Hole..." I just don't think that's how you're supposed to play the game. Be creative! Have fun with it! Try new things! Heck, try the advanced mode, where your Black Hole is blocked off to you your second and third time around.

[littlequietguy]

Be creative! Have fun with it! Try new things!

Those words are banned in some circles of gaming.

[Lodlampa]

I pretty much agree with this guy (http://imgur.com/O5A8i.jpg), when it comes to describing the game. :smallsmile:

[Myatar_Panwar]

Just as alot of people go into playing a hyped game expecting something amazing and not getting it, I think alot of people go into a hyped just looking for reasons to hate it.

[Thanatos 51-50]

I'm upset to start playing an learn there are no Hover Boots.
And Power Armour yields regular armour.

[billtodamax]

If you know your chemistry well enough, I think you might be able to combine different chemicals (e.g. try Water and Potassium) because I looked at a word list someone linked me to, and saw crazy things like Zinc Acetate* was there.

*Disclaimer: I'm not sure if it was Zinc acetate. But I saw a few chemicals of that ilk.

[Vizen]

A girl I work with recently bought the game. I proceeded to spend the next hour before I started work upstairs in the break room playing it. I was thoroughly amused.

For this (http://imgur.com/O5A8i.jpg) about the donkey thing? I discovered "Ass" works.

Also, I was killed by a spider. :smallfrown:

[Morty]

This game sounds great. Sucks that there's no PC version.

[Ziren]

So, I got the German version of the game today and thanks to the fact that they seem to have translated the words with a cheap translation device rather than paying an actual German-speaking person to do it... it's quite bad.

Words like "Speedboat" or "Jetpack" don't work allthough they are used a lot more around here than their respective translations (in fact, I don't think I have ever heard or read the word "Raketenrucksack"). This also leads to complete translations errors, like "rook" being translated to "Stein" rather than "Turm".

Other than that, creative solutions often fail because things in the game don't react like one would espect: You can't crush anyone with an anvil or a piano dropped on them anymore than you could with a feather. Wings/jetpack or some other device to make you fly is needed in almost every level without this ever being a challenge (or interesting...)

Overall I think they should have worked more on the quality of the game, rather than the quantity of objects. I would not buy this again or recommend it to anyone, especially not for such a high price.

[13_CBS]

So...according to Yahtzee, Scribblenauts is creativity for idiots. (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6635-Extra-Punctuation-Scribblenauts) Oh, and pretty much everyone in the world is an idiot. :smallconfused:

[Ikialev]

However, he's right in 'When you can have everything, it's hard to choose from' part.

[Ziren]

So...according to Yahtzee, Scribblenauts is creativity for idiots. (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6635-Extra-Punctuation-Scribblenauts)

Well, he has a point:

Everything (and much more than) you can do in scribblenauts you could also do with a pencil and a piece of paper. Without having to deal with bad controls, repetitive missions (I like the puzzles of the first three stages - it goes a lot downhill from there) and a much too restricting level editor.

[Archonic Energy]

give a zombie a brain...

i was rather disapointed that a dragon riding god gets beaten by chuthulu

otherwise i'm having fun...

[Manicotti]

So...according to Yahtzee, Scribblenauts is creativity for idiots. (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/6635-Extra-Punctuation-Scribblenauts) Oh, and pretty much everyone in the world is an idiot. :smallconfused:

He's always been right about that.

He said it most clearly back in the review of another "sandbox" game, I think it was Saints Row: Give people free will and the first thing they'll do is abuse it. That's basically how human history has been dictated. "What? Your walls say I can't kill you? Fine, I'll just make a weapon that can fire over them! NOW what do you do to prevent me from raping you/pillaging your city/selling you into slavery?"

On the other hand, even when they have the power to do mostly anything, the Internet/generic entertainment community isolates itself to a couple dozen repeating memes and gag humor I grew out of when I left 9th grade, and then considers atrocities like "lolcats" and "Sporn" (http://io9.com/5018089/best-of-sporn-a-love-song-%5Bnsfw%5D) to be new and interesting. Why? Because you're guaranteed to find an audience. It's the working principle behind reality TV - find the lowest common denominator and it doesn't matter how degenerate you are.

They ask the wrong question, "What can I do?" instead of "What can't I do?" I'm not really surprised when games are made that reflect the small-mindedness of the favored flavors of the modern "culture," because that's all the creators know for sure that the players like.

[Weimann]

I bought the game last week, and I've encountered the problems mentioned here: crappy controls, many items being called different stuff but still working essentially the same, NO immersion at all (Right, you go about collecting starites. It's not even explained what they are. What does Maxwell do with them? I mean, they could have just come up with 2 sentences each on this part, like "Maxwell eats them for snacks" or "he melts them and makes paint" but I guess you're supposed to imagine that too. Who is this Maxwell anyway? Since no explanation is given, I imagine he is the ender of worlds, having created the magical Scribblenauts simulator to on a metaphysical plane capture and undo the stars that fuel all different planets in the universe, and by overcoming the level, he also overcomes any problems that would arise in the real world. Out of spite.) and many items not doing what you'd logically expect them to do.

Particularly that last part bothers me. The game premise is "use anything you can imagine to solve these problems", but then it requires me to imagine stuff the way they intended it to be imagined. Of course, this is a problem with a game like this: there's no way to model everything that a player might think up, and even less how they are supposed to interact, but when it's the main selling point of the game, it really shows when they failed at it.

Innovative solutions are fun when they work (one of my favourite moments with the game was when I solved a level with a dog chasing a cat, who then ran into a button, opening the door and letting me get the starite), but a lot of the time, they won't, simply because stuff doesn't behave like you'd think. That makes you less likely to seek them out; when your fifth elaborate scheme falls apart due to the controls screwing up, or a tree not presenting a valid target for a lasso (but a beehive does?), you are likely to just say "screw it" and go for the helicopter and rope.


I was looking forward to this game, but I was let down. It's only to be expected really, what with the hype. I don't say don't buy it, but I say, know what you are buying. Because, let's take a step back and behind it from a distance for a while. What is it we see?

We see a sheet of blank paper. That's what this is, it's a sheet of blank paper where you can draw anything you want. One guy has drawn up a problem, and then some other guy figures out a funny way of solving it. The inherent problem here is exactly that: you could play this game with only a pen and paper, and you could do it better.