GamePlay: Scribblenauts Unlimited (Wii U) Review

Platforms/Price/Players: Available for the Wii U, 3DS and PCs. $60/$40/$30, respectively. Multiplayer available on Wii U.

Premise/Story/Set-up: Scribblenauts Unlimited is the third game in the Scribblenauts series, and the first for home consoles. Main character Max has received an extraordinary notebook that conjures anything written inside it. Max’s parents, believing in the Spider-Man maxim, send Max and his sister Lilly off to do good in the world. They immediately encounter a mysterious hobo whom Max gives a rotten apple from his notebook. As all hobos are magic, he curses Max’s sister to turn into stone. The only cure is to collect Starites, created by pure joy. Max helps people with his notebook to save his sister.

Gameplay: Scribblenauts is a puzzle game. In each level the player is tasked with solving a problem via the magic notebook. Example: A grandmother forgot to put a gift in a giftbox. The player then taps on the book icon in the screen, writes out, say, “Creepy doll,” and places that conjured item in the box. The puzzle is solved, the player receives a starite shard and the little girl cries upon seeing her gift. Some puzzles need to be solved by modifying an existing object/person. In one level, the player encounters an adventurer who cannot decipher a simple pictograph. The player can tap on the person, opening up the notebook to add an adjective. Adding “smart” or “intelligent” to “adventurer” solves the puzzle and allows the person to read the literal writing on the wall.

Review: I haven’t played any previous games in the Scribblenauts series. I’ve seen a couple of videos showing unusual results (Cthulu vs. werewolf) in those games, and I thought it was entertaining. I play puzzle games like Tetris and Pushmo on occasion. Scribblenauts Unlimited is somewhere between the two in difficulty. There are no headscratchers, but they aren’t all solved in a single step. The problem I have with the game is imagination. I’m not sure if I have too much or too little. Most puzzles have variant solutions, like the giftbox example above. When I started the game I was more expansive in my answers. On several occasions the game was unable to produce those responses, forcing me to simplify. By the end I was so frustrated with the same roadblock that I went to the basics. Cthulus (Cthuli?), jetpacks and “evil ____” littered the stages. It’s surprising how often the characters will settle for a Kraken.  The graphics are nice and the art style is pleasant.  It adds to the humor found throughout the game. Pop culture nods include Jurassic Park, Superman and Indiana Jones. I found myself staring at the Wiipad for most of the duration out of necessity. It’s difficult to look at the big TV when I’m constantly writing. The controls are responsive, and there’s no lag between the screens.

Recommendation: I had some fun moments during the 10-hour playtime (All Starites and shards collected). It comes down to the player’s imagination and how much irritation the player can stand if their results aren’t produced. I think it’s worth a try. There aren’t many games out for the Wii U yet. Scribblenauts Unlimited will fill the time until something better comes along.

Robert j. Sautter
http://wawaseegroup.blogspot.com/