Scribblenauts - Out 25th September!

Release Date: 25th September 2009
Format: DS
Official Website: http://www.scribblenauts.com/

Scribblenauts is an upcoming emergent puzzle action video game in development by 5TH Cell and conceptualized by game designer Jeremiah Slaczka for the Nintendo DS. The game is published through Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the third Nintendo DS video game made by 5TH Cell, the first two being Drawn to Life and Lock's Quest. The objective of Scribblenauts, as implied by its catchphrase "Write Anything, Solve Everything", is to complete puzzles to collect "Starites", helped by the player's ability to summon a large variety of objects by writing an object's name on the touchscreen.

For example, the player can write "ladder", summoning a ladder, which the player may use to climb to an out-of-reach Starite. The player may turn the ladder on its side and set it on fire. Summoned objects also range among animals, weapons, forces of nature, famous people (both fictional and real), vehicles, household objects, easter eggs of the development team, and even internet memes. However, the game does not include trademarked terms, nor potential profanity. The game includes a homonym system to offer the player possible choices between similar-sounding objects, such as distinguishing between a toy balloon and a hot-air balloon; there is also a spellchecker to provide close matches for misspelled words. 5TH Cell has stated that the limit to what objects may be summoned is up to the player's imagination, with the number of words placed in the tens of thousands. The player may also chain objects together, such as chaining a piece of meat to a pole and holding it while riding on a raptor. As such, the developers consider the game to strongly promote emergent gameplay.

The game is segmented into 220 levels, and each level has a time limit against which the player must race. The player is also sometimes limited to a certain number of objects that he or she may summon in a level, and is required to complete each level using a different tool than was previously used. Puzzles are given a par for the number of objects they can summon, typically being between two and four, though the player is free to summon more. A "Free play" mode is unlocked for the level after the player finds three different ways to complete the level. There are two types of levels - puzzle and action levels. Puzzle levels are real-life situations (such as having to open a piñata) where the Starite is awarded once the puzzle is solved, while action levels will appeal to gamers that prefer side-scrolling platformers, featuring switches, spike traps, and other similar elements. Players are awarded "merits" for completing levels while meeting certain requirements, such as not summoning any weapon-like object. Levels can be replayed, but players are prevented from using objects that they summoned previously in that level in order to force the player to explore more possible solutions. Scribblenauts will have a simplistic storyline, as the developers wish to focus on engaging gameplay. The game always rewards the player with "Ollars", its in-game money, to allow them to purchase different avatars and other visual changes to the game.

The game includes a level editor, allowing users to share these levels over the Nintendo Wi-Fi system. The player can start with any level that they have already beaten from the main game, and add new objects with new properties for the game that significantly vary from the normal behavior, such as having a bear able to eat a plane.