eat.sleep.geek.

Ah Scribblenauts, how do I love thee; let me count the ways. A simple and engaging puzzle game that rewards creativity and quick thinking all wrapped in charmingly cute visuals, Scribblenauts is a rare thing: a puzzle game that challenges you upon replaying it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself here. When I first cast my gaze on Scribblenauts, oh so many months ago, I was intrigued by what 5th Cell was promising. The premise seemed almost too ambitious for a DS game so I lodged this sucker permanently on my radar. Having now spent a good deal of time with the title, I can safely say that the ambition that was expressed does not do this game justice and it is easily one of the best on the system to date. Let me put this another way: Scribblenauts derailed my run at 100% in Batman Arkham Asylum.

Not five minutes into the game and I was already riding flying dinosaurs and doing battle with zombies and mutants (of my own creation) with a variety of weapons, both conventional and unconventional. When things got too heavy I hopped in my trusty time machine and headed back to medieval times. To put this in perspective, I did this all before starting the game proper. There’s a kind of sandbox mode at the outset that lets your imagination do the talking.

The hardest part of Scribblenauts, for me, was thinking outside the box (god I hate that expression) for some of the puzzles. But that’s exactly where the fun comes from. Challenging your ingenuity in the face of adversity. The adversity here is often wacky and rarely frustrating.

I loved this game and will most likely continue playing it well into the future.

9.0 out of 10