Don’t be scared off by Scribblenaut’s E 10+ rating if you are wanting to spend some time playing this game with your young ones – this is a game you can play alongside kids of any age and enjoy creative problem solving, spelling lessons and more.

Scribblenauts is a game for Nintendo DS that basically lets you use any object or thing you can think of to help solve various problems and puzzles that are presented to you.  Need to reach something up high?  Use a ladder.  Or maybe a trampoline.  Or a hot-air balloon.  There’s no “right” way to do anything in this game, it’s just important to achieve the desired result.

The game relies almost exclusively on the stylus for character interaction and movement, although you can use the buttons and d-pad to change the camera perspective on the screen.  Pointing to a spot will make the main character Maxwell walk or jump there, if he can, and clicking on you notebook will allow you to spell and create objects that you can use to help you.

One of the reasons the game is rated E 10+ because it’s possible to use weapons, although they are depicted in a cartoony style.   But these can be used in ways that are aggressive and not very family-friendly.   For example, you can create a rifle, then create a puppy, and shoot the puppy.  Although there is no bloodshed or gore on screen, the fact remains that kids can perform these aggressive behaviors if their mind can come up with them.  For this reason, we definitely agree with the ESRB and think that this game, when played alone, is really only for older kids, although a case could be made that a young kids mind would never come up with the idea of shooting a puppy.

That being said, we think it’s fine to play this one alongside even your younger kids, where you can interact and encourage their creative problem solving while also controlling their use of any overly violent objects.  It’s a chance to visit and grow your child’s imagination, thinking up all the different ways stop the ants from invading your picnic, or how to get a across a river with angry fish in it.

Scribblenauts is an imaginative DS games that allows players to use nearly any object they can think of to solve the problems.  We recommend this as a game for all ages when played with an adult, and for tweens and teens when playing alone.

INFORMATION FROM COMPANY FACT SHEET
PRODUCT OVERVIEW:
Scribblenauts is a completely original game play experience that anyone can play, offering fun for all ages with two styles of game play and more than 200 levels. In Scribblenauts, players use the Nintendo DS™ touch-screen to help their character Maxwell acquire the Starite in each level by solving a series of puzzles armed with their stylus, notepad and imagination.
Players jot down the word for any object that comes to mind in order to reach the goal. Every object behaves as it would in the real world, and players can combine countless objects to create completely new scenarios. Every level has more than one written object to use as a solution, opening up the game to endless replay.
In Scribblenauts, players advance through ten worlds, each with eleven puzzle and eleven action levels for a total of 220 challenges to complete. Each level has a “par” for the number of objects suggested to finish the level. Beating a level with under par, earns “Ollars”, the in-game currency, which players can use to purchase new levels and music.
PRODUCT FEATURES:
• Create Your Own Interactive Experience: Objects you write down in the game are only limited by your imagination
• Everyone Can Play: Pick-up-and-play fun for everyone
• Touch-screen Controls: Easy to pick up and play on Nintendo DS™. If you can tap, you can play!
• Unlimited Replay Value: Use less objects to increase your score, or experiment with different objects for endless replay value. Write anything; solve everything!
• Playground Mode: Play the entire game in a sandbox style right on the title screen.
• Create and Share Levels Online: Share levels you create with the Level Editor via Nintendo DS™ Wi-Fi Connection.
• Innovative New Title from Leading Developer: 5TH Cell, the creator of the Drawn to Life franchise and Lock’s Quest, has experience creating high-quality, innovative DS games.