I may have mentioned once or twice that I’m ridiculously excited to play Scribblenauts. The new trailer makes the game seem even more incredible, and it made me realize something I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of before:Scribblenauts has almost infinite replay value.
I know that sounds odd, because it’s clearly one of the main features of the game. So maybe it’s not that I didn’t think of it, but that the concept just didn’t seem very real. There aren’t many games I find truly engrossing enough to enjoy a lot of replay. Sure, there are all the games with great multiplayer features, but I don’t consider those “replay.” For real replay value, I consider the story mode of a game – the part of the game that follows some sort of narrative progression from beginning to end. Even with games like Mass Effect, where there are countless options available to the player on replay, I find it hard to jump back in and relive the same story, despite the various nuances that come from different decisions.
Scribblenauts is different, in part, because it’s more like a puzzle game. There’s not necessarily that same, narrative progression with bigger titles. But even puzzle games can get boring, and it takes a special kind of experience to make me come back for more. That’s exactly what I expect from 5th Cell’s little creation – a rare gaming experience.
My expectations exploded when I first heard the concept for the game, and from everything I’ve seen, it can’t really disappoint. The most shining example, though, is from the new trailer. Our intrepid hero is stuck staring at a centaur with no way around. How does he hope to make it past? Why, by summoning Medusa, chopping off her head and using it to turn the centaur to stone, of course! Okay, so that doesn’t solve the problem of getting around the centaur (and actually the trailer does seem to show this “solution” as no solution at all), but it does make good on the promise that anything is possible. There are obviously thousands of other ways to get your ‘Naut out of this little pickle, and that’s what makes the game so great. I’m already imagining spending hours just playing my favorite puzzles, the ones that offer the most modularity for solutions, just to see how many ways I can think up to solve them.
With opportunity for expansion packs, increased dictionary size, and more item interoperability, Scribblenauts could quickly become one of the greatest franchises ever. To see more of what I’m talking about, check out the trailer below.
