Creators of Drawn to Life and Lock's Quest have revealed their latest effort on the DS.
In an exclusive interview with IGN, 5th Cell has unveiled its newest DS title, Scribblenauts. The game's tagline, "anything you write, you can use," effectively sums up Scribblenauts' gameplay. The puzzle title will have players spell out the name of an object, which will in turn spawn that item within the game world. Solving the game's puzzles is as simple as collecting the "starite" pieces found in each level. "[Players] could write anything," describes 5th Cell co-founder and creative director Jeremiah Slackzka, "[even if] it wouldn't help [them] at all in that puzzle."
According to 5th Cell, the game "is all based on real physics and interaction, so there's nothing pre-canned." Control within the game world will be achieved through usage of the DS touch screen. Players will tap anything or anywhere and the game will navigate to or interact with the world and items properly. In order to achieve such a flexible world with a robust catalog of objects/creatures, 5th Cell has created a dynamic system to manage interactions. For example, the game knows that a ladder can be used for climbing but can also be burned since it's made of wood, or since an elephant is an animal it is composed of edible flesh, which is a good thing for any carnivorous sharks that players spawn. Additionally, the team will be working from now until release to create as many objects as possible in order for players to never run out of items to spawn in the game's world.
While the game's main character, Maxwell, can be incapacitated, the true challenge of the game will come from the "par" system. Players will in many cases need to solve puzzles with the fewest number of items, similar to winning in golf with the fewest number of strokes. Completing tasks on or under par will result in gaining more "ollers," the in-game currency, which can be spent in the game's shop.
The game is said to also include local multiplayer, as well as some online features that will be revealed in the future. Players can look forward to a Scribblenauts release in the fourth quarter of 2009.