So I went out and bought Scribblenauts about two weeks ago, and I have mostly enjoyed it. However, there were a few little quips and quibbles that I had with the game.  And so, I decided to write an open letter to Fifth Cell, the developer, in the hopes that it might reach them and they would take my suggestions into account.  So, here goes.  And yes, I know that the opening paragraph of the letter repeats some of this.

Dear Fifth Cell,

I recently picked up Scribblenauts, mostly because I watched as the majority of the gaming internet (including myself) fell in love with it’s whimsical art style and incredibly original concept. Not long ago I heard that you were considering potentially porting the game to other platforms, and I felt the need to give my opinion on what should stay and what should go. I’m no game reviewer, but I am a thinker, and I think these are some pretty important things.

Lets start with what needs to stay.  The most important thing is the fact that you have an entire interactive dictionary.  However, it’s obvious that this needs to stay, because without it Scribblenauts would not be Scribblenauts.  The other important keeper is the art style.  I love it, and it annoys me that the DS screens do it so little justice.  The animation often seemed a little jerky due to the somewhat low-res nature of the system, but on something like a PSP or PC, the art and animation would look incredible, so it’s imperative that it stay.

Now, on to the things that need to move out of the Scribblehouse, or at the very least could stand to change a bit.  First and foremost is the control scheme.  It seems like you put so much time into the dictionary side of things (which is, as previously stated, the most important part of the game) that you simply tacked on the controls afterwards.  When I can’t do what I imagine doing because Maxwell doesn’t know how to stop before jumping into a boiling pit of piraña infested lava (while not in the game so far as I’ve seen, I’m sure someone will make it into a level), I get frustrated.  And then I stop playing.  Why?  Because almost every other facet of the Scribblenauts gem is so highly polished, and getting the controls right seems like such a simple task when compared to programming a list of over 22,802 words and their interactions with each other.  The controls shouldn’t be an issue if you bring the game to most other systems, but for the love of God and all that is holy, if you bring the game to the Wii or PC please don’t make me click/ point to where I want to go.  The other thing that needs to go is the “par” system.  In a game that openly invites you to create an elaborate Rube Goldberg system just to break open a piñata, punishing the player for exceeding an arbitrary number of items takes the fun out of the game.

I hope this somehow makes it you your desks, and that you don’t just write it off as the rantings of a spurned fanboy.  I truly adore your game, and I want to see it succeed in as many formats as possible.  I think that by fixing these two problems, and by keeping the two things you excelled at, this game could become a # 1 hit.  Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Tristan