Scribblenauts = Grrrrr

Scribblenauts and I have had a love/hate relationship this week. Some days I would just ROCK the puzzles and I’d love everything about Maxwell and his zany lexicon. But then the next day, the damn game locked up on me TWICE in two different puzzles. And of course, it happened right when the Starite appeared. All that work in solving the puzzle…gone.

So far, I seem to have fixed the problem with the freezing (the freezing started when I changed avatars, and when I switched back to Maxwell, voila, no freezing up) but then I encountered different problems as the puzzles grew more difficult. The game mechanics are very frustrating at times. For example, the lack of being able to control Maxwell has been my undoing more than once. While trying to get a beam to fall horizontally–when I summoned it, it appeared vertical and I needed it horizontal–I accidentally tapped off of the beam, which made Maxwell move to the left and well, he fell into a pit of lava and I didn’t get him out quickly enough. Had to start over. If Gabe was napping at the time, I would have yelled oh so loudly.

I’ve also noticed that sometimes a solution for a puzzle will work just fine one time you play it, but if you try it again (because you failed somehow and had to start over) the chances of it working are about 50/50. Okay, that’s harsh. 70/30. So this has made using and reviewing the guide a bit of a challenge. Sometimes what the guide suggested will work, and othertimes not.

Or–and this has been frustratingly hilarious–the guide’s suggestions will work to a T, but something strange happens that didn’t happen to the author and you fail anyway. In one puzzle, I had to get a king, who was riding a sheep, across a lava-filled chasm to his castle. I built a bridge and got him across, but the guide suggested a chain would work just as well, because the king’s sheep will hop over the unsturdy portion. Okay, sure, why not. I place the chain, and the king gleefully hops across. Starite appears. Awesome. Just as I prepare Maxwell to fly up and fetch his Starite, the knight who is milling around the castle decides to run off and falls off the loose chain and dies. FAILED MISSION.

That’s probably my biggest gripe about the game. There have been numerous times that a Starite appeared, and some NPC went off and killed themselves and I lost because I didn’t snatch the Starite before the loony got himself killed.

I would still recommend this game to puzzle lovers. It’s so unique and forces you to think in ways you normally do not–well, at least it does at first. It’s easy to get into a rut and use the same objects in most situations because you know it will work. For me, I’m partial to the Pegasus. Why? Because I know how to fly him, how to attach ropes to him, and there’s no way I can accidentally tip him over like I’ve done with an airplane and a helicopter.

See what I mean? Grrrrr.