5th Cell announces next DS project: Scribblenauts

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 6th 2008 at 12:00PM }

Developer 5th Cell is known for their unique use of the Nintendo DS touch screen in their titles, which include Drawn to Life and Lock's Quest -- however, their next project makes those two titles seem like the creative equivalent of Madden 09. In a recent interview with IGN, 5th Cell creative director Jeremiah Slaczka gave a brief run-down on Scribblenauts, which will have players traversing puzzle-filled worlds, spelling nouns to make objects appear that will help solve said puzzles.

For instance, in the first gameplay trailer that 5th Cell provided (posted after the break), Maxwell (the game's protagonist) is trying to collect a "Starite" from a treetop. Writing "ladder" will provide the vertical assistance needed to reach the Starite, but you could just as easily create a "football" with which to topple the Starite from the tree. Then again, you could spawn a "beaver" to chew the tree down. Or maybe you could summon basketball superstar (and crically-acclaimed actor) "Shaquille O'Neal" to grab it for you.

Okay, we made that last one up -- but if the possibilities are as endless as the trailer suggests, we better see some Shaq functionality in the final product.

[Via DS Fanboy]

Tags: 5th-cell, drawn-to-life, ds, locks-quest, scribblenauts

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando Rocker @ Dec 6th 2008 12:11PM

Nice...

I hope I can summon sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads...

=p

Woot @ Dec 6th 2008 6:26PM

IGN: Good call.

Miah: Or maybe attach a laser gun to the shark.

Fernando Rocker @ Dec 6th 2008 12:19PM

"... but if the possibilities are as endless as the trailer suggests, we better see some Shaq functionality in the final product."

Actually, some 5th Cell devs. were reading comments over NeoGAF and other gaming websites when Lock Quest and Drawn to Life were released. So, maybe they are reading now all the things that readers are posting over NeoGAF, Kotaku, maybe Joystiq(hundreds of comments and ideas by now in other websites) etc... so, the final product maybe will be very complete.

Fernando Rocker @ Dec 6th 2008 12:20PM

Great reading:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344468

Rhamsey @ Dec 6th 2008 12:34PM

wow, i loved 5th cells other games (especially draw to life). and i really hope i can summon a north american tree octopus.

also, i wonder if you can use other copyrighted things, like pikachu, or something cooler that i cant think of right now.

quasebrasileiro @ Dec 6th 2008 1:08PM

It's absolutely awesome that the first and only copyrighted thing you could think of was Pikachu! Seriously now, don't make me laugh, people will know I'm not working!

Kye says: Know thyself @ Dec 6th 2008 3:52PM

Hey! I was gona say that.

My answer to everything would be "pokemon".

-slycooper_rocker- (lorddshadow the amazing) psn: shahanasalam @ Dec 6th 2008 6:07PM

NORTH AMERICAN TREE OCTOPUS!!! WOOOOOO!

Alien Lord @ Dec 6th 2008 12:43PM

I'll pass this one by, I don't find writing a fun gameplay element (not since the days of kings quest and Leisure Suite Larry on DOS)

unfriendly_cat @ Dec 6th 2008 1:52PM

Maybe it's because English is not my first language, but for me finding new words that the parser understood was easily the best part of early Sierra games. Of course that was before the internets, faqs and walkthroughs made this kind of thing obsolete.

While playing through Space Quest again on Gametap a while ago I found that I don't really have the patience for those games anymore, which is a shame because because they are funny as fuck. I might end up giving Scribblenauts a try just for the sake of nostalgia.

Moptimus Slime @ Dec 6th 2008 1:01PM

reminds me of fantastic contraption: 1 puzzle, millions of ways to solve it. Except now there really are millions of ways to solve the puzzle, and not just variations on the same vehicle

Nigeria @ Dec 6th 2008 1:13PM

I don't want to pour piss on 5th Cell, or anything, but their last ambitious game - Drawn to Life - was a great concept wrapped in the most mediocre platforming I've seen since the 16bit days.

Yeah, this is a puzzle game so it'll play differently, but still. Let's hope for the best.

Jacksons @ Dec 6th 2008 2:30PM

Yeah, one needs to take a dose of reality before getting too excited.

iofthestorm @ Dec 6th 2008 7:28PM

You haven't seen Lock's Quest? They did that after Drawn to Life and it's pretty fun. Maybe not as ambitious as Drawn to Life but it's a pretty good tower defense style game.

Markez @ Dec 7th 2008 6:17AM

Watched my girlfriend play it a bunch of times, SORRY INADVERTANT AND BRUTAL PUN, but the draw of the game was the drawing. No one went to the game for a brilliant platormer. I mean sure, would've been a nice combo, but she had a blast with the drawing and it sure seemed cool, too.