If you enjoyed Drawn to Life or Lock's Quest, you will be pleased to hear that 5th Cell have recently popped out of their little developer cocoon, announcing that their baby Scribblenauts will be published exclusively for DS by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, later this year.

Staying true to the aesthetic and creativity of the earlier two games, Scribblenauts promises a new, innovative gameplay experience spread over more than 200 levels and two styles of gameplay.

But... what do you actually do?
Well. Scribblenauts uses the DS touch-screen to help Maxwell solve a bunch of puzzles in order to acquire the starite in each level. In order to solve these puzzles, the player has to write down the word for any object that springs to mind that may help reach the goal. Want a ladder? Write "ladder" on the notepad with the stylus. Want a rope? A torch? Just write them down and hey presto! Want something a bit more creative? A grapefruit? Skeleton key? Omelette pan? They're all there too - with developers commenting that they went through an (English) dictionary and added sprites for every tangible word they found.

Every object will behave just like it does in the real world, and you can even combine the objects to create new behaviours (want to tie the torch to the ladder?). Each level can use more than one written object, so replayability is restricted only by your imagination.


Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment explains:

“Scribblenauts is a fresh and inventive game offering players of all ages a chance to experiment and use their imagination in a really fun handheld gaming experience. 5TH Cell has a tradition of developing high-quality, innovative games such as Drawn to Life and Lock's Quest, and we’re very pleased to work with them on Scribblenauts.”

Jeremiah Slaczka, Creative Director and Co-Owner of 5th Cell continues:

“We’re excited to be working with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to bring Scribblenauts to a wide range of gamers, so they can play something they’ve never experienced anywhere else. Scribblenauts is our biggest DS title to date and the culmination of our design knowledge and past experience creating original games.”

At this stage, the game's on track for a "Fall 2009" (that's our Spring), and we'll keep you posted. Hopefully soon we'll have some gameplay footage to show you - this one has to be seen to be believed!