The market and educational possibilities of Scribblenauts

One of the most anticipated handheld games of the current gaming season was Scribblenauts, an open-ended adventure-puzzler which allows you to type in whatever you want to see on the screen. When I first saw the title, I thought that I would scribbling in object and then the game would make them real. No, it’s too soon for that interface to exist. Instead we get the standard touch screen keyboard and 22K+ words with which to work in odd combinations. What sounds swank is actually disappointing, but there are so many reviews out there saying the same thing. I’m not reviewing the game because I don’t intend to complete it. Scribblenauts is ultimately a very neat toy but the lack of diversity in the puzzle stages and poor control overall for a touch screen game makes it somewhat a failure as a game.

What intrigued me most about the game was what I found at startup – the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment logo. The utilization of the Objectnaut engine is merely being tested in the game, but the applications within the WB library of copyrights and trademarks could be worth millions. Seriously, who cares about some kid wearing a rooster hat and making objects to appease four individuals of differing professions? I want to do more.

Duck Amuck

There’s already a Duck Amuck game out there, and it’s bad. It’s a lame Nintendo DS puzzle game with many mini-games within it. It’s neat in that the menu screen is simply Daffy standing thing and occasionally quipping, but aside from the nigh interactive duck it’s unremarkable. Instead, imagine a game/toy fully taking on the premise of the original Chuck Jones cartoon wherein you are the dastardly animator abusing Daffy. I can’t imagine this being a full-fledged game, but as a DSi download with a fully voiced Daffy who quips almost appropriately to objects it would be quite the amazing program.

Green Lantern

You were aware that a Green Lantern movie was on its way with the  ever amusing Ryan Reynolds as the star, right? Now is the time to hit hard with a game starring the Green Lantern and fully showing off the power of his ring. Anything he imagines can be created by the ring, so the same should be done in the game – with obvious limitations. You probably don’t need more than 1,000 words with a superhero who fights supervillains and can fly. Still, the idea of creating your own objects to be your own unique Lantern Corps. member would be enticing enough for many DC fans to jump for a purchase. It does help that there has never been a real Green Lantern game, given the complexity of properly translating his power to games (same for the Flash). This would be a good start, so long as WBIE realizes that controls need to be fixed and the game needs to be more action than writing.

Children’s games

And ultimately my heart is set on using the Objectnauts engine to create a game to help facilitate children’s spelling ability. The game, as it stands, doesn’t provide enough reward for figuring out one of hundreds of objects that would work in a given situation. It works well enough as a toy, but some kids might not care to try much else out after they realize they can give their character a sword and then attack any creature they desire. It makes for a good family puzzler, but who wants to be huddled around a DS?

I’ve tried Scribblenauts with the higher functioning of the two autistic kids with whom I work. I left it on the pre-loading screen – essentially the demo area created for horsing around and trying new combinations. I asked the kid to give me an object he wanted to see, and then I asked him to spell it. With such broad instructions, the kid came up with objects he wanted to see but ultimately got frustrated that he couldn’t spell them. I asked him to spell more simple objects, but he refused. The game by itself would not help promote better spelling ability, which is a shame. I could never leave the DS with him as a learning tool, lest I want to find it impaled in the wall across the room.

I do know how to implement the game as a learning device, although I have not yet tried it. Encouraging him to write down words as he reads and then transposing them into the game would probably be a brilliant strategy. I don’t like it, though, because it requires constant supervision and turning a game like this into work would likely diminish the entertainment value (and therefore the subversive learning mechanism). I have come to understand the purpose of edutainment games, and it’s not so that parents can leave their children with virtual teachers and essentially be hands-off with them – babysitters we can trust. It’s because we want to instill children with some sort of agency in regard to their own education. Entertainment plus proper usage is bound to help in development.

For Scribblenauts to be an effective tool in learning, the solutions need to be less open-ended, the dictionary needs voice, and the weapons need to be removed (except where appropriate, like when asking what a police officer holds in his hands). The graphics and interface don’t require a change at all, but the purpose needs to be tweaked. Insert a WB-owned character for maximum sales value if necessary. Buster and Babs Bunny Present: Scribblenauts Kids! I honestly don’t see how this could fail.