''Scribblenauts Showdown'' is a
party game
Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillian; ...
developed by Shiver Entertainment and published by
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...
for the
Nintendo Switch,
PlayStation 4, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
in March 2018. The game is the sixth installment in the ''Scribblenauts'' franchise, created by
5th Cell
5th Cell is an independently owned video game developer founded in 2003 as 5th Cell Media, LLC. led by Jeremiah Slaczka and Marius Falhbusch. The company is most well known for creating the '' Drawn to Life'' and '' Scribblenauts'' series.
Over ...
. ''Showdown'' sees players playing
minigame
A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements, and is often smaller or more simplistic, than t ...
s against other players or
CPUs.
''Showdown'' received "mixed or average" reviews from critics.
Critics criticized the game's "lack of imagination"
but praised the game's sandbox mode for being more alike prior ''Scribblenauts'' games.
Gameplay
''Scribblenauts Showdown''
's main mode, Showdown, has players competing against opponents in different minigames. Prior to starting a minigame, players must select a
noun
A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for:
* Living creatures (including people, alive, ...
that they will use to try to win the game. Before selecting a word, the game spins a wheel, which will decide what letter the player's words will start with.
In Showdown mode, players play on different
boards
Board or Boards may refer to:
Flat surface
* Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat
** Plank (wood)
** Cutting board
** Sounding board, of a musical instrument
* Cardboard (paper product)
* Paperboard
* Fiberboard
** Hardboard, a t ...
, akin to
Nintendo's ''
Mario Party
is a party video game series featuring characters from the ''Mario'' franchise in which up to four local players or computer-controlled characters (called " CPUs") compete in a board game interspersed with minigames. The games are currentl ...
'' series.
[ The game also has a versus mode, which is similar to Showdown, except it's a ]1v1
This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players.
0–9
A
...
and doesn't take place on a board.[
The game's sandbox mode is more like prior ''Scribblenauts'' installments and sees the player trying to solve NPC's issues by creating objects using a magical notebook. After solving an issue, players are rewarded with "Starites", which can be used to buy apparel in the customization menu.][ The sandbox mode has 8 different worlds and supports up to 2 players.]
The game supports up to 4 players. Players can also verse CPUs. Players can customize their characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
in the "My Scribblenaut" menu. Players can unlock customization options for their avatars by spending Starites, which are unlocked after winning in the versus or Showdown mode, or by clearing missions in the sandbox mode.[
]
Development and release
Prior to its official announcement, ''Showdown'' was leaked by the Game Software Rating Regulations and Entertainment Software Rating Board, after the two boards publicly released the game's ratings. ''Scribblenauts Showdown'' was officially announced by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in January 2018. Development for ''Showdown'' was headed by Shiver Entertainment, making it the first in the series not to be developed by the original creators, 5th Cell.
''Showdown'' released on March 6, 2018, in North America for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game was later released in Europe and Australia on March 9.
Reception
On Nintendo Switch, ''Scribblenauts Showdown'' received "generally unfavorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
,[ although it received "mixed or average critic reviews" on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.][ Critics criticized the game's "lack of imagination",][ with '']Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...
'' thinking that Shiver Entertainment couldn't "conjure up a decent party game", despite the game's "great source material".[
Marco Esposto of '']IGN Italy
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and Mass media, entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San ...
'' praised ''Showdown'', calling it a "classic" party game. Esposto praised the game's avatar creation process for being "simple" and the game's "attractive" graphics, but criticized the low amount of minigames, citing that they quickly felt "repetitive". Ultimately, Esposto gave ''Showdown'' a score of 7.3/10.[
The game's minigames received mixed reception among critics; Robert Handlery of '']GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' called them "boring", Gav Murphy of '' IGN Nordic'' stated that some of them are "awesome", and Stephen Tailby of ''Push Square
Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...
'' called them "hit or miss".[
The sandbox mode was praised by critics for being more alike prior ''Scribblenauts'' installments.][ Daan Koopman, reviewing ''Showdown'' for ''Nintendo World Report'', wrote that the mode is "sadly the biggest standout" in the game. Koopman praised the mode's animations and interactions for being "adorable" but criticized its controls for being "uncomfortable" and its missions for being "bland".][
]
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Scribblenauts
2018 video games
Showdown
A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to:
Places
* Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States
Books
* ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado
* ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker
* ''Showdown'' ( ...
Warner Bros. video games
Party video games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
Xbox One games
Video game sequels
Video games developed in the United States
Video games with user-generated gameplay content