Scribblenauts Unlimited

Scribblenauts Unlimited is a puzzle sandbox video game developed by 5th Cell and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Microsoft Windows, iOS and Android. It is the fourth title in the Scribblenauts series, as a launch title for the Wii U console. The game was later released alongside its successor Scribblenauts Unmasked in Scribblenauts Mega Pack in 2018 with extra content. Compared to previous Scribblenauts titles, Scribblenauts Unlimited has a more extensive backstory and reveals the regular protagonist Maxwell’s reason for collecting Starites.

In the opening scene, narrated by Lily (Jennifer Hale), Maxwell’s sister, the player learns that Maxwell’s parents were travelers who later semi-retired and had 42 children. They gave Maxwell a magical notebook that can create any object by writing its respective word in it and Lily a magic globe that can be used to travel anywhere. Maxwell’s parents show concern that he and Lily are becoming spoiled, however. One day, Maxwell comes across an old man who appears to be hungry.

As a prank, Maxwell uses his notebook to create a rotten apple and gives it to the man. Angered, the old man scolds Maxwell for being spoiled and places a curse on Lily, causing her to slowly turn to stone. Maxwell brings Lily to their brother Edwin’s farm. Edwin teaches Maxwell about “Starites” (which are gained by helping other people), which Maxwell must collect to free Lily from the curse. Maxwell vows to help as many people as he can and leaves the farm.

After collecting Starites, Maxwell lifts the curse on Lily, and the old man is revealed to be Maxwell’s father in disguise. He cast the curse on Lily to teach Maxwell to be a better person. Maxwell’s father is forgiven, and all is well in the world again. The gameplay in Scribblenauts Unlimited is largely similar to previous entries in the series. Maxwell returns as the player character and the objective is still to collect Starites by using objects the player creates to complete various tasks.

Scribblenauts Unlimited is more adventure-based than Scribblenauts and Super Scribblenauts. One of the primary differences with this game is that it takes place in a large overworld that is open to exploration, as opposed to the first two games in the series, where the player had to choose an individual puzzle to earn Starites. Players can traverse different themed areas and accept challenges from NPCs.