Scribblenauts Showdown Reviews

Scribblenauts Showdown is ranked in the 12th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
5 / 10
Mar 14, 2018

If you've played the series before, Scribblenauts: Showdown won't be the game you're expecting. If you haven't, you might be left wondering what all the fuss was about. Yes, it shares the name and the look of those previous games, but it lacks the all-important creative heart of its predecessors, and ends up being a by-the-numbers affair that goes through the motions in a shallow attempt to turn Scribblenauts' unique premise into a multiplayer party game. It's certainly not the debut Maxwell and company deserved on Switch, and while its mini-game focus does suit the local multiplayer ethos of the console, it ends up feeling like a discount 1-2-Switch.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 14, 2018

A good idea that falls short on posibilities and becomes boring too soon.

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7 / 10
Mar 28, 2018

Scribblenauts Showdown is a fun game you can pick and and play at any time, but you may feel the novelty wear off without friends to play with. Despite this, Scribblenauts Showdown offers some great mini-games and game modes. It feels different to party games we've seen in recent times, but it's also pleasantly familiar.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 9, 2018

Scribblenauts Showdown gives the feeling of being half complete. It seeks traditional gameplay with its minigames, but the change is not enough and, even though it is fun, delivers two halved experiences. The worst game of the saga.

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Mar 12, 2018

Scribblenauts Showdown is fun party game that's uncharacteristically smart.

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7.3 / 10.0
Mar 11, 2018

Scribblenauts Showdown is a good solid party game, perfect for having a couple of fun hours. But it become repetitive very soon.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
3 / 10
Mar 13, 2018

One of the most ineffective reboots of recent history, with a game that seems purposefully designed to undermine the unique qualities of the Scribblenauts series.

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5 / 10.0
Mar 23, 2018

Despite a quite brillaint look, the 27 minigames designed by Shiver Entertainment are meaningful and fun only for a couple of nights with friends. Unfortunately, they become soon a clumsy attempt to recycle well know mechanics in very superficial way.

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6 / 10
Mar 12, 2018

Scribblenauts Showdown is an agreeable party game that applies the playful vocabulary-stretching gameplay well enough to entertain you and some friends for a while. Unfortunately, the numerous minigames are all pretty shallow, the Showdown mode can grow tiresome, and the appeal of the Sandbox levels only lasts for so long. This will certainly make for an amusing evening with family and friends, but it's not likely to be a title you'll come back to more than a couple of times.

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3 / 10
Apr 7, 2018

Minigames and party games need to feature plenty of quality content to stand out and sadly, Scribblenauts Showdown has neither. Other than a rather attractive art style, Scribblenauts Showdown offers nothing but a short and poor set of minigames, some of them designed without much into consideration, which are either dull and repetitive or frustrating. Hardly an experience to recommend to anyone looking for quick and fun moments with their friends.

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6.3 / 10.0
Apr 18, 2018

Enjoy the more than 25 mini-games offered by Scribblenauts Showdown where the limits are only set by your imagination. Can you become more ingenious than your rival?

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63 / 100
Mar 16, 2018

One of the most creative game series is back, but maybe it's not what fans expected. Although it has some fun and interesting game elements, there's not much to do after a few hours with the game. The party style mini games are repetitive and some times the creation tool feels like a waste. Give it a try if you're looking for a different game for your parties.

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Critical Hit
Critical Hit Staff
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
Mar 15, 2018

Your enjoyment of Scribblenauts Showdown will probably depend on where you're coming from. Long-time fans of the franchise will likely be disappointed by a watered-down entry that doesn't come close to capturing the creative spirit of the original games. In fact, it doesn't even bother. On the other hand, newcomers with no expectations should appreciate Showdown as a colourful, cute, low-effort party game that's more diverse than most.

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5.5 / 10.0
Mar 7, 2018

You can squeeze a few hours of fun out of Scribblenauts Showdown, but frankly this isn't the next-generation Scribblenauts game that fans of the original were hoping for. It has fewer puzzles, worse controls and less replay value than any other Scribblenauts title.

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6 / 10.0
Mar 11, 2018

Scribblenauts Showdown recognizes over 30.000 words, but it turned out to be just a series of minigames. That's not what we expected from this IP.

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6.5 / 10.0
Mar 20, 2018

A simple and funny killtime... for a match or two.

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GameSpew
Top Critic
80%
Mar 21, 2018

As far as party games go, however, Scribblenauts Showdown might just be one of my new favourites. It's certainly going to be the new go-to videogame whenever friends come over. And I've been honing my skills, so they better watch out.

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4 / 10.0
Mar 28, 2018

And sure, the game tries to tie it in to the Scribblenauts franchise, but it misfires to an almost comical degree. This would be more funny if it didn't involve games I used to really love. There is the potential to bring Scribblenauts back, but Warner Bros. aren't the people to do it.

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4 / 10.0
Apr 25, 2018

There are so many things that you can create in the game. Unfortunately, fun gameplay isn't one of them.

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Drew Hurley
Top Critic
4 / 10
Mar 19, 2018

It's always good to try something new but, conversely, it doesn't always work. Here, it really doesn't work. Scribblenauts' charm was always in challenging the players to use their imagination and their diction to come up with fun and original solutions over the obvious or the mundane. While there's still some of that in Scribblenaut Showdown's Sandbox mode, it's too little to truly enjoy and too much focus has been placed on the mediocre party games instead. Even for the low cost, this is a considerably disappointing entry into the series.

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