Scribblenauts is making a comeback. Scribblenauts Showdown, the first new game in the word-based puzzle series in more than four years, will launch on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 6, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today.
The card-based multiplayer party game will bring back both Maxwell, star of the previous games in the series, and original characters to compete in a series of more than 25 minigames. Up to four players can play in the eponymous Showdown mode, where there’s a specific variety of minigame types. These include “Wordy,” which recalls the original Scribblenauts games, as players conjure up different objects using a set of words; and “Speedy,” which comes up when a player beats a certain challenge.
There’s also a Versus mode that supports one to two players, where minigames are the focus. But most intriguing is the Sandbox mode, which is essentially the same Scribblenauts we’re all used to: lots of word-based summoning to finish puzzles.
Shiver Entertainment is developing the game, taking over for original developer 5th Cell. 5th Cell produced five Scribblenauts games between 2009 and 2014, with a sixth in the works until 2016. That year, 5th Cell experienced major layoffs, leading to the cancellation of an iOS game called Scribblenauts: Fighting Words. Since the layoffs, 5th Cell hadn’t produced another game. While the studio is still open, its staff is severely reduced.
