The start screen playground is a lot of fun but once you start to play the actual game, it's limitations become extremely clear and the wonky controls really present themselves.  I think this is the first time since I was a little kid that I wanted to snap the object in my hands in half. 
 
I want to know if anybody has been frustrated by the following and what you guys did to overcome some of these frustrations.
 
Just like everybody else the controls piss me off but that's not as big a beef with me as a few other things which seem to be discussed slightly less.
 
1) puzzle goals/hints
2) inconsistent weight physics
3) size modifier for objects
 
1.  The hints don't always communicate the requirements of a level.  Level 3-7 it indicated I need to move the cow to allow the cars to get to their houses.  So I killed the cow and apparently, there was a butcher in the road, they ran him over and I lost.  Didn't know there was a butcher and had no idea he couldn't be killed either.  Ok so I try again.  Get butcher off the road and tie grass to cow and he runs toward the butcher, starite appears, i go to get it but the butcher manages to kill the cow and I lose.  WHAT?  I can kill the cow but the butcher CAN'T?  What the hell!?
 
2)  I think it was in area 2, there was a level where I had to get a lamb across a pit with a wolf on the other side.  I kill the wolf with a bow, then, thinking i'm super smart, i'll spawn an iceberg and flip it upside down into the whole.  Well I can't dow that with L and R (dumb) so I use the physics engine against itself to get it to flip it upside down by dropping it weirdly on the hole.  I get the lamb to get over to the iceberg and he won't jump up to get the grass i put up there (fine) so i put a bed mattress down to jump him up.  Dumb lamb misses, and starts running at the iceberg instead AND MOVES IT OUT OF THE WAY AND DROPS INTO THE PIT.  um....What.  Iceberg >>>>>>>> lamb.  Okay so obviously sound logic won't work here and I thought that idea was pretty outside the box to begin with.
 
3)  Okay in that same level as Number 2 I tried to span a large bridge to cover the hole.  Spawns a little tiny thing that I have to spawn five more of and glue them together.  Even then the stupid lamb just pushes the bridge out of the way.  And why can't I spawn a small hill or a small wall?  Why do they have to be the size of the entire freaking screen?
 
I'm having such a hard time getting through some of the easier levels simply because some objects seem to obey basic laws of physics and others don't.  It's either too elaborate or back to jet pack/helicopter and rope to get what I need done and that gets extremely boring.
 
Any tips?

I get the same feeling.  I had another chance to play the game, so I took some notes so I could point out exactly why the game frustrates me :
 
The following is somewhat spoilery
 
 

Puzzle world 2-3
You're supposed to give the teacher what she wants.  So I think I'm clever and I spawn money, no, that's not what she wants.  I spawn a gold bar, that's not what she wants.  One of the things she wants is an apple, yea fucking right.  You offer any teacher on the planet a gold bar or an apple they'll take the gold 100% of the time.  I just couldn't stand how stereotypical that puzzle was
 
Puzzle world 2-4
Old guy trying to see the eye chart.  I figure I can at least make him young, right?  Even if he always had bad eyesight, can't hurt to try.  So I spawn 'youth potion', he eats it, nothing...  Maybe it was just a potion?  I spawn a fountain of youth, and it just sits there.  He doesn't do anything, and I can't get him to use it.  Does the fountain of youth have any purpose at all?  So I end up spawning binocs...  So boring.
 
Puzzle world 2-5
Not a horrible puzzle, but a mumu doesn't equal both a top and bottom piece of clothing for some reason, even though the graphic clearly covers both.  Just a broken item you could say.
 
 
It's this sort of stuff that drains all the enjoyment from the game.

The game can be picky. 
 
But unlike you i had no problem with 2-3 first thing i spawned was a chalk, completed that one. 2-4 i spawned glasses, completed. And on 2-5 i just spawned individual pieces of clothes. 
 
But there are some levels that are driving me nuts, and apparently my imagination just sucks, cause i just cant get my head around them.

The game can be picky.  But unlike you i had no problem with 2-3 first thing i spawned was a chalk, completed that one. 2-4 i spawned glasses, completed. And on 2-5 i just spawned individual pieces of clothes.  But there are some levels that are driving me nuts, and apparently my imagination just sucks, cause i just cant get my head around them.

This was kinda forseeable, sadly.
 
Is it broken to the point of essentially just being a gimmick?  Or does it still retain some merit as a working game?

I've been hearing a lot of this, which is a bummer because the game could have been really cool.

" This was kinda forseeable, sadly. Is it broken to the point of essentially just being a gimmick?  Or does it still retain some merit as a working game? "

@Diamond said:

" @pornstorestiffi said:

The game can be picky.  But unlike you i had no problem with 2-3 first thing i spawned was a chalk, completed that one. 2-4 i spawned glasses, completed. And on 2-5 i just spawned individual pieces of clothes.  But there are some levels that are driving me nuts, and apparently my imagination just sucks, cause i just cant get my head around them.

The problem is I could see the obvious solutions easily, but I didn't want to do those.  That might be demanding a lot, but a teacher that wants chalk or an apple over a gold bar?  I just wish the developers had been more clever about that stuff, because that's what would have made the game fun for me.  Otherwise I'm just linking up elementary concepts. "

Puzzle world 2-4 Old guy trying to see the eye chart.  I figure I can at least make him young, right?  Even if he always had bad eyesight, can't hurt to try.  So I spawn 'youth potion', he eats it, nothing...  Maybe it was just a potion?  I spawn a fountain of youth, and it just sits there.  He doesn't do anything, and I can't get him to use it.  Does the fountain of youth have any purpose at all?  So I end up spawning binocs...  So boring.  

@eyehook

I highly recommend examing objects in levels to get their names for later use--fixed ladder & bridge ladder come to mind.  Also yeah, animated objects always are always > inanimate objects, it seems.  So, unless something is jammed against a wall, it's going to move, and even then it might just pop up at a weird angle... 

I was going to get this. But I've seen tons of threads like this. :(

" @Diamond said:

Puzzle world 2-4 Old guy trying to see the eye chart.  I figure I can at least make him young, right?  Even if he always had bad eyesight, can't hurt to try.  So I spawn 'youth potion', he eats it, nothing...  Maybe it was just a potion?  I spawn a fountain of youth, and it just sits there.  He doesn't do anything, and I can't get him to use it.  Does the fountain of youth have any purpose at all?  So I end up spawning binocs...  So boring.  

I understand this frustration.  Sometimes i feel like i'm being too clever for the game and I have to dumb down my solutions simply because you can't get the people to use the objects you spawn for them.  Like the level 2-6 where you have to "score".  There is a goal post.  And a soccer player.  I give soccer player a ball.  Why the hell doesn't he kick it into the goal!?  So I figure ok i'll spawn a goalie and maybe they'll kick the ball back and forth until it goes into the net.  NO they freaking punch each other until the soccer player with the soccer ball dies and I lose the level.  Come to find out i just give myself the ball and push the player out of the way and walk into the net.  WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT JUNK.
 
If I can give an axe to a lumberjack and spawn a tree and he'll chop it down then why the heck doesn't a soccer player kick a soccer ball into a goal!?
 
That right there is completely exasperating and as you say it does take all the fun out of "solving" these levels. 
 

I don't have any real story about any of the puzzles to contribute to this thread, but I must agree on what both the original poster wrote about and what other people in this thread is saying and I can really relate.  The problem is for what I've seen, these kinds of stories is usually dismissed by the games fanbase and they go really defensive about it and call one a moron or something or everyone is praising this game far too much than it deserves. So i'm kinda glad I see other people actually bringing up this games real problems.

The whole point was that you could get creative with your solutions by using any of the thousands of objects.  If in fact it's just a case of choosing one of the handful of solutions that is actually programmed to work, then that's a totally different game and one which I have no interest in playing.
 
As Milkman says, they might as well have just made 100 objects and said "pick the correct one for the puzzle".

" The whole point was that you could get creative with your solutions by using any of the thousands of objects.  If in fact it's just a case of choosing one of the handful of solutions that is actually programmed to work, then that's a totally different game and one which I have no interest in playing.  As Milkman says, they might as well have just made 100 objects and said "pick the correct one for the puzzle". "

I would say this in the game's defense. Unlike Spore, which built up expectations unreasonably, Scribblenauts got its hype organically. Outlets noticed it and chose to cover it. So its not like there were huge promises they broke. Its still quite fun. And of course not every word ever is in there, and its kind of a bummer that the platforming and general controls have issues but these things merely mean the game is pretty great instead of fantastically amazing.

I agree. The limitations in the "solvability" of the puzzles (although almost required for this type of game) as well as the controls make the game less than perfect, but it is still pretty fun to play around with it.
 
Probably not worth the whole price, but it was well worth $15.

" The whole point was that you could get creative with your solutions by using any of the thousands of objects.  If in fact it's just a case of choosing one of the handful of solutions that is actually programmed to work, then that's a totally different game and one which I have no interest in playing.  As Milkman says, they might as well have just made 100 objects and said "pick the correct one for the puzzle". "

Sounds like a little more explanation would help this whole idea out a great deal. I can't stand a game that doesn't make its goals and rules clear. It's like old adventure games. But today, most people ain't got the kind of patience it took to solve some of those picky-ass puzzles.

I think, in real life, I could solve most problems with a laser gun, jetpack, and god with a chainsaw. I had a feeling they would run into trouble reconciling the "magic bullet" factor, that is, things that exist conceptually that kind of make the majority of other things out there obsolete. How do you get people to use those other objects when they can just throw on a jetpack every stage? 

 @pornstorestiffi said:

The game can be picky.  But unlike you i had no problem with 2-3 first thing i spawned was a chalk, completed that one. 2-4 i spawned glasses, completed. And on 2-5 i just spawned individual pieces of clothes.  But there are some levels that are driving me nuts, and apparently my imagination just sucks, cause i just cant get my head around them.

The problem is I could see the obvious solutions easily, but I didn't want to do those.  That might be demanding a lot, but a teacher that wants chalk or an apple over a gold bar?  I just wish the developers had been more clever about that stuff, because that's what would have made the game fun for me.  Otherwise I'm just linking up elementary concepts. "

I understand this frustration.  Sometimes i feel like i'm being too clever for the game and I have to dumb down my solutions simply because you can't get the people to use the objects you spawn for them.  Like the level 2-6 where you have to "score".  There is a goal post.  And a soccer player.  I give soccer player a ball.  Why the hell doesn't he kick it into the goal!?  So I figure ok i'll spawn a goalie and maybe they'll kick the ball back and forth until it goes into the net.  NO they freaking punch each other until the soccer player with the soccer ball dies and I lose the level.  Come to find out i just give myself the ball and push the player out of the way and walk into the net.  WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT JUNK!? 

You actually need to drop the ball in front of him and not give it to him. Kinda odd i know but in a way it makes sense since depending of you put the ball on the left or the right he will always shoot directly into the ball. "

@pornstorestiffi said:

The game can be picky.  But unlike you i had no problem with 2-3 first thing i spawned was a chalk, completed that one. 2-4 i spawned glasses, completed. And on 2-5 i just spawned individual pieces of clothes.  But there are some levels that are driving me nuts, and apparently my imagination just sucks, cause i just cant get my head around them.

The problem is I could see the obvious solutions easily, but I didn't want to do those.  That might be demanding a lot, but a teacher that wants chalk or an apple over a gold bar?  I just wish the developers had been more clever about that stuff, because that's what would have made the game fun for me.  Otherwise I'm just linking up elementary concepts. "

I'm rather surprised that you got that starite with that answer to be honest. I just summoned a student since that was the hint in the beginning of that level. I don't see why a teacher would go after a gold bar myself. If a teacher would be attracted by one every character in the game should be. 

" @Jimbo said:

" The whole point was that you could get creative with your solutions by using any of the thousands of objects.  If in fact it's just a case of choosing one of the handful of solutions that is actually programmed to work, then that's a totally different game and one which I have no interest in playing.  As Milkman says, they might as well have just made 100 objects and said "pick the correct one for the puzzle". "

How do you make a puzzle with "thousands of solutions" without making the puzzle entirely too easy? The point is you have thousands oftools, and have to find the right ones for the puzzle.  I mean, most of your tools mimic one another. There's no solution that can cardinal would solve that a finch couldn't. I'd estimate maybe 1/10th of the words represent a unique mechanical function, and the rest are different looking and serve the same function. Idunno what you were expecting. Anyone who thought each individual word summoned a thing with its own unique physics/AI ruleset set the standard a bit too high for a portable game. "

The hint was something like 'what does the teacher want' or 'give the teacher what she wants'.  It shows 2 students leaving the classroom at the very beginning.  My very first instinct was she wanted those students to work harder, but then I thought why do teachers teach?  To get money obviously, it's a job.  So I tried the dollar first, which didn't work, then the gold.  I was aware of the apple answer, being the most obvious, simple, and stereotypical, but I wanted to avoid that if I could. "

On @Diamond said:

Puzzle world 2-4
Old guy trying to see the eye chart.  I figure I can at least make him young, right?  Even if he always had bad eyesight, can't hurt to try.  So I spawn 'youth potion', he eats it, nothing...  Maybe it was just a potion?  I spawn a fountain of youth, and it just sits there.  He doesn't do anything, and I can't get him to use it.  Does the fountain of youth have any purpose at all?  So I end up spawning binocs...

@Rallier said:
The hint was something like 'what does the teacher want' or 'give the teacher what she wants'.  It shows 2 students leaving the classroom at the very beginning.  My very first instinct was she wanted those students to work harder, but then I thought why do teachers teach?  To get money obviously, it's a job.  So I tried the dollar first, which didn't work, then the gold.  I was aware of the apple answer, being the most obvious, simple, and stereotypical, but I wanted to avoid that if I could. "

I don't understand why people have such problems with this game.  It is obviously limited, you aren't going to put everything in a game, and if you could, it wouldn't fit on a DS cart.
 
For what it is, this game is incredibly fun to dick around with.  There are few levels I have seen so far (about 40% of the game) that I haven't solved in at least two different ways, without reusing the same objects.  This game is crazy good, you just have to be willing to experiment and not get too pissed off when you can't solve a puzzle in exactly the way your first instinct tells you.

i expected these things to occur. a game with so many random possibilities is bound to have issues. thats why most games have rules. thats why great games, like Braid, are very EXACT and PRECISE. 

" i expected these things to occur. a game with so many random possibilities is bound to have issues. thats why most games have rules. thats why great games, like Braid, are very EXACT and PRECISE.  "

I gave a ninja the ball and he ran it into the goal, I gave the teacher a ruler, and to get rid of the rats I mind controlled a lion and ate them up. This games controls are REALLY wonky and are as loose as a slut in college but the possibilities for levels vary. For some I have no choice but to use whats obvious (penguin and the three fish anyone?) and for others my imagination gets to run wild (getting that pinata down was great fun, as well as messing with the trick or treaters). The difficulty and creativity can be very relative, but I do completely recommend the game to anyone wanting to test their imagination.
 
Oh yeah, my favorite solution was giving the old man a carrot to make him see better.

" This was kinda forseeable, sadly. Is it broken to the point of essentially just being a gimmick?  Or does it still retain some merit as a working game? "

Yeah this game is great and my girlfriend is even addicted to it. She just tried to do the old man level and tried to make him younger by using a time machine. It didn't work but I don't want to say the cool thing that did happen instead. Go see! Go see nooooooooiiiiiiiiioooowwww!

My only problem with the game has been not knowing how to be clever enough. I keep going for the simple solutions, because I can't think of the extremely creative things to type out. I end up getting sort of impatient, but overall I really like it.
 
Oh, and they boasted about how many words they had, but so many do the exact same thing as others....
 
And the Healer doesn't actually heal you.

" @pornstorestiffi: some of the problems that people had with it were directly related to how uncreative you had to be. dude went all creative with fountain of youth and then had to go binocular route which is way less creative and why he had a prob with the game. "

It's not a bad game really, it's just not that good

There's a lot in the game mechanics to learn, such as with your sheep/iceberg example, all the objects seem to have the same weight/mass and all the animals/people seem to be abnormally strong.

Tip: don't put movement on the stylus (but hey i really like Zelda on the DS)

Just to recant what I said before, although there is fun to be found in this game, it wasn't worth the preorder. The controls make the game much more frustrating than it's worth.

Character movement is trickier than it needs to be, but it was worth the price of admission for the laughs this game has given me.

The game is bad.