Rating:

Wizard's Notebook is an interesting word game that allows you to create things by typing their names, then use your creations to solve the puzzles presented. However, this mechanic creates a lot of expectations that the game is unable to satisfy.

Full Review

The Wizard's Notebook is a Flash game created by Luke Brown of Turtlesoup Games, that made it to the finals of Mochiads "word play" contest last year. The game plays like a platformer, except that you can type words for the character to walk on and to create things that can be used to complete the levels. For example, typing "water" under a boat creates a water body for the boat to float on, and typing "wind" beside it creates a gust of wind to propel the boat towards a destination, like a switch.

This mechanic reminds us of Scribblenauts, but unfortunately unlike Scribblenauts, there are very few words that the game recognizes. This becomes frustrating because there are a lot of expectations generated in the player when you allow him or her to type anything they want, and they become disappointed when something they believe can solve the puzzle (like typing "sea" instead of "water" beneath a boat) isn't recognized by the game.

However, Turtlesoup does attempt to address this issue by recycling a lot of words used previously to build upon the player's knowledge of words recognized by the game. This system is also good for another purpose, that is to provide instant feedback as to whether you are on the right path - if you are on the correct track, chances are you will produce a recognized word.

The graphics of the game are very well done. The notebook and the table it rests on are rendered photo-realistically, while the contents of the notebook are depicted in a child-like manner, producing a very aesthetically pleasing composition. I did not really get the reference in the artwork to a Wizard's Notebook, but that is a minor flaw that can be easily ignored.

The Wizard's Notebook is browser playable (requires Flash Player) at the Turtlesoup website.