After completing a level, Maxwell receives Ollars, the game's currency. Puzzle levels require objects to be made in order to make the Starite appear, and Action levels require Maxwell to just get to the Starite. The main gameplay mode, Challenge Mode, has 240 levels and Starites, split evenly between Action and Puzzle levels. Maxwell, the hero, moves with the stylus and the camera with D-pad and A B X Y buttons. The only thing that limits creativity is the Par System (though it can be nullified with some glitches) and ethnic, vulgar, copyrighted, or ESRB-restricted words. When the player writes an object into his journal/notebook, the object will appear on the screen. Scribblenauts has a gameplay completely unique to it and its successors. The bottom screen shows Maxwell, using a helicopter and rope to rescue an injured woman during one of the puzzle levels. The top screen displays an image of the level and various indicators. Its sequel and successor, Super Scribblenauts introduces adjectives, a new control scheme involving the D-pad, and expanded level creator. Thousands upon thousands of items are available in the game, and they can be automatically summoned by typing them in Maxwell's Notebook via the keyboard or writing it out, which was cut out for the later games due to the difficulty of such. The game grants the player the ability to summon any object and use it to solve puzzles.

The Japanese version adds a few new objects (like Alucard), as well as improving the controls so Maxwell stops when the stylus is released. Konami released the game in Japan under the name Flash Puzzle: Maxwell's Mysterious Notebook (ヒラメキパズルマックスウェルの不思議なノート, Hirameki Pazuru: Makkusuueru no Fushigi na Nōto) on January 27, 2011. It was released on North America by September 15, 2009, Australia by Septemand Europe by October 9, 2009. It is a Nintendo DS game, developed by 5th Cell and published by Warner Bros. Scribblenauts is the predecessor of Super Scribblenauts. Interactive Entertainment, Konami (Japan) This page is about the video game for the series, see here.

Scribble nauts unlimited trailer