Drawn to Life
© 2007 THQ, Inc.
Like Orly's Draw a Story (1998), this innovative single-player adventure for the Nintendo DS lets you create the hero by drawing him (or her) in this game. The navigation is comparable to Pokémon--you move around a village aided by a map and reading--but instead of the fighting, you draw elements of the story, such as trees, flowers, and so on. A good deal of reading printed dialog is required (such as children try to save a village from an evil force that is covering it in darkness). Content includes three hero characters that you can draw, 15 vehicles (such as a sled, rocket or submarine) and tools (such as wings, weapons and scuba gear). The game itself has four worlds and 16 levels with 50 stages, promising about 15 hours play. Progress can be saved. Note that the interface in the pre-release copy we played was a bit clunky; at one point we became stuck and couldn't get back to the main menu. Our testers didn't seem to mind, especially liking the drawing parts of the story. Developed by 5th Cell for THQ, Inc. See also Drawn to Life SpongeBob Editing.
$30, Nintendo DS
Teaches: creativity, logic
CTR Rating: 88%