Scribblenauts dev says control issues were due to lack of time

5th Cells Joseph Tringali has spoken out about concerns on Scribblenauts control scheme, saying that “sensitivity of the stylus controls is easily the biggest issue”

In an interview with Gamasutra, Tringali offered his thoughts on the game’s reception since release and the development constraints that forced the team to limit themselves to a stylus-only control scheme. “We knew this was going to take a big hit from reviewers, but we could only spend a limited amount of work on it. We discussed a secondary D-pad control option midway through development only to come to the conclusion it would take a single person 3–4 weeks to integrate it. On our self-funded schedule, that route was not an option.” Tringali stated that he personally felt the controls were only "50 per cent of where it needed to be."

Scribblenauts was highly anticipated by gamers in the wake of the game’s warm reception at this year’s E3, attracting a lot of attention for the sheer volume of summonable items. Whilst the game received a moderately healthy critical response, some gamers were left disappointed that an at-times clumsy control system detracted from the game’s open-ended approach to puzzle solving.

Source: Gamasutra