Today's I'm taking a look at a 'Smart Book'. This is one of two reads, which mix fantasy, Choose-Your-Own-Adventure formatting, and video games all into one tale. I have no idea how this will play out, but I'm excited to try something new.
So, let's open this one up and see what it holds.
THE GLOOM DRAGON
by
Can you beat the Gloom Dragon? Become the hero and choose your own path in this innovative story experience. The Gloom Dragon is a Read & Play Interactive Gamebook, a new reading experience with an immersive game built in. Get reading—and playing—this thrilling adventure!
Explore deep caves, fight a Squiddo, hopscotch across a River of Lava, and sneak into the Gloom Dragon's treasure room in this turbocharged Augmented Reality game book.
You are a Swordfighter. Outfitted with the magic sword Rilgist and a shield, you begin your adventure. Solve each mini-game, puzzle, and task to beat the gold-hoarding Gloom Dragon threatening the small village of Randomia. You choose from multiple paths, all leading to different endings. Play and read, again and again.
The reading experience is made interactive with the free downloadable app. Scan the pictures to unlock new tasks, battles, and puzzles!
Explore deep caves, fight a Squiddo, hopscotch across a River of Lava, and sneak into the Gloom Dragon's treasure room in this turbocharged Augmented Reality game book.
You are a Swordfighter. Outfitted with the magic sword Rilgist and a shield, you begin your adventure. Solve each mini-game, puzzle, and task to beat the gold-hoarding Gloom Dragon threatening the small village of Randomia. You choose from multiple paths, all leading to different endings. Play and read, again and again.
The reading experience is made interactive with the free downloadable app. Scan the pictures to unlock new tasks, battles, and puzzles!
MY TIDBITS
Dragon adventure meets 'Choose-Your-Own Adventure' style with a video game to fight battles and more along the way—three thrilling worlds in one.
This is an interactive tale, which embraces the reader and brings them into the story actively. This is written in second person where the reader is a beginning sword hero, who needs to defeat the Gloom Dragon. The Gloom Dragon attacks villagers and takes their gold as well as their lives, and the reader...the swordfighter...has the self-imposed task to stop this dragon's rampage. This isn't a simple, laid out story, but rather lets the reader often decide between two choices as to what they will do next. This guides the reader to various, numbered sections, where they discover the next step of their journey, battle a monster, collect gold, or something else. Quite often, the reader is asked to pick up their tablet, phone, or whatever device they have, and using an app, actively do the activity video game style. In other words, there's a lot going on, and it's not a quiet read.
The adventure is smooth and easy to follow as it goes from one situation to the next. The text level isn't overly difficult making it appropriate even for the younger end of the middle grade audience. It's all action without much character depth, but that works very well for this tale. The scenes unfold quickly and bring each moment across clearly and with excitement. There are usually only a few short paragraphs or less for each scene, keeping the reader on their toes. It does make for quite a bit of page flipping, but everything is well laid out, so each section is no problem to find. The story holds many surprises and keeps tension rolling along.
The video game aspect adds an interesting layer. It's no problem to download the app, and the steering of each activity is pretty self-explanatory, especially for those readers who already play games. There are directions at the beginning of the read, however, for those who might needs some help. The app is simple and works smoothly. There's a magnifying glass in the middle of the screen, and the camera on the device recognizes the illustration which fits the page the reader has turned to. This unlocks various battles or other activities. Some are more difficult than others, but all are doable and fitting for the age group.
As a pure read, it's a decent adventure for choose-your-adventure fans. The sections are short, though, which creates a lot of page turning. But it also keeps things from ever growing boring. The game aspect is a nice touch and enjoyable. Of course, this also means that the reader needs to have their device the entire time, too. I read a digital version on the laptop and used my phone for the app, which worked well enough. Also, the app downloaded quickly and was ready to use right away.
And here they are...
Peasoup Books has a mission to create a completely new reading experience for children by combining gaming elements with a printed book. These smart books use augmented reality to enhance the reading experience.
Søren Jønsson is a writer with a background in the gaming universe. He is behind more than 100 children's game titles.
Søren Jønsson is a writer with a background in the gaming universe. He is behind more than 100 children's game titles.