***COLLABORATIVE POST***
Who remembers reading The Famous Five books by Enid Blyton when they were young?
I had every book in the series. All were well-worn, with a creased spine, over-thumbed pages and folded corners. I loved reading them over and over again. We’d also play The Famous Five, me and my friends that was, pretending we were having adventures. The difference was we were all girls and we didn’t have a dog, lashings of ginger beer or adventures for that matter. But it didn’t matter we loved the books.
So when I was approached recently to see if I’d like to review the 21st century version reboot of the books - a mystery game app called The Famous Five Adventure Game - I didn’t hesitate.
The Famous Five 75th Anniversary
The boys are now aged 8 & 10, so the perfect age to be introduced to this popular series of books. And to introduce it to them through a mystery game app on the iPad called The Famous Five Adventure Game, couldn’t be better suited to them.
The Famous Five are among Enid Blyton's best-loved creations and countless children have gone adventuring with them since the publication of Five on a Treasure Island in 1942, the first of twenty-one full-length adventures and numerous short stories.
To mark the 75th anniversary of the series of 'The Famous Five' by Eniod Blyton, award-winning app developer Kuato Studios has launched a new Famous Five mystery game on the App Store for iOS systems and costs just £2.99, and the much loved characters of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog have entered the digital world.
In the books they are armed with maps, torches, packets of sandwiches and a plentiful supply of ginger-beer, Julian, Dick, Anne, their tomboy cousin George (Georgina by rights) and Timmy the dog like nothing better than to spend their holidays hiking and biking, camping and exploring by themselves, invariably falling into adventure. Now in this digital game you can help Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their friendly dog Timmy search for clues, question suspects and solve the mysteries they encounter!
How to Play The Famous Five Adventure Game
After selecting the game, you can play a quick game or normal game, you get to select your character which is then highlighted in colour.
Whichever character you choose you can also swap to playing as the dog and dig for bones which convert to clue points.
On the full game you then select two areas of the map in which to play. First you meet the person whose mystery needs solving. Then you cycle around, followed by the dog finding clues, witnesses, suspects and ask them questions, in an appropriate manner.
You solve clues through memory and reaction games which are good fun too.
You move by placing your finger on the screen in the direction of where you want to go. You can easily see where you are in the game by looking at the map, and by clicking on a new destination it will leave a trail for you to follow to get there too.
There are also tunnels to travel through at speed avoiding the heat that slows you down and picking up coins on the way. Coins help you buy clues, access to the second area and other items to help you solve the mystery.
Once the mystery is completed the app creates a storybook of your adventure; however we’ve only had the game a day so we are not quite there yet. We are looking forward to reading our own personalised adventures back though in our own game generated storybooks.
Parental Control
The app offers parents elements of control. You can select how long each game can be played for at each time, minimising screen time – I can tell you it is a fairly addictive game. I couldn’t wait to find the next clue never mind the boys. There are also no adverts or links to take you out of the app and onto the internet. And you can also select the font which is displayed, with one being better for children with dyslexia. Thought to be honest on this point I don’t know why just the one font was used, but maybe there is a reason.
What age is it designed for?
The game is designed for children aged 8-11 in KS2. It aims to be both fun but also help develops a child’s range of skills and aptitudes such as:
- Building literacy skills through storytelling
- Through play and discovery, developing creativity with language and vocabulary
- Problem-solving through puzzles
- Work knowledge and comprehension
- Vocabulary enrichment
- Nurturing, caring and empathic skills, as well as adventure and risk-taking
What did we think?
My boys are aged 8 & 10 and it has certainly captivated the imaginations of my boys and they now want to read the books too. It is fun. It has simple and easy to use gameplay, but not so easy that it is not suitable for tweens. The instructions are clear and there are pointers to help when you may be stuck or are a younger child. It also makes you think at the same time as having fun. The boys tell me it was great and they want to play more.
The Famous Five Adventure Game is available to download for iOS devices from the App Store for £2.99. To find out more watch this video.
Which Famous Five character would you want to be?
Deb x
Disclosure: We received a copy of the App in order to review it and have also been compensated for our time. However all content including the screenshots are ours.
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