Review: Famous Five Adventure Game

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When an e-mail popped up in my inbox asking if I was interested in reviewing a new game about the Famous Five I jumped at the chance! These stories were some of my favourites when I was growing up and I have the entire series somewhere boxed away. As an 8 and 9 year old I was part of a group of 5 that used to act out the stories and have our own adventures. My character was always Dick as I was most definitely a tomboy! 

First of all we were sent modern versions of the first 3 stories to read and enjoy. It was wonderful to to be taken back to Kirrin Island with the exciting adventures. Modern children would never be allowed to go off in the way they did at 12 and under to camp on an island. Of course they are also a bit old fashioned with Anne playing house but they are still thrilling adventures:

The game was released on the App store today and we had fun trying it out. We only had time for the quick game so I am not sure what the full game is like. First of all we had to decide which of the children we were going to have as the lead, so of course I had to insist on it being Dick! Then we had to choose the 2 locations that the adventure was going to be in:

Then we went in to the adventure and discovered what mystery we had to solve. In this case it was missing juggling balls. The characters don't talk in English but the text below them is simple to read:

It was great to see Kirrin Island and the castle brought to life in the game including details like the Jackdaw Tower. We had to visit certain places and collect clues by directing a bicycle with finger swipes. Once we had collected enough then we could move on to talking to witnesses. The only way to get good answers was to speak to them nicely so we had to choose the right way of asking each time:

Tuesday Review: AppGear Zombie Burbz

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AppGear gives you the ultimate gaming experience and lets you play totally interactive games on your phone, ipod or ipad! ZombieBurbz is a truly monstrous game! Using real figures, it turns your ipad into a moving battle zone for you to defend. With a twist on the norm, you play the Zombie! Zombies are tired of being misunderstood and just want to achieve their own suburban dream. Your task is to fight off the angry mobs that want to run them out of town. There are four different versions to collect; Avenue, Highschool, Diner and Service, each with their own game and story line!

We were sent our own set of zombies to try out with this game. Each set comes with 3 collectable Zombies and one special interactive one that you use to play the game on your iPad:

The sets retail for around £9.99 and the game itself is then free to download from itunes. You can only play the game with the special character and each special unlocks a different section. Placing the zombie on the iPad activates the game and you then use it as a controller:

You have to lay traps and defend your territory against human invaders. This is not your normal Zombie game as they are the good guys and this game is suitable for children. When the humans 'die" they basically just fall down.


My 5 year old is just getting into gaming and struggled to get the concept of how to use his zombie to control the game action. I would suggest that this is more suited to older children who have more experience of games than him.


Update


We have now tried this as an 8 year old and an adult. Using the interactive zombie to move the one in the game made for a much easier game play. He slides around the screen and activates the Zombie weapons quite easily. The zombie must face the direction you want the Zombie breath etc. to blast out at the human attackers.


We still need to learn the best tactics to help the zombie survive attack from the humans but it seems a pretty simple game to master.