The Famous Five Adventure Game App

Enid Blyton was one of my favourite authors when I was growing up and I'd spend hours lying on my bed (or on the swing hammock in the garden during the summer holidays - the hours I spent on that thing with my nose in a book!), immersed in the adventures of the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. The first book in the Famous Five series, Five on a Treasure Island, was written all the way back in 1942 - this year marks the 75th anniversary of its release - and since then, generations of kids have followed the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, Georgina (or George as she prefers to be known) and Timmy the dog. With a few tweaks along the way (unsurprisingly Aunt Fanny has been rebaptised Aunt Frances/Franny and some of the outdated and now sexist remarks have been removed), the exciting storylines and adventures have retained all of their charm and appeal. This week saw the release of a brand new Famous Five Adventure Game app, which will undoubtedly introduce the characters and the books to a whole new audience.

The app, created by award winning games developer Kuato Studios, is a brilliant mix of animated story, games and reading practice. It is designed to be very appealing to children (aged about 9-11) but also parents, with useful features such as the possibility of limiting the amount of time that your children can play - you have the choice of 15, 30, 60 minutes or unlimited.

One of my favourite things about reading the books was the detailed descriptions of the locations, which meant that you could really immerse yourself in the stories, imagining the rocky coves, rundown cottages, craggy islands and fishing villages that the five friends visited. This really comes through in the app, with locations that fans of the books will undoubtedly recognise, including the castle ruins on Kirrin Island and Tapper’s travelling fair..

There is the same mix of friendly and not-so-friendly characters as in the books too, along with familiar faces that you might recognise from the stories. Throughout the game, players can discover mysterious clues and question suspicious characters to solve the intriguing mysteries, just like the Famous Five.

The app encourages you to be inquisitive and curious, as well as put your thinking cap on to find solutions to problems and mysteries. The positive values associated with the books, such as friendship, heroism and a sense of adventure, are all promoted.

It's not just great fun to play, it's also educational, developing language and puzzle solving skills. The app also encourages reading, both within the app and, once you've finished playing, moving on to discover the book series. I'm sure even reluctant readers will be enthusiastic about following further adventures of the Famous Five in book form after playing.

Once the mystery has been solved, children can relive their adventures in a personalised storybook that tells the tale of their own game. For dyslexic readers, there is a section within the parents' corner where you can choose from accessibility options, including, OpenDyslexic font and colour overlays to help readability.

This is just one of many games by award winning Kuato Studios all of which can be found on the App Store. The Famous Five: Adventure Game requires an iPhone 5 or newer, an iPad mini 2 or newer, or any iPad Pro - iPod Touch and any iPads released before October 2013 are not currently supported - and 726MB of free space to install. You will also need iOS 8.0 or newer.

If you're wondering how to keep the kids entertained during half term, this will be £2.99 very wisely spent, especially as it may help encourage them to move on to reading the books and will undoubtedly be a trip down memory lane for nostalgic parents ! 

For more information, check out The Famous Five : Adventure Game on the App Store.

Disclosure : I was gifted some Famous Five books and compensation for providing an honest review of the app.