Where's Waldo

For my app review, I wanted to pick an interactive ebook that was based on a book from my childhood. I landed on a book I loved as a kid, that I already thought was pretty engaging, to see what great additions the interactive ebook would provide. The book I selected is ‘Where’s Waldo: The Fantastic Journey.’

Origin and Background

The iPad app was published June 3, 2010, and had three version updates – to fix various bugs – that lasted until July 5, 2011. Just to put it in perspective, the book of the same name was published 22 years earlier, in September 1989.

The iPad app developer is Ludia, which is based in Montreal, Canada, specializes in creating and distributing cross-platform interactive entertainment with mass consumer appeal. They have developed other apps such as, ‘Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?,’ ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Family Feud,’ ‘The Price is Right,’ and ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’.

‘Where’s Waldo: The Fantastic Journey’ is a game made for kids ages 4 and up. The app claims to use all HD graphics, multi-touch features, additional quests, and Party-Game Mode where you can play against your friends. The app has been rates #1 in 9 different countries, as the first game ever created in the ‘Where’s Waldo’ franchise.

My Evaluation

It was interesting for me to play around on the ‘Where’s Waldo’ app. What I liked about it was seeing such great graphics and seeing how the developer created movement and animation from characters within the pages. They put voices and sounds to the 5 main characters. It was all of the pages and worlds I’ve known and loved, with elements that came to life for me. I also like that you can do additional quests and play with friends, as any die-hard fan would want to do.

However, there were several things that were disappointing to me as well. The images were locked at a set zoomed-in level that you could not change. It would be nice to have the ability to zoom all the way in or out as you’re searching. The search was timed and you had to find certain characters in the order they dictate, which kind of takes away the fun of exploring and looking for anything you can find.

Also, while the animation they did include was nice, it was pretty few and far between. It would have been nice for them to include a whole lot more animation and movement. If you click on the page too frequently in a short amount of time, these birds will appear and prevent you from guessing further.  You have to pace yourself, apparently.

I would like to see them add a few of these changes I’ve mentioned above. It would be nice to have the option to play on a timed mode or not, or to have a drop down list of ALL of the things you could search for on that page. It would also be nice if Waldo told more of a story and gave more background info on his travels and the places and people he visited.

Impact

All in all, after 22 years since the book was released, I was expecting the interactive app to have more functionality and interesting dynamics. I would not consider it worth purchasing, as I feel the hardcover books still allow you to do more things. The greatest advantage I see with the app is having a portable version of the books for those die-hard fans. But other than that, I think there are a lot of changes and updates they could do to make this better and engage more with children.

Peter Brown