Clue Story-Interactive Novel with Riddles

4.2
Where to Buy

Clue Story-Interactive Novel with Riddles App Review

App Info

Price: Free In-App Purchases

Overview

Clue Story is an interactive mystery novel that places the user in the role of investigator and main character. Read a chapter at a time, then watch a video and solve a riddle to continue. Hints are available.

Features include:

  • Realistic mystery story
  • Interactive
  • Hints available
  • Video clues
  • Clear instructions

Quality

Clue Story is a good app.  The system presents several screens of text that move the story forward, followed by a video clue and riddle to lead the user to the next chapter. The app works well and is easy to use. Developers included a clear set of directions and some background information about how the story is intended to be used. One downside to the app is that the text is full of grammar errors and awkward constructions. These could perhaps be translation errors, but they do detract from the overall quality of the app in English.

Education

Clue Story is really intended to be more entertaining than educational, but it will challenge students’ reading comprehension and problem solving skills.  Clues are moderately challenging to figure out, and hints are available to keep players from becoming too frustrated.

Teachers and parents should be aware that though the reading level of the novel is relatively low (fifth-sixth grade), the developers’ choice of vocabulary is somewhat more challenging and younger players may need to have a dictionary handy. Words such as “surname,” “prudently,” and “spontaneous” make it more difficult to read than the sheer text complexity measures would indicate.

There also seem to be some instances of innuendo that may not be appropriate for younger readers. For example, one riddle near the beginning references “something a priest has but does not use, that your father has but your mother uses, and that some men have long ones and others have short ones.”  This one would definitely titillate preteens and young teens, until they discover that the real answer has absolutely nothing to do with what they were thinking.

Entertainment

Clue Story is quite entertaining.  Interactive stories such as this one are appealing to anyone who enjoys taking a role in the story, similar to a role playing game or video game, yet this one requires quite a bit of mental gymnastics to keep the story moving.  If players enjoy mysteries, they will find this story well-constructed and enjoyable.

Value

Clue Story is free on the App Store.  There is also a version for Kindle that is free as well.  There are in-app purchases (unprotected except by the user’s App Store password) that range from ninety-nine cents to nearly four dollars to get extra points that can be used to purchase clues to the riddles.

Child Friendliness

This app is not particularly child-friendly. It contains unprotected (and tempting) links to social media and the App Store for in-app purchases, as well as unprotected links to the developers’ website. In addition, there is implied violence and some innuendo that some may consider inappropriate for children.

  • NO 3rd party ads
  • YES unprotected social media
  • YES unprotected in-app purchases
  • YES unprotected external links
Clue Story-Interactive Novel with Riddles
Clue Story
Clue Story-Interactive Novel with Riddles is a fun mystery story that takes good advantage of the capabilities of technology to blend traditional stories with multimedia and interactive content.
Quality
Education
Entertainment
Value
Child Friendly
4.2
Where to Buy