Weirdwood Manor (All Play, No work, 2015) is a six part “interactive book series” initially released in 2016 as an app for IOS and Android platforms. The developers describe Weirdwood Manor as bringing “play to storyteliing” with the app listed under the categories of books and education. Reviewers quoted on the app store page use various other descriptions such as e-book puzzler, living book and part e-book – part highly replayable game, highlighting the difficulty in classifying digital literature in this rapidly evolving era. Weirdwood Manor is a digital- born interactive storytelling experience, unusual in that a traditional print story series, Thieves of Weirdwood Manor (Heidicker, 2020), has been developed as a spin off from this story app.
As a story app there is a lot to love about The Incredible Tales of Weirdwood Manor, including the free download. There is an intriguing storyline which invites exploration as Arthur and his two companions investigate this mysterious manor where they are invited as winners of a competition. Rich, detailed 3D animation provides a suitable backdrop to the story, sound effects and music add to the atmosphere, games and puzzles are revealed through touching the screen and 360 degree views are offered. Reviews imply that it has been positively received.
Yokota and Teale (2014, p. 580) offer five criteria for evaluating digital books. These criteria, along with Margaret Walsh’s concept of evaluating the “synergy between digital features and literary elements” (2013, p. 182) have informed this review.
Weirdwood Manor is given a 4+ age rating by the app, although the recommended age range is 6-12 years. The story spans over six books, with each Book requiring at least 40-60 minutes in order to progress though the story and activities, although it would be possible to spend much longer depending on the speed of solving the puzzles and the level of interest in the supplementary material provided in the journal. The ‘Read to Me’ feature and the “glowing words to help young readers” appear to be the only concessions to emerging readers. The word choice seems suited to more advanced readers and the although the animation supports the overall story there is little direct correlation between images and text, making decoding difficult. The length and complexity would make it difficult for emerging readers to follow and the supplementary material that appears when objects are found is also complex and not read aloud. In terms of learning to read, this story app might encourage an enthusiasm for storytelling in general however it would not be considered a learn to read text.
If we consider Weirdwood Manor for the 6-12 age group the app can be seen in a much more positive light. Sound effects, a possibility not available in traditional print, are used to good effect and can be turned off if preferred. The background music is used to create atmosphere and although it seems appropriate to the mysterious events depicted in the story, I found it repetitive and grating over time. The 6-12 age group may not find the music so annoying however, and the music can be turned off. There are no alternative options to change the adult voice of the narrator however this also seems to fit the tone of the story.
The language used in the text is highly descriptive and more reminiscent of print text where other descriptive features are unavailable. With the detailed moving animation and clever features such as the 360 view, the words could be scaled back to let the other features “tell the story”. The zoom function and movement of the characters across the screen already work to point the reader in the right direction in a visual sense. Text could also be more integrated through use of speech bubbles emanating from characters, etc, rather than kept separate at the bottom of the page. In terms of criteria two (Yokota & Teale, 2014) the story could take more advantage of the digital world through a deeper understanding of the purpose of text. The developers of the story app have of lot of experience in animation and game design so it is not surprising that this emphasis can be seen in Weirdwood Manor. The addition of a children’s author to the team would possibly assist in blending some of these elements to create more synergy between literary and digital features – following the tradition of picture books where meaning is constructed through verbal and visual texts in a multimodal way (Walsh, p. 182).
Interactivity, a key feature in digital texts, is encouraged as hidden (or partially hidden) objects can be revealed through touching and holding the screen when the blue fairy is glowing. When found these objects give additional information about the world and this information, perhaps as a letter, object or drawing, is saved into an online journal that can be opened at any time. These are not included in the Read to me function. This is a fun activity (although perhaps overused), which acts to increase curiosity and observation, but often has no bearing on the ability to progress through the story. Turrion (2014) refers to this type of participation as “simulative” in contrast to “real” participation which has a direct cause and effect. Games and puzzles form a similar function, they tie in with the plot but only a few of these are actually required to be solved in order to progress. Hints are provided to solve puzzles.
By Book Six the creators were using varied visual perspectives to show different points of view and the puzzles seemed more sophisticated in this sense, showing hands move into the screen as if they belonged to the reader. These inclusions did increase the sense of involvement in the story. A second instalment of Weirdwood Manor is due to be released shortly and it will be interesting to see what improvements have been achieved in the four years since the initial release.
References
All play, No Work Inc. (2015). Weirdwood Manor. (Version1.7.4) [Mobile App]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
Heidicker, C. (2020) Thieves of Weirdwood Manor. Harold Holt and Company (BYR).
Turrión, C. (2014). Multimedia book apps in a contemporary culture: Commerce and innovation, continuity and rupture. Nordic Journal of ChildLit Aesthetics, 5(1), doi:10.3402/blft.v5.24426
Walsh, M. (2013). Literature in a digital environment. (Ch. 13). In L. McDonald (Ed.), A literature companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA).
Yokota, J. & Teale, W. H. (2014). Picture books and the digital world: educators making informed choices. The Reading Teacher, 34(6). Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/3886534/Picture_Books_and_the_Digital_World_Educators_ Making_Informed_Choices