Review: A fun introduction to interactive fiction for youngsters
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 14, 2014
"Joe, Sam, & Fred's Safari Adventure" is a simple but fun interactive story for youngsters. It's the third story in the author's "Choose Your Own Story" series, and like the other stories, it features three friends: Joe the elephant, Sam the dog, and Fred the mouse. In this story, the three friends decide to go on a safari to find a legendary three-horned rhinoceros. The rhino may or may not exist, but the three friends are determined to find it if it's for real. At times during the story, the reader is offered two choices of action to take. The story then continues based on which choice was made, with several more branching points with decisions to be made by the reader. The outcome of the story depends on the choices the reader makes, but unlike adult interactive novels, a bad choice won't bring about harm or death.The colorful cartoon-like graphics are well done, and the story has enough drama to hold a youngster's attention for the time required to complete the story. The real fun comes from rereading the story to see what alternate outcomes result from making different choices.I've read several complex text-only interactive fiction novels, and I enjoyed them very much with their numerous possible outcomes, but younger kids wouldn't enjoy these, and some of them have adult themes anyway. "Joe, Sam, & Fred's Safari Adventure," however, is clearly aimed at children, and it's perfect for introducing them in a fun way to graphical interactive stories.