Acorn User


Your Adventure
By Learning and Training Systems
BBC Model B

 
Published in Acorn User #057

Foolproof Adventure

Your Adventure

Your Adventure is an educational game package, suitable for six to thirteen year olds, according to the blurb. It is also suitable for teachers, I found - but maybe I'm a six-year old at heart!

Two sample adventure games are included on the single 40-track disc, plus some extra programs. The adventures are very short (as you would imagine they have to be for the youngest pupils), but there is an attractive and attention-grabbing Mode 7 graphics screen representing the map of the adventure. As the game is played, a symbol representing the adventurer jumps around this screen, visiting various locations, but not in any sequence.

At each location a standard description is given, and then a problem is presented. This takes the form of a riddle, general knowledge question, or puzzle expressed in words. The child has to answer correctly to be awarded one unit of treasure, can be given a hint if his or her first answer is wrong, or can be told the answer. Usually, however, the child is left hanging if he doesn't know the answer - most annoying, I found, as I couldn't guess some of them myself. No doubt the average six-year-old would find them a walk-over.

The adventurer ends up at the cave where all the treasure earned is collected, and must answer one final super-riddle to get at the gold (represented merely by pound symbols). It's all very mercenary, but no doubt fits in with the present Government's long-term strategy for primary education.

Incidentally, there are very few bugs in the program, beyond the spelling on the pack; I found only one. All programs load first time, and although the adventures are a bit slow, nothing goes obviously wrong.

The real point of Your Adventure, however, is still to come. This is the Specify program - an editor which allows you to change the riddles in the adventure, and to leave out some of the locations if you wish. The extent to which you can tailor the adventure is strictly limited though. The map always remains the same, and the locations the child can visit are therefore fixed in character. For this reason, older children will quickly tire of playing the games, and the intention is certainly to move them on to creating their own 'adventures' using the editor. The editor itself is very straightforward, almost foolproof.

All in all, Your Adventure is an enjoyable package that should be given a try.

Peter Voke

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