I’m going to be totally honest here. I had never heard of the Famous Five before I was approached to review this new app based on the stories by Enid Blyton. So, I received the download code for the app as well as the first book in Enid Blyton’s twenty-one book series. The experiences and opinions are my own.

The new ‘The Famous Five’ app launched on October 18th to coincide with the 75th anniversary of ‘The Famous Five’ book series. This series and app has delighted my children ever since. I downloaded the app and started playing it first to make sure how easy and accessible it would be for the kids. I had no doubt that Eva would do well with the app because she is a voracious reader. She also has an affinity for British writers. She took to the app right away. As for Andrew, I see a spark of a reader in him, too. He saw that Eva was enjoying the app and he also gave it a try. So, both kids and myself are playing ‘The Famous Five’ on our iPads. We are all enjoying this fun game.

‘The Famous Five’ is about a group of kids who solve mysteries. In the app you can choose to play as one of the kids: Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their friendly dog Timmy. Each time that you play the game it is completely different. It changes up and so whenever you play the mystery is brand new. When you solve the mystery a custom story is written so that you can read about your adventures. Each adventure is saved so that you can read them again and again. This app has kept my kids interested and excited for a few weeks now. We ran around town last Friday and the kids played the game through the whole trip. It kept them entertained and excited. You can see a preview of ‘The Famous Five’ app created by award-winning app developer Kuato Studios in the video below.

In the app you assume the identity of one of the children and then you choose a location. The choices are The Castle, The Fair, the Farm or The Beach. Choose two places and your adventure begins. Then you are given your mystery. Your first step, search for clues. Once you have the clues you question witnesses and then determine suspects. Once you have suspects you question them about their motives and alibis. You have a notebook that you use to organize your detective work. This helps when narrowing down the list of suspects. The more information you gather the easier it is to find the person who committed the crime.

One of the big parts of the game is questioning suspects. When you do this you look for clues on the suspects. You also question them. There are negative words and positive words that describe how you ask people questions. The more positively you ask questions the more apt people are to give you information. So, the players learn vocabulary as they play the game. There are also puzzles that you solve to reveal more suspects and witnesses as well as more motive and alibis.

In addition to this being a wonderful educational and entertaining game it also has a parenting section. Parents can set up notifications so that they can see when kids have created new stories and artistic creations. This game is also one that has a special dyslexic font. The font is called OpenDyslexic and makes the game easier for players with dyslexia.

The app is only $2.99. This is a great deal for an excellent education app. Below is the official press release all about the app.

Experience British Adventures with the Iconic ‘The Famous Five’ with a New App by Kuato Studios
London based Kuato Studios partners with Enid Blyton Entertainment to recreate the adventures of The Famous Five in a downloadable children’s app

Children can immerse themselves in a good old-fashioned English adventure with the launch of a new Famous Five mystery game on the App Store by award-winning app developer,
Kuato Studios. The launch of the new app coincides with this year’s 75th anniversary of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, a beloved British book series.The game will be release in the U.S. on iOS on October 18, 2017.

Regarded as one of her most popular series, renowned British author, Enid Blyton originally planned to write just six Famous Five books but extended the series to 21, owing to reader demand.

Now these much loved characters will enter the digital world with Kuato Studios’ new app!

The Famous Five app has been designed with all the positive values associated with the books in mind, including friendship, heroism, adventure, love of the outdoors and daring. As with all Kuato games in the Tales Maker series, the app nurtures inquisitive minds and develops literacy skills through storytelling and engaging gameplay.

The app allows children to explore the iconic world of The Famous Five, a world packed full of English adventure, mystery and intrigue! Each mystery features unique characters and iconic locations throughout England found in the books, such as the castle ruins of Kirrin Island and Tapper’s Travelling Fair.

The new Kuato game will enthral Famous Five enthusiasts and those new to the as now, not only can they read about the adventures, but they can also help Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their friendly dog Timmy search for clues, question suspects and solve the mysteries they encounter! With multiple solutions and plot combinations, no single story will ever be repeated and once the mystery has been solved, children can enjoy reading their personalized adventures back in their own game generated storybook!

For Dyslexic readers, there is a section within the Parents Corner where users can choose from accessibility options, including, OpenDyslexic font and colour overlays to help
readability.

‘The Famous Five’ app will be available in the iOS app store beginning October 28, 2017 for $2.99.

About Kuato Studios
Backed by Horizons Ventures, Kuato Studios was formed in early 2012 with talent from world-renowned games studios, award-winning education experts and specialists in artificial
intelligence. The studio currently has a number of educational game titles: Code Warriors, a coding game for 9-14 year olds; and Dino Tales and Safari Tales which were launched in 2015 and focus on literacy skills for 4-10 year olds. The Tales titles have consistently reached #1 in both the Kids and Education charts on the App Store across the world.

About Enid Blyton:
Enid Blyton is one of the world’s best-selling children’s authors. Sales of her books are in excess of 500 million copies, and they have been translated into over 40 languages. Enid Blyton began her career as a school teacher before becoming a bestselling children’s book author, writing over 800 books. In the UK she still sells more than one book a minute and many of her books have been adapted into films and TV series. As well as being regularly voted the UK’s best-loved author, Enid Blyton is the most translated children’s author in the world, according to UNESCO. Her most popular works include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Naughtiest Girl, The Adventure Series, The Faraway Tree, Twins at St Clare’s and Malory Towers. In 2012, Hachette acquired the intellectual property of the whole of Enid Blyton’s estate (excluding Noddy). In April 2016 Enid Blyton Entertainment was created to represent the fully immersive Entertainment entity.
@BlytonOfficial