The Magic of Reality Review: Most books are made available for electronic formats generally in two forms, PDF or ePub. Both of these formats allow the full document of the book to be published along with illustrations and for the most part do a great job. However, some books are beginning to take full advantage of tablet’s full color touch screen by providing a more interactive experience and in the case of The Magic of Reality that is certainly true.
At $13.99 it may make many people balk at the price, however, when you consider that you are getting the full text of the book and interactive features the price becomes much more validated.
The Magic of Reality for iPad attempts to present the world in a real, scientific perspective, debunking myths and putting forward the beauty and fascination that the real, natural world provides.
For anyone that knows the work of Richard Dawkin’s it will come as no surprise that he uses this platform to discuss not only the myths of childhood tales but also of religious mythology and it’s all presented in a way that is great for older children and for adults alike.
The app starts with a video introduction from the author, where he details the book and his aims for it, once you have past this you are launched into the content it self.
While you can read the book in the normal way, flipping between pages, you can also swipe down on the iPad with two fingers to reveal two streams of the content. Using the top stream allows you to jump between the 12 chapters, while the 2nd stream allows you to browse the pages of the selected chapter.
The illustrations by Dave McKean look even more beautiful on the iPad than they do in the book itself and as you scroll between the pages the illustrations scroll in the background too. In some case the illustrations are animated that really bring the book to life.
But that’s not the only difference between the physical book and this iPad version. Throughout the book there are audio pieces read by Dawkins and then there are the interactive pages where you can attempt to evolve frogs, alter liquid and fire newtons cannon. While these interactive features aren’t full blown mini-games they help break up the text and are especially useful in explaining some of the concepts of the book to younger children.
The Magic of Reality is a great example of how to produce an interactive reading experience on an iPad. While the content itself is engaging, thought provoking and informative the production values set this above and beyond your standard eBook.
What we like:
What to know:
Other than reading the latest thoughts on Global Warming and watching the meteorologists on TV forecasting the weather the last time I did anything scientific was to burn some magnesium sulphate, I think that’s what it was called, over a Bunsen Burner during a school science lesson. Now though I’ve had the chance to get back to those fun times thanks to Master of Alchemy from Chillingo.
Master of Alchemy for iPhone is a puzzle game where you are challenged to get a certain number of colored elements to the end goal. This is achieved by manipulating the form of the elements from the initial form to the form required at their destination.
These elements take the for of solid, liquid and gas elements and you’ll use a variety of tools to manipulate and move the elements as you progress. However you are limited to only a certain number of tools so your solutions have to be specific.
Each level looks picture perfect and takes up more than the size of the iPhones screen so you’ll need to scroll and zoom in and out to see the big picture of both the starting and ending points.
As with most similar titles things start slowly and you are introduced to the various tools and their uses one at a time. The selection of tools for each level is provide via a menu located in the left hand side of the screen which opens and collapses as you tap on it. When you have decided which tool to use you can simple drag and drop it onto the playing area.
You also don’t have to worry to much about placing it correctly either as you can easily drag and move each piece as required. With any piece selected you can also rotate it to the correct angle to ensure the transformation happens as required.
While there is some variety to the sixty levels in Master of Alchemy many of them are repetitive with similar solutions required to complete the levels and this limits the enjoyment of the game somewhat as feelings of de-ja-vu are often felt.
It is nice that multiple profiles are enabled so that more than one user can play the game on the device without affecting the other players progress and as with most Chillingo games their social gaming network is also enabled. This enables 40 awards to be unlocked as well as Global, National and Local leader boards so that you can compare yourself to players far and wide.
At just 99c the game offers very good value for money despite it’s shortcomings, what is disappointing though is the fact that while the game is available for both the iPhone and iPad they have to be purchased as separate apps with the subsequent cost.
Reviewed on an iPhone 4
Price: $0.99 (App Store)
Category: Games
Released:Aug 05, 2010
Version:1.0
Size: 37.8 MB
Language:English
Seller:Chillingo Ltd
© DarkWave Games
Requirements:Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.