Billie the Unicorn in 3D - A Peek 'n Play Story App Review

Billie the Unicorn is a charming children's interactive storybook based on the book of the same name, now developed into a 3D universal application. Narration is an option, and it is always nice to see the words highlighted when red, along with individual words spoken when tapped.

In this story, Billie is an adventurous unicorn who chooses to leave her cornfield home to live with her forest-dwelling cousins as she seeks out new experiences.

I must admit that from my adult perspective, this tale starts out as a little saccharin for my taste - not a flaw really as I am not the target audience for this tale. My four year old son, however, really enjoys this app a great deal, asking for “the unicorn story” regularly.

What I did appreciate is that within this story, the tone changes to something darker and with a nod to elements from stories like Alice In Wonderland and Rumplestilskin in an unexpected way that I enjoy.

You see, each of these unicorns has special powers to be able to grow flowers and other pretty plants with magic, something Billie has just started to dabble in, creating first corn, then blue cornflowers for the first time. Itching for more adventures, she takes off to find the Queen’s garden, rumored to have the most beautiful flora in all the land.

Billie makes her way to the Queen’s foreboding fortress, allowed inside by robot guards as she is called upon by the Queen to state her business. Billie demonstrates her power for growing flowers, thinking it would allow her the privilege of viewing the Queen's private garden.

Unfortunately for Billie, the garden is inhabited by an old weary unicorn who has lost its powers as now only oddly-shaped metal flowers grow from the ground. The old unicorn is unchained and discarded as Billie is now being held captive, forced to grow flowers by sunset as the Queen entertains a prince who is visiting that evening.

At first, things do not work out in Billie’s favor as her magic does not work well under these stressful conditions, and none of her flowers are up to the Queen’s strict standards.

Luckily, the cousins come to the aid of Billie, using their magic to fill the garden in order to gain her freedom. Angry that the Queen takes credit for the garden in bloom, Billie uses magic to grow plants so tall around the unicorns that they are lifted over the castle wall, making their escape.

The character of the Queen reminds me of the Queen of Hearts and is rather one dimensional, and I could tell where this story was going from Billie’s first encounter with this abrasive character. However, my son, like Billie, can’t yet see around corners and was surprised at Billie's servitude reminiscent of the poor princess’s treatment in Rumplestilskin, trying to spin hay into gold with no luck - a detail that I appreciate.

The introduction of the evil Queen and her henchmen of robot guards piqued my interest a good deal, and I do wish more details were available about this land, nicely stylized to look bleak and isolating with gray metal details in contrast to the beauty found within the forest, but for my son’s purposes, I think this book did a good job balancing both tones of this story.

There is also a teachable moment when one of the cousins is corrected when laughing at Billie’s first attempt to make flowers out of magic, and I like how this story includes themes of hard work and self expression as well as the issue of Billie leaving her home without fully thinking through her trip to the queen's castle, and how adults can tell the queen is up to no good even if children are unaware of her true nature.

An interactive app, hotspots can be found on each page, and I enjoy how these can be highlighted with a subtle twinkle that will draw the eye without being distracting, and it is nice how in the Contents section, each page has a key for what hotspots to look for.

The interactions themselves are a little random, with moving elements and sound effects that don’t further the narrative - effects that children may still enjoy.

Like the other storybooks by Mobad Games, Billie the Unicorn includes a 3D look that can be fully seen as one moves the device, an effective element that works well within this colorful and well-illustrated story.

Improvements have been made with the loading of these pages in contrast to the other apps by this developer that I have reviewed. There is some bounciness to be seen as each of these pages is turned, but this issue is now a subtle one that children and most adults will not pick up on.

Billie and the Unicorn is an application that my son asks for, and it is impressive how intently my son enjoys this story, making it a good choice for families looking for a new storybook to add to their library.