Roxie’s Doors is a creative and engrossing interactive storybook for iPad. Based on the popular lift-the-flap book Doors, by author and illustrator Roxie Munro, this application is a wonderful collection of scenes to explore, including over 50 flaps that one can open to discover what is inside. Narration is included either by Roxie herself or a male voice. Reading this book to oneself is also an option. Nine motifs are included, such a fire station, interior of a passenger train, doctor's office, backstage in a theatre or inside a spaceship, each containing many hidden objects one is looking, as this application has elements of an "eye spy" game as well.
Text is included, nicely rhyming and involves a list of hidden objects one looks for within the details of these pages. Some of these objects will be obvious, while others are much more difficult to find. Another interesting aspect of this app is the addition of 3D imagery to Roxie’s classic illustrations. Tilt the iPad in any direction to see the perspective change slightly, creating a 3-dimensional look, showing bits of the screen not seen in other angles - important to understand as some of these hidden objects are best eyed when one is looking at the various angles offered.
My son and I are huge fans of lift-the-flap books. I have taped quite a few of these flaps back onto books where my boy has accidentally removed them. I am always impressed by how much re-reading these books get, as my son enjoys lifting these flaps again and again, although familiar with what he is about to find. Keeping this in mind, I knew my son would enjoy this ebook a great deal. My boy finds each different location fascinating as he taps the flaps to lift themselves. It is a lot of fun for him to look at places he has not been to, such as back stage at a theatre or inside a train - a location that brought back a lot of memories as I rode Amtrak quite a few times as a younger adult.
We enjoy sharing this app together as my son does need some help finding these hidden objects. He can do a great job with the ones in plain sight but needs assistance with others that are hidden or not part of his life experience, such as a car battery when he is used to smaller household ones or needing to be shown how to pop down the tray found behind the seat on the train. Sometimes the flaps themselves can be a bit tricky to find as well - certainly rewarding when discovered. The illustrations are excellent here, and I really like how all the details can start opened conversations about these different locations. The scale used among these drawing is also excellent, although this does make some details small and hard to spot quickly, as is the fun of this app, but can also lead to some of the smaller objects becoming less responsive to a single tap.
The items that one is looking for within the text change from red to green when found, and nice, varied musical notes can be heard as well, to further illustrate when an object has been located. It is also a lot of fun that many hidden hot spots are included throughout as well just for fun, worth exploring as these details bring added richness to these locations and can include flashing lights, slight movements or sound effects. I also really like that when the door on a specific page is open, the text is not covered up but can be seen through the door, allowing the player to keep tabs on what he is looking for - a nice touch. This is not the case, however, within the pages dedicated to inside a refrigerator. Here, the open door does obscure the view of the text and the objects that one is looking for - something I hope can be worked out in a future update.
I do wish, however, that a “hints” mode was included, possibly allowing the players the ability to tap the word of what they are looking for, as these eye spy games can be quite challenging. I would also like to see a menu of pages outlining all there is to see and experience within this app, as I still find a new hot spot or even a flap when looking at this application again and again, and it would be nice to have a guide to all that is included.
Roxie’s Doors has a great deal to offer, and I think the re-readability of this book is high. There is enough going on within these locations that each experience will feel new and challenging, as I sometimes have difficulty with objects I managed to find when last played. Every element used here is wonderful, but I do think adding hints or a menu for both the hidden objects as well as the hot spots in general would add to the enjoyment of this application even further. Having said this, I highly recommend this app just the way it is.
iPad Screenshots
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