My First Space Mission Adventure: The Review

My First Space Mission Adventure

Mission in Space, by Roméo Hannion and with illustrations by Arnaud Boutle, is an illustrated play book for children from the “My first adventure” series, published by dV Giochi and dedicated to preschool children aged 4 and up. This series includes other valid titles, which we have already covered, such as The Treasure of Atlantis and The Search for the Dragon.

With a linear but fun story and thanks to the beautiful illustrations and the excellent game design that makes a ingenious use of paper converting, Mission in Space will allow young readers to launch themselves among the stars in an exciting interactive adventure in the immensity of deep space, of which they will be the protagonists.

Mission in Space, synopsis

Mission in Space puts young readers in the shoes of the intrepid captain of the spaceship Falcon, a small spaceship currently moored in the hangar of the large space station 24-B. However, the quiet is suddenly interrupted: the captain and his crew receive a request for help from their robot friend, the friendly Bip-Bop. Apparently he got into trouble with his ship and got stuck in space. There is no time to waste, the captain and his crew must run to rescue him!

This will lead young readers on a star adventure where they can visit strange planets and space colonies, meet cute aliens , cross nebulae and asteroid fields and get involved to go to the rescue of a friend. And friendship is the main theme of this game book.

Mission in Space, the first choices

But what is the identity of this brave captain? Here, then, that young readers will find themselves faced with the first, fundamental choice: to decide their own character. There will be three possible choices, they can decide to impersonate Toby the curious scientist, Glob the lunar mechanic (a nice alien) or Eclypse the daredevil pilot.

As can be deduced right away, the choice of a character compared another will come into play as the story progresses, as each will approach certain situations differently from the others. The unselected characters will still remain in the background of the story, as members of the ship's crew, and will always be present in the illustrations.

Once this is done, young readers will immediately find themselves catapulted into the role of captain and will have to decide how prepare your spaceship before leaving to help the robotic friend. Will they take a more powerful reactor from the space base warehouse? Or will they check the condition of their ship thoroughly? Or why not get a radar from the space station commander? Also in this case, the choice made will have repercussions later in the story.

Mission in Space has a linear plot, but the choices of which will represent challenges that are far from trivial for younger readers. There are no right or wrong choices, just different approaches to situations, some obviously more advantageous than others. The story, in fact, will unfold in one way or another and will point towards "fixed moments" that will be reached anyway, although not always in the same conditions.

To overcome the various obstacles and complete the book successfully, therefore, it will be necessary to think and choose the best option for the chosen captain. This will allow you to obtain items that will be useful throughout the story. This component, which in a normal game book for a larger audience should be noted on the classic character sheet, in Mission in Space is brilliantly managed by the ingenious use of paper converting.

The book

The game books of the "My first adventure" series have a very particular structure that focuses mainly on the manipulation of the pages, an absolutely valuable feature, since they are volumes designed mainly for preschool children.

The book is in hardcover format with rounded corners and has a metal spiral binding, while the pages are made of a strong weight paper, treated with an excellent plasticized finish, which makes them particularly resistant and difficult to tear or damage.

As we anticipated, the volume will allow the use of interactive contents in an innovative way thanks to the intelligent cartotecnic a and the game design that makes use of it. Inside the cover there are four colored discs that will be used to keep track of the choices made and any objects obtained.

The particular layout used is also excellent and has a very positive influence on the interactive component. Whenever the story proposes a choice, this will be between three possible options, which will each occupy a third of the page. This, in fact, has been appropriately cut: it will therefore be possible to browse only the section corresponding to the choice made, so as to proceed with the reading without revealing the result of the other choices, so as to be able to play everything again without inappropriate revelations.

Mission in the Space is an easy-to-understand game book, the rules of use and the explanation of how to navigate between the different choices are clearly explained at the beginning of the book and will not hinder the simple use of the work. Despite the linearity of the story, designed specifically for a very young target, the possibility of leafing through the book section corresponding to the choice is a pleasant surprise, capable of immediately entertaining.

From a visual point of view, moreover, it is immediately pleasing to the eye, thanks to the beautiful and evocative color illustrations that will capture and immerse the young reader in the interactive story he is living.

Three choices for three endings

Depending on the choices that the young captain will have made during the adventure, there will be three possible endings, determined by the quantity of spare parts for the poor Bip-Bop that he will be able to recover with his efforts.

Unlike the classic librigames, in which the story is often interrupted even before the end due to the death or defection of the protagonist, in Mission in Space the adventure is completed in any case with a fin ale, whether it is good, discreet or not, which in any case always manages to convey a positive message, so as not to be frustrating for the young audience to which the volume is addressed.

Conclusions

In the light of what emerged from our analysis, Mission in Space turns out to be a good product for the target of very young people to whom it is addressed and manages without problems to achieve its goal, that of entertaining the little ones, encouraging them to read and introduce them to the world of interactive stories and book games.

Quality materials and captivating illustrations make it a perfect gift for both your children and those of friends and family. The books in the "My first adventure" series give children a new way of approaching books and a new experience linked to reading, capable of stimulating interest and curiosity towards the world of fantasy.

A product aimed at ...

With its characteristics and its simple style, Mission in Space is a book especially suitable for younger children, who are guided in reading by an adult or who are already able to read independently .

The books in the series My first adventure represent an ideal starting point for introducing children, even very young children, to the universe of interactive storytelling, which could later lead to the world of more structured book games or role-playing games.