Explore this game-book with Flori the Giraffe.

Little Flori is a Giraffe who is about to have an exciting adventure ... while having breakfast, Flori's phone rings. The reader is asked to help find it. In the bedroom, Flori finds the phone and answers it. Her friend Tino asks her to come help him in the forest. So she gets dressed (with the readers help). After that a game begins that is very free-form, with few hints that are obvious. There are arrows and dialogue to guide the reader, but at this point the app feels much more like a game with text than a book with a game built in.

After this, the 'reader' has to puzzle out the clues like a real game, so the time it takes to finish this app will really vary depending on the child. There are flowers to collect, tools to find and lots of clues to puzzle out from dialogue provided by characters that Flori finds while on her adventure. There are also dandelions to collect along the path that give the player points. The games goals are not always clear, however, so children under six may need help to complete this story.

Some of the help from characters includes things that are truly not helpful, like, "I have no idea where you could look" and "I don't know. Ask the others." This story-game approach reminded me of early video games in the 1980s that have obscure text that requires a lot of problem solving and exploration of a map. The game play, however, feels more tedious than fun and my 5-year old was not able to complete the app before giving up. I'll even admit that I only completed the whole thing because I wanted to review it ... I would have given up half-way through otherwise.

While fun for kids, the settings in the app are also really frustrating. There is no clear way to get out of the 'options' menu, no home button (so no way to restart the game without killing the app), and the "info" button immediately takes users to a pointless source of help, the developer's website. These are all serious issues for a future update.

Most of all, though, the game needs better help menus for young children. Even as an adult player, I spent a lot of time in this app just moving Flori around the map, only to have the characters tell her to ask someone else, but no other info. And when I successfully found a tool and completed a challenge, it wasn't clear which tool or challenge had been achieved or what was next. The collection of the dandelions also felt pointless. A page-guide or map of the game would be a nice addition, too.

Overall, the Flori series is fun for kids and has sweet characters in a cool environment perfect for exploring. Text is presented to encourage young readers but is also read-aloud. The reward at the end is a fun little ride in a go-cart with Mia the Monkey. It's not really a 'race' since there is only one car, but kids will still enjoy seeing Flori & Mia 'win' after several minutes of scrolling screens. If you are looking for a challenging game with some reading, for a child ages 5-9, Flori's adventure is a good choice.

All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.