Dusk World adds a whole new dimension for Kindle and Kindle DX games. It is an interactive, adventure game mixed with a graphic novel interface. Throughout the game you play the part of Agent Patriot, a war hero who was framed for murder. Dusk World takes place in Dusk City, and the path of the game is determined by the choices you make.
The reviews were all across the board. I selected a few that give a good overview of Dusk World and the ones that suggest what parts need a little work.
“*The Good*
-Perfect fit for kindle. Mix of reading and game-playing feels like a modern choose your own adventure book.
-Dark, comic-style graphics look great!
-More complex choices than a choose your own adventure book. You can choose what to say to people, and fairly freely roam around an area and do things in not necessarily a prescribed linear order.
-“Combat” sequences that entail typing a series of characters (these can be skipped if necessary).
-Mysterious, comic-booky story. If you like comic-book stuff, you will like it. If not, you might still like it.
-Well designed, easy to use interface. Opening story helps you with how to play, no need to read instructions.
*The Bad*
-Kind of linear–choices often don’t matter in dialog, and despite the fact that you can roam around freely a lot, much of what you do doesn’t matter except triggering the couple actions necessary to progress the story.
-Can be a bit boring/repetitive at times. Since many actions don’t have much consequence, you can often just run through each menu option, trying everything until something works or you get what you want.
-Page turn times a bit slower than in books due to graphics.”
“Love this interactive graphic novel! I will agree with some of the other reviews…the story and interactive content is a bit thin, but I see great potential for future books. The novelty of it has won me over (it brings back my childhood love of comics) and I think the younger readers could be drawn to this type of Kindle book (with the right content, of course). Writers/artists…get cracking!!”
“Now, many games say this. They say, pick your life, appearance, but it is all the same ending. Dusk world lets you become a powerful mob leader, a superhero, and you pick! Out of the couple of destinies you make, you pick! Small choices create who you are, and dusk world implements this logic.”
When Kindle games were introduced, there was concern that they might draw away from the Kindle’s primary purpose; reading. Dusk World does a great job of intersecting reading with gaming, so it managing to maintain the core purpose of the Kindle while bringing it to a new level. As the reviewers said, the game has it’s hang ups, but this will be something that can be remedied in future games for the Kindle.