Issa's Edible Adventures

Upon opening the application, the user is greeted with a delightful home screen.

Issa explains the adventure via audio and text which can be seen in the top left. This is ideal for young users who struggle with literacy as they can listen to the text and also read along. The graphics are stunning, bright and welcoming with accompanying sound in the background.

The developers may consider the introductory text to be repeated if necessary. Issa (who is based on the developer’s daughter) tells how she needs help to find three ingredients from around the world to help complete a dish in her mum’s (chef Layla) kitchen.

Pressing ‘Play’ will enter the application. From here the user has two recipe options to choose from: Arroz Con Pollo and Ethiopian Gomen.

It is noted that the application may, at first, take a little while to load the chosen option. There are also links to social media here as well as settings to ‘Turn the sound on and off’ and turn ‘Read along’ settings on or off. I am sure that the developers will add further recipes as the application develops. The recipes have a parental lock to protect in-app purchases.

Once an option has been chosen the delightful cartoon like graphics enter you into Layla’s Kitchen. You can tap on icons in the kitchen that twinkle for further information. Chef Layla explains that each day, someone calls about a VIP foreign dignitary visiting the restaurant that evening for dinner and requesting a dish specific to his/her home country.  Chef Layla puts her Sous Chef, Pierre, in charge of making the dish, and each day, he’s missing certain ingredients. Once again the text appears for the user to read along.

Issa is always listening, and when she hears the dish and the first ingredient the cook is missing, she instantly knows how to help and where to go to find it.  She crawls under the “pass” (in a restaurant, the plating area) and is suddenly transformed into an adventurer.  She flies a helicopter with her best friend, Tartufo the pig, who helps her “root” out all of the ingredients.

Throughout the application the characters explain the background behind the culture, ingredients, music and food. The scenes have graphics that twinkle which can be clicked on to find out more information. We did find sometimes that the story stuttered somewhat especially with the questions and we were unsure how to answer these or what to do. The developers may consider a hint to help the user here. The ingredients collected can be seen by the tick marks in the top right. Once all the ingredients have been collected Issa returns to the kitchen to help Chef Pierre.

This is where the application really comes into its own and we love that you can add ingredients, stir, season and cook the dish. Follow the delightful graphics to make the perfect recipe. This can also be accessed during the adventure scenes via the top drop down menu. The developers may consider placing the menu access somewhere else on the screen as this often brought up other iOS menus especially when played via a mobile device. We felt that this feature in the app should only be accessed when the adventure had been complete rather than at any time. This should act as a reward for completing the ingredients tasks.

This application is a delight to use and the developers should be congratulated on the vast combinations of information, the high quality graphics and loveable characters that they have created. The application has real educational values focusing on literacy, culture and learning about food. This application comes highly recommended by the EducationalAppStore.com and we can’t wait for further recipe adventures to be added.

You can download Issa's Edible Adventures on your iOS devices from the Apple App Store.