Choose your own adventure stories, aka secret pathbooks, were popular in the 1980s. The original series contained 184 books. The series was unique. It was written in a narrative style that placed you, the reader, in the center of it all. Throughout the adventure, the narrator gives you a choice and two sets of page numbers to turn to so you can find the outcome of your choice. To Gen X kids, this was mind-blowing! I had one of these books and I could not get into it. The story was great, but trying to turn the pages I needed was difficult due to my disability, and with the particular book that I had, some of the scenarios were written upside down! So I gave up. Fast forward to today, and an app called Halfling Dale was created by Wysiwyg Wizards, a two-member team of English app developers that love fantasy, as they strive to make immersive, interactive experiences that are story-driven and easily accessible. The developers reached out to Couch Soup and granted full access for an honest review of this indie story game.

The Story

You're a halfling of respectable means, living a peaceful, happy life in the Dale. That is, until tragedy strikes! Your brother has burgled a precious heirloom and runs off with a dwarf, leaving your family name in tatters. Will you try to regain your respectability?

Enter the pie baking contest at the Harvest Festival and do your best to win honorably, or you can choose a way to make sure you win. You can attend the fireworks display with your friends. Perhaps sparks will fly between you and a childhood friend, or you can try to make amends with the people your brother has wronged. You can warm your hands by the fire in your home in winter,  go to the Town Hall to enjoy the winter festivities and dance the night away at the Spring Fair. There's only one thing you must do: live your halfling life to the fullest! 

The Cool Features:

The app can be downloaded onto IOS and Android devices. It's like an ebook and an online questionnaire. This means you can adjust the font to be bigger or smaller if you need to, and it has certain moments where it will ask you to make a choice. Then, you select an answer by just tapping on your choice, and it takes you to the section you need to continue your adventure! No more writing numbers on scraps of paper or turning things topsy-turvy!

Customize Your Character

Now, this is not like the full customization one would get playing a video game like Baldur's Gate 3, but you do get more in the Halfling Dale app than from its paperback predecessor. You can choose the gender or be neutral. Choose a name from a list or create your own. There are eight professions to choose from. The ones I found most interesting were Apiarist, Cheesemonger, and Fisher. I chose Fisher because my dad took me fishing when I was younger. You also get hobbies to choose from. This is the feature I loved the most because it allows the reader to make the protagonist their own. In that category, I chose knitter.

As you progress, you're put in situations where you decide what sort of halfling you are. Perhaps you're the hard-working, honest type or a jolly mischief-maker. You might be a gentle halfling of superior tastes, though some are more a bumbling, good-natured sort. You could choose to be a bold halfling of the great outdoors or the sensible one who's never late for dinner! 

Memorable Character Record

Each finished playthrough creates a character record to immortalize your character and all of their achievements. There are 28 different choices to shape your backstory. There are five romanceable characters (plus a secret one) and 28 endings.

I am an avid book reader, whether it’s an actual book or ebook, and if you look at this app as an ebook, you are getting more for your money. You’re getting an experience where you can change the story with just one tap each time you read through. There is no voice acting; there is some atmospheric sound when opening the app, like birds chirping and the sound of spring, but that’s all the farther it goes. When you begin chapter 1, it’s silent. I wish the atmosphere continued throughout the story or even had music. The illustrations are warm and inviting; they're not within the pages of the story but in the gallery section at the app's opening.

For someone who enjoys reading, it wasn’t hard for me to immerse myself, even without atmosphere or music. My first visit to Dale was wondrous! With each choice I made as Angelica the more I felt this story was written for me. I could feel each season of her life that year she turned 35. My first read-through as Angelica was seven chapters long, so I read it in a couple of hours. One would think she didn't do much, but I learned a lot about myself through her story. I will make another trip to Dale very soon. If you are a fan of RPGs, I encourage you to give this a try.

Have you played Halfling Dale?  How many Endings have you found?