A Jane Austen themed endless runner. Because a lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment…
I’ve got to give full credit for knowing about this one to Touch Arcade, because I would never have imagined an Austen-themed runner at all without their review.
Something tells me they don’t need the extra traffic, but go read their review too. It’s only polite — and one should always aim to be part of polite society. Austen would have approved, I’m sure.
Stride & Prejudice: On the plus side
Stride & Prejudice is an endless runner — one of those class of games where you’re always running and avoiding obstacles that’ll stop you dead in your tracks. It’s a very simple endless runner, casting you as Lizzy Bennet, who must run along the exact text of Pride and Prejudice, jumping between the gaps in order to keep reading.
It’s a clever conceit; you can either tackle the whole thing in survival mode, where you must finish the entire text in one go, or choose Reading Mode, which saves your place each time Lizzy takes a tumble. You can pick your jumping/reading speed, and whether or not Lizzy accelerates over time.
It’s also a lengthy task, because it’s a lengthy tome. My dear better half, who adores Austen, wisely pointed out that it’s technically not an endless runner, because there is a finite amount of book to get through. Still, it’s a very lengthy runner — and distance is nothing when one has a motive.
I think I read that somewhere.
Stride & Prejudice: On the minus side
As much of a classic as Pride And Prejudice is — and I have to be honest, the last time I personally read it in depth was back when I was studying it for the HSC — Stride And Prejudice is a remarkably simple game. It’s only jumping, and it’s only jumping across quite easily observed drops with quite generous detection of where you are. You can fall, but equally you can let Lizzy dangle pretty far over a precipice (or preposition) before she will fall.
It’s also arguably not the best way to actually read Pride and Prejudice. If you’re obsessed you’ll read it and keep up with it, but I could easily see myself playing a bit, then leaving it for a day or two only to come back to the text having lost my place. Again, though, there’s plenty of other ways to do that.
It’s also something of a pity that it’s only a single Austen text. It’s not a high cost application, but then they haven’t had to pay a cent for the actual text that gives the game its charm. Indeed, you could apply this model to just about any classical work quite neatly.
Stride And Prejudice: Pricing
Stride & Prejudice is a universal iOS app that costs 99c.
Stride And Prejudice: Fat Duck verdict
Stride & Prejudice isn’t intended to be a full on game, which is presumably why it sits in the “Education” section of the App store. As a way to fully read and appreciate Austen, I’ve got to be honest and say it falls a little flat.
It’s hard not to read the text while you’re jumping over it, but at the same time, you’re not really reflecting on it while doing so, which means that it’s best suited to those who already adore Austen to begin with.
If you’re one of those — and I know a few — you’ll get your 99c worth out of it however.