Author Williams Joyce's many accomplishments include crafting covers for The New Yorker; designing characters for Pixar, Disney, and Dreamworks; and now, working with Moonbot Studios, he's created a children's story that's far more than just a book.
Based on an animated short film of the same name, you can find this particular version of The Fantastic Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore in the AppStore under the "Books" category. But as you can see from the trailer above, this is a work that defies being so easily pigeon-holed.
This "app" (for lack of a better word) lets you progress through its story and lively animations like a story book/animated film hybrid. But each page also lets you interact with the story in a unique way; tapping on a piano transitions the screen over to playing a song, and at one point you can fill a grey sky with color by using your finger as a paintbrush.
You might argue that it's not a game at all, since you can't "lose." But for every game that's about keeping track of your high score, aren't there just as many that are about experiencing a narrative in a unique, interactive way? That's exactly what The Fantastic Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is: an original, linear tale, that you can take part in.
But what do you call something like this? Is it an adventure game? An interactive book/film thing? Regardless of how you try to define it, the way we describe games is slowly evolving; and works like this are at the forefront.
(via Co.Design)
