Khoya: An Interactive Adventure Made For Your New iPad

When the iPad was first announced, I expected to it to magically transform the world of ebooks. I expected a new world of e-reading experiences to flood my screen from authors all over the world. I mean, can you imagine what Harry Potter would look like had J.K. Rowling written it for the iPad? If you’re having a hard time imagining it, let a new iPad app called Khoya open your eyes to an interactive storytelling experience far beyond anything you or your iPad has ever seen.

Price: $4.99
Download: AppStore (iPad Only)

Khoya is a city under the control of the evil Nasha, and it’s your destiny to stop it. That’s simple enough in print, but on the iPad this is quite an adventure! Khoya is a storytelling experiences that invites to journey as a Navigator through several stories using technolog and touch. Throughout your adventures you’ll  be asked to tilt your iPad, use your fingers, and even take pictures with iPad in order for the story to progress.

Content may be king, but the crown doesn’t go to the script in this book. Khoya’s vivid animations and artwork by Shilo Shiv Suleman are a breath of fresh air to the static environment of today’s ebooks. Together, art and technology weave a story beyond any kid or adult’s wildest imaginations. I was pleasantly surprised to see an arresting animation of a conveyor belt that transports glass jars that have babies inside them (totally rated PG13).

Shilo’s artwork gave an immense amount of depth to that particular scene in the story. There’s was a fun little challenge just after the animation that effortlessly pulls you into the story as a participant. After a while, I started to look forward the moments when I could contribution to the story.

Experience Something New

My primary device for reading ebooks is my iPhone, but I wish there were more interactive stories like Khoya to take advantage of the iPad’s technology and capabilities. Khoya reminded me to come back not just for what’s next, but to see what I can contribute and how I can change the story also. For once I’m not a bystander, but a character in the  story thanks to Khoya. That’s a pretty good feeling from an app that’s only $4.99.

Thank you for such a wonderful story Shilo and team! Check out Shilo’s INK conference demo of Khoya below.

Corvida Raven

A natural pioneer at grasping the rapidly changing landscape of technology, Corvida Raven talks tech in plain English on SheGeeks.net.