LET'S PLAY

Another digital (in the original sense of the term) adventure from the reigning grand master of no-tech gaming.

Following genial directions in a “hand-lettered” typeface called Hervé Tullet Whimsy, readers can make a slightly-larger-than-thumb-sized yellow circle shift position by pressing different spots (and then turning the page). This is prelude to a fingertip odyssey—traveled by “pushing” the dot along a continuous inked line that bounces, loops, climbs stairs, snakes through a thicket of streaks and dots for a bit of hide-and-seek, creeps into a dark passage and past obstacles, halts temporarily at a red light, then breaks into a series of increasingly exuberant spirals. The dot finally follows the line off the edge of the last page, leaving behind a tempting “Hey! Do you want to come back sometime and play some more?” The general idea has been carried through more elaborate, concrete iterations in a direct line that leads from Crockett Johnson’s Harold and the Purple Crayon to Laura Ljundqvist’s Follow the Line (2006) and sequels. Still, the spot offers an engaging ongoing commentary, which ranges from “Oooooh WOW ooooooo!” to “EEEEK! We better leave on tiptoe…” and (for a spread of chaotic black scribbles) “I really don’t like this page. You see why now, don’t you?” It encourages a broad range of emotional reactions and responses from fellow travelers to go along with the physical interactivity.

Playful indeed. Preschoolers will line up for a turn.