BattleKasters may be a brand new game, but it already has people talking. After a test release at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo and our official release at Denver Comic Con, hundreds of gamers and over a dozen media outlets have spoken.

If you’re still getting to know the BattleKasters experience, hear about it from those who have already played the game and met the team behind the mobile technology and the book series.

Alane Isn’t Your Every Day Author

“Alane Adams is the brilliant mind behind the upcoming Legends of Orkney series. The first book, The Red Sun, introduces Sam, a seemingly normal 12-year-old kid. However, when his friends are kidnapped and taken through a portal to Orkney, a distant realm, Sam embarks on the biggest adventure of his life. He has to choose between saving his friends and saving Orkney from a terrible, sun-poisoning curse that could destroy them all.” – Hypable

As Hypable discovered, there’s more to Adams than a book series. She has a purpose and a mission behind this project and her book-to-game strategy for propelling literacy is one that could change publishing and gaming.

Literacy Is Ready For A New Approach

“The bridge between gaming and reading is an important one. Parents who love gaming will pass on their enthusiasm just as book lovers do. Games are, after all, immersive narratives that unleash the imagination. Both platforms develop and reinforce literacy skills necessary for the 21st century. Transmedia extensions, while commonplace in Hollywood, are a critical approach for literacy projects because they provide multiple entry points at different literacy levels, targeting different strengths.” – Psychology Today

Dr. Pamela Rutledge, Director of the Media Psychology Research Center and BattleKasters board member sees a deep need for new ways to engage young readers in the digital age. What BattleKasters is and will continue to be is a new doorway into reading and storytelling.

Scotland is Stoked

“Tourism leaders hope Legends of Orkney by American author Alane Adams will do for the islands what the Ann Cleaves murder mystery novels and TV series did for Shetland and the fantasy series Outlander has done for the Western Isles.” – The Scotsman

The land of Orkney is not all fiction. Author Alane Adams took inspiration from a beautiful Scottish island and the locals have taken notice. Big book series based around real locations can cause a huge influx of interest in the area and Scotland believes Legends of Orkney could really draw a crowd.

Gamers Are In

“It was great to have something fun to do at the convention! I’m excited to go home and read The Red Sun…” – C2E2 Gamer

“Actually getting to do a quest at the con made the experience more interactive and fun.” – C2E2 Gamer

The response from gamers has been overwhelmingly positive and we’re finding that players of all ages are not only excited to read The Read Sun, but they also find BattleKasters to be a really fun new way to experience fan cons. For shows that are typically a lot of looking and listening, BattleKasters has given attendees a unique way to move about the show and engage with a story and its characters in a whole new way.