Hasta La Ideas

Unlock the secrets of NYC with an interactive guidebook and iPhone app

Anyone who grew up reading the Choose Your Own Adventure book series will delight in Italian publisher Whaiwhai‘s take on interactive storytelling. Part guidebook, part game, each book unlocks secrets to the city as you unravel the mystery page by page. The latest town to go under the microscope is New York, told by Big Apple aficionado Timothy Speed Levitch—star of the 1998 documentary The Cruise. Centered around a prosthesis with mystical powers, “The Pegleg” hits stores today, and is launching alongside an iPhone app that Whaiwhai is letting CH readers download for free.

Playing is simple, and both the book and app allow you to choose the length of your enigmatic adventure, from two to nine hours. As developer Tomas Barazza explains, the difference between the two is that the app will be for more social experiences. It will soon be updated to let players exchange messages between friends and see how many steps they have already solved when playing in challenge mode. The book, which relies on answering through text messaging, also allows for group play, but it is slightly less interactive because as Barazza says, it was designed during the “pre-iPhone era.”

Packed with historical information and tons of fun, the Whaiwhai books and now iPhone app are great for tourists looking for an offbeat adventure. To download the app, visit The Pegleg in iTunes, where it will be free today through midnight EST, and $6 after that. Pick up a copy of the book at Amazon or through IndieBound, and see more cities at WhaiWhai.