Escape Anaconda Island is a puzzle adventure gamebook, so do not read it in order. You solve a puzzle, and the answer in the door brick is the page you turn to next.
The story
An island in a wide, slow South American river is home to a small field station. A hundred years ago the river pilot Benedito Arroyo built its raised walkways and, on its one hill, a stepped stone lookout with a flood bell on top. The river is rising early, and Dr Yara Montes, the herpetologist, has gone north to meet the boat.
With Chuva the wild capybara you open nine stretches of five gates, one an hour from 9 am to 5 pm, to ring the bell by sunset so the boat comes to the High Landing. Dr Yara's field notes along the way are true facts about green anacondas, each with a snake maths question. Snakes here are wild animals to respect and keep away from, never to harm.
How it plays
Every chamber is one page: a short story beat, a puzzle, and a Next Door box. Solve the puzzle, find the number in the door brick, and turn to that page. A wrong answer sends you to a dead end that tells you which brick to recheck, so a slip costs you a minute and not the whole game.
A look inside
At a glance
- 45 gates plus six signal posts
- Nine true facts about anacondas
- A lock called River Rise, where a flood gauge adds to every brick
- Ages 10 to adult; paperback, 146 pages
Books mentioned
Escape Anaconda Island
A puzzle adventure gamebook, paperback, 146 pages. 45 gates plus six signal posts.
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