Keen for an outdoor adventure and a walk around a park? How about trying the Read! Fest Literary Trail and follow a mysterious Salaryman around! We tried the walk at West Coast Park and it was a unique and engaging experience! Best of all, everyone gets a fresh breath of air while learning about available reads at the library.
Read! Fest Literary Trail – Now till End October
I thought this public outreach was quite ingenious. Since people are generally cautious of heading out, going to the park AND learning about different books while playing a navigational game is a thrill.
The interactive literary trail is available at East Coast Park, West Coast Park and National Library Building, and will take you around the areas to the six stations in the vicinity.
Literary Trail: Embark on The Curious Adventure of The Salaryman
The eye-catching colourful installations will not be missed as you head to the two parks or National Library building. Join Gerry, the Salaryman trapped in your mobile phone and help to free him not just from the phone but from his mundane routine. This Salaryman has been working so hard, he does not even cook nor has time for hobbies. Sounds familiar? Let’s hope not.
All you need is your mobile phone to participate!
Scan the QR code on any of the colourful installations and look out for the banners on the lamp posts. Then make your way to station 1, hint on its location is given on the link.
As you begin the adventure, and enter the world of the Salaryman, prepared to be charmed by the cute animations telling the story together with an interactive chat with Gerry. The chat even allows one to respond to Gerry, answer his questions and choose different responses. I was rather surprised at its level of interactivity given how we only had a phone with the “virtual” presence of Gerry pre-programmed.
I was quite amused by the animations which made the experience come alive. The colourful graphics, coupled with the psychedelic backgrounds as well as sounds, was a quite the treat. Usually such experiences would be reserved for children and I was glad that adults can enjoy the little quest too!
Solve Puzzles, Take Pictures and Choose Your Path
The trail takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete and there are a total of 6 stations to visit.
You will first be introduced to the Salaryman whose job is to sell floppy disks and his boss has been looking high and low for him. Unfortunately Gerry the Salaryman is now stuck in your device! You will need to help him get out by solving some puzzles.
The difficulty level of the puzzles was suited for children ages 10 and above. Families can try the trail together – that is if they do not get distracted by the playgrounds nearby.
You will be asked to solve word puzzles and take photos of the various clues or scan in the QR codes. The scanning bit did not seem to be working for me, but it does not affect the game play much. The conversation between you and your newfound friend Gerry, although long-winded at times, will help you along the way. A surprise awaits at the end of the adventure, so do try to finish all the stations.
With the solving of puzzles, the adventures also helps you to rediscover titles at the library to help Gerry and perhaps yourself learn more about the key titles of Read! Fest. The books will hopefully ignite the love for reading, inspire you and bring you onto a new journey.
I thought the book recommendations were cleverly weaved into the storyline – from digital minimalism, to mourning losses, staying creative, to guaranteed cooking success with four elements. The titles are more suitable for adults, perhaps more children’s titles can be included in future!
Get Ready and Head on to the Parks to Help the Salaryman
Head down to East Coast Park, West Coast Park or the National Library Building for some outdoor, socially-distanced fun! Aside from fresh air and clocking some steps, you will get a dose of literary advice so you know which books to pick out from the library shelves.
For more details on the literary trail, click here.
