Adventure in Atacama
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this podcast.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Adventure in Atacama is one of the first choose-your-own-adventure style podcasts. The story centers on a flight attendant named Mariela, who sets out on an adventure with her father, Fernando, to unravel the mystery of her mother's disappearance. Communication and perseverance are main themes throughout the story as the characters fight to save the world from a language apocalypse, which could cause everyone in the world to lose the ability to communicate. There's a strong emphasis on language and the show includes multiple languages, including Spanish, Hindi, Japanese and Portuguese. While the story is generally tame, it isn't specifically tailored for young children. There are some perilous situations and a character flirts a lot and occasionally makes vague sexual references. This is a fun listen for families with older kids, tweens or teens.
What’s It About?
ADVENTURE IN ATACAMA is a unique listening experience. Rather than a straightforward narrative, the show presents listeners with a choose-your-own-adventure "audio game." The story follows a flight attendant named Mariela who gets swept up in a globe-spanning adventure by her estranged father. Together, they travel the world to find Mariela's missing mother and prevent a "language apocalypse" caused by the dreaded and mysterious "Atacama effect."
Is It Any Good?
The undertone of this show is to highlight the importance of language while weaving an irreverent mystery guided by the listeners themselves. Adventure in Atacama presents its story using a choose-your-own-adventure style that makes for an unpredictable listen and for multiple repeat listens with different outcomes. The lead characters Mariela and Fernando are fun to follow and easy to root for as the underdogs in their seemingly impossible journey.
The episodes are very short, but since they almost always hinge on the listener's choice, this only enhances the show's immersive nature. Jumping from one episode to another can get tiresome, as the listener has to manually switch to the appropriate episode. This makes Adventure in Atacama hard to listen to while driving or in any other situation where listeners don't have immediate access and can't pay full attention to their listening device.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Adventures in Atacama focuses heavily on multilingual characters. Why is the representation of foreign languages in mainstream media so significant?
Mariela's story takes her around the world to solve a "language apocalypse." Is the show making a statement about a lack of communication in the world today? If so, what is it?
Characters in the story must use perseverance and communication to save the world. Why are these important character strengths when facing challenges in life?
How does an audio choose your own adventure compare to a choose-your-own-adventure book? Does it work well with audio? Why or why not?
Podcast Details
- Release date: April 24, 2022
- Genre: Storytelling
- Average Run Time: 8 minutes
- Website: https://ochentastudio.com/adventure-in-atacama
- Host: Mika Nivola
- Publisher: Studio Ochenta
- Pricing structure: Free
- Character Strengths: Communication, Perseverance
- Last updated: December 13, 2022
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