Dig World

Pixel Raiders #1

by Stephen "Bajo" O'Donnell, Stephanie Bendixsen, Chris Kennett (Illustrator)

Welcome to level 1: Dig World
A game of collecting, crafting and surviving the night creatures...

Rip and Mei are trapped inside a brand-new virtual-reality game. At first it seems fun - they must build a shelter, find food and work out what to do with fart flowers - gross! But soon they realise, if they don't play the game and find the way out, they'll be stuck... forever.

Can they battle flametigers, fire lizards and sumbrero-wearing spiders? How will they survive?

Genres: Childrens, Middle Grade, Adventure

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2018

About the author

From https://www.stevenodonnell.com:

Steven 'Bajo' O'Donnell is an Australian television presenter, twitch streamer, actor, writer and video game critic.

Steven's other interests lie in improvisational comedy, technology, video games, science fiction, and writing about himself in the 3rd person. Steven really enjoys that. Steven is great.

BACKGROUND
Steven grew up in Queensland, and moved to Sydney in 2001 to pursue a career in film and television. One might say he followed his dream! Others might say he found university really hard and this was a romantic way to avoid real world responsibility at the time.

Reviews

[Stephanie Bendixsen]

Thrilled our book is out there in the world! Hope it brings a little of the magic and wonder of video games into the lives of others. :)

[Jeffrey West · Rating 5 out of 5]

DIG WORLD is the action-packed and hilarious start to the highly-illustrated PIXEL RAIDERS series from Australian talent Stephanie Bendixsen and Steven O'Donnell, and illustrated by Chris Kennett (THE DAY MY BUTT WENT PSYCHO).

But don't just listen to me talk about it. Here's what reviewers had to say:

"A solid bet for the Minecraft set." - Kirkus Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really awesome story, which I think would work well to excite young new readers (it took me about two hours to read). It's sort of like "Ready Player One" for kids, and I'm really interested in reading the sequel!

[Ely Vuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 7 year old boy and 9 year old girl loved this and couldn't put it down! They can't wait until the second book. They are big minecraft fans, and this hit the spot.

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ripley and Mei Lin are the best gamers at their school and they are excited to be going on a class trip to INREAL GAMES. When they arrive they are all given games to play for the chance to be part of a select group to test their newest game. This is a dream come true for Ripley who aspires to be working for INREAL one day, but Mei is determined to be the winner of the gaming challenge.

But the two best gamers are so busy trying to outplay each other they both miss the chance of a lifetime – or have they? Mei and Ripley are given another chance and this time they are in a virtual reality game so lifelike they begin to wonder what is real and what isn’t. Watch their health go up and down as they play the game of their lives – for their lives, and this time it’s essential they work together!

Any young gamer will love this series – Minecraft players especially. Full of action, game speak, fun black & white illustrations and challenges, Pixel Raiders is a non-stop battle for survival.

[Nisshoku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bajo and Hex are one of the best game reviewers in my opinion, so you can sort realise that when I saw this book I absolutely FLIPPED! The book itself follows the story of Mei And Ripley who miss out on a chance to become beta testers for one of the best gaming companies, Inreal Games. After this disappointment, the two receive a mysterious package from Inreal flinging them into a virtual reality world, but soon realise that they'll have to work together to beat the game. The book is great book for anyone who loves video games and adventure novels in general, the book has humour and plenty of gaming lingo like NOOB. The book is in a series, so if you're hooked you can keep on reading!

[Lev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me experience again the feeling of wonder I had when I played Minecraft for the first time. Good job Bajo & Hex!

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was a really amazing book. The characters were good. I liked Rip the best. -Aden (almost 7-years-old)

[Kristy McRae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A read-aloud with my son. Fun story, with lots of action, and just enough similarity to Minecraft to make him happy!

[Literary Chanteuse · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Shadow Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm actually a huge Good Game fan. Been watching some 2011-2016 Good Game episodes on ABC2 (well it's ABC Comedy as of 2017 before it's renamed ABC Plus as of 2020) at 8:30PM on Tuesday nights then I was watching GG Spawn Point on ABC3 (before it became ABC Me as of 2016) Saturday mornings for games that are rated G & PG for younger gamers. From the games Hex & Bajo reviewed on to a lot of gaming history E3 events gaming news & Ask Spawn point but the only thing that gave me a giggle is a robo spew from the Data Analysing Robot for the Ruthless Extermination of Noobs or D.A.R.R.E.N

I was sad to hear that Good Game has been canceled as of 2017. Makes me sad to see what happens when I saw on Facebook and Instagram but Good Game will forever be my favourite video game franchise for TV

I've been meaning to read Pixel Raiders Dig World for my very 1st time while I was at a local QBD store back in the mid 2010's but the good news is I found it at an op shop so here's what do I think

After competing in a video game contest Mei & Rip receives a mystrious parcel. As they tired the game they have been trapped into a virtual reality world. So they must work together to build a shelter find food and find fart flowers but when they realise if they don't play the game and find a way out they'll be stuck forever

While it may be a little scary for younger readers the illustrations from Chris Kennett looks awesome the writing from Hex & Bajo is just amazing. Loved the action loved the humour & it's impossible to put the book down

So whetever you're a huge Good Game fan or just love playing video games Pixel Raiders Dig World is a must read

Ps D.A.R.R.E.N is a NOOOOOOOOOB!

[Helena Rawlins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for kids and as a fast light read for adults. Anyone familiar with popular kids games will recognise the world, and have a laugh at the differences. Fast paced and full of common game events, both expected and unexpected.

[Coral Smith]

2 Fab gamers get a chance to play a new VR game with unbelievable consequences - how do they make it out of the game? Read the series to find out

Easier Read - for those just getting back into reading

[Erin Mendoza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with Andrew. It was a bit long and a lot advanced vocabulary wise, but he enjoyed it enough to want the sequel.

[Pruthvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it because they went on an adventure into the video game!!!! Wow!

[Firmaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

ye

[John papworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite book series when I was a kid.

[Alan George]

Read this in like year 6 ts fire

[Jamie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

really awesome for young kids. such a good series.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I love watching Good Game and Spawn Point, but I'm not actually a huge gamer myself. My husband is the gamer and I'm the reader but we both love the show.

I like reading Junior Fiction - 1) because I'm a children's librarian and I want to be able to recommend great books to my patrons and 2) because it's usually lots of fun.

I can definitely see kids loving this book, it's filled with awesome artwork, humour and lots of action. Personally though, I found it very predictable. I did love being able to read both Bajo and Hex's writing style. I could see a little bit of Bajo in Rip and a little bit of Hex in Wei.

Even though I wasn't blown away by this, I will continue to read them because the story and characters grew on me and I want to read more of their adventures. It's also one that I will recommend to kids that come in to my Library.

On a little side note, both my husband and I were shocked and extremely sad to hear that Good Game had been cancelled and that Hex had left. We wish her well in her next adventure and can't wait to see her new show.

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for the whole family. There's suspense, action, page-turning events, fun, a little humor and it leaves you waiting for the next book. I can't wait to read more in this series. Shoulda waited until all the books were out before I started this book. ;) Great for passing time, but it really does have you turning pages. This was a quick read for me. Finished the whole thing in about an hour or less. Good characters and personalities, interesting and has you trying to figure out what is going on. Enjoy!

[Jaxon Risch · Rating 5 out of 5]

i liked this book because i love video games and v.r. sets and at the end of this book has Mei and Rip get a v.r. set and they see that their in a gaming world and after they build a house they get attacked by a fire spider and this spider almost killed Rip. I lernd that never stay in one spot when you are playing a game. i would recommend this book to peapole that like games.

[Julie Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for kids who are fans of Minecraft. Just right for 8-12 year olds.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comment from the smallest child in the household: I love this, it's exciting.

[Xander Moscrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75
Very slow pace at start but still very good!

[Cody Bennier · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but not great.

[Sharon Joseph]

really nice