New Moominapps are always welcome, but this one’s not quite ready for prime time.
Each of the nine series characters (plus a cat on a nonverbal instruction screen) that Moomintroll meets on a stroll has lost something, from Moominpappa’s top hat to Snufkin’s flute. Touching bushes, rocks or other details in the very simple cartoon scenes reveals the item (on later visits, it will be hidden somewhere else), which can then be dragged to its proper place. Butterflies and other details likewise respond to taps or tilts. Swiping a corner activates page turns forward or backward, but those turns are unusually slow, and there is no quick way either to skip pages or to start over until reaching the thumbnail index at the very end. Furthermore, an icon with a “T” opens a box of text—but the narrator goes on to read additional lines that do not appear on the screen in either the audio or silent modes.
Should future updates improve the navigation, add the complete text and correct the huge typo on the title screen, this will be a Moominmust. (iPad storybook app. 4-6)
