Lingo Zoo Review

Lingo Zoo is a cute, fun and educational universal puzzle app that introduces young players to various animals, the sounds they make and their names, both printed as well as heard in both English and Spanish.

I enjoy this puzzle app. Seven scenes are included, each with its own theme and corresponding animals to learn about. Farm animals are included, as is typical of apps such as this, but it is nice that some unique choices are offered as well, such as the African Savanna and a garden theme with animals such as a butterfly or lady bug, as well as an interesting choice taking place in the outback.

The look of the scenes and the animals included are full of bright colors and a pleasing cartoony look that both kids and adults will appreciate, as well as lovely music with a different sound that relates to the chosen theme, sometimes relaxing such as the aquatic-sounding music selection for the ocean or peaceful music found in the forest section, as well as upbeat choices such as the charming African-inspired selection for the African Savanna area.

Interface is simple as players simply scroll through the seven themes, tapping to make a selection, yet note that until all the areas are unlocked as one can only access one puzzle at a time from start to finish, starting with the first selection being the farm puzzle. Once a puzzle is chosen, the player selects an animal sign that will take one to the jigsaw of the animal being displayed. I like that the signs used have a look relating to the theme at hand as well, as the ocean signs seem made of driftwood and the garden theme has animal signs made from plant markers that one would use to keep track of what has been planted.

The puzzles themselves have wonderful tactile qualities of sound effects both when pieces are first picked up as well as when placed correctly within the puzzle, and an appropriate sound used to let players know when a mistake has been made is also included. There is a shadow cast by each of these pieces as the puzzle is moved into position, showing some dimension to these puzzle pieces, and there is a nice amount of grab when these pieces are positioned, all of which create a very nice experience which I have come to expect from my favorite puzzle apps.

After the puzzle has been completed, the animal sound of said animal can be heard, if applicable, or another related sound is included if the creature in question is one not known for making noise, and the English and Spanish name for this animal can be seen and heard as one taps the UK or Spanish flag. Do tap the completed animal again to hear more noises. One can choose to reset the puzzle to start over again from here or return to the previous section that this jigsaw is a part of, with this animal taking the place of the sign once found, and tapping here will make this animal bounce about, along with hearing its sound once more.

There is a lot about this app that I really enjoy. With seven habitat choices and five animals per area, there are a lot of puzzles to choose from that will keep kids entertained as well as teach the names of these animals in English and Spanish, and this app can be enjoyed by Spanish-speaking children new to English or other children new to both of these languages as well. I also really enjoy the friendly animals one meets along the way and the look in general of this app, making this a good choice as a first puzzle app for young kids.

I did, however, notice that occasionally the Spanish recording sound as if they lack a pause before the narration of some of the animal names is heard, something that may make the understanding of what is being said a little difficult to comprehend, but my ear for languages is terrible, and my experience in sound editing and recording makes me a stickler for these kinds of details. It is quite possible children would not notice or be confused by these possible recording issues.

I like the fact that this app saves the completed animal puzzles, nice for kids who don't complete this app in one sitting, but I am not a fan in general of apps that lock areas of their apps in order for kids to collect "achievements" of some sort in order to move on to the next area, as here one must complete the puzzle in order to earn a sticker, unlocking the next habitat, an element which seems to be out of place in this app.

Developers should feel confident that high-quality apps such as this one will be enough to keep players interested, and that the use of these stickers, achievements and lockouts tend to be more distracting than helpful. On the flip side of this, one can't continue to collect these stickers once the levels have been unlocked - a possible disappointment for kids who may enjoy this element of the app.

Having said all of this, I do recommend this app as kids and adults will enjoy these high-quality, simple and fun jigsaw puzzles, being exposed to new vocabulary and different languages along the way.