Lochfoot Review

Lochfoot is an interesting storybook for iPad that children and their adults will enjoy. From the beginning of this application readers will take note of some very special elements within this book. The illustrations are quite stylized and really capture the look of the night sky and the forest at evening with a palette of blacks and blues that look beautiful against the backlit screen, later incorporating other bold colors as well for a great effect. A faint texture can also be seen - a nod to hand-made paper textures that I also am fond of. Narration is included, and one can tap on speech bubbles to hear these lines of dialogue re-spoken if desired. Reading this book to oneself is also possible as narration can be silenced. Versions of this app are available for both iPad as well as iPhone

This is the story of two children who wander away from their campsite at night and come across a creature that they are not familiar with. I love how this creature, soon introduced as the Lochfoot, helps these children when threatened by a wild animal, taking them in to keep them warm and safe and accidentally introducing the children to his dad, Big Foot, before the children go back to their campsite. There are nice moments of suspense when the children first see Lochfoot as well as some dramatic moments when the duo is caught in a tree, being menaced by a wild boar. These moments, combined with the striking look of this app as well as the ambient sound effects and moody music really capture the experience of looking for adventure and unexpectedly finding it. I do wish, however, that we were able to go on more adventures with Lochfoot instead of just meeting him and his family. The back story of the Lochfoot is briefly explained, such as how they are on the run from people trying to discover them, and I really enjoy the wall of family photos revealing the mother’s identity as the Loch Ness Monster as well as the family's uncle, the Abominable Snowman. I think that there are more stories to tell about this unique cryptozoological family.

I hope additional Lochfoot applications are developed in the future that go into further details of what this family has gone through as well as how Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster can be explored, and their other previous experiences such as having been found out by other humans that was already touched upon briefly. The look of this app, use of color, and graphic style really make it stand out among the sea of available apps. There are memorable moments with Lochfoot on the go, bringing the children back to the campsite that make me smile. I would love to hear more stories about this most interesting family.