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In the world of holiday specials, I'd say that It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is second only to the Grinch, and it's a close second at that. I loved turning my dial (yes, turning a dial–I'm old) to The Great Pumpkin every year. Now Loud Crow Interactive has delivered It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown in app form. It delivers on nostalgia, but it also pulls you out of nostalgia with an almost cynical level of digital commerce and connectivity.
Last year, I was delighted by Loud Crow's A Charlie Brown Christmas app, and much of the same excellent elements are used here. The pages are beautifully laid out in a pop-up book format, and the original voice-over of the characters takes you right back to your childhood patch of floor in front of the TV set. This app is best delivered in book form, swiping through the pages at your own pace to hear the story as told by the characters.
There's not much in the way of on-page interactivity, except for some gimmicky things like having cartoon leaves turn into real leaves. This app does carry over one of my favorite features from the Christmas app, though–the ability to play a song on Shroeder's piano. Loud Crow has also ramped up some of the options at the beginning of the book. You can carve your own pumpkin and create your own costumed Peanuts avatar. Your creations appear within the story, which kids will be delighted to see. I particularly liked my avatar trick-or-treating with Charlie Brown in the game.
There are a few problems with that interactivity, though. First, it was buggy. It took us a few tries to get the avatar maker to work, and then on pages when she appeared in the scene, it would take a few seconds for her to pop into place. Second, it's super easy for my daughter to spam my Facebook wall with pumpkins and Peanuts characters with readily accessible Facebook share buttons. Worse than that, though, is the currency structure that Loud Crow has put into place. There are coins and candy, which unlock more features for your avatar. The candy can be earned by completing achievements, but the coins are purchased with real money, with 1,000 coins selling a button touch away from the costumes for $29.99. I'm generally not a fan of in-app purchases in kids' apps, but this level of commerce is insidious. I had to go back and look in the A Charlie Brown Christmas app to see if there were any in-app purchases as I didn't remember any. There were in-app purchases, but they were much more hidden in a section that looked more for parents than kids. That's a much better way to go.
This app sells for $4.99. If you loved the TV special as much as I did, I think it's worth that amount as a co-viewing app where you can share the Halloween nostalgia with your kids. Co-viewing is key, though, as there's a lot you'll want to be watching over here.
Note: I received a review copy of this app.
