How to Play
When kids open Loopimal, they see an animal-like creature bopping to the minimal music playing in the background. Below the creature are five geometric shapes nestled in colored squares. Each shape has a musical riff and a dance move associated with it. By dragging the geometric shapes to blank squares below the character, kids can program the animal to dance and, in the process, compose music. After programming the first character, budding composers can add up to three more creatures to form their band, displayed on a split screen. Or, they can just scroll sideways to find another creature and explore its dance moves.
What Makes This App a Winner
Since Loopimal is all about being creative, there is no goal and kids are not judged by their performance. Rather, this is an app that encourages kids to explore music and movement. In a very intuitive way, it also demonstrates how to create sequences and loops in music and dance, and thus could be thought of as precursor to learning computer programming.
Because these characters look goofy and move in unexpected ways, the app captivates kids by letting them experiment with sound and movement. For example, kids love it when the sloth-like character separates himself into five pulsing parts. Loopimal is a great app because it's both fascinating and hilarious.
Best For
Loopimal is a great way to introduce kids to musical composition and movement. It is also the perfect app to download before going on a trip, because its open-ended play will help to make the miles zip by.
This Loopimal app review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen.
All tech products are judged on a five star scale by looking at the following factors: fun, education, ease of use, value, and technical.
