"Kitchen Sink" approach to UI design is frustrating

After reading the Childrens Technology Report review for this app I was excited to see that another Eric Carle product had been released with such glowing praise. I confess that after trying the app for myself Im a little disappointed, not because the content is poor but because the UI and UX experience is frustrating and counterintuitive. The app manages to be overly simplistic in its button design and overly complex in its navigation, which is a weird duality that does not do much for the user when taking in the charm of Eric Carles excellent artwork. Why are there arrow buttons in addition to the 3d swipe functionality that this developer is known for? Why are some UI elements so completely integrated into the illustrations that you dont notice that theyre there (such as when youre earning ducks during the counting game), but others (like the page nav arrows and menu UI) are ostensibly bad, pixelated clip art? It is just weird to me to have so much taken care of with an app of this caliber, and then have some crucial elements be messy and overly complicated. Not what I expected. Hoping for a refinement update soon.

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