How we build calm learning games

Phones and tablets are part of growing up now, and some days they're how a family gets through dinner out. Our goal is to make that screen time count: every game here teaches something real, in a calm way that's kind to young minds.

The rules every game follows

Each game for little kids follows 15 rules drawn from research on young children and screens. The ones a computer can check are checked automatically before any change goes live.

Slow, smooth motion. Movements take about half a second and nothing loops, shakes or flashes. The phone's Reduce motion setting turns motion off.
Plain screens. The task and nothing competing with it. Real, familiar pictures.
Warm colors, and a dimmer, warmer evening look after 6 PM.
No background music. One clear voice and at most one soft sound per action.
Gentle mistakes. No buzzer and no red X. A wrong letter settles back, and a still hint shows after a pause.
Praise that names what the child did, like "You spelled cat!". No stars, coins, streaks, timers or "one more" prompts in games for little kids.
A natural stopping point. Short rounds that end on "All done". Nothing starts by itself.
A line for the grown-up on the "All done" screen, to talk about it together away from the screen.
Big targets for small fingers, and tap and drag both work.
A Child lock in every game.
Helps for every child, in every game: Easier reading for dyslexia, Read it to me, bigger buttons, more time, less motion, quiet sounds, clearer contrast and captions. How to turn them on.
A clear learning goal that builds slowly: easy first, new ideas one at a time.

Privacy

There is no sign-in and no profile. Nothing your child types, says or does in a game is recorded. The games never use the camera or location, and never the microphone during play. Settings, like the Child lock and the voice, are kept only on your device. We count anonymous page visits with Google Analytics: which pages are opened, the kind of device, and a rough region that Google works out. Ads signals are turned off, and no name, nothing your child types or says, and no other personal information is sent. There are no other tracking scripts.

The voice, and recording your own

The games can talk in your voice. Record your own voice: the letter names, the letter sounds, the cheers and "All done!", which takes a few minutes. Anything you haven't recorded is said by Heart or Bella.

Out of the box, every game talks in your phone's own voice. In each game's "For grown-ups" box you can pick another: Heart (warm and calm) or Bella (a little brighter), both recorded with a free, open-source voice model, or up to three family voices that grown-ups record themselves (Mom, Dad, Grandma and so on). You tick three boxes first (that you are the child's parent or guardian and 18 or older, that it is your own voice, and that the recordings stay on the phone). Your recordings stay on that phone only and are never sent anywhere, and Delete all recordings removes them.

Watch plays videos in YouTube's own player, in its privacy mode. YouTube's own rules apply inside that player.

Check your child's reading level

The Reading Level Check is a short check you do together, about 5 to 10 minutes: your child reads letters and words out loud, and you tap Got it or Not yet. It ends with the reading skills your child has, the grade level they line up with in the Common Core reading standards and the Dolch sight word lists, and what to practice next. Results stay on your device, with the date, so you can check again every few months and see the growth.

It is a quick check, not a diagnosis or a standardized test, and it never compares your child with other children. If you are worried about your child's reading, talk with their teacher or pediatrician.

Ages 7 to 11

Games for big kids are real arcade games that teach, so they may keep score and move faster, but never with streaks, loot boxes or pay-to-win. The first is Tell the Time, telling time for ages 7 to 9; more are on the way.

Do you like games too?

We thought so. Grown-ups get their own arcade: Party Games Arcade has party games you play together on your phones, with a TV if you have one. Quick laughs for game night, nothing to download.

Both arcades were selected to provide games for RightPlace, the app for finding the right restaurant or bar tonight, so families have something good to play at the table. We're proud of that.

Questions parents ask

Why calm games?

Research on young children and screens finds that fast, busy apps built to keep children playing make it harder to stop and to learn. Calm, purposeful play, with a grown-up nearby, helps. Every game here is built to that.

Can my child leave the game by accident?

Turn on the Child lock at the top right of any game. The ways out hide and the back button stays in the game. To unlock, a grown-up holds the lock for 3 seconds and answers a sum.

Are there ads?

The free arcade is paid for by one labeled ad card on the arcade home page. Ads are never personalized, never inside a game, and hidden while the Child lock is on.