Separate play from content
Editors can improve the language material without rewriting each game, while game logic remains testable.
03Product engineering · editorial tooling · quality
Kids Word Games
The problem
Build a broad literacy game collection that feels playful to a child while remaining predictable, correct and maintainable behind the scenes.
My role
Product designer, developer, content-system designer and test author.
Constraints
- 01Twenty-two engineered game systems, with eighteen currently surfaced in the daily hub
- 02Child-friendly interaction without patronising the player
- 03Large editorial datasets where small errors become visible quickly
- 04Deterministic behaviour needed for reliable testing
What I built
- Twenty-two connected word, numeracy, music, coding and reasoning game systems
- Editorial tools for preparing and checking game content
- Deterministic validation for words, rounds and outcomes
- Shared interaction patterns and accessible feedback
- A test suite covering core rules and edge cases
Key decisionsHow the work moved
Remove accidental difficulty
The challenge should come from language and decisions—not unclear controls or inconsistent rules.
Test the boring edges
Deterministic fixtures make it possible to verify thousands of cases that a person should not have to check by hand.
Measurable proof
engineered game systems
currently surfaced in the daily hub
automated tests; one stale copy assertion currently failing
shared editorial system
Artefact gallerySanitised & provenance checked
The daily game hub: eighteen distinct play loops sharing one calm product language.
Kids Word Games application repository; privacy-safe local capture · public
Mapmakers turns spatial constraints into a tactile, child-readable deduction game.
Kids Word Games application repository; privacy-safe local capture · public
Code Critters teaches sequencing through direct manipulation and immediate visual feedback.
Kids Word Games application repository · publicWhat the work taught
01Child-facing simplicity usually requires adult-level rigour behind it.
02A content tool is part of the product, even when the player never sees it.
03Tests create room to experiment because they make unintended change visible.