Academics
CognateForge
A comparative-linguistics word game for ages 15–18: nine words from seven languages hide three families of cousins that descend from one ancient root (like NIGHT · NOCHE · NUIT). Trace the root, meet the false friends. The twist: you can only group a word once you've shown you know what it means (the Meaning Rule). On-device; nothing leaves your device.
▶ Play it nowBuilt for sittings of about 25 minutes on the screen. That is our design budget, not a measurement.
#9F1239 Characters who teach
Meet the cast
CognateForge's cast are guides for ages 15–18 (no illustrated storybook): Radix asks what root three words share, Grimma shows how the sounds shifted, Sibla warns you off the false friends, and Cognata builds the family.
Radix
the shared root — words descend from one ancestor; find it
Grimma
The sound-shift — a regular law (p→f, k→h) turns one root into cousins
Sibla
The false friend — a look-alike that is NOT related; resemblance is not relation
Cognata
The family — group the cousins, and prove you know each meaning
What's inside
Learning goal
A comparative-linguistics word game for ages 15–18: nine words from seven languages hide three families of cousins that descend from one ancient root (like NIGHT · NOCHE · NUIT). Trace the root, meet the false friends. The twist: you can only group a word once you've shown you know what it means (the Meaning Rule). On-device; nothing leaves your device.
Mentored by Radix — no data leaves the device.
How CognateForge handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ Free — no ads, no in-app purchases
- ✅ No personal information collected from children — in line with COPPA (updated by the 2026 FTC amendments)
- ✅ No chat with strangers — play-together rooms use a short code and preset emotes, never typed messages
For you, the grown-up
Spark & Whetstone, our free site for grown-ups, tells what CognateForge teaches in a short course of its own.