Academics
HollowPals
Hide your eight animals and your Moonstone, then go looking for theirs. You can't see their pieces until two meet, so you work out what each one might be from how it moves: bigger tags smaller, Puck the mouse can tickle Ursa the bear home, and only Burdock the badger clears a bramble. Play the cast, play together, pass the device, or play in referee mode where every piece stays hidden. No dice, no timer, no accounts. Ages 6-8.
Built for sittings of about 15 minutes on the screen. That is our design budget, not a measurement.
#2F6B57 Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
In the Hollowmere Valley two villages hide a Moonstone each. Every animal's act IS one rule of the game: Ursa is biggest, Lupa is next, Puck the smallest can tickle Ursa home if he reaches her first, Burdock alone clears a bramble, the hares Skipwell and Hopwell run far in straight lines (which gives them away), and Briar the bramble never moves. Mosswick the owl asks what a piece that never moved might be.
Mosswick
(Mentor, a quiet owl) - asks which of their pieces has not moved yet, and what it could be
Ursa
A big bear - the strongest; she tags anyone home except Puck, if he reaches her first
Lupa
A wolf - next biggest; only Ursa can tag her home
Puck
A tiny mouse - the smallest, but he tickles Ursa home when HE strikes first
Burdock
A badger - the only one who can clear a bramble
Skipwell
A hare - runs many squares in a straight line, so moving far gives him away
Hopwell
A hare - looks first and runs fast; cheap to send, often goes home
Briar
A bramble - never moves; anyone who bumps her goes home, except Burdock
What's inside
Learning goal
Hide your eight animals and your Moonstone, then go looking for theirs. You can't see their pieces until two meet, so you work out what each one might be from how it moves: bigger tags smaller, Puck the mouse can tickle Ursa the bear home, and only Burdock the badger clears a bramble. Play the cast, play together, pass the device, or play in referee mode where every piece stays hidden. No dice, no timer, no accounts. Ages 6-8.
Question kits
16 curriculum-aligned kits × 25 questions = 400 questions per app, mapped to recognized standards.
On-device AI mentor
FoundationModels-powered hints, feedback, and adaptive difficulty — all running locally.
Mentored by Mosswick — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How HollowPals handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ No ads, no in-app purchases — you pay once
- ✅ No personal information collected from children — in line with COPPA (updated by the 2026 FTC amendments)
- ✅ Parental controls + session limits + content filters built in
HollowPals runs on ForgeKit — the open-source Swift Package Manager framework that powers every Spark & Anvil app. ForgeKit ensures consistent accessibility, COPPA compliance, and design language across the portfolio, so your kid's progress and preferences feel coherent across every app they touch.
Coming to the App Store
HollowPals is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.
Email me at launch