STEM
MakerForge
Design, prototype, and virtually fabricate objects using 3D printing simulation, Arduino circuit building, and materials science — mastering the full engineering design process through constrained challenges.
▶ Play it nowBuilt for sittings of about 20 minutes on the screen. That is our design budget, not a measurement.
Meet your mentor
Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, asks, and patiently scaffolds learning. On-device AI personalizes the mentor's responses to your kid's progress — never connecting to a server, never collecting data.
Mentored by Spool
#29B6F6 MakerForge is a digital maker workshop where you design, build, and test real-world objects! Simulate 3D printing, wire up Arduino circuits, and experiment with different materials. You will learn the complete engineering design process -- from idea to finished product -- through hands-on challenges.
Characters who teach
Meet the cast
MakerForge's animal makers each teach one step of designing and building something real. Sketch brainstorms wild ideas, Spec picks materials and limits, Mill keeps everyone safe around tools, Try treats a first failure as useful information, and Log keeps the build notebook. Behalf, Caliper, Glean, Nail, and Regard cover designing for a real person, measuring carefully, reusing scraps, defining the real problem, and watching how people use what you made. Spool is the mentor who introduces them.
Sketch
Ideation + concept development — the wild-thinking squirrel who treats divergent brainstorming as judgment-free play ('many before few; wild before tame; crooked sketches are also sketches')
Read chapter →
Spec
Material + constraint commitment — the measured owl who treats spec-commitment as the moment imagination meets physics ('constraints are the shape of the possible')
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Mill
Fabrication + build — the careful beaver who keeps everyone safe around tools ('tool first checked, adult first told — then we build')
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Try
Prototyping + iteration — the patient salamander who treats first failure as expected design-process behavior ('first try fails, second try tells, third try shapes the design')
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Log
Documentation + reflection — the wise old turtle who treats the notebook as the actual deliverable ('make it, mark it, share it — the notebook is the project')
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Behalf
Empathize — human-centered-design posture (start with the person's real need, not your idea; who is this for?)
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Caliper
Precision — measure-twice-cut-once posture (a small error at the start grows into a big one; check before you commit)
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Glean
Salvage & reuse — treasure-in-the-scrap posture (the best material is often the one you already have; see what a thing could become)
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Nail
Define — frame-the-real-problem posture (a good question is half the solution; solve the actual problem, not the first one you notice)
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Regard
Test — watch-real-users posture (what someone DOES with your thing is the truth; set it in their hands and observe, don't just ask)
Read chapter →
Browse all chapters → · What's distributed-narrative methodology? →
What's inside
3D Print Simulator
Design objects layer by layer and watch them come to life in a virtual 3D printer. Choose your material, set the print settings, and see how your design turns o
Circuit Builder
Drag and drop wires, LEDs, sensors, and other electronic components onto a virtual breadboard. Connect them to make circuits that light up, buzz, or respond to
Materials Testing Lab
Experiment with different materials to learn their properties. Which is strongest? Which conducts electricity? Which is best for your project? Run tests and rec
Design Challenges
Tackle engineering challenges that have real constraints -- a budget limit, a size requirement, or a specific material. Design, build, test, and improve. That i
Mentored by Spool — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How MakerForge 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
MakerForge 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
MakerForge 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
