Academics
PastForge
History as a deck of causes. Why did books suddenly get cheap after 1450? Why did wages rise after the plague? Build the chain of causes — but a cause only links when an Evidence card supports it. Tempting myths have no evidence, so they stay on the table. Then answer Hindsight Hal, who thinks it was all obvious. Ages 9–14.
Built 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, praises, 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 Provena
#92400E Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
The historian's moves, as characters. Provena asks who made a source and when; Checkwell finds a second source that agrees; Wideview looks at what else was going on; and Hindsight Hal insists it was all obvious - so you answer him.
Provena
(Mentor) - Sourcing: who made this, and when?
Checkwell
Corroboration: does another source agree?
Wideview
Context: what else was happening at the time?
Hindsight Hal
Thinks everything was obvious - the habit a historian argues against
What's inside
Learning goal
History as a deck of causes. Why did books suddenly get cheap after 1450? Why did wages rise after the plague? Build the chain of causes — but a cause only links when an Evidence card supports it. Tempting myths have no evidence, so they stay on the table. Then answer Hindsight Hal, who thinks it was all obvious. Ages 9–14.
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 Provena — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How PastForge 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
PastForge 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
PastForge 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