Academics
ProvenanceQuest
Who owns the past? For ages 15–18: trace a museum object’s chain of custody through real documents — a repatriation claim, a colonial-era return request, an object with a missing decade — and decide what a museum should do. Arguments on every side; you weigh the evidence. 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.
#4338ca Characters who teach
Meet the cast
ProvenanceQuest is an older-teen app, so its cast are realistic text case personas — museum-side professionals, NO illustrations. Each embodies one provenance-reasoning move; a claimant community's position is quoted as it is publicly stated, never role-played.
Selam
Chain of custody — an object’s recorded ownership history is evidence you can read, and a gap is part of the evidence
Diego
Due diligence — establish lawful export from the country of origin BEFORE an object enters the collection (UNESCO 1970 / ICOM)
Yusra
The gap in the record — a missing decade over a period of upheaval is a question to answer, not a footnote to hide
Rafael
Restitution vs stewardship — return, long-term loan, or retain, and above all: whose choice is it (NAGPRA / negotiated return)?
Iris
Red flags — a low price, a rushed timeline, and a thin paper trail after a theft are a warning, not an opportunity
What's inside
Learning goal
Who owns the past? For ages 15–18: trace a museum object’s chain of custody through real documents — a repatriation claim, a colonial-era return request, an object with a missing decade — and decide what a museum should do. Arguments on every side; you weigh the evidence. On-device; nothing leaves your device.
Mentored by Selam — no data leaves the device.
How ProvenanceQuest 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