Academics
ShadeQuest
Annoyed, frustrated or furious? Nervous, eager or dreading? Shades, not scores. A scene ends mid-feeling - you pick the word that FITS from three close neighbours (never a wall of a hundred), or say 'two' when a blend is the honest answer. Then Ochre the octopus shows what in the scene points to THIS shade, and how the shade changes what you would do next. The Fit-meter rewards the apt word - and flatly refuses to count how many words you know. Built for exactly the age when telling feelings apart gets hardest. Ages 9-14.
▶ 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.
#C26A3D Characters who teach
Meet the cast
ShadeQuest is the 9-14 granularity workout - telling close feelings apart and choosing the word that FITS. Ochre the octopus is the hero: it can turn any shade but only one at a time, and it knows which shade the scene calls for - picking the apt shade is Ochre. The companions each embody one part of the science: what in the scene points to a shade, how near neighbours sit, when two shades are the honest answer, and why the RIGHT word beats the MOST words. Nothing a learner feels is ever saved (map, not log), and the Fit-meter never counts vocabulary.
Ochre
The apt shade - an octopus that turns one shade at a time and reads which shade the scene calls for; choosing the word that fits (frustrated, not furious; wistful, not gloomy) is Ochre.
Sepia
The distinguisher - an ink that reveals what in a scene points to a shade: a blocked goal (frustrated) versus a broken rule (furious), high energy versus low, how long it has lasted. Sepia is Ochre's reasoning made visible.
Sienna
The near neighbour - the shade just one step off; embodies that a family's words sit CLOSE together on the map (shades, not opposites), so the workout is telling near things apart, not sorting far ones.
Verdigris
The both-and - a colour that reads green AND blue at once; embodies the honest 'two' answer, when two feelings are true at the same time (eager and nervous; glad and sad) - a sign of a big heart, not confusion.
Anemone
Fit over count - a reef anemone that welcomes the ONE creature that fits it, never the most; embodies the rule that the Fit-meter rewards the apt word and never counts how many words you know (Vine 2020).
What's inside
Learning goal
Annoyed, frustrated or furious? Nervous, eager or dreading? Shades, not scores. A scene ends mid-feeling - you pick the word that FITS from three close neighbours (never a wall of a hundred), or say 'two' when a blend is the honest answer. Then Ochre the octopus shows what in the scene points to THIS shade, and how the shade changes what you would do next. The Fit-meter rewards the apt word - and flatly refuses to count how many words you know. Built for exactly the age when telling feelings apart gets hardest. Ages 9-14.
How ShadeQuest 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