STEM
ShogiDojo
A shogi (Japanese chess) study hall for ages 15–18: play the full 9×9 game — with the DROP (a captured piece switches sides and re-enters from your hand) and promotion — against a graded study bot or a friend, then review positions while the engine ranks every legal reply. Reason through real decisions with a coach that explains in words. Pieces show as English letters. 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.
#3F4D6B Characters who teach
Meet the cast
ShogiDojo's characters are realistic people, not mascots, and each one stands for one shogi idea. Renji drops captured pieces back onto the board, Aiko decides when to promote, Tomo knows the drop rules, Hana builds a castle around the king, and Goro gives up material to open an attack. Mei, Kenta, Suzu, and Daichi cover the gold and silver generals, the lance and knight, the rook and bishop, and the repetition draw. Sensei Okuda sets each position and asks for the strongest move and why.
Renji
The drop — a captured piece enters your hand and can be redeployed onto the board
Aiko
Promotion — in the far three ranks a piece may promote; a choice, not a reflex
Tomo
The drop rules — no doubled pawns on a file (nifu); no pawn-drop checkmate (uchifuzume)
Hana
The castle — shelter the king in a wall of generals before attacking
Goro
Sacrifice for tempo — give material to open the king; it returns to your hand
Mei
The generals — gold and silver, the shields whose steps guard the king
Kenta
The lance & knight — one-way pieces that must promote when they run out of board
Suzu
The rook & bishop — the big rangers that become dragon and horse when promoted
Daichi
Sennichite — a fourfold repetition draws; break it or the game resets
Sensei Okuda
sets a position and asks what the strongest move is, and why
What's inside
Learning goal
A shogi (Japanese chess) study hall for ages 15–18: play the full 9×9 game — with the DROP (a captured piece switches sides and re-enters from your hand) and promotion — against a graded study bot or a friend, then review positions while the engine ranks every legal reply. Reason through real decisions with a coach that explains in words. Pieces show as English letters. On-device; nothing leaves your device.
Mentored by Sensei Okuda — no data leaves the device.
How ShogiDojo 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
ShogiDojo 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
ShogiDojo 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