Special Interest
StrategyForge
Learn the strategy ideas that carry across chess, Connect 4, Go, checkers, backgammon and mancala: find the strongest move on real positions, plan a Capture Cascade, and test each idea in a game you have not seen it in. For 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. On-device AI personalizes the mentor's responses to your kid's progress — never connecting to a server, never collecting data.
Mentored by Gambit
#FFA726 StrategyForge is a strategy games academy where you learn to play chess, Go, checkers, backgammon, mancala, and Connect 4 with the help of an AI coach. Solve puzzles, take lessons, and discover that the thinking skills you learn in one game help you in all the others -- and in real life too!
Characters who teach
Meet the cast
StrategyForge's characters each teach one strategy skill that works in many board games. Foresee plans a few moves ahead, Trade weighs what pieces are really worth, Read recognizes patterns, Bide knows waiting can be a move, and Concede learns from every loss and win. Lodge, Pincer, Thwart, Wedge, and Goad cover strong outposts, forks, stopping the opponent's plan, breaking through, and keeping the initiative. Gambit is the mentor who guides them.
Foresee
Forward planning + multi-move look-ahead — three moves ahead is enough; look further only when the position asks
Read chapter →
Trade
Piece-value reasoning + exchange evaluation — equal value isn't equal worth; position-value matters more than piece-value
Read chapter →
Read
Pattern recognition + position-reading — patterns repeat; the shape tells you the move
Read chapter →
Bide
Patience + tempo discipline — slow is a move too; sometimes the best move is to wait
Read chapter →
Concede
Graceful loss + post-game analysis — losing is a teacher; winning is too; I write down both
Read chapter →
Lodge
The outpost — a piece that can't be chased away is worth two that can
Read chapter →
Pincer
The fork — one move that asks two questions; they can only answer one
Read chapter →
Thwart
Prophylaxis — before you move, ask what THEY want, then quietly take it away
Read chapter →
Wedge
The breakthrough — when the door is jammed shut, break the wall, not the pieces
Read chapter →
Goad
Initiative + tempo — keep them answering you, and they never get a move of their own
Read chapter →
Browse all chapters → · What's distributed-narrative methodology? →
What's inside
Game Lessons
Each game has step-by-step lessons that teach you the rules, basic strategies, and advanced tactics. Your AI coach explains every move and why it matters.
Puzzle Challenges
Test your thinking with puzzles for each game. Find the best move, plan ahead, and solve tricky positions. Puzzles get harder as you improve.
Practice Matches
Play against the AI at different difficulty levels. Start easy and work your way up. The AI coach gives you hints and explains what went wrong after each game.
Strategy Transfer
Discover how the strategies you learn in one game work in others. Planning ahead in chess helps you in Go. Controlling the board in checkers helps you in Connec
Mentored by Gambit — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How StrategyForge 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
StrategyForge 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
StrategyForge 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
