Academics
SlatePals
Smudge is learning to add and take away in columns, and writes in wobbly chalk. One line of Smudge's working goes wrong. Find the line, pick the fix, and tell Smudge the rule. Then work your own sum: the margin only ever says "follows" or "doesn't follow yet". No answers given, nothing leaves your device.
▶ Play it nowBuilt for sittings of about 15 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.
Mentored by Smudge
#2f5d62 Characters who teach
Meet the cast
SlatePals's cast each carry one rule of column sums, and the child teaches them to Smudge. Smudge writes in wobbly chalk and is still learning; Tenby carries the ten next door; Lendle lends a ten and crosses out; Slotty keeps every digit in its own place.
Smudge
works sums line by line and makes the mistakes real learners make; learns each rule when you tell it
Tenby
An owl who carries - when a column makes ten or more, Tenby carries the ten to the next column
Lendle
A squirrel who lends - when the top digit is too small, Lendle lends a ten and crosses out so the next column has one less
Slotty
A mole with a burrow for every digit - ones live under ones and tens under tens, so three tens and four ones make thirty-four
What's inside
Learning goal
Smudge is learning to add and take away in columns, and writes in wobbly chalk. One line of Smudge's working goes wrong. Find the line, pick the fix, and tell Smudge the rule. Then work your own sum: the margin only ever says "follows" or "doesn't follow yet". No answers given, nothing leaves your device.
Mentored by Smudge — no data leaves the device.
How SlatePals 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