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Shade Families

Feeling words come in families of close neighbours. They sit near each other — but each one means something a little different, and that difference changes what you’d do. Here are the families ShadeQuest trains on.

the anger family

  • Annoyed a small buzz of bother that passes quickly
  • Frustrated a goal you keep reaching for keeps getting blocked
  • Furious a rule you care about feels broken on purpose

the sadness family

  • Wistful a soft, fond missing of something good that’s gone
  • Gloomy heavy and grey, often with no single cause
  • Disappointed a specific hope that didn’t happen

the good-surprise family

  • Relieved a bad thing you feared did NOT happen
  • Content quietly satisfied, for no big reason
  • Proud you did something hard, well

the good-effort family

  • Proud you did something hard, well, through your own effort
  • Relieved a fear (of messing up) that lifted
  • Cheerful light and bright, up for anything

the before-a-big-thing family

  • Eager you can’t wait — pulled TOWARD the thing
  • Nervous stirred-up and unsure, could go either way
  • Dreading you expect it to go BADLY

💠 In this family, two shades at once is often the honest answer.

the both-at-once family

  • Glad warmly pleased — here, FOR your friend
  • Sad a real loss — here, that it wasn’t you
  • Jealous wanting what someone else has

💠 In this family, two shades at once is often the honest answer.

🌈 Why shades, not scores

Around ages 12–15, telling near feelings apart actually gets harder for a while before it gets easier — so ShadeQuest is a workout for exactly that age. But the goal is never a big vocabulary for its own sake. It’s the apt word — the one that fits — because a precise word points to a precise next move. That’s why the Fit-meter rewards the shade that fits and never counts how many words you know.