Mobile & Web Development
A little world to learn, play and discover — a 3D game for ages 3–5, built so a child's first screen is one designed for them.
3–5
Ages
29
Skills
ES + EN
Languages
Overview
Cometa started at home: when my kids reach the age of using a screen, I want it to be a place designed for them — calm, kind and genuinely useful — not autoplay videos or games made for older children. It's a universe of tiny 3D planets where preschoolers explore with Cometa, a friendly comet, and her friend Lumi. Kids choose what to do: count, add, read, think, explore or play a mini-game. Behind the play, a learning engine decides what to invite next, every mistake opens a ladder of help instead of a 'wrong' screen, and parents get a journal of what their child can really do.
Scope of work
Product & learning design from research
Learning engine: mastery, spaced review, Director
9 reusable mechanics + 3 action mini-games
3D world with 56 low-poly models built in code
Collectible reading cards & parents' journal
Brand, characters, verified color palette and music
Objective
Guiding principle“Learning is the purpose; play is the medium.”
Pedagogical foundations
Children learn across free play, guided play and games with rules. Cometa mixes all three: free exploring, invitations born from play, and short action games — so learning never feels like a toll before the fun.
Zosh et al., 2018 · Frontiers in Psychology
What keeps kids coming back isn't points but choosing for themselves, feeling capable and caring about the characters. The child picks what to do, every mission ends well, and Cometa and Lumi are there to talk to.
Ryan, Rigby & Przybylski, 2006 · Motivation and Emotion
The child keeps the freedom to explore, while the world is arranged so every mission has an intentional learning goal. Guided play beat direct instruction on early math and shape knowledge in a 2022 meta-analysis.
Skene et al., 2022 · Child Development
Every activity has to be active, engaged, meaningful and socially interactive — the bar for calling an app educational, not just digital.
Hirsh-Pasek et al., 2015 · Psychological Science in the Public Interest
Children join real pieces first, see them as dots, and only then as 3 + 2 = 5. The symbol arrives after the experience, following research-based learning trajectories for number sense.
Clements & Sarama · Learning and Teaching Early Math: The Learning Trajectories Approach
Spanish is a transparent language: letters map consistently to sounds and syllables are easy to hear, so children can decode early with small units. Reading grows from listening, to syllables, to letters and sounds — not from an English phonics template.
Ziegler & Goswami, 2005 · Psychological Bulletin (psycholinguistic grain size theory)
A skill counts as learned only when the child succeeds without help, in different contexts, on different days. A mistake triggers a ladder of help — retry, hint, partial model, demo, solve together — never a “wrong” screen.
Wood, Bruner & Ross, 1976 · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · Vlach & Sandhofer, 2012
Kindergartners in a heavily decorated classroom spent more time off task and learned less. Cometa keeps the world calm, uses color as information and allows one focus per screen.
Fisher, Godwin & Seltman, 2014 · Psychological Science
Numbers
Reading
01 · The challenge
Most apps for young children are either worksheets in disguise or games so loud that the learning gets lost. Cometa had to be fun in the first ten seconds, pedagogically sound, and safe by design.
02 · The solution
A learning engine in pure TypeScript — skill graph, mastery, spaced review and a 'Director' that picks the next invitation — drives nine reusable mechanics (count, compare, combine, sort, pattern, follow instructions, find the sound, build the word). The same question can be answered by tapping a card, racing a dinosaur through the right portal or throwing a ball into the right basket. Everything runs as an installable, offline web app: 56 low-poly models built in code, music synthesized on the device that lowers itself under voices, and a separate, gated journal for parents.
03 · Results
Screens
Next project
