A dinosaur game, dreamed up by my son
Dino Battle started when my seven-year-old son saw me working on an interactive tool for some research I was doing into knots.
He asked if we could make a game. A dinosaur battle game.
I told him we could, but first he'd have to explain exactly how he wanted it to work.
And he did.
He started dictating an entire game specification. I asked questions, he made decisions, and together we started turning his imagination into something we could actually play.
It's been a lot of fun working on it together. But somewhere along the way, I had an idea of my own.
What if he actually wanted to practice math?
Getting my son to do his math lessons can be an incredible struggle. We use Beast Academy, which I think is excellent, but convincing a seven-year-old to sit down and practice is another matter.
I started wondering if we could turn that around.
What if we made a game he'd be begging to play, where math was simply part of the adventure?
And what if the game could grow with him, starting with basic arithmetic and eventually taking him all the way into advanced mathematics?
He already had plenty of ideas about dinosaurs, hatching eggs, growing stronger, and battling. We started finding ways to weave math into the gameplay.
I didn't want to make homework with dinosaurs pasted on top. I wanted to make a fun game he'd choose to play, even if it meant doing a bunch of math along the way.
There's been another unexpected benefit to making it together. He's getting to see what it takes to turn an idea into something real. He has to explain what he wants, think through how things should work, make decisions, and figure out what to change when something doesn't turn out quite right.
It's been an amazing experience for both of us.
The moment I knew we were onto something
The other night, my son was helping me test the latest version.
The next morning, when I dropped him off at school, I told him I'd have some new features ready for him to try when he got home.
Normally, when my wife brings him home from school, getting him out of the car and into the house takes a little encouragement.
But that afternoon, as soon as they got home, he jumped out, ran inside, and asked if he could keep testing.
He played almost nonstop. Eventually, we had to tear him away.
And the whole time, he was doing math!
This is the same kid I sometimes have to practically beg to do his math lessons. Now he was begging me to let him keep playing.
Seeing that happen was incredibly rewarding. And it made me think that maybe other kids would enjoy this too.
And it wasn't just that afternoon. The next day, he wanted to play again, even more than he wanted to watch TV. At one point I looked over and saw him casually answering decimal addition questions. He's in second grade, and we'd never sat down to work on decimals together.
Made for our family. Shared with yours.
Dino Battle is still a work in progress. We're constantly trying things out, improving the gameplay, and coming up with new ideas. My son has no shortage of those.
My wife started feeling a little left out of all the fun, so she decided she wanted in too. She volunteered to handle the marketing, and has already started making things to help us share the game.
Dino Battle has become a whole family project.
It's already brought us a lot of joy, and we'd love to share it with other families.
The first island is free, so anyone can hatch a dinosaur and give the game a try.
For families who enjoy it and want to keep exploring, Premium subscriptions unlock more islands and adventures. They also help make it possible for us to keep working on the game and creating more of the kind of content we care about.
I'd love to see more games made this way. Thoughtful, handcrafted experiences that are fun in their own right, and maybe help kids discover a few things along the way.
Mostly, though, I'm just happy that a little idea my son had has turned into something we can enjoy together.
I hope your family enjoys it as much as we have.
Jared
Dad and Dino Battle co-creator