About Numberlings

Why it exists

Most math apps for young children are built to maximise the time a child spends in them. Streaks that break, timers that pressure, lives that run out, ads between levels, and a "buy now" button a six-year-old can reach.

Numberlings was built the other way round. A creature evolves only when the skill behind it is genuinely mastered, so progress can't be rushed or bought. Wrong answers bring a hint rather than a game-over. And after the third level of a session the island goes to sunset and the game suggests stopping — "Keep playing" stays there, the same size, with no guilt attached.

What the app teaches

For ages 6–8 (US grades 1–2): addition and subtraction within 20, the ×2 and ×5 times tables, number patterns, comparing quantities, and number recognition to 20. No reading is required to play, which works for pre-readers and for children learning English.

The promises, in plain words

• No ads. Not now, not later, not even for other apps of ours.
• No data collection. The App Store privacy label reads "Data Not Collected". There are no third-party SDKs of any kind — no analytics, advertising or crash reporting — and the app makes no network calls of its own. The only network access in the binary is Apple's own StoreKit, for the optional subscription.
• No accounts and no sign-in. The game works offline.
• No chat, no user content, no links out anywhere a child can reach.
• Everything a child plays is free. The whole first island (18 levels), all eight creature species and the island building, with no time limit. The optional World Pass subscription unlocks a parent dashboard and sits behind a parent gate — children never see a price.

Honest limitations

Numberlings is a supplement, not a curriculum, and not a diagnostic or therapeutic tool. It ships one island of content today; there is no promised release schedule for more. It is available on iOS only (iPhone and iPad, iOS 15 or later), in English. If any of that changes, this page will say so.