Number Garden

Number Garden is a counting and number game for children from four to ten, set in a sunny cartoon garden. Every number has a little face, and every ladybird, bee or flower you tap gets a numbered badge, so small fingers can count along. A friendly snail acts out each task instead of explaining it: it looks over the things to count with its eye-stalks, then points to where the answer goes. The first time a new kind of task turns up, an animated hand shows how it works, so there is nothing to read at all.

There are three tiers. At 4+ children count creatures and tap the right number, plant one seed per tap until the flowers bloom for the number on the sign, and match a number to dice, dots or fingers, first from one to five and then up to ten. At 6+ the numbers go to twenty: drag three number stones onto the garden path from small to large, and work out one more or one less when an apple drops into the basket or a bird flies off with one. At 8+ the garden goes to a hundred, with pea pods of ten and single peas for tens and ones, a hundred square with a ladybird hiding one number, and skip counting by twos, fives and tens with a hopping bee.

Nothing can be lost. A wrong answer just wobbles and plays a soft sound, and after a second try the right answer lights up and the hand points to it. A round is ten quick exercises; each answer that is right first time earns a star, and every round ends with confetti, a little fanfare and a new garden creature for the sticker book, plus a golden Daily sticker for the first round of the day. A learned meter grows for each tier, the music box is gentle, and the mute button remembers your choice, so it is a relaxed little brain workout with no clock and no game over. Progress is saved on your own device.