About Small Universe

Teaching English through play, not homework.

        Small Universe is a free English learning game for kids, adult beginners, and families. Learners guide an alien companion through seven planets and pick up vocabulary in 17 different mini-games instead of flashcards or word lists.
      

Why we built this

Most language apps for kids are flashcard drills with cartoon paint on top. We wanted a game where kids don't realize they're learning until they already have.

Small Universe started because my own kids hated every English app I tried. So I built one that actually uses the research instead of just citing it on a landing page.

The research behind it

The game mechanics come from research on language acquisition and memory, and from child psychology:

Krashen

Comprehensible Input: learning from context instead of translation

Ebbinghaus

Spaced repetition: reviews timed at the intervals that suit long-term memory

Dweck

Growth mindset: a wrong answer doesn't end the game, and players aged 3 to 5 never lose a heart

Vygotsky

Zone of Proximal Development: support that fades as the learner gets more capable

Bjork

Desirable difficulties: mixing topics in practice so words are retained longer

Nation

Four Strands: the 17 game types cover all four learning strands

By the numbers

102

Lessons

Game Types

1,000+

Words

Planets

Privacy

We designed Small Universe with COPPA in mind. You can play as a guest with no account, and progress stays on the device unless a parent signs in to back it up and sync it. For that, we store the parent's email and display name. See our privacy policy for details.

Get in touch

Reach us at hello@smalluni.com or visit our contact page.