Built by a parent. For every child.

Why I built MathCraft

I’m Mike — a software developer and father, based in Barcelona. My son Martin was nine years old and perfectly bright, but he’d switch off the moment maths homework appeared. I tried the apps. Most of them were either thinly disguised worksheets or had such aggressive monetisation that I didn’t trust them near my child.

So I built what I wanted to exist: an app where the maths is genuinely hidden inside a game worth playing. Martin raises a companion, builds an island, battles goblins, and negotiates trades — and every interaction is powered by real curriculum maths. He has no idea he’s doing 30 minutes of structured practice. I do, because I can see everything in the parent dashboard.

MathCraft is free because I built it for my kid first. There are no subscriptions, no premium tiers, no ads. Every child gets the same full access — the AI wizard tutor, the adaptive engine, all 85+ topics from Year 1 to Year 9.

Stealth learning, not stealth worksheets

Most “educational games” are worksheets with a cartoon bolted on. MathCraft is different. The game mechanics were scored 7.35/10 by a panel of 10 professional game designers — they said the resource economy, companion evolution, and island building would hold up even without the maths.

But the maths is there. Every question uses our Deep Mastery approach:

• Inverse problems: If 3 × 7 = 21, what’s 21 ÷ 7? Children who only practise forwards never build flexible understanding.
• Multi-step challenges: Real-world problems that require two or three operations, not isolated drills.
• Structured thinking: Questions are scaffolded so children learn to break problems into steps — the same techniques used in high-performing maths education worldwide.

The curriculum is aligned to White Rose Maths, the framework used by the majority of UK primary and secondary schools. The adaptive engine adjusts difficulty in real time, using spaced repetition to revisit topics at optimal intervals.

Shaped by teachers, designers, and families

MathCraft wasn’t built in isolation. Every major decision has been tested with real people:

• Teacher panel: 10 UK teachers evaluated curriculum accuracy, pedagogical soundness, and year-level appropriateness. Average score: 7.3/10.
• Game designers: 10 professional game designers rated engagement, reward loops, and replay value. Average score: 7.35/10.
• Parent focus groups: 20 parents tested the app with their children and gave feedback on trust, transparency, and screen-time controls. Trust score: 7.65/10. 8 out of 10 said they’d pay for the app (though it’s free).

Every piece of feedback — positive and critical — has shaped the app you see today. The teacher panel flagged gaps in our Year 7–9 content; we expanded it. Parents asked for harder time limits; we built them. Game designers said the companion evolution needed more stages; we added them.

Questions, suggestions, or just want to say hello?

I read every email personally. Whether you’re a parent with a question, a teacher who wants to evaluate MathCraft for your class, or someone who spotted a bug — I’d love to hear from you.