Ddolbeng: a playground for little ones

Handing a tablet to a little one can come with a small knot in your stomach. Will an ad pop up? Will a stray tap open a purchase screen? Will the app nag them to come back tomorrow?

That’s the worry we had in mind when we made Ddolbeng, a playground for the littlest players. Let’s take a walk around the village together. 🏡

What is Ddolbeng?

Ddolbeng is a village of games for little ones, made by CodingTeading. The sign at the top reads “Where Ddolbeng and friends live,” and that’s exactly what it is: Ddolbeng and friends live here, and every building holds something to play.

It all opens straight in the browser, with nothing to install and no sign-up.

CodingTeading appDdolbengPlay for little onesOpen →

A village instead of a menu

The first thing you see isn’t a list of words. It’s a picture of a village. Each building wears a little picture of its game, so a child who can’t read yet can still choose where to go. Tap a house and Ddolbeng runs over to its door before the game opens. A bubble at the top even says hello: “Some friends came out to meet you. Give one a tap!”

The village is a small playground all by itself:

• Dials at the top left change the time of day, the season and the weather
• Tap a friend and they react
• Press and hold the grass to grow a flower
• Start the parade! and the friends dance together

What’s there to play?

Scroll down below the village and you’ll find every game with its name and a one-line description. Here are some of the kinds of play waiting there:

• Raising Ddolbeng: look after a little friend, and grow up together
• Ddolbeng Picture Stories: put your friends in, and make a story of your own
• Ddolbeng Show the Way: lay out the cards and walk a friend across
• Ddolbeng Make a Friend: pick the parts and make a friend of your own
• Ddolbeng Two of Us: sit side by side and take turns with the die
• Ddolbeng Spot the Difference: look at two pictures and find what is different
• Ddolbeng Kitchen: take orders or just cook
• Short sports games: Baseball, Basketball, Golf, Fishing and Flying

Under Places Ddolbeng visits, the list also leads next door to Scratch for Children 2, coding play for children who can’t read yet. If your child loved laying out cards in Show the Way, it’s a natural next step.

Meet the friends

Ddolbeng lives in the village with a whole crowd of friends. There’s Posong the fox, Bori the puppy, Tori the tiger, Piyo the chick, Koko the elephant and many more, and Ddolbeng is a little pebble.

On The friends page they all gather on one square. Tap a friend and a card shows their face and name, or press Everyone say hello! and watch them all wave. Their names stay the same in every language, so a child moving between languages meets the very same friends.

The same friends turn up game after game, so a new game never feels like a stranger’s house. You’ll also meet them in Scratch for Children 2.

What Ddolbeng promises families

Ddolbeng has a page called For grown-ups. It starts with a line we’re proud of: “These hold for every game on this site. They are not settings — they are how the games are built.”

Here are some of the promises on that page:

• No ads, no purchases. There’s nothing a child can tap by mistake that costs anything.
• No notifications, no streaks. Missing a day costs nothing at all.
• Grown-up settings are held back behind a three-second press-and-hold, so a child can’t get in alone.
• Nothing to install, no sign-up. Every game opens in the browser, free.

How to get started

Coming up next

Want to see everything we make? Head back to Meet CodingTeading. And when your child is ready for picture blocks, Scratch for Children 2 is waiting.

Next time: your first 30 minutes with Scratch for Children 2, screen by screen. See you in the next post!