Accessibility

What changes

The question card is the central element of every game mode. By default it uses a neutral off-white background with dark text. Changing the card colours affects this element across all four biomes and all four game modes. No other part of the interface is affected.

Why this matters

Children with dyslexia, visual stress (sometimes called Meares-Irlen syndrome or scotopic sensitivity), or other visual processing differences often find a white background with high-contrast black text harder to read. Visual stress can cause text to appear to move, blur, or cluster. Using a coloured background or reversing the contrast can substantially reduce visual strain. The most effective colour is individual: if a child already uses a coloured overlay or a reading ruler in the classroom, matching those colours in the game card is a reasonable starting point.

How to change it

School administrators can update card colours for individual pupils from the admin dashboard (pupil settings). Pupils can also adjust their own card colours from their profile settings within the game.

What changes

The game's animal rank system is based on Average Response Time (ART): how long, on average, the pupil takes to answer correctly. The speed multiplier divides the pupil's ART before it is compared to rank thresholds. A multiplier of 2x means a pupil who takes four seconds to answer is ranked as if they answered in two seconds.

The multiplier applies to the pupil's current rank on the race track and to the Apex Trial ranking and biome unlock threshold. It does not affect the questions asked, the mastery data recorded (which uses actual response times), coins earned, or how other pupils see the child in multiplayer.

Why this matters

Animal rank and biome progression are motivational: children see themselves climbing from Snail to Peregrine Falcon as their fluency develops. For a child with a processing speed difference, this progression can stall not because they do not know the answer but because they process it more slowly than the rank threshold assumes. The speed multiplier addresses this directly. It does not inflate their mastery data or misrepresent their actual speed to teachers. It gives the pupil a rank that is fair relative to their capability.

How to change it

Set from the individual pupil's settings in the school admin dashboard. Administrators and teachers can view and change the multiplier; pupils cannot see or change it themselves.

What changes

With Relaxed Mode enabled, the Apex Trial switches from speed-based progression to count-based progression. The pupil builds a Correct Step Count: each correct answer adds one step, and wrong answers give no score. When the count reaches the animal-specific target for the biome, the next biome unlocks. There is no time pressure on progression. A ghost on the race track shows the pupil their own personal best. The competition is between them and themselves.

What stays the same

All four biomes and all curriculum content within them. All ten animals and the full rank system. Training Burrow, Wallow, and the Apex Trial. All coins, cosmetics, and badges. Mastery tracking records actual response times regardless of mode.

What is hidden

The time-pressured Quick Strike mode and the Multiplayer tab are hidden from pupils with Relaxed Mode enabled. These modes involve either a draining time pool or live competition against classmates, both of which reintroduce time pressure. All other content remains identical and accessible.

Why we built this

Some children are held back by a purely time-based gate for reasons unrelated to their understanding of the maths. This includes children with processing speed differences (including some with ADHD, dyslexia, or developmental coordination disorder), children with maths anxiety for whom time pressure compounds errors and erodes confidence, and children whose approach to learning benefits from consolidating accuracy before worrying about speed. Relaxed Mode means every child can access all four biomes and all the curriculum content the game covers, at a pace that works for them.

How to enable it

School administrators can enable Relaxed Mode for individual pupils from the admin dashboard. It can be turned on or off at any time.

What you can control

• Sound effects: the audio responses to correct answers, wrong answers, session start, and session end. Each has a mute toggle and a volume slider (0 to 100%).
• Background music: biome-specific ambient music that plays during sessions. Mute toggle and volume slider.

Both can be muted independently. You can have music off and effects on, effects off and music on, or both off.

Why this matters

Some pupils concentrate better in silence. Some are in shared spaces where audio would disrupt others. Some pupils are sensitive to sound in ways that make the default audio distracting or uncomfortable. Because effects and music are controlled separately, a pupil who benefits from the feedback of correct and wrong sounds can keep those on while removing the background music, and vice versa.

How to change it

Pupils can adjust audio settings from their profile at any time, including mid-session from the pause menu. No admin action is required.