It was a Tuesday evening. Homework time. My son stared at the analog clock on his worksheet with a look I knew all too well — a mix of confusion and frustration that was about to turn into tears.
"Mama, I don't understand. Why does the little hand mean hours and the big hand means minutes? That doesn't make sense!"
She had a point. To a 5-year-old, it really doesn't make intuitive sense. And honestly? In that moment, I struggled to explain it in a way that clicked. We'd been at it for 20 minutes, and we were both exhausted.
The Search for Help
That night, after she went to bed, I did what every modern parent does — I searched for an app. Surely, in 2025, there must be a great app that teaches kids to read clocks, right?
What I found was... disappointing:
- App #1: Beautiful design, but wanted $9.99/month. For a clock app. For a five-year-old.
- App #2: Free, but bombarded with full-screen ads every 30 seconds. My son clicked on three ads before I could take the phone back.
- App #3: Actually decent content, but the UI was so dated it looked like it was built in 2010. My son refused to use it.
- App #4: Required an account with email, birthday, and school name. Absolutely not.
Not a single app hit all three basics: free, safe, and actually fun.
The Ridiculous Idea
I'm not a developer. I'm a mom. But I had a background in product management and a stubbornness that my husband describes as "concerning." So I thought: What if I just... build one?
It started as a toy project — learn some React, make a simple clock with draggable hands, add some colorful buttons. Let my son test it.
"Mama, can I play the clock game again?" — my son, at breakfast, voluntarily asking to practice telling time.
That sentence changed everything. She wasn't asking to do homework. She was asking to play. The same child who cried over clock worksheets was now excited about telling time because it was wrapped in a game.
From Side Project to Clock Master
Over the next few months, the app grew. I added:
- 8 structured lessons — from the hour hand all the way to time addition and subtraction
- A racing game — answer clock questions to boost your car. My son's competitive streak kicked in.
- Space exploration — fly a rocket through 30 real celestial objects by solving time problems. She now knows more about nebulae than I do.
- Foxy — a fox mascot that guides first-time players through the app with voice narration. My son named her.
- A parental gate — because I know what it's like to have a child accidentally change all the settings.
Most importantly, I kept it honest and transparent. No subscriptions. No data collection. No accounts. No in-app purchases. Just clearly-labeled ads with child-directed settings. Everything I wished those other apps had done.
What I Learned Along the Way
Building Clock Master taught me something broader about how kids learn:
- Context matters more than repetition. My son learned more from 10 minutes of the racing game than 30 minutes of worksheets. The clock questions weren't homework — they were fuel for his car.
- Small wins build confidence. Earning coins, unlocking a new car color, getting a trophy — these tiny dopamine hits kept her coming back, and each one required correctly reading the time.
- Voice guidance enables independence. Once I added text-to-speech, she could learn without me hovering. That was a game-changer for both of us.
- Kids don't want "educational" — they want fun. If it's genuinely fun, the learning happens without resistance.
And Then Came Math Tank
A few months later, multiplication tables entered our lives. Same struggle, same tears, same search for a good app. But this time, I didn't search. I built.
Math Tank took the same philosophy — learning disguised as play — and applied it to multiplication and division. Instead of a car race, it's tank battles. Instead of clock questions, it's times tables. Same Foxy guide. Same parental gate. Same commitment to free, safe, and fun.
🦦 The Otterly Games Philosophy
Every feature in our apps passes one test: "Would I want this for my own child?" If the answer is no, it doesn't ship. That's it. That's the strategy.
What's Next
Otterly Games is just getting started. I'm one mom with a laptop, some AI tools, and a deep understanding of what parents actually need. If these games help even one other parent avoid a tearful homework session, it will all have been worth it.
If you've found our apps helpful, I'd love to hear from you. And if you want to support this tiny operation, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-fi. Every cup helps keep the lights on. ☕