Inside Jupo World, how a castle world was built for small hands

Jupo World is a castle world on a map, built so a 4 year old can find their way around without reading and a 10 year old still finds something new. Children walk around, meet characters and open rooms, and every character brings a game. Here is how we made the choices behind it.

A world before a menu

A menu of games asks a young child to choose from words and icons. A world lets them walk to a friend and tap. So the map comes first, and games live with the characters who play them.

Nothing needs reading

Characters speak, buttons are large, and games show children what to do before they start. The app is available in English, Hungarian, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Finnish and Turkish.

Games that adapt

Each game gets harder or easier depending on how a child plays, so a child is stretched but rarely stuck. More than 20 games cover memory, logic, movement, feelings and self-control, and each is weighted against a map of 26 skills in 9 areas.

Built on a method

The world follows Judit Polgár's Chess Palace method, taught since 2013 in over 3,000 schools and nurseries, most of them in Hungary. The chess pieces are friends who live in the castle.

What we left out

No ads. No chat. Nothing a child can buy: a parent gate stands in front of every purchase and the parent area.

Questions parents ask

Can my child play Jupo World in a browser?

Yes. Jupo World plays in the browser at play.jupo.world as well as on iPhone, iPad and Android.

How long is a typical session?

Games are short, so a session can be one game or a few. Many families settle on 10 to 20 minutes.