Half a House

Half a House is a building game. A little house stands by a creek with one side built and the other side open, and your child finishes the open side. Each glowing spot offers three flat pieces on a tray; only one fits, and your child picks it with a tap, so there is nothing to drag or turn. At the gentlest door the three pieces are three different shapes, and the one that fits is shaped like the glowing spot. At the next door some pieces have a direction, like a sloping roof, and the tray holds the piece, its twin facing the other way, and a piece of another shape; the built side of the house shows which one belongs, so your child picks the piece that faces the other way. At House in the Water, the finished house shows in the creek as well, upside down, and those spots want their pieces too. At All 4 Spots, the whole open side waits: door, step, window and roof, one after another. The door and the window each offer three different shapes; the step and the roof each offer the piece, its twin facing the other way, and one other shape.

There are no timers and no scores, and nothing is ever wrong: a piece that doesn't fit floats back to the tray, and your child tries another one. When every spot is full, the house turns into a painted picture and a little forest animal arrives, not always the same one. Some move in, and one only comes down to the creek to look. Half a House is free, and it keeps nothing and asks for nothing: no account, no sign-in, and no request to anyone outside this site. The one thing it remembers is whether you turned the sound off, and that stays on your own device.

What your child does

• Looks at the built side of the house and at the three pieces on the tray.
• Picks, with one tap, the piece that fits the glowing spot.
• At the gentlest door, picks the piece shaped like the glowing spot from three different shapes.
• At the next doors, picks the piece that faces the other way from its twin.
• At House in the Water, picks the upside-down piece for the picture in the creek.
• At All 4 Spots, fills the whole open side, one after another: door, step, window, roof.
• Tries again freely when a piece floats back.

Half a House is made for children aged 4 to 9. The four houses sit at different heights: Door and Window for 4 to 5, Up to the Roof for 6 to 7, House in the Water for 8 to 9, and All 4 Spots for 6 to 9, from the door up to the roof. The ages are not printed on the cards, and your child can pick any house at any time. Door and Window is the gentlest start: two spots, and the tray holds three different shapes, so the piece that fits is the one shaped like the glowing spot. Up to the Roof brings pieces with a direction, like a sloping roof: the tray holds the piece, its twin facing the other way, and a piece of another shape, and the built side of the house shows which one belongs. House in the Water adds the picture in the creek: once the house is done, its reflection wants its pieces too, upside down. All 4 Spots leaves the whole side open: door, step, window and roof, one after another, each with its own three pieces on the tray.