Priya introduced Kidoku to her son Arjun thinking she'd be the teacher. Game one: she won, explaining things. Game two: he beat her without any help. Game six: she was bracing herself and fully focused. They play every Sunday evening in their private room. The series is 11–9. He leads. She doesn't let that go easily.
verified_user No accounts · Private room just for two · Real competition at any age
Room: HOME-77 · Sunday
Series total: SpeedKid99 leads 11–9
Game 21. Mum is actually trying this time.
Priya found Kidoku through her daughter's school. She set it up on a Saturday afternoon thinking Arjun — nine years old — might like puzzle games. She played game one with him, openly explaining: "See, if this row has a 3 and a 5, the only missing number between 1 and 6 must fill those other cells."
Game one: Priya won. Arjun asked to play again. Game two: she started the same explanation. He didn't need it. He finished the grid in 4:49. She hadn't finished. She sat looking at the "SpeedKid99 — 1st" notification, genuinely surprised.
Game three: she stopped explaining and started playing. She finished second. He was immediately curious about how he could get faster. She was curious about how he'd done it at all.
By game six, the room code HOME-77 existed, they had their own private session, and Priya was playing the grid with the same focus she brings to work problems. Arjun had switched to telling her she was going too slowly. The role reversal was complete and neither of them had planned for it.
The series counter started informally. Priya mentioned offhand that it was 3–3. Arjun remembered the count from then on. By session fifteen, it had become the number they both knew without needing to discuss it. Series scores are tracked in his head with more precision than she tracks budget figures.
The genuinely competitive part, Priya says, is that she can't let herself be sentimental about losing. It started as a parenting activity. Now she plays to win. He plays to win. Neither of them wants to lose. The game made both of those things simultaneously true.
Private room. Two players. A series counter. The point at which the parent realises they're actually trying is usually around game four.
One person opens kidoku.app/live and creates a private room — HOME-77, COUCH-22, whatever generates. Share the code with the other player. Both join on different devices. No account, no setup.
Both players get the same grid. The race is live. When one finishes, the timer keeps running for the other — no stopping the game. The result shows who was faster. Rematches start in seconds.
Private room sessions accumulate win counts automatically. The series counter becomes the number you both know. Neither of you has to remember — it's there when you open the room.
Kidoku doesn't give adults an advantage for being adults. Constraint logic at speed is pure pattern recognition and working memory. Children are often faster. The game is earned, not granted by life experience.
The private room doesn't know who's the parent and who's the child. It records wins. The series goes to whoever is faster across the most sessions. That's the point.
The series that started as a parenting activity becomes a genuine rivalry. Both players want to win. Both players respect when the other wins. That's the kind of bond you can't plan for but always remember.
HOME-77 · All-Time Record
Game 1 (Teaching mode)
Mum explains, Mum wins
PurpleMum 🟣
Game 2 (First surprise)
No explanation needed
SpeedKid99 ⚡
Overall series
21 games played
SpeedKid99 11–9 🏆
Game 22 is scheduled for Sunday.
Your private room is exactly that: private. The room code brings in only the players you share it with. No public matchmaking, no strangers joining your HOME-77.
Closed session — only players with the exact code can join. No one else in the game.
No accounts — auto-generated usernames only. No login required for either player.
Safe for children playing with parents — no chat, no external links, no advertising. Just the puzzle and the result.
Private room. Same grid. Two players. One of them is going to win. That's the whole thing.
Everything you need to know about Kidoku Live for this use case.
Yes. Both players visit kidoku.app/live from their own devices. The parent creates a private room and shares the 4-letter code. Both players join and solve the same puzzle simultaneously. The live leaderboard shows both positions as they work. No accounts are needed for either player.
The parent chooses a harder grid size — 9×9 — while the child plays on 4×4 or 6×6. The time-based leaderboard is fair across grid sizes: a child who finishes 4×4 in 4 minutes can beat a parent who finishes 9×9 in 15 minutes. As the child's skill improves over weeks, the parent needs to increase their own performance to keep the competition close.
Yes. Beyond the logic benefits for the child, parent-child competitive play provides: incidental teaching moments (the parent explains their approach), motivation through competition with a trusted person, a shared language around logical problems, and a daily ritual that is screen-time with clear cognitive benefit.
Kidoku Live doesn't maintain a persistent series tracker — players note results informally. Most families keep a simple tally, which becomes part of the ritual. Some families run named series tracking who leads across a month. The Grand Prix personal best records provide an alternative objective performance comparison.
Most parents find 8×8 or 9×9 is the right level to keep competition close against a practised 9–11 year old on 6×6 or 8×8. As the child improves (typically faster than the parent), adjust to 10×10. The goal is to keep the parents' completion time within reach of the child's completion time adjusted for grid size.
You're going to help them understand the puzzle. Then they're going to beat you. Then you're going to ask for a rematch.
Private room · No accounts · Works on any two devices