Hi, I'm Lisa! ๐Ÿ‘‹

I'm 8, and I made a video game.

It's called Choose Squad. You choose your job, your house, your pets and your friends in Fairfaxโ€ฆ and you learn math and reading without even noticing. (Okay, you notice a little. But it's fun!)

Lisa's hand-drawn Choose Squad title with green letters, orange rays and pink scribbles
The first thing I made: the title screen, on paper.
Chapter1

Where I come from ๐ŸŒ‰

I was born in Palo Alto. My mom and dad are from Argentina, and they are entrepreneurs. That is a big word. It means they make new things with computers. A LOT of new things, one after another.

So you would think I grew up with tablets everywhere, right?

Nope. ๐Ÿ˜„

Baby Lisa in a blue baby seat, wearing her dad's huge black surf booties and biting an orange
Dad's surf booties + an orange = baby me ๐ŸŠ
Baby Lisa asleep in her car seat with a pacifier and a yellow duck toy
Sleeping with my duck
Close-up of baby Lisa with big blue-gray eyes, looking straight at the camera
Serious baby face ๐Ÿ‘€
Chapter2

No screens for me ๐Ÿ“ต

My mom and dad learned that screens are not good for little kids' brains. So at home: no TV. No video games. No tablet games.

At first I thought that was the worst rule in the whole world. But guess what happens when you don't have screens? You make stuff.

  • I wrote my own books, with pictures.
  • I made board games out of paper and cardboard.
  • I invented rules, money, cards and prizes.
  • I made my family play them. Many, many times.
Collage of four photos of little Lisa: in the garden with a red ball, in the kitchen wearing a bee bib, in pink sunglasses and a flamingo swim shirt, and lying on a rug opening plastic Easter eggs
Little me: garden, kitchen, sunglasses, Easter eggs ๐Ÿฅš
Toddler Lisa on the beach in a pink cap, holding a big banana
Beach + banana ๐ŸŒ
Toddler Lisa sitting on a rug, sliding colorful beads on a wooden abacus
Counting before I could even write ๐Ÿงฎ

โ†“ look what I made!

My games before Choose Squad โœ‚๏ธ

These are real. I made them with paper, markers, tape and stickers. My family had to play them A LOT.

Lisa's hand-drawn board game Fairplay: a map of Fairfax with squares for Still Water, Mai Thai, Peri's, Mario, Scoop, Fairfax Variety, the farmers market, a skate park, the police station, a bank and a bus station
FairPlay = Fairfax + Play!

FairPlay ๐Ÿฆ

It's like Monopoly (in Argentina it's called Estanciero), but it's my town. You walk around Fairfax and buy or pay at real places: Scoop $10, Mai Thai $20, the farmers market $80.

  • ๐ŸŽธ Playing in a band: +$80!
  • ๐Ÿ›น Skate park: wait 2 turns.
  • ๐Ÿšฒ Ride in a cargo bike: move back 3.
  • ๐Ÿ’† Massages: wait 1 turn (relax!).

Choose Squad is FairPlayโ€ฆ but it moves! ๐Ÿšถโ€โ™€๏ธ

Lisa's early hand-drawn board game Snake and Bridges, a long path of numbered squares with snakes, bridges and hearts from Start to End
Snake and Bridges ๐Ÿ

My first game, when I was just learning to write. You can tell. ๐Ÿ˜„

Cover of Lisa's handmade book Puppy Cards, with orange letters, hearts and dog stickers
Puppy Cards ๐Ÿถ

A book. Puppies. Enough said.

Lisa's notebook with handwritten additions and subtractions like 52 + 38 = 90
Math for fun โž•โž–

52 + 38 = 90. I do these for fun. Really!

Chapter3

School, friends and a Chromebook ๐Ÿซ

I went to Waldorf Peninsula, and now I go to RVC in Fairfax. I have friends at Waldorf, at Heartwood, and at my new school too. I love my friends SO much.

At school they started letting us use a Chromebook. That's where I learned to type on a computer. Tap tap tap. โŒจ๏ธ I got pretty fast.

Little Lisa from behind, dancing in a white tutu and long white gloves
On stage (okay, the living room) ๐Ÿ’ƒ
Baby Lisa in a rainbow-striped onesie with strawberry socks, reaching for a laptop keyboard
My first keyboard. I was a baby! โŒจ๏ธ
Chapter4

The party problem ๐ŸŽ‰

When I go to parties or play dates, some of my friends have tablets and video games. Everybody is playingโ€ฆ and I'm not allowed. ๐Ÿ˜ฉ I always wanted to play. Always, always.

So one day I had an idea:

"If I make my OWN game, then I can play it!"

I was already making games with paper and cardboard. And I'm learning math and reading at school, and I LOVE them. So I thought: what if my game is about real life, and you get smarter while you play?

Lisa in a pink unicorn shirt, looking closely at a picture-matching board game
Real games > screens. Most of the time. ๐ŸŽฒ

best idea ever!!

Chapter5

I borrowed my dad's robots ๐Ÿค–

My dad works with AI. I call them his robots. I asked him: "Can I borrow your robots?" He said yes!

So I drew my game on paper first: the title, the screens, the buttons. Then I told the robots everything, and we built it together, step by step. I tested it again and again, and every time I found something to fix, the robots fixed it.

Now I can play Choose Squad on the tablet I use for reading, audiobooks and music. ๐ŸŽง๐Ÿ“–

Lisa on the floor drawing the Choose Squad title and a Fairfax town map with markers
Drawing Choose Squad on paper first โœ๏ธ
Lisa on the sofa playing Choose Squad on a tablet
โ€ฆand playing it on my tablet ๐Ÿ“ฑ

What do you do in Choose Squad?

You live in Fairfax, with RVC, Heartwood, Peri Park and Scoop ice cream. Your choices, your chores and your answers change your day.

๐ŸŽ’

Pick your grade

2nd or 3rd grade for now, so the math and reading are just right for you.

๐Ÿ’ผ

Choose a job

Vet, chef, astronaut, doctor, teacher, artist, horse trainer or builder. Builders fix broken houses! ๐Ÿ”จ

๐Ÿ”ข

Earn money

Answer math and reading questions at work. Wrong answers cost $5, so you learn to think first.

๐Ÿ„

Adventures with quizzes

Surf, boat, climb or snowboard โ€” right in the middle of the fun part, you answer math or reading to keep going. Miss one andโ€ฆ wipeout!

โญ

Get stars for being good

Feed your pets, clean the poop (yes, real poop ๐Ÿ’ฉ), go to school and eat your meals.

๐Ÿถ

Real pets

They get hungry, need walks and poop like real animals, even when the game is closed.

๐Ÿฐ

From tent to castle

Start in a tent, buy a house, a big houseโ€ฆ or a castle with a baby dragon.

๐ŸŒง๏ธ

Real days

Morning, night, rain and heat. No raincoat in the rain or no sunscreen in the sun? You get sick! ๐Ÿค’

๐Ÿท๏ธ

Garage sale

Sell your old stuff and buy your friends' stuff. Prices go down every day it doesn't sell.

๐Ÿ‘ซ

Friends and parties

Visit friends, chat, play hide and seek, and celebrate birthdays and holidays.

Things I love (that are NOT screens) ๐ŸŒž

Little Lisa in a teal and yellow wetsuit, making a surprised O face
Wetsuit ON. Surf music ON. ๐Ÿ„โ€โ™€๏ธ
Lisa laughing inside a giant painted purple monster mouth, holding a friend's baby in a blue cap
Inside a monster we built for Burning Man ๐Ÿ‘พ
Lisa leaning on a wooden swing inside a white wooden build, holding a little yellow toy
Building big stuff with Mom & Dad ๐Ÿ”จ
โšฝSoccer
๐Ÿ„Surfing
๐Ÿ‚Snowboarding
๐ŸคธGymnastics
๐ŸŽธGuitar
๐ŸšฒBiking
๐ŸŒณPlaying outside
๐ŸŽญTheater
๐Ÿ”ฅBuilding art for Burning Man
๐ŸŽถSurf music
๐ŸŽฒMaking board games
๐Ÿ“–Writing books

Then I found the connection ๐Ÿ’ก

Look at that list. Surfing. Snowboarding. Biking. Playing outside. Building stuff. Those are real things I love โ€” not screens. So in Choose Squad, the coolest parts of the game are those same things: catch a wave, race a boat on the lake, climb Half Dome, snowboard at Tahoe.

And here's my trick: when you're in the most interesting part, you have to finish a little math or reading to keep going and win the mini-game. Get it right โ†’ you ride on. Get it wrong โ†’ wipeout! ๐ŸŒŠ So you practice school stuff because you want to finish the adventure, not because someone told you to.

My big dream ๐ŸŒˆ

Games that make your brain grow, not melt.

My dad says AI and technology are here to stay, and kids are going to use them. That's just true. But a lot of games make people go a little cuckoo ๐ŸŒ€. You play and play and your brain justโ€ฆ melts.

So my dream is to build learning games for every age before high school, so kids use technology the smart way: to learn, to be kind to their friends, and to take care of things. Choose Squad is my first one.

For grown-ups ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘ง

Written with my mom and dad. Choose Squad is built for short play sessions, with real-life habits inside the game: meals, sleep, school and chores.

No ads. No in-app purchases.Money and stars are pretend, inside the game only.
No strangers.Kids can only see, chat or call friends that both families approve.
Parents hold the account.Kids have a nickname and a picture PIN. No kid email, phone or photo.
Made for 2nd and 3rd grade.Math and reading practice like in California classrooms โ€” including mid-adventure quizzes in the mini-games (surf, boat, climb, snowboard).

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Parents login Play

Beta is open!

Families in Fairfax can create a parent account with an invite code. Open the parent portal, choose Create an account, enter your code, and confirm your email.

Create parent account

Parents and guardians only. Need a code? Email hello@choosesquad.academy.
๐Ÿ’š