The story behind it
The Pocket Money Game started as something built at a kitchen table — a dad with ADHD and dyslexia, and his son, working on a way to make spelling and maths practice actually work for a child who struggled with traditional homework. It grew from there. You can read the full story on our About page.
Why most educational apps don't work for neurodivergent kids
Most educational apps are designed for the average child and hope that everyone else adapts to them. Streak mechanics that punish a missed day. Long sessions that assume sustained attention. Visual clutter that competes for focus. For a child with ADHD or dyslexia, these design choices aren't neutral — they're actively working against how that child's brain processes information.
What's designed differently here
- Short, focused sessions rather than long ones that assume sustained attention
- Immediate, tangible rewards — real pocket money, not abstract points — because delayed gratification is genuinely harder for ADHD brains
- Multisensory spelling support with audio alongside text, helpful for dyslexic learners
- A Tricky Words list using spaced repetition rather than one-off testing
- No streaks, no lives, no loss mechanics that create anxiety around missed days
Built on evidence, not just experience
The design choices in this game aren't just personal instinct — they're grounded in what the research says about ADHD, dyslexia and learning. Immediate rewards outperform delayed ones for ADHD learners. Multisensory, spaced-repetition approaches show the strongest outcomes for dyslexic spelling acquisition. Short sessions beat long ones for both. We've written more on the evidence behind these choices on our blog.
Try It Free — See the Difference
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