Svitko

  Svitko

     Svitko started as a game for my five-year-old daughter. I wanted a game a child could play alone, even without being able to read yet.

     It is a voxel sandbox for children of roughly five to eight, including those who cannot read yet. Almost everything in it is clear without text: tasks are shown with icons, numbers and animation.

     Learning is not a separate mode, it is part of the game. If a character needs two apples, it simply shows that above its head. Letters can be found out in the world, like any other object.

     There are no timers, penalties or fail states. If something does not work out, you can simply try again.

  What is in it

• Voxel world — nine block types for building and digging, plus mines, buried items, water and swimming.
• Four maps — the house, the meadow hub, the numbers world and the letters world, connected by portals.
• Quests with hints — the goal appears as an icon and a counter above a character's head, so a child does not have to be able to read.
• Counting and letters — the tasks help with counting and letter recognition. Characters appear in the language chosen in the settings.
• Characters and a pet — figures hand out quests and give the reward once they are done; a cat keeps the player company.
• Inventory and shop — items found across the maps fill a collection, earn medals and coins; the inventory also holds furniture and decor that can be moved and rotated.
• Saves — one file per profile, written safely, with a backup copy.
• Three languages — English, Ukrainian and German throughout the interface.

  For parents

     The prototype runs entirely on the device. Every point below was checked against the code, not assumed.

• Runs offline and collects no data. The game does not connect to the internet and does not request system permissions. No sign-in, no analytics, no cloud saves. All progress is stored locally.
• No advertising or in-app purchases. No advertising, no paid features, no third-party SDKs. Every coin is earned by the child during play.
• Non-competitive. No timers, no leaderboards, no fail screens.

  Current state

     This is version 0.1, an MVP. The whole intended loop can be played from beginning to end, but the game is not finished. Known issues and the remaining work are listed openly on the development page rather than left to be discovered: https://playsvitko.kolobokgames.workers.dev/about.html

     Feedback is genuinely useful at this stage — especially a note about where a child got stuck or confused. It goes straight into what gets fixed next. Write to playsvitko@proton.me, or leave a comment right here on the page.

     A note on Windows: the build is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen will warn about an unrecognised app. Choose "More info" → "Run anyway", or check the file first if you prefer.

  Technical details

• Engine — Godot 4.7, GDScript, OpenGL rendering, so it runs on older machines too.
• Platform — Windows.
• Network — none. No requests, no third-party SDKs, no permissions asked for.
• Saves — one JSON file per profile, written safely, with a backup copy kept.
• Content — four maps; quests, blocks and items live in data files rather than in code, so new content can be added without touching the systems underneath.
• Interface and world — kept apart and exchanging only signals, so a change to the world cannot quietly break a menu.

  How it is developed

     The project is developed using an AI-assisted development approach: AI serves as a development tool, while the concept, design and all key decisions are mine.

     The code was written with Claude Code, an AI coding tool, which also helped with refactoring and debugging. Architecture, game design, asset integration, testing and every final decision are mine. Generative tools were also used for part of the artwork, including the key image; the in-game models come from the credited asset packs below.

  Credits and licence

     The game, its design, original artwork and code-synthesized sound effects are © 2026 Mariia Mashura. The game is not open source and may not be redistributed or modified; the download above is free to play.

     Built with Godot 4.7 (MIT licence).

     Third-party assets, all used within their licences:

• Voxel animals, items and trees — asset pack by SonaSar (sona-sar.itch.io) — free for personal and commercial use.
• Bushes, flowers and grass — Cute Voxel Nature Pack by Redreeh (redreeh.itch.io) — free for any project, credit appreciated.
• Interface icons — Free Icon Pack v3.1 by @gvesster (linktr.ee/gvesster).
• Portal texture — by GoncaloMCOliveira, released under CC0.
• Sky image — CraftPix.net, under their free licence.
• Music — "Cartoon Funny Music" by MaksymMalko, from Pixabay.
• Fonts — Fredoka and Nunito, both under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. The licence text ships next to the game.

     Sound effects are generated in code rather than sampled, so nothing is borrowed there.

     The full list, with links and licence wording, is in CREDITS.txt inside the downloaded archive.