How can we help?
Search the answers, or pick a topic. A real person answers, usually within a day: email us and say how old your child is and which part you are stuck on.
No answers match that yet. Ask us directly and we’ll help, then add it here for the next family.
The voice4
Who is reading?
Choose a man's voice, a woman's voice, or alternating narrators in Settings. The six chess pieces have their own character voices. Choosing a narrator does not change these character voices. Only one voice speaks at a time. Tap a narrator choice to hear a sample before you decide.
Are these real recordings of real people?
The voices are synthetic. We use an external voice service to record our scripts in advance, and include the finished recordings in the app. No voice is generated while your child plays. On iPhone and iPad every language is already in the app. On Android, English is in the app and any other spoken language comes through Google Play the first time it is needed, about 14 MB. After that, the app needs no internet connection to speak.
My child does not want to hear the words on screen. Does that matter?
Not at all. Nothing on any child-facing screen has to be read. Every instruction is spoken, and the round arrow in the top-right says the last line again as many times as your child wants.
The app is silent.
Check the media volume and whether sound is going to connected headphones or a Bluetooth speaker. On iPhone and iPad, sound also plays when the ring switch is off. If it is still silent, email [email protected] with your device and operating system version.
Ages and stages4
What is free?
The six games under “Play together”, permanently, and the crossing game on the “Games for two” shelf as well. Watching the pieces potter about, meeting them one by one, sorting into two houses, matching a shadow, taking turns, the board itself, and racing your pawns to the other side. That is a complete thing on its own, not a trial.
What does the purchase add?
Stage 0 stays free. Rookaby Everything opens all stories, games, Walk together and puzzles in one purchase. The base option remains available. Base owners buy only the missing puzzles. Existing purchases stay valid. No subscription.
My child is five. Is this still for them?
Yes. The stories and the games hold up at five, playing together especially, and taking, check and mate are on the “Practising the real moves” shelf for four to five. They arrive as puzzles rather than as a match: every board has an answer, so there is no position to get stuck in and no opponent to lose to.
There is no score. Is something broken?
No. There is deliberately no timer, no score, no stars and no way to lose. Below about six years old those things end a session rather than extend it, and they are the reason most chess apps for children stop working at this age.
Walk together3
Do I need a chess set?
No. Your child sets each piece on the board and takes turns with a friend, all in the app. There is no physical chess set to buy.
What actually happens in a lesson?
Choose a piece, listen to its story and try its moves on the board in the app. Take turns with your child or let two children play together. Spoken instructions guide each step.
My child moved it wrongly.
Let your child try again at their own pace. There is no score and no timer. You can return to the same piece as often as you like.
Purchase and privacy6
Is it a subscription?
Stage 0 stays free. Rookaby Everything opens all stories, games, Walk together and puzzles in one purchase. The base option remains available. Base owners buy only the missing puzzles. Existing purchases stay valid. No subscription.
I bought it and it is asking again.
Open Settings inside the app and tap Restore Purchases. That is reachable without paying and works on any device signed in to the Apple ID that bought it.
Why does it ask me a sum?
Because anything that costs money has to sit behind something a young child cannot do. The numbers are spelled out in words, so answering it needs reading. It is re-rolled every time, so it cannot be learned by heart.
What does Rookaby collect?
Nothing. No account, no sign-in, no analytics and no advertising. The app itself sends nothing; the purchases are handled by the store, not by us. There is nothing to delete on our side because nothing ever reaches us; “Delete everything” in Settings clears the few preferences kept on the device.
Is Rookaby built with AI?
We develop our apps with AI tools for programming and translation. We use automated checks and device tests. We are responsible for the result, and a person answers support requests.
What does AI do inside Rookaby?
The adult narrators and the six chess pieces in Rookaby have synthetic voices. We recorded them in advance from scripts we wrote. You choose the adult narrator; each chess piece has its own voice. The toy chess pieces, scenery, facial expressions and wooden letters were made with an image model and animated in code. The acoustic music and short sound effects were generated too. Nothing is generated while your child plays. There is no account, and nothing leaves the device.
Didn’t find it?
Send it to [email protected] and say how old your child is and which screen you are on. A real person reads it, usually answers within a day, and adds the answer here for the next family.
Rookaby starts free. Rookaby Everything is €16.99 once, with no subscription. Refunds go through Apple, like every App Store purchase.