It's called Tiddlypeeps. There are seven kids, so there are seven worlds, and each kid came up with their own. I built it in December 2025 and they played it on Christmas Day. You can play it too.
Runs in your browser. You'll need a keyboard, so a laptop or desktop.
I wanted to give my nieces and nephews something nobody else could buy them. So I asked each of them one question: if you had your own world in a video game, what would be in it?
Every idea in the game came from them. One wanted cricket, one wanted knitting, one wanted unicorns. My job was to turn seven very different answers into one game they could all play together, and to have it ready by Christmas.
Everyone lives on one big map. You pick your kid, walk around, and each world has its own building, a sort of town hall. Walk in and you're playing that kid's game. Win and you get a trophy, and your score goes on the leaderboard for the cousins to try and beat. I'm in it too, as a chicken, wandering about and giving tips.
They loved it. It was so addictive that I got in trouble with my sisters.
Each world has its own building and its own mini-game, built around what that kid asked for.
Jonty's world
Finn's world
Isabella's world
Rory's world
Gus's world
Jacobi's world
Martha's world
The kids also had plenty of ideas that didn't belong to anyone's world, mostly involving toilets. They're hidden around the map. Here are three, and I won't spoil the rest.
Sneak clingfilm onto the toilets without getting caught. There are power-ups. One of them is a poo.
Get the toads across a busy road and safely into bed.
You're a phone on the table. Dodge the hands trying to grab you and don't fall off the edge. The song speeds up as your score climbs.
I'm not a game developer and I'm not an artist, so most of this was learning as I went. The whole thing runs in a web browser. On Christmas Day that meant one browser on one laptop: mine. It got dropped once and came back covered in food and drink, which is a big part of why Year 2 is a console.
The ideas
Every world, every mini-game and most of the jokes. I just did what I was told.
Code
Phaser is a free game framework for the browser. It handles the sprites, physics, sound and the keyboard.
Art and sprites
The characters, the buildings, the title screen and nearly every object in the game. Each kid's character is based on them.
Music
Most worlds play music from games the kids already knew. The Phone's Away song is my own. Year 2's soundtrack will be all original.
Pick a kid, explore the map and try to beat the cousins' scores. Best on a laptop with a keyboard.
Play now →A Raspberry Pi in a 3D-printed case, retro controllers, a magic wand and games built from the kids' ideas. I'm posting updates as I go.
Follow the build →
