Special Interest
FossilForge
Players run paleontology expeditions -- excavating fossil sites grid-by-grid, preparing specimens in the lab, classifying them taxonomically, and building museum exhibits. Real geological periods, scientifically accurate specimens, and the careful process of real fossil preparation. The only paleontology simulation on iOS for ages 9-14.
Meet your mentor
Every Spark & Anvil app has a friendly mentor character that demonstrates, praises, and patiently scaffolds learning. On-device AI personalizes the mentor's responses to your kid's progress — never connecting to a server, never collecting data.
#FFA726 FossilForge makes you a paleontologist! Excavate fossil sites square by square, prepare your specimens in the lab, figure out what creatures they came from, and build museum exhibits that tell the story of life on Earth across 4.5 billion years.
Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
FossilForge's 5-character cast embodies the foundational paleontology-and-deep-time primitives — taxonomic classification (Seam), deep-time chronology (Span), morphological evolution (Branch), paleoenvironment reconstruction (Field), and extinction-event reasoning (Last). Professor Petra (mentor; site label 'Amber') frames each primitive; cast embodies them at museum-paleontology-club scale (NEVER extinction-spectacle / climate-doom register). Deep-time framing gate enforced: cast frames extinctions with both awe and grief; cross-app cameo registered with EcoSphere Wave 11 Brink.
Seam
Taxonomic + fossil-type classification — family-resemblance-matching (what KIND of organism?)
Span
Deep-time + geological chronology — scale-of-scales (WHEN did this organism live?)
Branch
Morphological adaptation + evolutionary change — branching-not-laddering
Field
Paleoenvironment + ecosystem reconstruction — fossils-as-a-place-story
Last
Mass extinctions + extinction-event reasoning — witness-and-choose (cross-app cameo with EcoSphere Brink)
What's inside
Excavation
Carefully dig through rock layers to uncover fossils. Different layers represent different time periods -- deeper means older! Use the right tools: a pickaxe fo
Specimen Lab
Bring your fossils to the lab. Clean off the rock, piece together broken fragments, and identify what creature left these bones. Compare your find to reference
Geological Timeline
Place your discoveries on Earth's 4.5-billion-year timeline. See how life changed from tiny bacteria to giant dinosaurs to modern mammals. Each fossil adds to t
Museum Builder
Design exhibits to display your best fossils. Arrange them by time period, species, or location. Your museum grows as your collection grows!
Mentored by Amber — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How FossilForge handles your kid's data
- ✅ All progress, settings, and AI-generated content stays on the device
- ✅ No analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs
- ✅ No ads, no in-app purchases — you pay once
- ✅ COPPA compliant under the 2026 FTC amendments
- ✅ Parental controls + session limits + content filters built in
FossilForge runs on ForgeKit — the open-source Swift Package Manager framework that powers every Spark & Anvil app. ForgeKit ensures consistent accessibility, COPPA compliance, and design language across the portfolio, so your kid's progress and preferences feel coherent across every app they touch.
Coming to the App Store
FossilForge is in active development. Email us to hear when it ships — no marketing, no spam, just a one-shot launch announcement.
Email me at launch