Questions and answers
What parents, coaches and schools ask us most. If your question isn't here, send it and we'll answer it.
Custom games
How much does a custom game cost?
It depends on what we're building. Putting your kid into one of our sports games is the quickest job; a new sport, or a whole arcade like Ziggy Games, takes more. After a free 20-minute call we send a fixed quote, and it only changes if you change what you're asking for.
How long does it take?
A Player Edition typically takes one to two weeks from our call to your private link. A new sport usually takes three to six weeks, and an arcade world six weeks or more. You get a playable link early and see it change after every round of feedback.
How does payment work?
A deposit to start and the balance at launch. The exact split is in the quote you sign, so there are no surprises about when money is due.
Who owns the game?
You do. Your game lives at your address and you get the files, so if you ever leave, you leave with your game. Your quote spells out the details.
What happens after launch? Is there a hosting fee?
We host your game and keep it running. Hosting and any updates after launch are written into your quote, so you know the cost before we start, and you can always take the files and host the game yourself.
How many rounds of changes are included?
Play-testing is built into every project, so the changes your kid asks for during the build are part of the job, not extras. Anything that grows the game past the quote, like another sport or more levels, we price before we build it.
What if we aren't happy with it?
You see your kid drawn as a paper kid, then a playable link, early, long before launch. If something isn't right, we change it. That's what the play-test rounds are for.
What if my kid wants changes after it's done?
Kids always do. Play-testing is built into every project, so changes during the build are part of the job. After launch we can add levels, players or a whole new sport as a follow-on project.
Where does the game live once it's done?
On the web. We host it at a private link, or on your own domain if you have one. Ziggy Games lives at ziggy.games.
Does a custom game work as a gift?
It makes a good one. A Player Edition opens on any screen the kid already has, so it suits a birthday or a holiday, and we'll plan the timeline around the date when we quote.
What goes in a game
Can our dog or cat be in it?
Pets are some of our favorite characters. Pam, a black pug, watches Soccer Kids from the sideline on her leash and plays Ziggy one on one in the Sports Arena. Send us photos and we'll draw yours.
Can the game use a real place, like our field or our street?
Yes. We can build a field, a park, a school campus or a street from public map and elevation data. You decide which places appear and whether they're named.
Do you use photos of my kid?
Never in the game. Everything is drawn. You can send photos so we get the hair, the glasses or the favorite cleats right, and we use them only for that.
Do you only make sports games?
Sports are what we do best, because a sports game teaches rules a kid can take onto a real field, and every game in our lineup is one. If your kid dreams up something else, tell us about it on the call.
Kids, screens and privacy
What does my kid need to play?
A web browser. Our games run on iPads and other tablets, Chromebooks, phones and laptops, with touch controls on screens and keyboard controls on computers. There is nothing to install and no account to make.
Are there ads, or anything to buy inside the game?
No. There are no ads, no in-app purchases and no chat with strangers in anything we build for kids, and the games we make for you stay that way.
Do you collect information about my kid?
Kids never make an account or type in an email. The Player Builder asks a grown-up for the kid's nickname and the grown-up's email, and we use those only to design your game and reply to you. The privacy policy has the details.
Teams, schools and camps
Can our team or league use a game for practice?
Yes, and it's one of the best uses. We build in your program's format and rules, like four a side, no goalies or a build-out line, in your colors and with your players' nicknames, plus a Learn mode where a coach voice explains each rule. Every family on the roster opens the same link.
Do you work with schools, camps and organizations?
Yes. A game can teach the rules of a sport a PE class is starting, or carry a camp's teams and colors. We scope those projects the same way, with a call first and a fixed quote.
Is it safe for a school or league to share?
Yes. Players never make an account or type in personal information, there are no ads and no chat, and our games don't collect student records. One link works on Chromebooks, iPads and laptops.
Still wondering about something?
Ask us anything. We reply within one business day.
Draft your player
It takes about two minutes. Design your kid as a paper kid, pick their sport and what the game should teach, and see the game plan we would build for them.