Phonics in the right order, ten minutes a day.
Your child learns every sound by rescuing ten island friends from Grumble Cloud. Each short level opens one lock on a friend's cage.
Try it: free Dune!
Three-minute levels. Real phonics. A friend rescued on every island.
Ten islands, ten friends to rescue
Each island teaches new sounds in order, from m a s d t on Desert Island to ph wr gn on Sky Island. Tap an island to look inside.
From first sounds to tricky spellings
Single sounds like m, a, s and d, sounds like sh and ch, then blending longer words such as frog and jump.
Sounds such as ay, ee, igh, oo, ar and or, in words like play, moon and star.
New spellings like a-e, ai and oa. Children learn when cake is spelt with a-e and rain with ai.
Spellings such as ph, wr, dge and tch, plus 100 tricky words across the game, spelt the right way.
The order children learn sounds in school
Synthetic phonics is the way children in England are taught to read: hear each sound, link it to its letters, then blend the sounds into words. Phonico's sound order and tricky-word lists come from a reading specialist's teaching sequence, Sets 1 to 4.
- Short levels: three sound questions and one tricky word.
- Review is built in: every level revisits an earlier sound.
- A wrong answer brings a new question on the same sound, so children cannot guess their way through.
- Tricky words are learnt by spelling: is it busy, bizzy or buzy?
What makes Phonico different
- A clear phonics sequence, island by island.
- Short sessions children can repeat.
- A story goal: ten locks, one rescued friend.
- Review built into every level.
- No ads.
- A grown-ups area showing every sound.
- A structure schools can follow and check.
A different game on every level
Children never play the same game twice in a row, and each game changes its costume to suit the island.
Try Island 1 free. Pay once, keep it forever.
Island 1 is free for everyone. Then one simple payment. No subscription, no renewals and nothing else to buy.
One child
£4.99 one-off
- All 10 islands and 100 levels
- Every game, egg and dress-up item
- Sound-by-sound records
Family
£9.99 one-off
- Everything in One child
- For up to 4 children, each on their own device
- No subscription
Schools
£49 per class, per year
- Up to 30 pupils
- The full Sets 1–4 sequence
- Whole-school prices on request
No ads. No chat. No data selling.
Your child's progress stays on your device. We do not ask for your child's name, and nothing your child does in the game is sent to us.
Read the privacy page
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Start Island 1 free, no signup needed.
No ads. No chat. Progress stays on your device.The lonely cloud and the ten locked cages
A short story every child meets when they open the game.
Grumble Cloud was lonely
High above the islands floated Grumble Cloud. Everyone below was laughing and playing together, and nobody ever waved up at the sky. So Grumble Cloud grumbled, and rumbled, and had a very bad idea.
Ten friends, ten cages, ten locks
One stormy night, Grumble Cloud swept up ten island friends and locked each one in a cage with ten locks. "Now you will have to stay with me," it sniffed. The locks are special: only children who know their sounds can open them.
The heroes need a reader
On every island a silly hero is ready to help: a camel with sideways shades, a hippo in a tiny tutu, an owl whose head spins right round. But heroes cannot read the locks alone. They need your child.
A cloud full of friends
When the last lock on the last island opens, something surprising happens. The friends forgive Grumble Cloud and invite it to the party. It turns out Grumble Cloud never needed cages. It just needed friends.
Tap a cage to set a friend free
Pick a hero. Pop the sounds. Save the day!
Say hello to the heroes
Tap a hero to hear their name.
Win mystery eggs, find silly hats
Finish level 5 and level 10 on any island to win a mystery egg. Crack it open to find a new hat, then use your coins to wear it.
Try it: tap the mystery egg three times!
How many can you get in 30 seconds?
Which one is spelt the right way?
Ready for Island 1?
▶ Play nowTen minutes a day. Every sound, in the right order.
Phonico follows the order children learn sounds in UK schools, so what they play at home matches what they learn in class.
Hear it
A clear British English voice says the word. Every question can be heard again at the tap of a button.
Choose it
Three big choices. A wrong answer brings a brand-new question on the same sound, so children cannot guess their way through.
Open a lock
Each level is three sound questions and one tricky word, about three minutes. Two right first time opens the lock.
One simple reward path on every island
Stars and coins on every level, a mystery egg at levels 5 and 10, and the island trophy when the friend is free. No spinning wheels, no adverts and no buying coins.
Which sounds does my child know?
The dashboard shows first-try answers for every sound. Green means confident, orange means practise a little more.
How long will all 100 levels take?
Made for little hands and family values
- No adverts and no chat with strangers.
- Progress stays on your device.
- Gentle, wholesome characters suitable for every family and faith.
- A grown-ups area behind a simple check, with a sound-by-sound record.
- Big buttons, a calm voice and a gentle mode for slower play.
Comfortable for every child
- Calm motion turns down movement and flashing effects.
- Gentle speed slows the games down.
- Hear again on every question, as many times as needed.
- Letters in Andika, a typeface designed for children learning to read.
- Sound can be switched off by a grown-up.
Is it free?
Island 1 is free. The full game, with all 10 islands and 100 levels, is a one-off £4.99 for one child or £9.99 for a family of up to 4 children. There is no subscription and nothing else to buy.
Is it safe?
There are no adverts, no chat and no links to social media. Progress is saved only on your device. See our privacy page.
Does it match what my child learns at school?
Yes. Sounds follow the UK synthetic phonics order in four sets, from a reading specialist's teaching sequence, and tricky words follow the same order of red words.
What age is Phonico for?
Ages 3 to 7. Island 1 starts with single sounds like m, a and s. Island 10 covers Set 4 spellings such as ph, wr and tch.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Phonico plays in any modern web browser on a tablet, phone or computer. iPhone, iPad and Android apps are on the way.
Is Phonico suitable for a 3-year-old just starting out?
Yes. Island 1 begins with single sounds like m, a and s, and the first questions are about listening for the first sound in a word. A grown-up can turn on Gentle speed for a slower pace.
How does it compare with flashcards or school reading books?
Phonico adds to them rather than replacing them. It practises each sound in short game levels, with review built in. Reading real books together is still the best way to build a love of reading.
Can several children use the same device?
At the moment progress is saved for one child per device. Each child can play on their own device to keep their own progress.
What are tricky words?
Words like said, was and because that cannot be sounded out. Children hear the word and choose the right spelling from three look-alikes, such as busy, bizzy and buzy.
A phonics structure you can check, level by level
Every question in Phonico is planned in advance and checked against the sound order. Nothing appears before it has been taught.
Two new, one review, one tricky word
Every level has the same shape, so children always know what comes next.
Planned questions
Every answer word is different across the whole game, plus 100 extra questions used after a wrong answer.
Automatic checks
Each question is checked for the right sound, fair wrong answers, and no accidental real or rude words.
Tricky words
Red words in order, then Year 1 and Year 2 common exception words. Each comes with two look-alike spellings.
The logic behind the fun
- Short levels: three questions and one tricky word, about three minutes.
- A story goal: every level opens one of ten locks.
- Ten different games, so the routine never feels repetitive.
- The right answer moves to a different place every question, so children read instead of guessing a position.
- From Set 3, children choose between spellings of the same sound: is it ai, ay or a-e?
- A timed Sound Rush on every island for fluency.
What a school pilot includes
- Free use of the full game for your class during the pilot.
- The complete sound and tricky-word sequence, so you can match it to your phonics lessons.
- A short feedback chat with us at the end.
For teachers
- Follows the Sets 1–4 order you already teach.
- Works in a browser on class tablets or the board.
- No pupil accounts and no data collected about children.
- Calm motion and Gentle speed settings for children who need a quieter pace.
Talk to us
Feedback, a school pilot, or a question about Phonico. Send us a message and we will reply by email.
Parents' privacy promise
We built Phonico for young children, so we keep data to a minimum. This page explains, in plain English, what happens to information.
In the game
Your child's progress, stars, coins and dress-up items are saved only in the browser on your device. They are not sent to us. There are no adverts, no chat and no links to social media inside the game. You can clear progress at any time in the grown-ups area.
When you contact us
If you use the contact form, we receive your name, email address and message by email, through a form service called FormSubmit. We use them only to reply to you and, if you ticked the box, to tell you when the apps launch. We never sell or share your details. Ask us at any time through the contact form and we will delete them.
Fonts
The website loads its fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser connects to Google to download them.
Changes
If we add anything new, such as accounts or visitor statistics, we will update this page first.
Last updated: October 2026.