STEAM
InkQuest
Junior investigative journalists at a school newspaper collect data, analyze patterns, identify bias, and write articles. Addresses data literacy + media literacy simultaneously.
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.
Mentored by Caret
#E91E63 InkQuest puts you in the shoes of a junior investigative journalist! Collect data, interview sources, analyze patterns, spot bias, and write evidence-based articles for your school newspaper. You will learn how real journalists use data and facts to tell important stories.
Distributed-narrative cast
Meet the cast
InkQuest's 5-character cast embodies the data-journalism craft primitives — story-from-data (Lede), interview + notebook craft (Pad), verification + triangulation (Crosscheck), chart-annotation craft (Margin), citation + provenance (Footer). Caret (mentor — proofreader's-mark editorial-craft register; renamed) introduces each primitive. NewsForge cluster strict-no-overlap honored (Source / Tilt / Frame / Verify / Serve REJECTED — those are NewsForge's news-literacy primitives; InkQuest distinct as data-journalism craft). No trauma-informed gate (craft-discipline domain).
Lede
Story-from-data — finding the angle; what's the story under the numbers?
Read chapter →
Pad
Field-capture + interview craft — open the question; let the answer breathe
Read chapter →
Crosscheck
Verification + triangulation — three sources say the same thing, now I have something
Read chapter →
Margin
Data-table + chart-annotation craft — label the axes; caption the chart; credit the data
Read chapter →
Footer
Citation + provenance — every number has a name behind it; tell the reader who counted
Read chapter →
Browse all 5 chapters → · What's distributed-narrative methodology? →
What's inside
Investigation Board
Each story starts on your investigation board. Pin clues, connect leads, and figure out what questions to ask. Move around the newsroom to interview NPC sources
Data Collection
Gather numbers and facts from interviews, surveys, and documents. Organize your data into tables and look for patterns. Is the data telling a clear story?
Chart Builder
Turn your raw data into charts and graphs. Pick the right chart type -- bar, line, or pie -- to make your data easy to understand. A misleading chart can change
Article Writer
Write your article using the evidence you collected. Drag key quotes and data points into your story. The AI editor gives you feedback on whether your article i
Mentored by Caret — on-device AI, no data leaves the device.
How InkQuest 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
InkQuest 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
InkQuest 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