May 21, 2026
tinytype is a single-file HTML game I built for toddlers (desktop only — you need a keyboard). No dependencies, no build step, no ads — just a pitch-black screen and soft coloured letters that appear when you press a key.
The idea. Most "kids apps" are overstimulating — flashing colours, loud sounds, aggressive animations. I wanted the opposite: a screen that sits quietly in a dark room and only responds when the child presses something. The letters pop in gently at centre, then float into a growing numbered line at the top. The animations are slow enough to follow. The colours are muted — sage, mauve, clay, teal.
The timer. Default 3 minutes, customisable via URL (?time=2m, ?time=30s). When time runs out, nothing new appears. No fuss.
Sound. Each key triggers a different sine tone via the Web Audio API — copyright-free, no audio files, just a soft note that varies by character.
No keyboard surprises. All browser shortcuts are suppressed (only Escape works), so a toddler mashing keys won't accidentally close the tab or open dev tools.
It's live at hrhrprasath.github.io/tinytype. The whole thing is about 600 lines of HTML in a single file.