About Us
I’m Pete and I’m a dad of five-year-old twins. As a developer by trade, I built these games because I wanted a fun way to support what my two were learning at school, so we could practise together at home. I noticed that my girls were always curious about the games I’d play on my phone like Squaredle and Wordle and realised that they wanted versions of their own.
I started with Fredle, which follows the phonics framework from their school to help them find words and sounds that they are learning. My girls soon wanted more, so we now have games for maths, languages, geography and more. With a range of games on different topics, you may also find yourself wanting to play them alongside your little ones (we do!).
About b or d
b or d is a gentle phonics game for the one thing that trips up so many young writers: the letters b and d (and their cousins p and q) are mirror images of each other, so it’s honestly easy to write them the wrong way round. This is especially common for left-handed children and for anyone with a dyslexic streak — it’s a normal part of learning to read and write, not a problem to worry about, and a little playful practice really helps it click.
A picture shows the word, so your child already knows what it says — the only question is which way round the letter goes. They drop the right letter into the gap and win a star. It starts with just b or d, then adds p or q, then all four together as they get confident.
How to play
- Look at the picture and say the word it shows.
- One letter is missing from the word — and it’s one of the tricky mirror letters.
- Tap the right letter from the tray, or drag it up into the empty box.
- Get it the right way round and the word turns green — you win a star, and it nudges a little harder. Find it tricky and it eases back.
The letters always stay lowercase on purpose: capital B, D, P and Q look quite different from each other, so it’s the little lowercase letters where the mix-ups happen — and that’s exactly what this game practises. Use the settings cog to choose Set 1, 2 or 3 (which words appear); the difficulty itself is automatic, and there’s a Start again from the beginning button whenever you need it.
A friendly tip for home
Many teachers use the word “bed” as a reminder: make a b with your left hand and a d with your right, and they form the two ends of a little bed — the bumps face inwards. It’s a lovely thing to do together while you play.
More from Tadpole Games
b or d is one of a small family of gentle, no-ads, no-login puzzles for curious little minds. Every game shares the same calm, star-not-streak approach:
- Tick or Fix — fix the broken word (add, take away, swap or reorder the letters) and win a star.
- ABC Gap — spot and fill the missing letter to complete the word.
- Fredle — a daily phonics word puzzle — trace the grid to find Speed Sounds words.
- Sumdle — a daily maths puzzle: drag two digits and an operator to make the target number.
- Fred Sort — put the pictures in the right order, from getting dressed to making toast.
- Flagle — the picture-led country-flag game in the same gentle progression style.