Story

Over winter break, instead of the usual “kids playing in the snow” thing, we ended up doing something a little different. Mostly because it was abnormally warm, and partly because my kid had other ideas.

We built a small iPhone game together.

My son is a second grader and loves baseball. For years, our family has played a simple dice-based baseball game at restaurants while waiting for food. No screens. Just dice, rules scribbled on napkins, and a lot of arguing over whether something was a double or a ground out. It’s been one of those low-tech things that quietly stuck.

On the first night of winter break, he asked if we could turn it into an actual game.

So we did.

We spent the week breaking down how baseball works, how turns and randomness feel fair, and how games should be quick and fun. I introduced him to basic iPhone development concepts, UI thinking, and how we can use AI as a helper. Not to do the work for us, but to brainstorm, prototype, and iterate faster.

He was immediately hooked.

One of my favorite moments: he came up with a “7th minute stretch” idea. If a game session goes long enough, the app pauses and encourages you to get off the phone for 30 seconds. Do jumping jacks, grab water, stretch, whatever. It’s intentionally anti-doomscrolling, and very much his idea.

The result is Dice Baseball. A simple, fast, family-friendly dice baseball game for iPhone. No accounts. No ads. No paid features. There’s an optional tip jar if someone wants to support it, but that’s it.

For me, the best part wasn’t shipping the app. It was watching a kid realize that software isn’t magic. It’s something you can build, improve, and think critically about. He’s already talking about updates and new ideas.

If you’re curious, here it is ... https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dice-baseball/id6757132879

Thanks for checking it out.