How Food Replay works
Four steps, repeated daily, is the whole engine: log → powers → streak & Sparks → play. This page walks the loop the way your child will live it — and shows where you stay in control.
Step 1 — Is logging really kid-easy?
Yes — it's one button. The Log button is the biggest thing on the home screen, and it opens a camera, not a form. The child points it at the plate and Food Replay reads what's there. If it isn't sure, it asks in kid language — "Was that an apple?" — with two big buttons to answer.
There is deliberately no typing, no portion math and no barcode hunting on the kid side. A five-year-old can log dinner without help; the design system requires every kid-facing tap target to be at least 60×60 points for exactly that reason.
Voice works too: a child can simply tell Nova what they ate. And honesty is rewarded — logging a treat truthfully earns more than hiding it, because the goal is an honest picture, not a perfect one.
Step 2 — What are the five powers?
Every logged meal fills up to five nutrient powers, each with its own colour, shape and kid-facing name:
- Muscle Power · Protein
- Splash Power · Water
- Tummy Power · Fiber
- Brain Power · Healthy fat
- Spark Power · Vitamins
Powers fill like a glass through the day. There are no calorie counts, no grams and no percentages on the kid side — a level reads at a glance long before a child can read "55%". An unfilled power simply greys out; it never turns red, never shows a zero, and never says a goal "failed."
The shapes matter as much as the colours: they carry meaning for colour-blind kids and even in grayscale print, which is why the same shapes appear in our printable Starter Kit.
Step 3 — How do streaks and Sparks work?
Two currencies, two jobs:
- Streaks count consecutive days with at least one log. Streak days are the key that unlocks arcade games.
- Sparks are earned by logging and spent only inside games — on new stages and hero gear.
Three promises hold everything together, and they're worth quoting exactly: Sparks are never bought, never expire, and cannot be removed — not even by a parent. And when a day is missed, the streak pauses rather than breaking. Tomorrow it simply continues. There are no streak-loss warnings anywhere in Food Replay, because dread is a terrible reason for a seven-year-old to eat lunch.
Why can't parents take Sparks away?
Because the moment food rewards can be confiscated as punishment, food becomes a battlefield. Food Replay is built so the earning side of the game is untouchable: parents shape when games are played, never what was earned. Families tell us this single rule defuses more dinner-table arguments than any feature.
Step 4 — When do the games unlock?
Streak days open doors in the Arcade: keep showing up and new games, stages and bonus rounds appear. Play happens inside windows the parent sets — for example, 30 minutes after homework — and when the cap is reached, the app says so warmly and offers the comic or tomorrow's quest instead. No countdown dread, no "time's up" klaxon.
The evening closes the loop: the day's real logs become a short comic chapter starring your child's hero, and after sunset the whole app shifts into nightlight mode — dimmer colours, a sleepy Nova, no confetti after 8pm.
Everything about the Arcade → · Everything about parent controls →
What does a typical day look like?
| Moment | What the child does | What happens in the app |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | Snaps a photo of the plate | Powers start filling; the streak ticks; Sparks land |
| School lunch | Logs from memory with Nova's help | Honest logging rewarded — treats included |
| After school | Opens the Arcade in the parent-set window | Spends Sparks on a new Kitchen Quest stage |
| Dinner | One more snap; maybe fills the fifth power | Full-charge celebration if all five fill |
| Bedtime | Reads tonight's comic chapter | Nightlight mode; the day becomes a story |
That's the whole machine. No lectures, no macros, no guilt — just a loop a child wants to run again tomorrow.
Start your hero's journey
Free to download on iOS and Android. The first hero takes about five minutes to set up.
Made for familiesNo ads to kidsSparks can't be boughtParents control play timeCOPPA & GDPR-K aligned