Do you ever find yourself trying to hand your phone to your child? Start the game, teach how to play and in 30 seconds your kid will discover how to move to your browsing tabs, press back button and send video call to your boss. This is the reason why I always use the full-screen mode in the wordleunlimited.dev the moment I discovered this function in the top bar. It is one of those functions which look boring in the feature list but actually make the difference. Here is why.
Where to Find the Full-Screen Mode
As you can see, the full-screen mode button is located right above the game field, next to the settings icon. And just one click makes you enter the full-screen mode. All the unnecessary elements of the browser UI such as address bar, back button, notification drop-down and so on disappear and you get the game grid and keyboard only. And this is exactly what you need if the kid holds your phone and doesn't understand what are these buttons for.
Why Full-Screen Mode is Good for Kids
The thing is kids bring the chaos - they press the points of the screen randomly, the context menu pops up in the places you never thought they could exist and kids learn how to swipe up due to short-form videos. And the presence of the browser UI on the screen makes all the interactions lead you out of the game. The full-screen mode eliminates all the "escape hatches" and leaves one option for the kid to press the game. Thus, my nephew can go wild trying to guess the letters and the worst thing - he is able to press the wrong letter. Does it give you the peace of mind?
How to Combine the Full-Screen Mode with the Kids Mode
Well, the perfect combo for this game is to turn the Kids mode on in the settings menu, set the word length to 3 letters and then activate the full-screen mode. And now you get the distraction-free game with the proper word length and no chance to accidentally open your emails and so on. Moreover, 3-letter words is the best choice for kids since it allows them to guess the word phonetically. I saw how my nephew changed his phrase "I can't spell" to recognition of patterns of such words as CAT, DOG, RUN in two sessions. Believe me, he wasn't even aware that he was learning something.
Why This Function Is Better than Downloading Any Kids' App
Well, the thing is that most of the existing kids' apps require you to provide your card details, email, subscribe to the app, create the account and pay monthly fees. Wordle unlimited dev opens in the browser, turns into full-screen with just one click and works. There is no subscription, no downloading, no personal information, no data mining and no additional unlocked features available only through subscription. For parents it is a rare occasion to relax since you don't register for anything and don't expose your kid to the numerous monetization tricks. This was a big surprise for me since I didn't expect this feature would make such a difference.
Some Little Design Details that Matter for Small Kids
Apart from the obvious things there are some little design details that matter if a small kid is playing. Tiles are big enough for the kid's fingers, keys on the keyboard have enough space to avoid pressing the wrong key and different colors to show whether the letter is correct or not. Overall design is so minimalistic that the game becomes very convenient for the small kid to play comparing to other kids-oriented apps that stuff the user with unnecessary details.
What I Do When I Hand Over My Phone to My Nephew
Thus, my current routine is the following: I open wordleunlimited.dev in the browser, press the settings gear, turn on Kids mode, close settings, press the full-screen mode button and hand over the phone to my nephew. The time required to set up the game is about 8 seconds. Now, he gets the distraction-free 3-letter word game that allows him to spend 10 minutes or more while I cook dinner. I don't need to stay near him and control what he may do. When he finishes playing or gets frustrated, I take the phone back and continue my business.
Something Bigger Behind This Feature
But in fact, there is something bigger behind this feature that should be mentioned. You see, many parents are afraid to give their phone to kids because of all the possible negative consequences. But the presence of the browser-based, full-screen, kid-mode puzzle game changes this fear to the confidence since there is no purchase pathway, no ads and no place where the kid can explore the inappropriate content. This creates the completely safe environment that is hardly created by app store games.
Conclusion
The presence of the full-screen mode and kid-mode combo in wordleunlimited.dev became my go-to feature to distract the small human for 10 minutes. This feature is not advertised anywhere as the special thing and has no separate banner. But this absence of fuss allows this feature to work perfectly. If you are a parent, an aunt or uncle or anyone else who is ever asked by a small kid "Can I play on your phone?" go and configure this combo right now. You will definitely appreciate it.
