Every child meets them across the board: the one who captures everything, the one who brings the queen out first, the one who copies every move. And most children have been one of them. In Loftet they're toys, and beating them is how your child grows out of those habits.
The story
Loftet's toys began as real plush toys. Dragulf Chess Club in Norway used to hand them out as prizes at its tournaments. Now they've settled into the club's attic, where they hatch new plans. And yes, Loftet is the Norwegian word for "the attic". 🙂
The names aren't random either. Many of the toys are named after the club's popular coaches and a couple of well-known Norwegians.
What each toy teaches
Loftet is part of the SJAKKPASS universe. The icon on a toy's card shows which level of the chess passport it belongs to. Beating the toy takes the skills from that level, so in every game your child practices exactly what they are learning.
Sonja keeps her pieces out along the edges and plays very cautious moves.
Teaches: develop the pieces, take the middle of the board, and play active moves all the way to checkmate.
Karl Anker captures whatever he can reach, even if it costs him his finest piece.
Teaches: what the pieces are worth, and how to count what a trade costs.
Thyra sends her queen out before anything else, and pushes for a new queen when she loses hers.
Teaches: how to punish a queen that comes out early, and how to stop a pawn before it becomes a new queen.
Lars chases pieces that are easy to attack, or shuffles around looking for the next bite.
Teaches: move pieces out of danger, and take the pieces he leaves hanging while he chases others.
Morten builds mazes out of pawns, even though they leave holes in his position. But his pieces shoot from far away.
Teaches: look all the way along a line before moving, and find the holes in the pawn wall that your own pieces can use.
Heksa copies every move your child makes, which is why she always plays black.
Teaches: moves a mirror can't copy, like forcing moves and threats.
Felix starts weak and gets stronger with every piece he captures, so he offers trade after trade.
Teaches: when a trade pays off and when it doesn't, and how to checkmate quickly.
Erling charges forward with everything he has and rarely castles.
Teaches: calm defense. Castle, accept the sacrifice, and trade off the attackers.
Gardar trades until the board is almost empty, and a draw counts as his win.
Teaches: how to attack, the most important lesson of all, and to trade pieces only when there is a plan behind it.
Simen plays more to stop the other player from winning than to win himself.
Teaches: patience, and how to attack where nobody is watching.
Misha sees simple threats long before they arrive.
Teaches: combinations, several moves working together.
Dragulf has three heads, each with its own plan: attack, strategy, and one that gets sloppy just when he's winning.
Teaches: pick one plan and stick to it, and play steadily all the way to checkmate.
How Loftet works
Two ways to play. In a fun game, your child has helpers. In a battle there is no help, and only a battle earns a toy's mascot button.
The helpers. In every fun game your child has three hints, two undos and one reroll. Hint marks a good move on the board. Undo takes back your child's last move. Reroll asks the toy to take back its move and try another. Your child can use one helper per move.
Games. Loftet keeps the last hundred games on this device, and a thousand if you make an account. When the limit is reached, the oldest game goes. A game that isn't finished waits at the top of the list until your child wants to carry on. You can download every game as one PGN file, a standard format that any chess program opens.
Replay. Any game can be played back, move by move. The "Who was ahead" graph shows how the game swung, seen from your child's side. The move list marks where a helper was used in a fun game.
Stats and the Logbook. Stats shows how many games your child has played and won, in fun games and in battles. Below that sits the shelf with the toys' mascot buttons. The first time your child beats a toy in a battle, that toy's mascot button is theirs. Tap a button to open that toy's Logbook: games and wins, streaks without a loss, and every game against that toy.
Ten languages. Pick a language with the flag at the top of the screen, or in Settings. We write Loftet in Norwegian and English. The other eight languages are translations that no native speaker has checked yet. If you spot a mistake, tell us with Report a problem.
Offline. After the first visit, Loftet works without the internet. On a phone or tablet you can add Loftet to the home screen and open it from an icon, like an app.
What is stored and sent. Games are stored on this device. Each finished game is also sent to us, without a name and without anything that shows who played, so we can make the toys better. Privacy has the details.
Who is behind Loftet
Loftet is made by Sjakkpass.
Fleur Sommerseth, Woman Grandmaster in Chess with a PhD in education. Founder and creator of SJAKKPASS: The Chess Passport.
Simen Agdestein, chess Grandmaster and nine-time Norwegian champion. Our advisor.
See what else we make at sjakkpass.com. Questions? Email support@sjakkpass.com.