Popleaf is a tiny software developer based in Cambridge, England.
We lovingly craft brilliant apps and games.
Selected Work
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Reading for Fun
The Usborne Foundation, iOS / Android / Web
Having already been played over 40 million times, the latest entry in the Teach Your Monster To Read series is dedicated to the wonder of books and stories.
Featuring over 75 real books to collect, Reading for Fun is a massive narrative adventure which gives players more freedom and agency than ever before, fusing the joys of a small open world with numerous story threads playing out over many days.
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Teach Your Monster to Read
The Usborne Foundation, iOS / Android / Web
Our two-time BAFTA award nominated Teach Your Monster to Read trilogy, which has been played more than 130 million times, is now available on iOS and Android in its entirety. Since launch the app has been a monsterous success, having peaked at #1 in the iOS kids and education charts and downloaded over 10 million times.
We're now running this game as a live service and continue to release new content and features on a regular basis across all platforms, while quietly working on our Next Big Thing.
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Words the Changed the World
Cambridge University, iOS, 2016
Built to coincide with Cambridge University Library's 600th anniversary, Words that Changed the World collects 6 of the library's greatest treasures and presents them as a series of deeply linked interactive documentaries. This project was a great example of our ultra-agile, multidisciplinary approach, taking the project from initial concept proposal through to designing and developing the software itself, editing a huge volume of content and even directing, conducting and editing the video interviews, all within an incredibly tight timeframe.
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Teach Your Monster to Read 3: Champion Reader
The Usborne Foundation, Web, 2015
Teach Your Monster To Read 3: Champion Reader is the third in the BAFTA nominated series of games which has been played more than 140 million times in classrooms and homes all over the world.
Players lead their monsters on an educational race across the galaxy in pursuit of the dastardly Space Goblins through massive game world made up of 48 planets full of new characters, fun and learning. With a focus on complex sentence comprehension, the educational content of the game was painstakingly designed in collaboration with the team from Roehampton university and carefully follows the national curriculum.
Once again, we designed, developed, wrote and produced the game utilising our newly re-engineered cross platform game engine and the game's fantastic art and animation was provided by Rich Wake.
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Teach Your Monster to Read 2: Fun with Words
The Usborne Foundation, Web, 2013
The second in the BAFTA award nominated 'Teach Your Monster To Read' series. Now even bigger and more adventurous, with over 3 million registered players and used in schools and homes all over the world.Once again, we designed and built the game and backend entirely in-house, going so far as to write the music, script and direct the voice-over sessions ourselves in order to ensure that everything was as close to perfect as possible. Along the way, we worked closely with Roehampton university to ensure the game conformed to the 'Letters And Sounds' section of the national curriculum. The game, of course, wouldn't be the same without the wonderful art and animation of Rich Wake and the excellent voice talents of Simon Farnaby.
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Black Crown
Random House / Failbetter Games, Web, 2013
We designed and built the "Miasma" component of this experimental interactive fiction project which was developed by Failbetter Games, written by Rob Sherman and published by Random House. Our contribution to the game consists of a series of 3D objects and documents which can be investigated and manipulated by the player in order to unlock new sections of the story.
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A Clockwork Orange
Random House, iPad, 2012
To coincide with the 50th anniversary of Anthony Burgess' classic book, we designed, developed and co-edited this ambitious version of one of the most celebrated novels of the 20th Century. Integrating, for the first time, the author's hand-annotated typescript, a fully synchronised reading by Tom Hollander and an exhaustive library of painstakingly cross-referenced articles, essays, notes and video interviews, we created what we believe to be the definitive edition of the novel. Nominated for the FutureBook Innovation Awards.
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Teach Your Monster to Read: First Steps
The Usborne Foundation, Web, 2012
A sprawling, persistent, free online game to aid young children learn phonics. Undoubtedly our most ambitious project to date, we created the original concept, designed and built the game, the website, server and backend systems - we even wrote the music! Since launch, the game has grown substantially as our user base has expanded dramatically around the world, quietly picking up tens of thousands of active users. Such is the project's success that have since released 2 sequels and a successful mobile version. Shortlisted for the 2013 Bett Awards.