How a Couple With Two Kids Made a "Sneaky Educational" Game About Collecting Bugs

What started as a side project for one of their sons has, over time, transformed their lives.

I know a few parents who were relieved by the rise of Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, because their kids were at home all day, remote learning was a mixed bag, and while Animal Crossing is full of endless busy work, it’s also bustling with creativity and requires intense and focused reading comprehension. You could argue that in that context, Animal Crossing became “sneaky educational,” for kids, a fun term introduced to me by Craig and Chera Meredith, two independent game designers responsible for Bug & Seek, a “humorous, 8-bit cozy creature collector” that’s pitched at all ages, including children.

“We’ve learned that even if making something educational is a high priority (even the top priority!), if you’re doing it in the context of a game, the game has to be fun, first and foremost, for every age group,” said the couple, who answered my questions together. “For kids, most kids go to school for 7-8 hours a day. They’re in the business of learning; it’s work for them.”

Bug & Seek is about a collection of bugs, a task that, funnily enough, the game has in common with Animal Crossing. But whereas it’s one of many tasks in Nintendo’s series, it’s the focus here, with players going on quests to track down new bugs, upgrade equipment to catch other bugs, and along the way, learn about the bugs, too.

Here’s a good example of “sneaky educational.” Once it became clear Bug & Seek would be about collecting bugs, it made sense to build a codex to track those bugs. One of the satisfying parts about games like this is slowly ticking everything off a giant list.

“Because we had decided to use real bugs as the creature, we thought, ‘why not just lean into real factual information in the codex?’” said the couple. “As we began researching the bugs to include in the game, our own respect and appreciation for insects grew, which in turn increased our desire to make sure what we did include in the codex emphasized the importance and uniqueness of insects.”

The initial impulse was about fun, about what best served the game, but with a little boost. It helps that the codex is, hilariously, written in first-person. It’s the bugs telling you about themselves, and it’s not a dry Wikipedia dump. Instead, it’s fused with humor and heart. Here’s what it looks like when you’re scrolling through the codex:

Wandering Violin Mantis
(“I’m just gonna hang here, maybe blow in the wind for a bit”)

I’m calm and docile, and I live in groups, which is unusual for a mantis. I like to sit and ambush my prey, which consists primarily of flying insects. You can often find me hanging off a branch and swaying, like a leaf or twig in a breeze.”

Craig and Chera have two children, two sons ages nine and 13. 

“We ran the idea for Bug & Seek by them first,” said the couple. “The nine-year-old loved it. ‘Yes! You should definitely make that!’ The more snarky 13-year-old gave us a solid ‘maybe,’ but I could tell by the slight eyebrow raise we had his attention.”

Their children have served as playtesters and, depending on the day, show genuine interest in the couple’s work. Side note: I constantly wonder what my kids are going to be like when they hit this age, and it seems so genuinely unpredictable that I’ve (mostly) given up worrying about it. You can’t be your child’s best friend forever, it’s not healthy. But look, man, I’ll be heartbroken if they don’t want to be my friend at all!!

There are, at times, fun overlaps, like when their teenager shares a video from the Game Maker's Toolkit channel because it touches something the couple is working on.

“Our teenager does say that he also wants to make video games,” said the couple. “which means we haven’t made it look so unappealing that he wants to avoid it simply because it’s what Mom and Dad do, so that’s something.”

What more can a parent aspire to, truly?

The journey to this moment has been, like most things, with unexpected twists. It all started when their son, then five years old, wanted a “big kid game,” and Chera wasn’t sure what to recommend for him. At a work conference, a group of game developers said “hey, you could just make it yourself, the game that’s perfect for your kid?” 

The next seven years was “constant learning via YouTube tutorials, Game Maker’s Tool Kit videos, the few friends I was making in the industry, and even picking my kids’ brains about their favorite games.” Quietly over the course of nearly a decade, a side project for her kids turned into fulfilling a dream Chera didn’t know she had. 

“I told myself for years that it was for my kids,” said Chera, “but I can admit now that making games is as much for me as anyone. I LOVE it. Every part of it. (Ok, except marketing.)”

[Begins to look at the camera]

Craig joined development on Bug & Seek more fully later, when a pivot point at his then-full-time job as an attorney proposed an intense commitment that bothered him.

“I was already feeling burnt out and overworked,” said Craig, “so after some prayer and discussion, I declined, and I was eventually replaced, although everyone was very gracious in the process. When I left, Chera had the idea for Bug & Seek, and I was so burned out I couldn’t imagine doing any legal work, so we thought we could make the game together.”

Since launching in January on Steam, the game “is going well,” and Bug & Seek arrives on Switch next month. A mobile version is, fingers crossed, coming this summer, too.

“We knew trying to be indie developers full time wasn’t the most secure or lucrative career move we could make,” said the couple. “But we really hope our kids see that we are willing to do hard things for the sake of a richer lifestyle (not a richer bank account) in the ways that really matter.”

Have a story idea? Want to share a tip? Got a funny parenting story? Drop Patrick an email.

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Also:

• I rented Animal Crossing: New Horizons for my oldest from the library (!!), but we haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I may miss my chance, with summer nearly here.

• Have you had “sneaky educational” moments with your kids? Curious to hear what other games/movies/whatever have filled a similar slot for all of you!

• My youngest recently told me she likes to “crush” bugs, and in response to my plea that it wasn’t a nice thing to do, she promised to smash more. I have not witnessed said bug crushing behavior before, so I think she’s messing with me.