The Honorable Path

A homeschooler's game of games

The Honorable Path Washington's Life

A history and vocabulary campaign for kids 6 to 12. General Washington leads the way as a patient, fatherly mentor, from his boyhood copybook to the Revolution.

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  • Works offline
  • No ads
  • No accounts
  • No data collected
Title screen of The Honorable Path: Washington's Life. General Washington greets the player on the Muster Roll, with two sample soldiers to choose from.
The Muster Roll. Each child picks a soldier and carries on where they left off.

Our story

Why I Made The Honorable Path

My son has always loved it when I read to him. Snuggled up with a good story, he'd hang on every word. But when it was his turn to read, everything changed. He didn't want to, and getting him to try felt like pushing a wagon uphill.

So I tried something different. I built him a game: a text adventure where the only way forward was to read. Almost overnight, he was excited about reading. The words weren't a chore anymore. They were the path to the next adventure.

Then it hit me. If a game could make him want to read, it could do much more. I could build in the vocabulary I wanted him to learn. I could have him memorize the documents that shaped our founders. And really, I could gamify almost anything I wanted him to learn.

I've never liked teaching reading by sight alone. Kids deserve to know how words work. So I built a syllable mode. When a child taps a word, the game breaks it apart and sounds it out one syllable at a time in a cheerful 8-bit voice, then says the whole word. Seeing the word split up while hearing it split up makes it click fast. My son loves it, and he earns bonuses for reading without help, all the way up to a 21-gun salute.

Underneath it all, I wanted to pass on something bigger: the history and values of our country's founding. As a boy, George Washington copied out the Rules of Civility by hand, and he spent the rest of his life trying to live by them. Following him from that copybook through surveying, a voyage to Barbados, the French and Indian War and the Revolution shows kids what duty, honor and civility look like in a real life.

Along the way they learn the Latin and Greek roots behind hundreds of English words. They read Washington's own journals and letters, with real citations. They work through math and science in 15 mini-games set in his world, from sailing by dead reckoning to rotating crops to cracking a spy cipher. And they hear 27 real fife tunes from the 1700s while they play.

It's made for kids 6 to 12. The younger ones will have to stretch, and that's the point. With a parent beside them and syllable help switched on, they grow into it. Parents get separate profiles for each child, printable report cards and control over how much help each child gets.

It runs offline, with no ads, no accounts and no data collected. It's just a father's attempt to give his son a love of reading, a love of learning and an honorable path to follow. I hope it does the same for your family.

— Matthew Nowlin

What kids learn

Each stop on the campaign mixes reading, words and a little history. It covers many subjects at once, which is why we call it a game of games.

Vocabulary

Latin and Greek roots

Kids learn root words and their families, then spell words and define them in context.

port · spect · scrib · dict · struct · fort · liber …

Phonics

Help when they need it

Optional syllable help lets a child tap a syllable to hear it. Parents turn it on per child. Reading without taps earns a bigger bonus, up to a 21-gun salute.

Reading

Primary sources

Every reading has a ? box. It shows the quoted source passages behind the page, each with an MLA citation.

Character

Duty, honor, civility

Young George copies the Rules of Civility, which came from a 16th-century French Jesuit list. Those ideas follow him through the whole story.

Math and science

15 mini-games, set in history

Sailing by dead reckoning, crop rotation, a ledger in pounds, shillings and pence, and more. Each one sits where it belongs in Washington's life.

Music

Real fife tunes

27 authentic 18th-century fife tunes, from sources like Treat's Gamut for the Fifes (1779). There is a mute button.

About 31 history readings, in order

  1. BoyhoodCopying the Rules of Civility
  2. SurveyingMeasuring land as a young man
  3. 1751The voyage to Barbados
  4. FrontierThe French and Indian War
  5. RevolutionLeading the Continental Army

How it plays

Travel from place to place, gather clues, and earn your way forward. Here the case is a life: George Washington's.

  1. March

    Pick the next stop on the map of Washington's world.

  2. Read

    Read a short history page and a dispatch from the General.

  3. Inquire

    Solve word puzzles built on roots, spelling and meaning.

  4. Play

    Try the mini-game for that place, then march on.

The mini-games

Each mini-game sits at a real moment in Washington's life. Every one ends with the true history behind it and, where one exists, Washington's own words.

  • The Surveyors' Hunt mini-game: A wooded valley with a tent and a deer, and a panel showing food, rifle balls, daylight and wind.

    The Surveyors' Hunt

    Shenandoah Valley

    What it teaches: patience and timing (Easy, Medium or Hard aiming)

    The history: As a teenager, Washington spent weeks in the Virginia backcountry with surveying parties, and they hunted for their food.

  • The Voyage to Barbados mini-game: A ship on open blue sea between Virginia and Barbados, with a question about knots and nautical miles.

    The Voyage to Barbados

    At sea, 1751

    What it teaches: multiplying speed by time, reading a compass course, measuring an angle

    The history: In 1751 Washington sailed with his sick brother Lawrence and kept a daily log. Kids help the ship's master work out the ship's position from course and speed, measure speed with a knotted log-line, take the noon sun for latitude, and learn why nobody could measure longitude at sea yet.

  • The Pack Horse mini-game: A pack horse in snow at Wills Creek, November 1753, with weights shown on each side.

    The Pack Horse

    Wills Creek

    What it teaches: weighing, balancing, deciding what matters most

    The history: In November 1753 Governor Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old Washington into the wilderness with a letter for the French. Kids balance the horse's baskets at Wills Creek, where guide Christopher Gist joined him.

  • The Stockade at Fort Necessity mini-game: A ring of log posts around a storehouse in the Great Meadows, seen from above.

    The Stockade at Fort Necessity

    Great Meadows

    What it teaches: working around a circle, counting, planning time

    The history: Built to the real fort's size, about 53 feet across, as archaeologists confirmed. Washington's men built it in 1754 just before the French attacked.

  • Fowling on the Potomac mini-game: A flintlock barrel aimed at a duck over the Potomac, with prime, load, cock and fire buttons.

    Fowling on the Potomac

    Mount Vernon

    What it teaches: leading a moving target, timing

    The history: Kids shoot ducks on the river at Mount Vernon, the way Washington did at home.

  • The Fox Chase mini-game: A rider jumping a fence behind a pack of hounds across an autumn field.

    The Fox Chase

    Mount Vernon

    What it teaches: following a trail on a map, planning a route around obstacles

    The history: Washington's diaries record his fox hunts down to the minute, including six hunts with Lord Fairfax in 1768.

  • The Spring Fishery mini-game: A seine net stretched across the Potomac, with a choice of which day to fish.

    The Spring Fishery

    Mount Vernon

    What it teaches: reading clues to make a choice, dividing large numbers, quick timing

    The history: Each spring Mount Vernon hauled huge nets of shad and herring from the Potomac and packed about 800 fish to a barrel.

  • The Gristmill mini-game: The Dogue Run mill building beside a list of mill machines to put in order.

    The Gristmill

    Mount Vernon

    What it teaches: putting steps in order, how a machine works

    The history: Washington's mill on Dogue Run made his top-grade "superfine" flour; in 1791 he fitted it with Oliver Evans's new self-running machinery.

  • The Ledger mini-game: A ledger page with columns for pounds, shillings and pence and buttons to set each amount.

    The Ledger

    Mount Vernon

    What it teaches: adding with carrying in base 12 and base 20 (12 pence make a shilling, 20 shillings a pound)

    The history: Washington kept careful account books all his life. One real entry records Bryan Fairfax buying a hunting horn from him for 6 shillings.

  • Crop Rotation mini-game: A grid of four fields over five years with crops planted and soil bars on the right.

    Crop Rotation

    Mount Vernon

    What it teaches: planning on a grid, following a rule, soil science

    The history: In 1793 Washington wrote out a seven-year plan for rotating crops through the fields of Dogue Run Farm; the game shows his real plan at the end.

  • Crossing the Delaware mini-game: Boats crossing a dark, icy river from Pennsylvania toward New Jersey.

    Crossing the Delaware

    Trenton

    What it teaches: sorting by size and weight, steering, keeping track of time

    The history: On Christmas night 1776, Glover's Marblehead sailors ferried the army through the ice. The password was "Victory or Death."

  • The Huts at Valley Forge mini-game: A log hut being built in the snow at Valley Forge, December 1777.

    The Huts at Valley Forge

    Valley Forge

    What it teaches: following written orders, measuring, building in the right order

    The history: Built to Washington's real orders of December 1777: squads of twelve, huts 14 by 16 feet, gaps filled with clay, and a $12 prize for the best hut.

  • The Spy Cipher mini-game: A coded letter from Setauket, Long Island, with numbers being decoded into words.

    The Spy Cipher

    Morristown

    What it teaches: looking things up in a table, careful matching, testing an idea

    The history: Decode a letter from Washington's Culper spy ring with its real number codebook (711 meant General Washington), then reveal the invisible ink.

  • The Drum Calls mini-game: A drummer in camp beside a list of drum calls to learn.

    The Drum Calls

    Monmouth

    What it teaches: careful listening, remembering patterns, matching a sound to its meaning

    The history: Baron von Steuben trained the army at Valley Forge; his drill book lists the drum calls that ran the soldiers' day, from Reveille to Tattoo.

  • The Siege Lines at Yorktown mini-game: A grid of siege trenches advancing toward Redoubts 9 and 10.

    The Siege Lines at Yorktown

    Yorktown

    What it teaches: planning a path on a grid, thinking ahead

    The history: Dig zig-zag trenches toward Redoubts 9 and 10, the way the American and French armies closed in before the British surrendered in October 1781.

For parents

You stay in charge. The game keeps to itself, and the history is told straight.

  • A parent screen. Set up a profile for each child, print report cards and a campaign guide, and adjust mini-game settings.
  • Phonics help your way. Turn syllable help on or off for each child.
  • Private by design. No ads, no accounts, and no data collected. Saves stay on your family's computer.
  • Works offline. It is a small app, about 9 MB on a Mac. No internet needed to play.
  • Honest history. Facts come from primary sources, including Washington's own journals and letters via Founders Online. They are told truthfully and at a level kids can handle.
  • Quiet when you want it. The fife music has a mute.

Read our privacy statement

The Parent Screen: a table of soldiers with name, rank, places reached, an optional soldier PIN, and an Allow syllable help switch for each child.
The Parent Screen: one row per child, with syllable help on or off.

Screenshots

Pictures from the game as it stands today. Select any picture to see it larger.

A history reading about Philadelphia in June 1775, with words split into syllables and a phonics help panel.
A reading. Words split into syllables, with tap-to-hear help.
A word puzzle where the player builds the word vocal from root tiles, after a quote from Newburgh, New York.
Word roots. Build a word from Latin root tiles.
The Where This Comes From panel for Valley Forge, with quoted passages from Washington's own words and full citations.
The ? box. Quoted passages with MLA citations.
A map of the colonies with the places of the campaign marked as small diamonds.
The campaign map. March from Virginia’s frontier to Yorktown.
A surveying exercise: General Washington gives field notes, and the player draws the boundary of a plot on a grid with compass buttons.
Surveying. Read the field notes and run each line, chain by chain.
A printable report card for a sample soldier, listing offices earned and Rules of Civility mastered with scores.
The report card. Rules of Civility mastered, ready to print.

Platforms

The game is launching on four platforms. It is not available yet.

  • WindowsComing soon
  • MacComing soon
  • iPadComing soon
  • AndroidComing soon

Questions parents ask

What age is it for?

Kids 6 to 12. Younger readers will stretch, and that is the point: with a parent nearby and the optional syllable help switched on for them, they grow into it.

What does it cover?

Washington's life from boyhood through surveying, the 1751 voyage to Barbados, the French and Indian War and the Revolution. That is about 31 history readings, plus word roots, phonics help, primary sources, character, 15 math and science mini-games, and period music.

Where do the facts come from?

From primary sources, mainly Washington's own journals and letters as published on Founders Online. Every reading has a ? box with the quoted passages and MLA citations, so you and your child can check them.

Does it need the internet?

No. It is an offline app, about 9 MB on a Mac.

Does it collect any data, show ads, or need an account?

No, no, and no. Saves stay on your family's computer. See the privacy statement.

Can I see how my child is doing?

Yes. The parent screen has a profile for each child, a printable report card, a printable campaign guide, and mini-game settings.

Can I turn off the music?

Yes. The 27 fife tunes have a mute.

When can we get it, and what will it cost?

It is coming soon to Windows, Mac, iPad and Android. We have not announced a date or price yet. Follow along on Pinterest for news.