Funlock

Inspiration

When my son Markas was five, I gave him a Nintendo Switch. It was a great gift — and a parenting nightmare. Suddenly I needed a way to manage screen time without turning into a full-time enforcer.

So I built a simple point system. Do a task, earn points. Spend points on things that matter to him — like play time, small treats, or Switch minutes. It wasn’t fancy, but it worked. Over the years, the system grew with him. And I kept thinking: other parents need this too. Not as a spreadsheet or whiteboard, but as a real, usable product.

What it does

Funlock is a task-and-reward system designed for families. Parents create tasks, assign point values, and define rewards. Kids have their own login, where they see what they need to do, track progress, and spend their points.

It’s basically a behavior system disguised as a game. It’s also Duolingo-inspired — streaks, strikes, boosts — because kids respond to systems that feel alive.

How we built it

We used Bolt.new as the main platform — it let us build fast, focus on structure, and avoid drowning in front-end code. The core flows include:

Parent dashboard for adding tasks, setting rules, and tracking progress
Child interface with clean task view, point counter, and reward screen
Logic for daily resets, streak bonuses, and strike recovery
A working demo with pre-filled accounts for testing both roles

Everything was done in Bolt.new with a focus on clarity over complexity.

Challenges we ran into

Bolt.new doesn’t allow .mp4 or custom file uploads, which limited design
Designing two completely different experiences (parent and child) without overcomplicating the UI
Getting the reward logic and point economy to feel balanced
Making sure it didn’t turn into a chore for the parent to manage

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The system actually works — tested with my son and some other parents
Kids love the idea of spending points like currency — especially when the rewards are personal
Parents get more peace, fewer power struggles, and a feeling of “I’ve got this”
We made something useful, honest, and grounded in real family life — not theory

What we learned

Rewards don’t need to be flashy. “One bedtime skip” can be more valuable than a toy
Simplicity scales better than customization
Kids are way more motivated by control than by bribery — if they feel ownership, they show up
Parents don’t want to read a manual. Every feature has to make sense in five seconds or less