About Feelings Detective
Feelings Detective is a free emotions game for kids. Each level shows a short case — a one-sentence story about a named child, like Max whose favourite truck broke — and your child taps the emoji that matches how that child feels. It looks like a quiz, but the real work is the thought bubble after each pick: it names the feeling and explains why. Naming a feeling is the first step toward managing it.
The levels climb gently. The first three use three or four clear-cut feelings and no clock, so a young child learns the format without pressure. Later levels grow the option grid to six, mix in ambiguous and nuanced scenarios, and add a soft countdown — same simple tapping, just more to notice.
How to play
- Read the case card together.
- Tap the emoji that matches how the kid in the story feels.
- Read the thought bubble that explains why they feel that way.
- Tap Next case to continue — there is no submit button.
- Get most of a level right to move up; a miss just replays it.
What it teaches
Underneath the emoji, your child is practising emotion recognition — reading a feeling from a situation — and perspective-taking, working out how someone else feels. Each thought bubble adds vocabulary for feelings, and telling frustrated from angry or embarrassed from shy is early empathy and self-awareness. These are the same words a child reaches for later to describe their own big moments — which is why the explanation, not the score, is the point.
Frequently asked questions
What is Feelings Detective?
A free emotions game for kids aged 5 to 9. Each level shows a one-sentence 'case' about a named child — say, Max's favourite toy truck broke and can't be fixed — and asks your child to tap the emoji that matches how that child feels. After each pick, a thought bubble explains why they feel that way. It builds emotional vocabulary — naming a feeling — which is the first step toward managing it.
How do you play Feelings Detective?
Read the case card together, then tap the emoji that matches how the kid in the story feels. The right answer lights up green and a thought bubble explains the why; a wrong tap turns gentle amber, wobbles, and still shows the right answer and its explanation. Read the thought bubble, then tap Next case to continue. There is no submit button — the tap is the answer.
What age is Feelings Detective for?
Best for ages 5 to 9. Each case is a full sentence, so it is a co-read for the youngest players — a parent reads the story, the child picks the feeling. Early levels use three clear-cut emotions; later levels introduce nuanced pairs like frustrated versus angry and embarrassed versus shy, which sit at the upper end of the range.
What emotions does it cover?
Eight: happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, confused, frustrated, and embarrassed. Levels 1 to 3 use small sets of three or four clear feelings. From level 5 the option grid grows to five and then six, and the scenarios shift from clear-cut to ambiguous to nuanced — the point where a child learns to tell frustrated (effort blocked) from angry (wronged), or embarrassed (hot-cheeks self-conscious) from scared.
What does Feelings Detective teach?
Four things at once: recognising an emotion from a situation, perspective-taking (how does someone else feel?), vocabulary for naming feelings, and early empathy and self-awareness. The thought bubble after each pick is where the learning actually sits — it names the feeling and gives the reason, so a child builds the words to describe their own big moments later.
Is there a timer or a way to lose?
The first three levels have no timer at all, so a young child can learn the format without pressure. From level 4 a generous countdown fades in and tightens as the levels climb, from 20 seconds down to 10 — emotional learning needs thinking time, so the clock stays gentle. There is no fail state: if the timer runs out it counts as one wrong pick, holds the explanation so your child can read the why, then moves on. Scoring below 60% just replays the same level — never a demotion, never red.
How many levels does it have?
Ten. The emotion options grow from three to six, the scenarios move from clear-cut to nuanced, and the timer shrinks each level. Getting at least 60% of a level's cases right advances your child to the next; anything less quietly repeats the level with softer copy. Level 10 pins at the top so your child can keep replaying.
Is Feelings Detective free? Any ads or sign-up?
Yes, completely free. No ads, no account, no sign-up, and no data collected about your child's play. It runs in any browser and can be added to the home screen to play offline.
Want the parent side of this? Read how naming big emotions helps kids manage them, or see the full list of what each game teaches.