A delightful iOS cooking game for kids aged 6+
Grow vegetables, cook recipes, and learn about nutrition with Pip the hedgehog!
Pip is your friendly hedgehog chef guide! With 8 adorable poses and walking/waving animations, Pip helps kids through every step of their cooking adventure.
Got Idea - Important - Points Right - Points Left - Points Up - Thinking - Misses You - Upset
Kids create their own chef character — 28 boy outfits + 15 girl outfits, with hijab, kippah, and turban options for inclusive representation
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| PIP'S KITCHEN GARDEN |
| |
| GROW COOK FEED |
| --------- -> --------- -> --------- |
| Garden Kitchen Body Buddy |
| Mini-games Mini-games Nutrition Viz |
| |
| REWARDS |
| Coins, Seeds, XP, Badges |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Garden | Plant, water, and harvest 27 types of vegetables with fun gestures |
| Kitchen | Cook 17 recipes through 10 interactive mini-games (chop, stir, season, peel, crack eggs, and more!) |
| Farm Shop | Buy pantry ingredients with earned coins |
| Body Buddy | Track how food fuels your body with organ health rings |
| Play & Learn | Mini-game hub with veggie match, nutrition quiz, and chop challenges |
| Seed Info | Educational veggie pages with PencilKit coloring and fun facts |
| Multi-User | Family system with up to 4 children per device, parent PIN protection |
| Sibling Visits | Visit your sibling's garden, help with care, and gift veggies! |
| Game Center | 4 leaderboards, 26 achievements, and real-time online multiplayer |
| Multiplayer | Online Healthy Picks battle via Game Center matchmaking |
| Progression | Earn coins, XP, badges, and unlock new recipes |
| Quests | Daily challenges to keep kids engaged |
The app supports multiple players per device via a family profile system:
- Family Setup - 8-step onboarding wizard for first launch
- Profile Picker - "Who's playing today?" screen with child avatars
- Parent PIN - Secure Keychain-stored PIN for parent access
- Separate Progress - Each child has their own garden, recipes, coins, and stats
- Parent Dashboard - View children's stats, play time, and manage profiles
- Avatar Creator - Boy/girl character selection with head covering options
Kids can visit each other's gardens from the Home screen:
- Tap a sibling's avatar on the Home screen
- View their profile (level, stats, harvested veggies, recipes cooked)
- Tap "Visit Garden" to see their real garden (read-only)
- Pip greets the visitor with a fun message
- Tap "Cool garden!" to leave a like that the garden owner collects
Multi-step cooking with 10 mini-game types:
| Mini-Game | Gesture | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chop | Tap timing | Chop veggies to the beat |
| Heat Pan | Hold finger | Heat the pan to the right temperature |
| Add to Pan | Drag | Drag ingredients into the pan |
| Stir | Circular swipe | Stir the pot with circular gestures |
| Season | Tap sprinkle | Season with taps |
| Peel | Swipe down | Peel veggies with swipe gestures |
| Cook Timer | Green zone timing | Stop the timer in the green zone |
| Wash | Tap rapidly | Wash veggies clean |
| Crack Egg | Tap to crack | Crack eggs into the bowl |
| Assemble | Tap to plate | Plate the final dish |
Scoring: Each mini-game scores 0-100, averaged for star rating (85+ = 3 stars, 60-84 = 2 stars, <60 = 1 star).
Inspired by Jessie Inchauste's ("Glucose Goddess") research:
- 17 recipes across 4 categories: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks
- Zero starch-centered meals - focused on veggie-forward nutrition
- Glucose tips on recipes explaining blood sugar impact
- Color-coded nutrition education in Seed Info (PencilKit coloring maps ink colors to nutrients)
| Tab | Icon | View | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home | house.fill | HomeView | Main hub, sibling visits, quick actions |
| Garden | leaf.fill | GardenView | Plant & harvest veggies (interactive map) |
| Shop | cart.fill | FarmTabView | Pip walks to barn, then pantry shop |
| Kitchen | fork.knife | KitchenView | Cook recipes (+ Recipe Book access) |
| Body | figure.stand | BodyBuddyView | Organ health visualization |
| Play | gamecontroller.fill | PlayLearnView | Mini-games hub |
The visual style is inspired by vintage botanical watercolor illustrations with a warm, whimsical, handcrafted feel.
| Color | Hex | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Cream | #F5F0E1 |
Main backgrounds |
| Warm Cream | #FAF6EB |
Lighter backgrounds |
| Parchment | #EDE6D3 |
Cards, surfaces |
| Color | Hex | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Dark Brown | #5D4E37 |
Headlines, emphasis |
| Sepia | #8B7355 |
Primary text |
| Light Sepia | #A89880 |
Secondary text |
| Color | Hex | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Wheat | #C9A227 |
Buttons, highlights, rewards |
| Sage | #6B7B5E |
Nature accents, success states |
| Soft Olive | #8A9A7B |
Secondary accents |
| Terracotta | #B87333 |
Warnings, heat indicators |
| Warm Khaki | #C6BA8B |
Avatar styling, gradient accents |
All fonts use SF Rounded (system) for a friendly, approachable feel.
| Style | Size | Weight | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Title | 34pt | Bold | Main screen titles |
| Title | 28pt | Semibold | Section headers |
| Title 2 | 22pt | Semibold | Card titles |
| Headline | 17pt | Semibold | Button text, emphasis |
| Body | 17pt | Regular | Main content text |
| Caption | 12pt | Regular | Labels, badges |
- Language: Swift 5.9
- UI Framework: SwiftUI
- Persistence: SwiftData with iCloud CloudKit sync
- Architecture: MVVM with ObservableObject + SwiftData @Model
- Security: Keychain for parent PIN (iCloud Keychain sync)
- Drawing: PencilKit (Seed Info coloring)
- Voice: AVSpeechSynthesizer (Pip reads instructions aloud)
- Nutrition API: USDA FoodData Central (real nutrient data with kid-friendly superpowers)
- Weather: Apple WeatherKit (real weather affects garden growth)
- AI Chat: Claude Haiku API (Pip answers kids' food questions)
- Game Center: GameKit (leaderboards, achievements, real-time multiplayer)
- Auth: Sign in with Apple (parent authentication)
- Minimum iOS: 16.0
- Target Devices: iPhone & iPad
ChefAcademy/
+-- ChefAcademyApp.swift # App entry, MainTabView, HomeView, CustomTabBar
+-- GameState.swift # Central game state, SwiftData load/save, auto-save
+-- AppTheme.swift # Colors, fonts, spacing constants
|
+-- Models/
| +-- PlayerData.swift # @Model: coins, seeds, plots, pantry, health, likes
| +-- UserProfile.swift # @Model: name, role, gender, avatar, familyID
| +-- FamilyProfile.swift # @Model: familyID-based member queries
| +-- SessionManager.swift # Route state machine, profile CRUD, PIN, play time
| +-- PINKeychain.swift # Secure parent PIN via Keychain Services
| +-- AvatarModel.swift # Gender, outfit, head covering
|
+-- Garden/
| +-- GardenView.swift # Interactive garden map with plots + draggable Pip
| +-- PlantingSheet.swift # Seed selection sheet for planting
| +-- SeedInfoView.swift # Educational veggie pages + PencilKit coloring
|
+-- Kitchen/
| +-- KitchenView.swift # Interactive cooking scene + Recipe Book button
| +-- CookingSessionView.swift # Multi-step cooking state machine
| +-- CookingMiniGames.swift # 9 mini-game views
| +-- ChopMiniGame.swift # Original chopping mini-game
| +-- CookingCompletionView.swift # Post-cooking results
|
+-- Farm/
| +-- FarmTabView.swift # Walk transition -> shop
| +-- FarmShopView.swift # Grid shop for pantry items
|
+-- Recipes/
| +-- RecipeCardExample.swift # PantryItem enum, Recipe struct, GardenRecipes.all
| +-- RecipeDetailView.swift # Full-screen cookbook page
|
+-- Social/
| +-- SiblingProfileView.swift # Sibling stats, visit garden, gift veggies
| +-- SiblingGardenView.swift # Garden visit with care help + rewards
| +-- PipDialogView.swift # Game-style dialog overlay with choices
|
+-- Multiplayer/
| +-- MultiplayerManager.swift # GameKit matchmaking, peer-to-peer messaging
| +-- MultiplayerHealthyPicksView.swift # Online Healthy Picks battle
| +-- GameCenterMatchmakerView.swift # UIKit wrapper for GKMatchmakerViewController
| +-- GameCenterService.swift # Leaderboards, achievements, GKAccessPoint
|
+-- Body & Play/
| +-- BodyBuddyView.swift # Organ health rings visualization
| +-- PlayLearnView.swift # Mini-games hub (6 game cards)
|
+-- Family Setup/
| +-- FamilySetupView.swift # 8-step first-launch wizard
| +-- ProfilePickerView.swift # "Who's playing today?" screen
| +-- AddChildFlowView.swift # Add subsequent children
| +-- ParentDashboardView.swift# Child stats, play time, manage profiles
| +-- ParentPINEntryView.swift # PIN pad (setup + verify modes)
| +-- ProfileView.swift # Player profile stats and badges
|
+-- Onboarding/
| +-- OnboardingView.swift # Original onboarding flow
| +-- AvatarCreatorView.swift # Character creation (2 tabs: Outfit, Covering)
|
+-- Components/
| +-- PipAnimations.swift # Pip character poses + waving animation
| +-- SceneEditor.swift # Dev tool for positioning map items
|
+-- Assets.xcassets/
+-- Pip/ # Character images (6 poses + 15 walking frames)
+-- AvatarCards/ # Boy (28 frames) + Girl (15 frames) animations
+-- Backgrounds/ # Scene backgrounds (garden, kitchen, farm)
+-- FarmItems/ # Pantry item images (farm_salt, farm_pepper, etc.)
+-- Vegetables/ # 27 veggie/fruit/berry images
-
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/GEM-312/ChefAcademy.git
-
Open in Xcode
cd ChefAcademy open ChefAcademy.xcodeproj -
Build and run on simulator or device (iOS 16.0+)
xcodebuild -scheme ChefAcademy -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17 Pro' build
- Core game loop: Grow -> Cook -> Feed -> Rewards
- Interactive garden with 27 plant types and plot management
- Multi-step cooking system with 10 mini-game types
- 17 veggie-forward recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks)
- Farm Shop with pantry items and coin economy
- Multi-user family system with SwiftData + iCloud CloudKit prep
- Parent PIN protection via Keychain
- Avatar creator with gender + head covering options
- Seed Info educational pages with PencilKit coloring
- Sibling garden visits with Pip greeting and likes system
- Body Buddy organ health visualization with animated rings
- Play & Learn mini-games hub
- Tab-based navigation (6 tabs: Home, Garden, Shop, Kitchen, Body, Play)
- Landscape support with adaptive tab bar
- PipDialogView game-style dialog system
- Sign in with Apple (parent authentication)
- Game Center integration with leaderboards and achievements
- Real-time online multiplayer via GameKit
- Veggie gifting between siblings
- PipVoice (AVSpeechSynthesizer) — Pip reads instructions aloud for age 6+ audience. SpeakerButton component on cooking steps, seed info, fun facts
- USDA FoodData Central API — Real nutrition data for all 46 items. Kid-friendly superpowers ("Germ-fighting superpower!") and comparisons ("More Vitamin C than an orange!")
- Plant Care System — Watering, weeding, and bug rescue states with random triggers. Care score affects harvest yield (+0 to +2 bonus)
- Body Buddy Redesign — Big body figure with animated health orbs, cooked recipe cards, animated nutrient breakdown bars, USDA superpowers per organ
- Recipe -> Body Buddy — Cooking recipes now updates organ health (Brain, Heart, Immune, Muscles, Bones, Energy, Eyes, Digestion, Skin)
- Cooking Assets — Frying pan, empty plate, cracked egg images replace drawn shapes in mini-games
- Style Consistency — Fixed 14 off-theme color violations across 11 files (all raw .red/.blue/.orange replaced with AppTheme)
- WeatherKit Debug — Added comprehensive logging for JWT auth troubleshooting
- Save/Load Logging — Replaced silent try? with do/catch for all SwiftData saves
- Play Time Display — Shows days/hours/minutes on profile picker cards
- Profile Refresh — ProfilePickerView now refreshes after adding a new child
- Game Center Service — Singleton with authentication, score reporting, achievement reporting, and GKAccessPoint (floating trophy bubble)
- 4 Leaderboards — Healthy Picks High Score, Insulin Tetris High Score, Cooking Master (3-star count), Total Veggies Harvested
- 26 Achievements — Harvest milestones (First Harvest → Master Gardener), Cooking (First Recipe → Master Chef), Healthy Picks, Insulin Tetris, Social (Helping Hand, Garden Angel, Generous Chef, Help Streak), Progression (Week/Month Streak, Coin Collector, Level 5/10), Garden (Full Garden, Plant Whisperer, Seed Scholar)
- Real-Time Online Multiplayer — Game Center matchmaking for Healthy Picks battles between any players worldwide. Seeded RNG for deterministic food sequences, live opponent score bar, 3-2-1 countdown, VS lobby, win/lose/tie results
- Multiplayer Connection Fix — Wait for
expectedPlayerCount == 0before data exchange (Apple's recommended pattern), safety timeout for unresponsive opponents - Veggie Gifting — Gift harvested veggies to siblings via GiftVeggieSheet, tracked with giftsGivenCount, triggers Generous Chef achievement
- Sibling Help Achievements — Garden care actions (water/weed/debug) now report to Game Center (Helping Hand, Garden Angel, Help Streak)
- ODR Image Fallback — Food bubbles fall back to emoji when On Demand Resources assets haven't downloaded yet
- Plant care interactions: watering can drag, weeding swipe, bug rescue tap
- Singing to plants, composting, sunshade mechanics
- HomeView player stats (veggies grown, recipes cooked)
- Sibling kitchen visits
- ElevenLabs custom Pip voice (real-time TTS via API)
- TestFlight deployment (v2)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SwiftUI Views │
│ (HomeView, GardenView, KitchenView, etc.) │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ViewModels / State │
│ GameState SessionManager AvatarModel │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Services Layer │
│ PipVoice USDAFoodService GardenWeather │
│ PipAIService CloudKeyManager │
│ GameCenterService MultiplayerManager │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ SwiftData + CloudKit │
│ FamilyProfile UserProfile PlayerData │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Apple Frameworks │
│ WeatherKit PencilKit AVFoundation │
│ AuthenticationServices GameKit │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Challenge | Solution |
|---|---|
| SwiftData + CloudKit | No @Relationship macros — UUID-based model linking, all properties with defaults |
| Codable backwards compatibility | Custom init(from:) decoders so old saved data loads when new fields are added |
| USDA API response mismatch | Unified accessors handle both flat (search) and nested (single-food) JSON formats |
| Silent data loss | Replaced try? context.save() with do/catch logging to catch persistence failures |
| WeatherKit JWT auth | Entitlements, provisioning profile regeneration, Apple server propagation handling |
| Kid-friendly nutrition | USDA raw data (mg/IU) translated to superpowers ("Germ-fighting superpower!") via threshold logic |
| Game Center multiplayer | Wait for expectedPlayerCount == 0 before data exchange; seeded RNG for deterministic gameplay; safety timeout for disconnected opponents |
| ODR image fallback | Check UIImage(named:) at runtime and fall back to emoji when asset packs haven't downloaded |
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Swift source files | 84+ |
| Lines of code | ~20,000+ |
| Image assets | 285 |
| Vegetables/fruits | 27 |
| Pantry items | 19 |
| Recipes | 17 |
| Mini-game types | 10 |
| API integrations | 4 (USDA, Claude AI, WeatherKit, Game Center) |
| Game Center leaderboards | 4 |
| Game Center achievements | 26 |
| Body organ systems | 9 |
| Pip character poses | 8 + walking + waving animations |
- Researched iOS Developer career requirements (Swift, SwiftUI, API integration, multi-user systems)
- Studied nutritional science: Jessie Inchauste's "Glucose Goddess" methodology
- Analyzed competitor apps: Cooking Mama, Toca Kitchen, Khan Academy Kids
- Defined core loop: GROW → COOK → FEED → REWARDS
- Built garden system (8 plants → expanded to 27)
- Created 10 cooking mini-games with gesture recognition
- Implemented multi-user family system with SwiftData
- Designed avatar creator with inclusive options (gender, head coverings)
- Integrated 3 external APIs (USDA, Claude AI, WeatherKit)
- Added plant care system (watering, weeding, bug rescue)
- Redesigned Body Buddy with animated health visualization
- Conducted and implemented external UX audit (shifted target age 8-12 → 6+)
- Built PipVoice text-to-speech for accessibility
- Enforced visual consistency via STYLES.md design system
- Game Center integration: 4 leaderboards + 26 achievements with progressive tracking
- Real-time online multiplayer Healthy Picks via GameKit peer-to-peer
- Veggie gifting between siblings with achievement rewards
- Sibling garden help (water, weed, debug) with coin/XP/seed rewards
- Sandbox testing with dual-device Game Center matchmaking
My career goal is iOS Developer specializing in educational and family-focused apps. This project directly demonstrates:
| Industry Requirement | Project Evidence |
|---|---|
| SwiftUI proficiency | 40+ views with complex state management, animations, gestures |
| API integration | 3 production APIs with caching, error handling, and offline fallbacks |
| Data persistence | SwiftData + CloudKit with multi-user architecture and schema migration |
| Security awareness | Keychain PIN, API key protection, Sign in with Apple |
| UX / Accessibility | Voice narration, inclusive design, UX audit implementation |
| Code quality | Design system (STYLES.md), MVVM architecture, comprehensive documentation |
| Ship-ready mindset | Real device testing, backwards compatibility, graceful error handling |
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| CLAUDE.md | Developer guide — architecture, conventions, key files |
| SKILLS.md | Technical skills inventory + teacher-tutor learning mode |
| STYLES.md | Visual consistency guide — colors, fonts, spacing, banned patterns |
| ASSETS.md | Full asset inventory (285 images) + needed assets for new features |
| TEACHING.md | iOS/Swift learning log — concepts explained through project code |
| UX_AUDIT_REPORT.md | External UX evaluation and findings |
| UX_REDESIGN_PLAN.md | Implementation plan for UX improvements |
Developer: Marina Pollak Course: PROG-360A Project Studio, Columbia College Chicago Instructor: Janell Baxter Deadline: May 15, 2026
Nutrition Research:
- Jessie Inchauste ("Glucose Goddess")
- Glucose Revolution (2022)
- The Glucose Goddess Method (2023)
AI Pair Programming: Claude Code (Anthropic) — used as a teaching tool and development accelerator
Happy Cooking!