Built for kids, run by a parent

What Child Lock does

• A PIN and a recovery phrase. You choose a 6-digit PIN. You also get a recovery phrase, shown once. There is no email or cloud reset.
• What can be made. You choose which categories are blocked (violence, adult content, drugs, self-harm) and can add your own words. Matching works on whole words and catches common tricks like spaced-out letters.
• When it can be used. You can set daily hours. Outside them, nothing new can be started. If the hours end while a game or app is running, the child sees a “Time’s up for today” screen and it stops.
• Local only. You can keep everything on the computer so nothing is sent to Claude.
• Homework mode. Playpen guides instead of handing over final answers.
• A grown-up has to approve changes. Changing the AI model, deleting a project, sharing to a phone, downloads, and the usage alert all ask for the PIN first.
• It checks what Playpen makes, too. Names, text and strings in a build are checked against your rules before it is handed over. A build that trips them is stopped and logged for you, in plain words.
• If someone tampers with it, it stays locked. If Child Lock’s settings go missing or are edited, it keeps your last settings and only the recovery phrase reopens it.

What Child Lock can’t do

Please read this part.

• Anyone who can use your Windows account can get around it. A lock inside an app can’t stop someone who can change files on the same account. For stronger protection, give your child their own Windows account and keep yours separate.
• It reads words, not pictures or sound. It can’t see what an image looks like or what an audio clip says. Other languages and clever wording can slip past a word list.
• It isn’t a promise about the AI. AI models make mistakes. Child Lock adds checks around them. It doesn’t make them perfect.
• Time limits use the computer’s clock.

What data there is

• Projects and chats live in a Playpen folder on the computer. Playpen has no servers of its own, so nothing is uploaded to us.
• When Claude is used, the request goes to Claude, the same as using Claude Code directly. Child Lock can turn that off so everything stays local. If you allow Claude, Playpen removes obvious personal details (phone numbers, street addresses, a stated full name or school) from what it sends. That is a reduction, not a guarantee.
• This website has no cookies, no trackers and no ad scripts. The only thing it collects is an email address, if you join the beta list.
• The app doesn’t send usage analytics today. If that ever changes, we will say so here first.

Deleting data

To delete the beta list email, write to hello@playpen.site. To delete projects, delete them in Playpen (it asks a grown-up first) or delete the Playpen folder in your user folder. Uninstalling Playpen doesn’t delete your projects.

Published games

Publishing games publicly isn’t part of Playpen yet. When it is, this page will explain how published games are handled, and how to report one. Until then, if you see something that shouldn’t be here, write to hello@playpen.site.