🔓 The heist case — four locks, four kinds of thinking
The Villain's Vault is the most mechanical of the six, and the most satisfying for a child who likes machines. Our stolen case files are behind a four-layer vault, and each layer is a genuinely different puzzle rather than the same question in a new coat — a laser grid, a balance scale, a bank of interlocking gears, a trip-wire alarm. It is the only mystery whose four mechanics stay the same from Kindergarten all the way to Grade 5, which sounds like a limitation and is actually the point: the cadet learns the machine once, then meets it again each year with harder mathematics inside it. The gear works that ask a five-year-old to count by tens ask a ten-year-old to divide.
The villain locked our stolen case files behind a four-layer vault. Beat four fiendish defences — laser grid, bullion balance, gear works and trip-wire alarm — to recover the files and unmask the thief.
Each round is a different interactive mechanic — not the same question in a new coat. Crack all four to unmask the culprit.
The same story, re-levelled for each grade against its own Common Core standards. Pick your child's grade:
| Grade | Skill focus | Standards | XP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Count, add within 10 & count by tens | K.CC.B.5 K.OA.A.2 K.CC.A.1 K.CC.C.7 | ⚡ 100 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 1 | Tens & ones, equality & compare | 1.NBT.B.2 1.OA.D.7 1.NBT.C.5 1.NBT.B.3 | ⚡ 110 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 2 | Even/odd, arrays, compare, +/− | 2.OA.C.3 2.NBT.B.5 2.OA.C.4 2.NBT.A.4 | ⚡ 130 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 3 | Multiples, place value & fractions | 3.OA.C.7 3.NBT.A.2 3.OA.A.1 3.NF.A.3.d | ⚡ 140 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 4 | Factors & primes, multi-digit + × | 4.OA.B.4 4.NBT.B.4 4.NBT.B.5 4.NBT.A.2 | ⚡ 150 XP | Launch → |
| Grade 5 | Expressions, decimals & division | 5.OA.A.1 5.NBT.B.7 5.NBT.B.6 5.NBT.A.3 | ⚡ 160 XP | Launch → |
Earns the 🏅 Vault Cracker badge.
Across K–5, The Villain's Vault covers these 24 standards. Mastery is tracked per standard for each agent. Official Common Core wording:
| 1.NBT.B.2 | Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. |
|---|---|
| 1.NBT.B.3 | Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and ones digits, recording the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, and <. |
| 1.NBT.C.5 | Given a two-digit number, mentally find 10 more or 10 less than the number, without having to count; explain the reasoning used. |
| 1.OA.D.7 | Understand the meaning of the equal sign, and determine if equations involving addition and subtraction are true or false. |
| 2.NBT.A.4 | Compare two three-digit numbers based on meanings of the hundreds, tens, and ones digits, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons. |
| 2.NBT.B.5 | Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. |
| 2.OA.C.3 | Determine whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number of members, e.g., by pairing objects or counting them by 2s; write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends. |
| 2.OA.C.4 | Use addition to find the total number of objects arranged in rectangular arrays with up to 5 rows and up to 5 columns; write an equation to express the total as a sum of equal addends. |
| 3.NBT.A.2 | Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. |
| 3.NF.A.3.d | Compare two fractions with the same numerator or the same denominator by reasoning about their size. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model. |
| 3.OA.A.1 | Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. |
| 3.OA.C.7 | Fluently multiply and divide within 100, using strategies such as the relationship between multiplication and division or properties of operations. By the end of Grade 3, know from memory all products of two one-digit numbers. |
| 4.NBT.A.2 | Read and write multi-digit whole numbers using base-ten numerals, number names, and expanded form. Compare two multi-digit numbers based on meanings of the digits in each place, using >, =, and < symbols to record the results of comparisons. |
| 4.NBT.B.4 | Fluently add and subtract multi-digit whole numbers using the standard algorithm. |
| 4.NBT.B.5 | Multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models. |
| 4.OA.B.4 | Find all factor pairs for a whole number in the range 1—100. Recognize that a whole number is a multiple of each of its factors. Determine whether a given whole number in the range 1—100 is a multiple of a given one-digit number. Determine whether a given whole number in the range 1—100 is prime or composite. |
| 5.NBT.A.3 | Read, write, and compare decimals to thousandths. |
| 5.NBT.B.6 | Find whole-number quotients of whole numbers with up to four-digit dividends and two-digit divisors, using strategies based on place value, the properties of operations, and/or the relationship between multiplication and division. Illustrate and explain the calculation by using equations, rectangular arrays, and/or area models. |
| 5.NBT.B.7 | Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. |
| 5.OA.A.1 | Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols. |
| K.CC.A.1 | Count to 100 by ones and by tens. |
| K.CC.B.5 | Count to answer "how many?" questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1—20, count out that many objects. |
| K.CC.C.7 | Compare two numbers between 1 and 10 presented as written numerals. |
| K.OA.A.2 | Solve addition and subtraction word problems, and add and subtract within 10, e.g., by using objects or drawings to represent the problem. |
Its four mechanics are identical at every grade — only the mathematics inside them changes. That makes it the best case for a child who's returning year after year, because the interface never has to be relearned.
It's played for fun, not menace — the villain is a cartoon and the stakes are stolen paperwork. There's no peril, no violence, and no scary imagery.
Yes. Starlight Station is the free case; The Villain's Vault and the other four unlock with a membership.