LESA Reading Game Launched on August 17

The LESA reading game is officially launched.

On Monday, 17 August, we filled Salurinn in Kópavogur. 150 people came together. The LESA team, parents, teachers, and education leaders, all united by a passion for children’s reading. Logi Einarsson, Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, made the day even more special by officially opening the game. For everyone behind the project, it was a significant moment.

Why LESA?

We have written before about the situation we face. Around half of boys leave primary school with weak reading comprehension, and children’s literacy has declined in survey after survey. Reading campaigns come and go, and often do good work, but lasting change happens when reading becomes part of a child’s daily life. The discussion has taken place, the analysis is clear, and now it is time to act. LESA is our contribution.

We are a small innovation company with big dreams, and we have funded most of this project ourselves. Our ambition is high: to reverse the decline in reading by making the world’s most enjoyable reading game.

The idea is simple. Children read more when they are interested in what they are reading and when reading is enjoyable. LESA is a reading game where each child receives a new story every day, collects achievements, and builds a reading habit day by day. Each story meets the child where they are and grows with them. Reading practice becomes a game that strengthens comprehension and vocabulary and, most importantly, keeps the joy of reading alive.

Our Stories

Every story in LESA is written from scratch by our own editorial team. We have said it before, and we will say it again: authors should always be paid for their work. That conviction is the foundation of our content, and it will remain so.

The Launch Celebration

The launch programme reflected exactly what LESA is about. Hjörtur Hilmarsson of 14islands spoke about designing the joy of reading and how good design can inspire a desire to read. Guðbjörg Rut Þórisdóttir discussed a new generation of learning materials and children’s language development. Magnús Þór Jónsson, president of the Icelandic Teachers’ Union, reminded us that innovation begins in the classroom. Linda Heimisdóttir of Miðeind showed how artificial intelligence can be used for good. Vigdís Hafliðadóttir hosted the event, while LESA founder Birgir Hrafn Birgisson told the story behind the game, from idea to launch.

Gratitude is the word that best captures a day that still feels a little unreal to us. Thank you to everyone who came.

What Happens Next?

Now the real work begins. LESA is in the hands of children and families, and the coming months will be spent listening, learning, and improving. We want to work with parents, teachers, and schools who would like to try LESA with their children, whether at home during leisure reading, in reading instruction, or as part of the next reading campaign.

The challenge is great, but it can be solved. We will not solve it alone, and we do not intend to. But we have begun.

LESA is now available on the Google Play Store. We expect Apple to make the game available for iOS devices in the coming days. More information is available at lesa.app.

Birgir is CEO of the software company Revera and founder of LESA.