English with Animals

Browser Game · 2023

While at Uchi.ru, I designed the interface for 'English with Animals,' an educational game for students in grades 1-4. The core learning experience resembles a simplified version of Duolingo, where children complete tasks on cards to earn coins. In the meta-game, these coins can be spent on pet care and various accessories. We initially planned to include classic Tamagotchi-style metrics like hunger and fatigue, but user testing revealed that children had difficulty understanding these scales, so the feature was scrapped. The course was a success, achieving high conversion rates and strong retention. Parents saw the educational value, while kids loved the gameplay.

This is what the gameplay loop looks like, with solving cards, earning coins, and buying treats for the pet.

The game's cards feature four main mechanics.

In the free version, a paywall appears after about 10 minutes, prompting the child to ask a parent to purchase the full game. This paywall blocks any further gameplay. We had previously tested an alternative where players could still access the pet's room without solving new cards, but this resulted in lower conversion rates.

This is the parent-facing paywall screen. It provides parents with an overview of the course, highlights its educational value, and details what's included in the full version. The left side features a video trailer with gameplay clips.

I also designed a landing page to attract users from outside the Uchi.ru platform.