Igniting a Spark

In 2019, we launched Spark, our first application. It has been used in 40 schools by 10,000 users. Children picked up knowledge much faster and retained it for much longer. We also provided insights into the learning experience with brilliant charts showing that 90 minutes on the application produced three times more knowledge and up to 18 times longer retention.

There were gold nuggets in the feedback we received. Spark comes with a simple and naive game. Ninety per cent of all users opted to play this maze game, where answering questions opens gates rather than working through flashcards. Despite its simplicity, players loved the game. They constantly asked for feature updates. Some children even played it outside school hours for fun.

Let this sink in: Kids did voluntary homework for fun. It certainly was not the core game idea alone that achieved this.

It turned out that the AI makes the game a lot better.

First, it keeps players on their toes, always asking challenging questions. It never gets boring or too hard. It paces players well and they get better at the game in their own time. The AI adapts to cognitive skills and makes the game brain-friendly. Second, the experience is game-first. It provides a safe sandbox where getting quiz questions wrong is not a failure. It is a necessary and expected part of a coherent game experience. And third, progress is effortless. Doing flashcards is hard work, and you get tired after a few minutes. Doing them in a maze quiz lowers intensity. It lets you relax when you need it. You can take your mind off for a moment, spend some time finding gold coins in the maze and not answer questions for a while. This way, you can play for hours without getting tired.