Think and Learn Private Limited
NUM Craft: Turning Numbers
into Adventure
Teaching complex math takeaways by engaging proven game mechanics
Web Application
India
Aakash+Byju’s Products Limited
The design process was data-led and purpose-driven:
Homework and Live Tests were given prime homepage placement to address low engagement
Progress indicators and clear CTAs guided students from start to finish
Related tools were grouped to reduce visual clutter and cognitive load
Micro-interactions added instant feedback, encouraging quick re-engagement
Built a modular, reusable design system to allow rapid iteration without disrupting the experience
By targeting previously underperforming sections, we turned them into high-engagement anchors of the platform.
DESIGN
BRIEF
Created NUM Craft to reimagine math as a casual, universally engaging puzzle experience. Designed primarily for learners in grades 3–7, but approachable for players of all ages, the game transforms simple equations into fast-paced, rewarding challenges.
Players journey across 40 tropical islands and 790 timed levels, mastering math fluency through quests, collectibles, and dynamic rewards. The goal was to make math practice feel less like “schoolwork” and more like an adventure worth returning to.
DISCOVER
Through early research and testing, I noticed a clear gap in the learning-games market: math games were either too academic or overly simplistic. There wasn’t a single casual puzzle experience that balanced fun, focus, and fluency, where solving equations felt as gratifying as unlocking new worlds in a mainstream adventure game.
I identified key opportunities to:
-
Keep players engaged through short, timed sessions ideal for sustained attention.
-
Build long-term stickiness with progression systems and collectible rewards.
-
Align challenges with real learning goals, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and number bonding, while keeping the experience playful and self-driven.
CHALLENGE
The core design challenge was to balance three competing forces:
-
Fun vs Learning: Make math enjoyable without diluting academic rigor.
-
Depth vs Accessibility: Design 790 adaptive levels that could engage children, adults, and seniors alike.
-
Retention: Create feedback loops and reward structures that encouraged daily and weekly return.
To achieve this, I developed a dynamic content generation system that scaled level complexity automatically, ensuring variety, difficulty pacing, and cognitive engagement across sessions.
DEFINE
Established four core pillars for success:
-
Interactive Design: A tactile “swipe-to-form-equations” mechanic with instant visual feedback.
-
Learning Design: Curriculum-aligned puzzles that built fluency organically, not through repetition.
-
Metagame: Treasure hunts, marine-life collectibles (197 fact cards), daily quests, and leaderboards to maintain momentum.
-
Engagement Loops: Coins, streaks, and reward mechanics to drive replay and mastery.
These systems together turned learning into a progression-driven experience where growth and play naturally reinforced each other.
WIREFRAME
The prototype phase focused on proving that math could feel kinetic and game-like:
-
Players swipe numbers and operators to form valid equations.
-
A tutorial-first design ensured anyone could start playing within 10 seconds.
-
Daily and weekly challenges created rhythm and return triggers.
-
Quests and collectibles turned math mastery into exploration-driven play.
This structure created intuitive learning pathways and clear progression goals, core to the game’s long-term retention strategy.
DESIGN
The design direction embraced a marine adventure aesthetic, bright, calm, and optimistic:
-
40 island maps marked player progression and visual accomplishment.
-
Gold-coin tokens for numbers and operators made math tactile and familiar.
-
Marine-life collectibles rewarded curiosity beyond correct answers, introducing contextual learning.
-
Micro-interactions, glows, shakes, bursts, made feedback immediate and satisfying.
Every detail was tested for rhythm, clarity, and joy, creating a learning experience that looked and felt like a polished adventure game.
Delivery
NUM Craft was built and delivered as a cross-platform release (Web, Android, iOS, Windows), powered by:
-
Unity, Playfab, Firebase, and Branch.io for game logic, analytics, and retention tracking.
-
Spine, Maya, After Effects, and Photoshop for animation and visual production.
-
Figma and Illustrator for the UI and system-level design.
Final deliverables included:
-
A scalable design system supporting future level expansion.
-
A complete style guide and iconography kit ensuring consistency.
-
Integrated feedback systems, hints, notifications, streaks, to drive sustained engagement.
Conclusion
NUM Craft proved that math can be casual, addictive, and deeply rewarding.
Players didn’t just solve equations, they kept coming back to explore, collect, and progress.
Results:
-
49% boost in homework-like adoption through casual math engagement.
-
50% increase in player stickiness after framework redesign.
-
Significantly higher completion rates — complex concepts mastered faster through play.
Retention Data:
-
D1 Retention: 42%
-
D3 Retention: 27%
-
D7 Retention: 16%
NUM Craft showed that math could live comfortably in the world of entertainment, a scalable, evidence-backed, and emotionally rewarding experience that makes learning feel like discovery, not obligation.
Thinking of design?
Let’s craft brilliance
together!
The design process was data-led and purpose-driven:
Homework and Live Tests were given prime homepage placement to address low engagement
Progress indicators and clear CTAs guided students from start to finish
Related tools were grouped to reduce visual clutter and cognitive load
Micro-interactions added instant feedback, encouraging quick re-engagement
Built a modular, reusable design system to allow rapid iteration without disrupting the experience
By targeting previously underperforming sections, we turned them into high-engagement anchors of the platform.
DESIGN
We began with a simple but critical question: Why aren’t students engaging as much as they could?
With no dedicated research team, we became the researchers:
Conducted quick interviews and “Mom Tests” with students to surface pain points
Analysed usage analytics, student feedback, and user flow data
Observed that 80–90% of students logged in but struggled to reach their classes
Found Homework and Live Test modules hidden in plain sight at critical user touch points
Identified inconsistent navigation between desktop and mobile
Discovered there was no journey map to visualise the end-to-end student experience, making it difficult to track and address drop-offs
These findings laid the groundwork for a redesign strategy that addressed both product interface and service workflows.
CHALLENGE
The platform was packed with valuable tools but lacked structure, focus, and intuitive pathways. Students weren’t completing key actions, and engagement was uneven.
We had to:
Boost Homework and Live Test adoption by making them visible, accessible, and rewarding
Increase stickiness by designing habit-forming flows and re-engagement triggers
Reduce confusion with a clear hierarchy, consistent layouts, and simplified navigation
Resolve technical blockers limiting the “Prepare & Analysis” section in the Test Space
Address the absence of a service design framework and align all user touch points to reduce outbound calls and support queries
This was not just a UI refresh — it was a full-service design overhaul requiring deep coordination between design, product, and engineering.
DEFINE
From the research, we set clear objectives:
Elevate Homework and Live Test modules across all devices and touch points
Improve completion rates through guided, intuitive interaction flows
Boost repeat engagement with visible progress and timely feedback loops
Build a scalable design system that would evolve with the product
To support these goals, we created a comprehensive service design map — plotting the entire student journey from login to task completion. This became the master blueprint for reducing drop-offs, improving visibility, and ensuring seamless transitions between touch points.
WIREFRAME
We worked quickly, iterating on structure before committing to visuals:
Low-fidelity wireframes mapped new module placements and flows
Multiple layout variations tested for priority actions like homework submission and test preparation
Stakeholder reviews ensured alignment with service workflows and technical feasibility
DESIGN
The design process was data-led and purpose-driven:
Homework and Live Tests were given prime homepage placement to address low engagement
Progress indicators and clear CTAs guided students from start to finish
Related tools were grouped to reduce visual clutter and cognitive load
Micro-interactions added instant feedback, encouraging quick re-engagement
Built a modular, reusable design system to allow rapid iteration without disrupting the experience
By targeting previously underperforming sections, we turned them into high-engagement anchors of the platform.
Inteligen Games and Robotics Private Limited
NUM Craft:
Turning Numbers into Adventure
Teaching complex math takeaways by engaging proven game mechanics
Inteligen / Kloo
India
Mobile App
![Image [wpdm-img]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/18714b_fb4e0d36da5c4aaf8a70826e6b533939~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/18714b_fb4e0d36da5c4aaf8a70826e6b533939~mv2.png)
BRIEF
Created NUM Craft to reimagine math as a casual, universally engaging puzzle experience. Designed primarily for learners in grades 3–7, but approachable for players of all ages, the game transforms simple equations into fast-paced, rewarding challenges.
Players journey across 40 tropical islands and 790 timed levels, mastering math fluency through quests, collectibles, and dynamic rewards. The goal was to make math practice feel less like “schoolwork” and more like an adventure worth returning to.
DISCOVER
Through early research and testing, I noticed a clear gap in the learning-games market: math games were either too academic or overly simplistic. There wasn’t a single casual puzzle experience that balanced fun, focus, and fluency, where solving equations felt as gratifying as unlocking new worlds in a mainstream adventure game.
I identified key opportunities to:
-
Keep players engaged through short, timed sessions ideal for sustained attention.
-
Build long-term stickiness with progression systems and collectible rewards.
-
Align challenges with real learning goals, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and number bonding, while keeping the experience playful and self-driven.
CHALLENGE
The core design challenge was to balance three competing forces:
-
Fun vs Learning: Make math enjoyable without diluting academic rigor.
-
Depth vs Accessibility: Design 790 adaptive levels that could engage children, adults, and seniors alike.
-
Retention: Create feedback loops and reward structures that encouraged daily and weekly return.
To achieve this, I developed a dynamic content generation system that scaled level complexity automatically, ensuring variety, difficulty pacing, and cognitive engagement across sessions.
DEFINE
Established four core pillars for success:
-
Interactive Design: A tactile “swipe-to-form-equations” mechanic with instant visual feedback.
-
Learning Design: Curriculum-aligned puzzles that built fluency organically, not through repetition.
-
Metagame: Treasure hunts, marine-life collectibles (197 fact cards), daily quests, and leaderboards to maintain momentum.
-
Engagement Loops: Coins, streaks, and reward mechanics to drive replay and mastery.
These systems together turned learning into a progression-driven experience where growth and play naturally reinforced each other.
WIREFRAME
The prototype phase focused on proving that math could feel kinetic and game-like:
-
Players swipe numbers and operators to form valid equations.
-
A tutorial-first design ensured anyone could start playing within 10 seconds.
-
Daily and weekly challenges created rhythm and return triggers.
-
Quests and collectibles turned math mastery into exploration-driven play.
This structure created intuitive learning pathways and clear progression goals, core to the game’s long-term retention strategy.
DESIGN
The design direction embraced a marine adventure aesthetic, bright, calm, and optimistic:
-
40 island maps marked player progression and visual accomplishment.
-
Gold-coin tokens for numbers and operators made math tactile and familiar.
-
Marine-life collectibles rewarded curiosity beyond correct answers, introducing contextual learning.
-
Micro-interactions, glows, shakes, bursts, made feedback immediate and satisfying.
Every detail was tested for rhythm, clarity, and joy, creating a learning experience that looked and felt like a polished adventure game.
Delivery
NUM Craft was built and delivered as a cross-platform release (Web, Android, iOS, Windows), powered by:
-
Unity, Playfab, Firebase, and Branch.io for game logic, analytics, and retention tracking.
-
Spine, Maya, After Effects, and Photoshop for animation and visual production.
-
Figma and Illustrator for the UI and system-level design.
Final deliverables included:
-
A scalable design system supporting future level expansion.
-
A complete style guide and iconography kit ensuring consistency.
-
Integrated feedback systems, hints, notifications, streaks, to drive sustained engagement.
Conclusion
NUM Craft proved that math can be casual, addictive, and deeply rewarding.
Players didn’t just solve equations, they kept coming back to explore, collect, and progress.
Results:
-
49% boost in homework-like adoption through casual math engagement.
-
50% increase in player stickiness after framework redesign.
-
Significantly higher completion rates — complex concepts mastered faster through play.
Retention Data:
-
D1 Retention: 42%
-
D3 Retention: 27%
-
D7 Retention: 16%
NUM Craft showed that math could live comfortably in the world of entertainment, a scalable, evidence-backed, and emotionally rewarding experience that makes learning feel like discovery, not obligation.