Gaming for Knowledge: A Mixed Bag Review of the Adoraboos Learning App

What is Adoraboos?

Adoraboos is a learning app designed by an “award-winning game studio” to tackle educational setbacks from the pandemic with a focus on blockchain education. Think of it as a colorful, cutesy world where learning meets gaming… or so they claim.

Setting the Scene with Gameplay

The game starts with a promise: learn blockchain concepts while having fun. However, a casual player might wonder, why are we diving into SAT prep while learning about cryptocurrency? The game seems confused about its target audience. At its core, Adoraboos features mini-games revolving around various concepts like cybersecurity, computer operations, and even social-emotional development. But here’s the kicker: if you’re a teenager, you may find the child-like aesthetics and characters less than appealing.

Mini-Games Breakdown

Dragger

This mini-game asks players to create a chain of matching icons on a hex-grid. The goal? Make the chain as long as the length of the given word. But what’s the catch? Well, there’s little motivation to read the definitions. My teenage nephew summed it up perfectly: “As teenagers, we can’t really be bothered with that.”

Decipher and Definition

Next, things get more complicated. In Decipher, you’re tasked with unscrambling words, which could be straight-up impossible if you didn’t look at definitions earlier. Move on to Definition, where you’ve got to puzzle together fragmented meanings under time pressure. The result? A complete scramble of thoughts and a missed opportunity for actual learning.

The So-Called Quiz

The “Quiz” section could potentially flex those brain muscles, but it suffers from poorly worded definitions. For instance, the fun definition of “Bitcoin” feels more like a riddle than education: “The first practical solution to the Byzantine General’s Problem.” No offense, but that description is about as exciting as watching paint dry. If it doesn’t spark your interest, has any actual learning taken place?

The Clunky Adora-Battle

Finally, we arrive at the Adora-Battle. Players use their charged darts to burst balloons with a less-than-smooth aim. Balancing the game seems to get lost in translation, and while winning nets you some stickers and outfits, one has to wonder why they’d want to outfit a cartoon character in the first place.

Final Thoughts: A Missed Opportunity

In the grand canyon of educational games, Adoraboos is like a forgotten pebble at the bottom. Sure, it’s free, but it leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to real educational value. As for improving this app? Perhaps hang out with some teens for user testing and get a sense of what would actually keep their interest.