Custom Dojo Mobile Game App Case Study

Case Study

Curran's Karate | MyDojo Gamified Platform

Product: Custom game and mobile app

Platforms: Tablet, mobile, iOS, Android

Services provided: Game design, UI/UX design, full cycle development, strategy and planning, launch and support

MyDojo is a mobile game and app that helps children develop good habits while increasing retention for martial art schools.

“The best thing to happen to the martial arts world since the belt system.” – MyDojo World

Challenge

Martial arts is an art of discipline. Students need courage and motivation to attend class each week, and practicing for years to advance through the belts.

A central problem that many martial art schools face is that once students give up and leave, they never come back.

Contrarily, students who have formed a habit of attending class continue to return. Since gamification encourages the building of good habits, this is an effective way of increasing retention in martial arts schools.

As Raccoopack specializes in building apps that are engaging and fun, this project was a great fit. Curran’s Karate partnered with us to build a gamified platform for martial arts schools.

Solution

The MyDojo platform consists of 2 apps:

The MyDojo Game

In MyDojo, students decorate and customize their own personal dojo.

As students attend class and complete challenges assigned by parents, they receive in-game rewards that can be used to upgrade their dojo!

Main Features:

Build, decorate, and level up dojo
Train characters to level up
Complete challenges from parents to earn points
Unlock new adventures by attending real-life class
3 original character designs
100+ unique decoration items and customizations

The Companion App

Along with the main game, we also built a companion app for parents and instructors.

Parents can use the app and view a dashboard of their child’s progress — both in game and in the school. They can assign custom challenges, such as helping with household chores or reading a storybook.

Instructors can manage their dojo in one place. They can take attendance, track student rank progress, and update parent and student information.

Process

To breathe life into the My Dojo concept, we first began with a series of workshops, brainstorming all the finer details from the characters, background, theme, and gameplay.

We met frequently to collaborate with the client, reviewing designs together and testing prototypes to ensure that we were on the same page at all times.

As with any project that we do, we always bring the app into the hands of users to get their feedback. From user testing, we were able to make the user experience better from great to excellent.

Results

The resulting product is a beautiful, gamified platform for martial arts schools, catering to everyone from children, parents, and instructors.

Apps successfully completed and launched on iOS and Android app stores
Expected 25% increase retention in martial art schools
Good habits and behaviours taught to young martial arts students
5/5 rating from client on scheduling, cost, and quality

“Amazing team. I have never worked with a group of people that were so good and asking questions to ensure that they understood what I wanted.”

Ron Curran

Owner, Curran's Karate