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iPad · Web · In development

Bopomofo Gems

A Zhuyin game. Raise a little pet, go on adventures together, and pick up Zhuyin symbols along the way.

The little princess head from Bopomofo Gems with curly hair and flower accessories

Story

It started with a mother’s wish

A mother lives abroad with a child aged five to seven.

The child speaks Chinese only at home. Their mother hopes they can also get to know Zhuyin. She wants to give them a Zhuyin game, so they can begin exploring the symbols willingly, without resistance.

After talking it through, we decided to make a pet-raising game rather than teaching materials. The child creates their own character, then adopts a cute little pet that follows them on adventures. The child goes mining and digs up Zhuyin gems, then comes back to play with the pet. Zhuyin is something you find on the way, not homework.

Bopomofo Gems is still in development.

Zhuyin is something you find on the way, not homework.

How it plays

One character, one pet, one island

Build your own character

Hair, clothes, shoes: the child picks. The character belongs to the child, not to the game.

Adopt a little pet

A cute pet tags along on every adventure. It wants company, and the child has to come back and play with it for the story to move on.

Mine for Zhuyin gems

Zhuyin gems are buried across the island. Dig one up, hear its sound, trace its shape, and you know one more. No tests.

Design principles

No pressure, by design

No countdownNo rushing, no penalties. Rest whenever you like; progress stays.
Meet first, memorise laterThe goal is a child who is willing to touch the symbols. How many they recognise, and for how long, is not a gate at this stage.
Zhuyin is found, not assignedSymbols live in gems, in friends and in rewards, never on a separate drill page.
ForChildren aged five to seven growing up outside a Chinese-speaking environment, and the parents playing alongside them.
PlatformsiPad and web browsers.
StatusIn development. Not yet in TestFlight.

Get the app

Not open for testing yet. If you are raising a child abroad and would like an early look, email wenstudio.sunshine@gmail.com.

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