Surprise! Your house is messier with everyone home because of COVID-19.
But soon your kids will want to help do those routine chores, thanks to a new app being created by an Anmore game developer.
The Chore App, soon to be available for Android and IOS devices, turns chores into a game, where kids unlock prizes for doing housework.
“I started working on the app on the side to get my kids to do chores,” said Stephane Cotichini, founder and CEO of 81monkeys, whose team also created the mobile game Sukoku Scramble.
Getting kids to do chores is no easy task, as Cotichini quickly learned. ”They wouldn’t want to do it and when we asked them, there would be complaining.”
There are other chore apps, he found, but his kids found them boring.
To get them engaged he had to find a way to motivate them without nagging.
Using his experience making video games, Cotichini made the app function like a video game, where youngsters can earn bonuses, such as more video game time or special snacks when they do chores.
Parents input the type of chores, the timing of the chores and can decide what prizes are on offer, but the kids work through the various levels in a manner similar to what they would do in a regular video game.
When a child taps on the chore book, a spinner randomly selects a chore and when they complete it they get a key that takes them to the treasurer room, where they can get coins and potion ingredients that give them special powers.
The end result is that the kids do their chores, and sometimes ask for more.
“We created a video game experience that drove real world experience,” said Cotichini, who said even he is surprised at how well the app worked for his family.
“After a week my seven-year-old who never does chores went up to my wife and said, ‘Can I help you with chores?’”
She was surprised and so was Cotichini to see the chore app build in positive habits for his kids.
To find out more about the app, which is still in the testing phase, visit thechoreapp.com
