Math Legacy: Game Design and Education to transform the way children learn

What if learning math could be as fun as playing a video game? What if instead of just doing exercises, there were final bosses to be defeated with your knowledge of math operations?

There’s no need to ask you such questions, because that’s exactly what Math Legacy, a startup that was part of batch VIII of our Acceleration Program, does with its app. According to students who have used it they feel significantly more self-confident (+33%) and their enjoyment of math has increased dramatically (+65%).

Math Legacy is an app created by Christian Pulieri and Fausto Capriotti, designed to make studying math as easy, fun, and rewarding as playing video games. By blending learning sciences with game design, Math Legacy assists primary and secondary school students in mastering one of the subjects historically viewed as most challenging and least appreciated by those who have experienced traditional schooling.

Players assume the roles of Math Guardians, characters tasked with saving the universe from the Dark Knights who are stealing the essence of mathematics one planet at a time. And how do they do it? By tackling one exercise at a time. Math Legacy allows students to explore various topics through a gamified approach, providing real-time feedback and enabling learners to progress at a personalized pace, at any time, and without the pressure of final grades.

We spoke with Christian and Fausto to learn how their business idea was born and what the next steps are for Math Legacy. Keep reading to find out what they had to say.

Watch the video interview!

Math Legacy is students’ best friend when it comes to learning math: thanks to the perfect mix between game design and learning science, you’ve created a solution that transforms the study moment into a real video game. How did you come up with this solution?

It all started with a very simple question: Why is starting two simple math exercises so difficult, while playing video games for five hours in a row is not? Every gamer knows the answer: Game designers have tapped into a type of science not typically applied to learning. Also, even though there are over 300 years of scientific literature on 'how to study,' no one tells you how to do it in school. They just say, 'Take the book and study.' But how can you do that effectively? Thus, it immediately became clear that the solution was a perfect marriage between the two. This way, learning math (or any other topic) could become simpler, more effective, and more engaging.

Since your main target audience includes students and teachers, what kind of reactions and feedback have you received from those who have used Math Legacy?

They are all in love with Math Legacy! We observed more than 2,000 students live, one classroom at a time. Each session included an initial survey, about 30 minutes of gameplay, and a final survey. We discovered that thanks to Math Legacy, students feel more self-confident (+33%) and their enjoyment of math increased significantly (+65%). Moreover, it was inspiring to see how our first multiplayer mechanic completely demolished all barriers between students and teachers: https://youtu.be/HnXS1JKUC18. We look forward to showing them more—this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Before starting your startup, which were your main professional experiences? And why did you decide to turn to B4i to work on and improve your solution?

Fausto is a master civil engineer who decided to leave his safe job to dedicate himself full-time to coaching and tutoring young students in math and physics for over nine years. Christian is a game developer and a former YouTube content creator with more than eight years of experience and over 300,000 subscribers. We are grateful to have participated in both the pre-acceleration and acceleration programs; they helped us immensely in launching our very first versions of the game, engaging with users, and managing the team.

What is the greatest achievement you have reached so far? And what are your next goals?

We gathered 'the Avengers'—our extraordinary team, people with a strong passion in their hearts who deeply share our vision. Now, we are focusing on completing all middle school topics, expanding game mechanics, and entering new markets, starting with the UK and USA. We’re going to face some challenging months, but we are excited to see what they will bring.

Life as founders isn't easy: what are 3 Do’s and 3 Don’ts that you've learned from your experience and would like to share with other founders and entrepreneurs?

Here is what we’ve learned throughout all these years.

DOs:

1. Have a strong why: hard times will come, but nothing stops you if your fire is burning

2. Share your why with EVERYONE and be sure it goes deep in their heart. This will help you create a strong team and communicate at a deeper level with every stakeholder.

3. Surround yourself with extraordinary people. You are climbing a very difficult mountain, don’t do it alone.

DONT’s:

1. Rush things too much. Don’t overestimate what you can do in one year, nor underestimate what you can do in 5 years. It’s a long run, not a sprint.

2. Focus only on investors. Focus on your business, and create something valuable that really solves a problem.

3. Say yes to everything. Your time is the most important currency you have.