FAQ

Game Content

Q: Does the game have to be specifically about the topic of my slot only? Or can we include other subjects such as Science, Geography, History, etc? A: We have a set of content requirements for each topic that a developer might create a game for. However, we value games that are engaging and apply the concepts to real-world applications, or any fictional application a student would understand and enjoy. So, that could certainly include geography, history, etc., as long as the focus is still on the academics of your topic. We do not want games that are just a continuous set of practice problems.

Q: I have a game that I've previously created. Can I use it here? A: We typically don't accept already made games, as we 1) can't guarantee a game slot for a topic for which the game is built and 2) we have our own set of content requirements, based on the school curriculum, that we need to make sure the game aligns with. We value developers who can deliver a new game built for use on our platform, but then the developer can use it elsewhere if they like (as the developer retains IP or software). If you think you have an already-made game that fits your game slot very well, please email [e-mail] directly and we can discuss it separately. You can also consider recycling assets from your previous games if they would apply well to an educational game.

Q: Is the text in the learning objective document something we can use verbatim within our game? There are portions in the learning objective that I think would best be used verbatim to avoid confusion about the meaning of the terms used, but I do not know if the text is directly copied from a source that may require licensing of some sort, etc. A: Text from the LO documents can be used verbatim, however, we discourage it. Many reviewers leave negative feedback if they see text copied straight from concepts.

Q: Are images on websites linked in the Learning Objective Concept Document available to use in our games? A: Only images freely available for use in the public domain can be used unless you buy the image license from the owner. Making your own interactive or stylized graphics for your game would be the best.

Q: Can I create a multiplayer game? A: No. For now, we only accept single-player games.

Q: Can I be connected with the teachers to get their feedback on my prototypes and make sure I'm aligning the game content with the LO before I submit it? A: We, unfortunately, don't have the capacity or resources to connect developers with teachers directly during the development process. If you think you need information beyond what is provided in the LO document and the additional resources, we encourage you to do some additional research on your LO. The LOs are derived directly from US academic subject standards, so a range of resources is typically very readily available online. When you do submit your game, our content reviewers are educators, so they will be providing valuable perspectives.

Q: Which are the best-performing games on the platform and is there a way we can play them? A: See here. We also recommend creating a teacher account (free to do) and searching for the game on the platform to see its ratings within its topic.

Q: Can we include our studio logo on the splash screen or as a 'Made By' section of the main menu? A: Go for it! Games are still owned by each studio, so feel free to include your studio's logo if you like.

Q: Can my game have a free-play mode when students are done with the main gameplay experience? A: At this time you cannot include a free-play mode at the end of the game. When teachers assign a "playlist" of minigames as assignments, they expect students to complete each item in the assignment and promptly move to the next minigame.

Q: Does the game need to implement multi-language support? A: As long as you submit a JSON file in English, we will take care of localization from there. We will complete the translation, and it will be added to the JSON file on the accepted game version that you can download from the developer portal. Before the game is submitted, if you are able to translate to Spanish and test the text in your game, making sure all characters render correctly and the text fits w/in defined areas, we highly recommend you do so.

Game Controls

Q: What input are we targeting for the games? I hear that Chromebooks are going to be the primary device in the classrooms, but that iPad is also possible. So does that mean I should always build for touch controls? Is keyboard input supported at all? A: Because the primary devices used are Chromebooks, keyboard controls are supported, but I'd keep it to a mousepad, simple arrow keys, or space bar since a lot of students aren't advanced with computer game controls. iPad compatibility isn't required, but some Chromebooks do have touch screens. So, we highly encourage devs to build game controls that are compatible for both, traditional Chromebook mousepad/key controls and a Chromebook with touchscreen controls. Assume that most students won't have a separate mouse.

Q: Can the students control the volume of the text-to-speech? A: Unless you build in a setting to your game where the student controls the volume of the speech and/or the background music separately, a student only has the ability to adjust the volume of all noise from the game together at once via the audio controls on their device.

Payment

Legends of Learning utilizes Tipalti to process payments to game developers.

Q: How is the platform monetized? A: Schools, districts, and teachers purchase annual subscriptions.

Q: How do developer payments work? A: Each quarter, playtime for all games is tallied and each game receives a payment based on how much the game is played relative to the rest of the games on the platform. The total payout pool is 40% of the company's revenue. If your game has 1% of playtime in the quarter, and 40% of our revenue is $600,000 your game is paid $6000. We have data that helps developers project annual earnings depending on the topic chosen, as the topic for your game is a factor in how often it's played.

Q: Is there the possibility of having a minimum guarantee or funding help to make the games? A: On occasion, we will offer prepayments to game developers. These prepayments operate as an upfront credit against future game royalties earned. We tend to reserve prepayment programs for game developers who have published at least one or multiple games on our platform and demonstrated high-quality game designs and reliable delivery timelines.

Q: Do you have an indication of payment as a first-time dev for this platform? A: Historically new devs are just as likely to find success on the platform as the median returning the studio to our platform. The most successful studios are those who continue to work with us and learn how to make engaging, meaningful educational games. But there are new studios that can find that success early on! We recommend looking at the range of possible payouts in the top 25% of topics available if your game has a median rating. (We keep the current median rating up to date in the LO Slots Spreadsheet).

Q: How much do you expect to pay vs how many man-hours of work do you expect to be put in this game? The numbers in the documentation vary wildly and hours vs payment are never linked. A: There is not a precise answer here. Total hours of work for each game will vary significantly depending on the developer. It's up to each developer to analyze the opportunity based on their own availability and interest and commitment to the project. See this spreadsheet to analyze ROI.

Q: What has more weight for financial results: the student's or teacher's rating? A: Both are equally important. We order games in each LO by their average rating between the teacher rating and student rating. So if a game's teacher rating is 4.2 and the student is 4.1. We compare that against other games' average ratings to sort them.

Q: If we choose "Check" as the payment method, will it be cashed by one of the local banks? Are there any restrictions or considerations for this issue? Also, how will the checks be sent? A: The checks are standard US Business checks. You need to check with your local bank to see if they accept them and if there are any restrictions on them. They are sent out through US Postal service first-class mail. In the US that typically takes 2-3 days to arrive. Internationally, it can take 1-2 weeks depending on the country. If you choose check, please make sure to use the full mailing address, including any postal codes and the country.

Q: After a payment period concludes, when will payment be sent? A: Within 30 days of the payment results being posted.

Q: If we select PayPal as our payment method, who handles any associated fees? A: Your studio is responsible for any transfer fees.

Q: Can I switch my payment method after I send the contract? A: Yes, simply email gamedevs@legendsoflearning indicating your updated payment method and if you would like it to be updated for the slots in one contract only or for all your games.

Q: If my game is put on the platform during the middle of a quarter will I be paid for that? A: Yes, as soon as the game is live on the platform, playtime will be counted for the current quarter and will be paid out when the current quarter ends.

Q: If I'm a USA-based studio and I earn more than $600 during a calendar year, will I send a 1099 form? A: Yes, but only if you were paid via written check or wire transfer. If you are paid via PayPal, Legends of Learning will not send you a 1099, rather a payment company like PayPal should handle any tax-related reporting.

Q: What is Tipalti? A: Tipalti is a global partner payment automation system and accounts payable software to manage, execute and reconcile the entire process of making outbound payments to partners and suppliers.

Q: Which currency does Tipalti support paying out to? A: Tipalti can pay in the local currency of over 196 countries.

Q: What payment methods are available? A: Tipalti supports a wide variety of payment methods and will periodically add more options. These include ACH (automated clearinghouse), wire transfer, Global ACH (eCheck), PayPal, prepaid debit cards, and live paper checks. The availability of each payment method will vary based on the recipient country.

Q: How fast are payments processed? A: Payment processing depends on a variety of factors including payment method type, foreign exchange conversions, and the individual payee’s banking system. You can check this list for more information.

Q: Can payees change their payment method within Tipalti? Yes – at any time. If you are owed a payment and would like a different payment method, just make sure you updated your account preferences in Tipalti as soon as possible.

Q: What are the main issues that can trigger a failure to pay? A: Supplying the wrong information, such as their bank routing information or typing in the wrong email, or using a PayPal account that is no longer valid.

Q: How many attempts are made to execute a payment? A: Tipalti does not re-attempt to make rejected payments. The payee becomes un-payable until they resolve the details of their payment method, using the supplier portal.

Q: Can I elect to hold payment to a future royalty payment period? A: Yes, developers can hold their payments. It is your responsibility to communicate to Legends of Learning your interest in holding payments.

Q: Can I change my account designation from "Individual" to "Company"? A: Developers can change between individual and company themselves on the first page of their account.

Q: Is Tipalti mandatory? Can we use payment methods outside of Tipalti? A: Tipalti is mandatory for all game developer payments. No payment methods outside Tipalti will be used. We believe Tipalti is a great option for our game developer community to provide a wide variety of payment method options and lower transaction fees.

Q: Can I use Payoneer with Tipalti? A: Yes! You just need to follow the next steps: 1. Notify us you will use Payoneer as your preferred payment method. We will enable your account to receive payments to a US-based bank account, even if your current address is in a different country. Just have in mind that you will probably get an extra proof of residence request from Tipalti. 2. After our confirmation, you must click on this message in Step 1, when registering your Street Address in Tipalti, and select the United States from the dropdown list. If you don’t click on the text, the Payment Country list won’t appear. 3. In Step 2, when you are registering your Payment Method, select ACH/Direct Deposit and fill out the information with your Payoneer bank info. You can find it on the Bank & Cards tab on Payoneer. Click on ‘Receiving Accounts’ and you will have access to your USD bank account

Step 1: Select your Payment Country

Step 2: Find your Payoneer US Bank Account

Step 3: Add your Bank Information to Tipalti

Q: When I’m expecting a payment, do I need to take any action in Tipalti to initialize or accept it? A: No, our staff will handle the payment process in its entirety. When Tipalti processes the payments that we schedule, they will automatically arrive at the account you specified in your payment method.

Q: How and when developers will receive the invitation link to Tipalti? A: For new developers, you will receive the invitation link after signing and sending your contract. Please check your main mail inbox and spam folder in case the invitation link got lost.

Q: How do I find the history of my invoices and payments? A: Log in to your Tipalti account and navigate to the “Payment History” tab for a history of payments received and the “Invoice History” tab for a history and PDF copies of all invoices.

Q: How do I fill out my tax forms? A: You can complete the tax form as an individual or company with the “Name” field and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) that matches your tax return. The type should be based on who is legally receiving payments for tax reporting purposes. If you are filling out the form as an individual, please put your personal legal name in the first “Name” field as appears in the tax return and fill out your Social Security Number (SSN). If you are filling out the form as a company, please put your business legal name in the first “Name” field (not your personal name) as appears in the tax return and fill out the business Employer Identification Number (EIN).

Q: Does Tipalti verify the accuracy of the information in my tax forms? A: Yes, TIN validation verifies that the combination of the TIN and Legal Name for the TIN matches the IRS database. The TIN is either the SSN or business EIN. Tipalti validates the information entered in the W-9 Form against the IRS database within 24 hours of submitting the tax form. If the combination of TIN and Legal Name is not validated, you will receive an email from Tipalti within 24 hours to re-submit your Tax Form.

Q: Can I update the tax forms if my tax filing information changes? A: Yes, you can update your account information at any time, including tax form details. To update the information, log in to your Tipalti account and navigate to the “Payment Details” tab on the left side of your screen.

Q: Can I receive payments using a US-based bank account even when I’m living in another country? A: Yes, for example, if the developer lives in Nigeria we can enable his/her account to be able to use a bank with a US address. Developers must let us know first and then click on this message for this dropdown list to appear.

Just have in mind that you will probably get an extra proof of residence request from Tipalti.

Q: Can I receive payments using a US-based bank account even when I'm living in another country?

Q: What are the fees per transaction? A: These fees are subject to change, but this is where they currently stand. When you select your payment method in Tipalti, it will show the most up-to-date fee rate. Legends of Learning does not charge any additional fees for payments processed in Tipalti.

• Local Bank Transfer/ACH - $1.

• eCheck (Global ACH, International ACH, local bank transfer)** - $5.

• Paper Check (US only) - $1.99.

• US Domestic wire transfer (US, USD) - $15.

• International FX wire transfer (non-USD)** - $20.

• International USD wire transfer (USD) - $26.

• PayPal: Tipalti Processing Fee - $1.

• PayPal: PayPal fee (US recipient, 2%) - $1 max.

• PayPal: PayPal fee (non-US recipient, 2%) - $20 max.

• W9 Form Collection - FREE.

• W8 (BEN or BEN E) Collection - $4.

• ** PLUS an FX Conversion Fee ~ 2.5%

Contract Agreement

Q: How many slots will I receive? A: If your studio has an existing relationship with Legends of Learning, you may be granted more slots, depending on your indicated capacity prior to the sprint launch. However, if you indicate your studio has a capacity for 6 slots, you may receive less than 6, depending on our needs, the demand, and your prior game performance. If your studio is new to Legends of Learning, you will start with one slot.

Q: Is there a possibility to switch LOs after sending the contract? A: If there is still a slot available for the LO you'd like to switch to, then yes. However, the due date will remain the same. Please, let us know ASAP if you are considering this.

Q: Is it possible to publish a modified version of my game for a similar LO that is the elementary or middle school version of the LO the game was made for? A: Yes, under certain conditions. Firstly, there has to be an analogous LO that is elementary or middle and the game has to be received well on the platform under these metrics: after 8 teacher ratings and 250 student ratings, if the overall game rating is at least 4.1 (better than the median of 4.0) then we can take a version of the game for the other age group. The new game should be adjusted for the different age groups (game difficulty, vocab, etc.)

Q: Who owns the game? A: You retain IP for the game.

Q: Can we publish the game elsewhere? A: You can publish the game on a general marketplace like Steam, the Apple Store, Google Play, and itch.io. If you would like to publish it anywhere besides these 3 locations, you will need to email us to get consent. This is for the first 2-3 years of the contract. There is a date defined in the contract that says after the date, you can ask Legends of Learning to pull the game, and you are free to publish the game wherever you want without written consent from the LOL team.

Q: I'm based outside the US and I see on the contract that I need a Federal Tax Id. No./Social Security No.: Do I need to obtain this? A: No, only developers/studios/companies based in the US need to fill this out.

Q: Is the payment method form of the contract required, given we also need to select a payment method through Tipalti?

A: Yes. Although your payment method information in Tipalti will be the primary way we pay you, having a backup record outside Tipalti will be helpful in case we ever need to transition off Tipalti.

Q: What constitutes "confidential information" in the context of developing games for Legends of Learning? A: It's certainly okay for you to say you're working on games for us, and you're certainly allowed to show game mechanics and the game themselves. Feel free to post information about your game development process on your blog/website. The pieces that should stay confidential are the specifics of the LoL backed and API, and any future information we release about company finances or other general company information not related to your game in particular.

Q: Are the clauses in the contract negotiable? A: To keep studios on the same terms, we need to keep the terms of the contract the same for everyone, as is. If you have any questions about any of the clauses in particular, I'd happy to walk through them with you!

Q: For Exhibit D, I plan to use 3rd party assets that I've purchased and have a right to commercial use for. I assume the point of the list in Exhibit D is to provide LoL with a list of possible use concerns in the event my game gets purchased. However, just to be clear, am I permitted to use paid 3rd part assets for my game, so long as there are no recurring costs that might have to be borne by LoL in the event they buy the game? A: This is the correct interpretation. You can certainly still use 3rd party assets.

Q: It's not clear in reading the purchase clause (7) do we work on an agreement to sell or are we forced to if you choose to buy? And how often have you purchased games in the past? A: We'd purchase based on the term of the contract -- either $20k or twice the earnings of the game in its previous earnings period, whichever is higher. Unless anything changes between now and then, no further agreement terms would be adopted. We've never exercised this option, nor do we have any plans to do so. It's more of a safety clause in case our company is ever purchased and we agree with the parent company to retain our platform content. That would be way down in the future, so if there is a purchase, hopefully, it is for much more than $20k! As we stand, we will happily allow games to earn as much as they can on our platform, and allow developers to pull the game if desired after the term of the contract.

Developer Portal

Q: What is the process of creating an account for the developer portal? A: Legends of Learning will create an account for any game developer who chooses to sign up for a slot and signs a contract for the project.

Q: How can I monitor the success of my games on the platform? A: From the developer portal you can view rating data and technical metrics using the "My Data" tab and go into the "Ratings" and "Technical Metrics" sections.

Technical Specifications

Q: What engines can we use for development? A: Our API is created from a Javascript baselayer, so if whatever engine you use can export games to HTML5, then it should work. Most developers use Unity, but we do have plenty who submit HTML5 games. We also have a community-supported Construct 3 plugin for any game developer who prefers Construct.

Q: We want to use RichText on our texts, which means the strings have tags to make the words bold, have colors, etc. (per example: Hello!). Hence, the text in the language file should have already the tags. Is there a problem with this? A: No, some developers have done this in the past without a problem, as long as it renders as it should in the game without showing the rich text used to bold/color the text. One thing to note is that this rich text will show up for the content reviewers - I've instructed them to ignore text like this since it's only on the backend, but just an advanced heads up if they accidentally change it on the file you receive back. So it'd be good to check to make sure it's intact when you receive your review results.

Q: In the documentation, there is a "maxChars" key, but that's not in the example from this thread. My game got rejected because the language file could not be loaded by the reviewer system and it follows the structure with the "maxChars" key. Was that the reason it didn't work? A: Update the value for each field to be much larger than the current length of each field (2x is probably fine). Otherwise, if it's about the same as the current length of a text field, a content reviewer has a difficult time making grammar/spelling errors if the field prevents them from adding more characters.

Q: What are the app size requirements? A: Please reference our API documentation.

Q: What devices are the games expected to run on? Will they need to support mobile/tablets/PC all in one? A: The game must run on devices with the following minimum specifications: 1. ChromeOS, MacOS, and Windows. 2. Intel Celeron N3450 processor or faster (for example a mid-range 2017 Chromebook). 3. 4GB RAM. 4. We do not support mobile/table game builds at this time.

Q: Can we implement some sort of analytics to track user experience? A: Developers are free to embed analytics tools in their own games, but we don't provide any support for analytics at this time, beyond what we provide about playtime in the developer portal. It appears that Firebase and Google Analytics do not support Unity WebGL, but GameAnalytics does say that they support it. You could also try Unity Analytics. However, there may be CORS (cross-origin resource sharing) permission issues or other issues with these services that we can't support at this time. In general, we would not recommend using Google Analytics anyway - schools could be blocking the API and we shouldn't have tracking on the user anyway without their explicit consent (illegal at the age of most of our users depending on what you're tracking).

Q: Any minimum/maximum performance requierements? A: 1. The game must have a minimum frame rate of 30fps. 2. The game must have a maximum initial load time of 25 seconds running in ChromeOS on the minimum hardware specification, assuming a high-speed internet connection and no other apps running concurrently. 3. The game must support a minimum resolution of 1024x576 (16x9 ratio). 4. The total build size limit for WebGL is 30MB. However, we recommend sizes of 15 MB or lower since a 30MB file will take a long time to load in many bandwidth-constrained school environments, possibly leading to lower ratings for your game.

Q: Will I be making standalone browser games that are designed to be played only once with no user data stored, or are all games connected through some form of Legends of Learning ecosystem tracking player progression? A: Right now the games are standalone, where the only user data stored is progress so that if a student can't finish in one session they are able to start from the recent checkpoint. As we grow, we'll continue to build on our SDK so that developers can do more with overall student progress connected across the LoL ecosystem.

Review Progress

Q: We've just submitted a game to the developer portal. Is there anything else we need to do? How will we be notified if the game has been approved or rejected, and see the feedback? A: We will see your submission, so nothing else you'll need to do. We will send you an email within 14 days of submission with your review results, as well as any notable feedback from both a technical and content perspective. Once you receive the feedback, you will either need to make adjustments and improvements (if rejected) or make updates in the future (if accepted).

Q: What does the review process look like? A: The first build submission is reviewed by our technical reviews to verify the game meets the API requirements and by one of our developer community managers who will give feedback to help the game get through the next stage of review and succeed on the platform. After this first round of review, make adjustments based on the feedback and submit a new build. During the second review, technical reviewers will check the API requirements again and we will have two content reviews, who are educators, to assess if the game meets the required learning objectives. When the game passes both technical and content reviews (in the same version), the game will be put live on the platform. If the game is rejected, don't worry, incorporate the feedback given from the reviewers and submit another build when ready. That version will go through the review process again until the game is ready to go live.

Q: After we receive review feedback, what is required to be fixed/adjusted? A: Technical bugs, grammar/spelling errors, and factual errors are required to be fixed. The content reviewers' suggestions are optional. However, you are trying to maximize ratings from teachers and students, so you should take teacher reviewers' suggestions seriously.

Q: Can you describe the differences between the score, content integration, and ease of play provided by reviewers? A: The score is how much the reviewer liked the game overall, with 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Content integration is how much the game includes the academic content in gameplay. 5 indicates the gameplay is fluently intertwined with academic material, while 1 means they are entirely separate. Content integration should just be how much the gameplay is related to the material. So if you are a photon and have to hit the chlorophyll to cause photosynthesis, this is more "integrated" than if you are playing a side scroller and are asked about photosynthesis in a question that gives you coins to proceed. Both teach, but the first is more integrated with gameplay. It is a subjective measure. Teachers using the product are NOT aware of the content you all were provided. However, they are teaching to the standard, that you were provided. Suggested use should be "introduce", "instruct" and "assess". There is no better or worse on this measure, it is just what teachers want to use it for.

Q: Why are the content reviewers for my game so different on one version relative to previous versions? A: Each time a game version is submitted we try to assign different content reviewers, who are all educators, to get as much feedback as possible.

The Marketplace

Q: How does the service operate in terms of discoverability? Releasing a game on a platform such as play or steam means that without a marketing team, it's tough to get noticed. A: Our team specializes in user acquisition, distribution, and building a marketplace for teachers with rich features. Once the users are in the door, they find the games by searching for the topic they are covering that day/week. The game will focus on one topic, which allows them to be streamlined and more accessible for teachers based on their search at the time. Once teachers search for a topic, they will choose from a list of 3-8 available instructional games, and they base their choice on game rating (both teacher and student) and usual aesthetics and appeal from the game name, thumbnail, and description.

Q: Do teachers simply pick out a game they like for their students to play, or are all games designed to be customizable for each teacher's curriculum? A: The answer is both: when you develop a game for Legends, you are integrating academic content from one singular topic. Then when a teacher finds available games within the topic, they choose the games to assign to their students. We're also building out a direct-student experience where they will be able to choose games to play in their free time.

Q: How do you validate the game's worth? A: We focus on the end user, so it's based on teacher and student reception. Both teachers and students rate the games, those ratings are visible, and they influence other teachers' decisions to use the games in their classroom. Ultimately, we'll look at how much the game is played relative to other games created.

Q: Can we make multiple games for the same topic/LO? A: No. Developers can only make one game for a topic.

Q: If someone else has already made a game about a particular topic, can you still make a game about that topic? A: Yes, as long as you have not previously made a game for the topic. We target all topics (LOs) on our platform to hold between 4-10 games at a time. Available topics can be seen here.

Q: Where are these games shown? Only in the US? Are the games supplied to one school or multiple? A: When they are launched, the games will be played by millions of students across the US in hundreds to thousands of schools. They may be played in other countries, but our marketing efforts will be in the US. Not all games will be played by all students. Teachers will decide which games their students play.

Q: My game isn't making as much as our studio would hope. What should we do? A: Review feedback and comments and make updates to your game that addresses teachers' concerns. If your game is receiving low ratings but without much-written teacher feedback, we encourage you to do an honest evaluation of how well your game addresses our content specifications. - Does the student need to apply concepts from the academic topic in order to solve gameplay scenarios? - Is the game's design attractive to the target student's age? - Is the game's UI/UX experience intuitive enough for the student (even a teacher) to understand how to play?

Q: What are the incentives for updating my game? A: When you make improvements to the game to reflect teachers' feedback or make bug fixes, the game will be more likely to succeed. When an update is approved, the game receives an updated banner for 30 days (similar to the new game banner) and will be highlighted in a monthly blog post on the website! (Example of monthly blog post).

Q: When updating a game, are old ratings kept? Because if we have an average score, it will be very hard to go to top positions with further improvements. A: Yes, the old ratings are kept. But if it's a complete overhaul of the game and it's essentially a new game, we're open to reset the ratings. We also have internal conversations open regarding if games should show ratings on a rolling basis, rather than all-time.

Q: The top game in each category seems to be the only one that makes enough money to justify its development cost. This is too much of a problem because I believe I would make the top game for any LO I create a game for. But with the current rating system, I was wondering how a new game is introduced. Obviously, it's important that teachers enjoy the game to assign it to the class - is there any incentive for a teacher to try out a newly developed vs one that already has something like 4.0 or 4.2 stars? A: When a new game is published, it receives a "new" banner on the game tile, and it is placed in the first position (left-most) within its topic for 30 days immediately following its acceptance and publication to the platform.

Additionally, we will publish two ratings/reviews from content reviewers from the pre-approval content review process. We will pick the two highest-rated reviews, so if you get two 4s, a 4 and a 5, or two 5s, teachers will see your game starting with a rating between 4-5. This, along with the game starting in the first position with a "new" banner, should help new games automatically compete for a high position in the topic.

Q: I see the games "Basketball Master" and "Newton Pool" in many, many topics on the platform. What is the deal with these and why do they not offer instructional content? A: These are not a good representation of the games we strive for from creative game developers coming in - with you, we are looking for "instructional" games. Instructional games will engage students in learning the academic material through fun gameplay where the experience itself helps them learn. On the other hand, games like "Basketball Master" and "Newton Pool" were published by us in collaboration with two other studios in order to fit a smaller need of teachers, getting assessments to their students in the form of simple gameplay. So those games are meant to be entirely question-based as an assessment option for teachers. This is not the model of games we believe in, but it is fitting a request for our users.

Q: What's the average lifetime of a game before it gets pulled out? A: At least two years. Most games are pulled for technical issues, and the developer never fixes them. More games have been pulled for lower ratings to date, but those were in more popular topics with more competition and the developers for older games were not willing to make any updates to their games to keep them up to date.

Q: How is the process of a game being pulled out? It's important to us because it would cease the revenue of the said game. Objectively, how can we be safe about not being pulled out? A: When a game is pulled, teachers can no longer add it to assignments moving forward. The game can still be accessed on older assignments that are still live with the game. So there could still be some lingering revenue, but it would eventually tail off. Staying engaged with the game with periodic updates to improve technical performance and overall gameplay experience will keep the game afloat on the platform. We also favor games from studios that we know are more engaged with the platform and keep lines of communication open more reliably.