Alejandro Melian · Game design
Shipped · Innova · educational 2D platformer · ages 9–12

Escuela
Kadabra

A child arrives at a magic school where every teacher has been turned into an animal. To turn them back he has to find the source of magic and the evil wizard behind it. A heavily narrative 2D platformer for children aged 9–12, built around minigames that train reading comprehension and vocabulary, and a creature taming system where the creatures help you rather than fight for you.

My role ↓Watch the trailer ↗Contact me →
01

Trailer

Grades up to 3 points higher, on a 1–20 scale
Trailer · ReleasedWatch on YouTube ↗
03

Core loop

01
Explore
Platform through the school and its biomes, following the story of the cursed teachers.
02
Solve
Minigames built with educational professionals put reading comprehension and vocabulary in front of the player.
03
Tame
Capture creatures who then help you — ask them a question and get assistance in the next minigame.
04

What I owned

UX/UI & Art Direction: Established the game’s initial visual and interactive identity, single-handedly creating all 2D game assets, UI/UX flows, and character animations.

Educational Game & Level Design: Transitioned into a core design role within our 7-person team to build the level architecture, environmental biomes, and overall game pacing.

Applied Research & Minigames: Designed a robust suite of minigames in close collaboration with psychologists and educational professionals, heavily utilizing user testing and research to effectively target reading comprehension and vocabulary.

System Design (Creatures): Designed and implemented the companion system, allowing players to tame over 15 unique creatures, unlock cosmetics, and interact with these entities to gain strategic assistance during minigames.

Analytics & Product Strategy: Managed ongoing user testing sessions to iterate on mechanics, while also assisting with product marketing and monitoring player engagement data via Google Analytics.

UX/UI2D art & animationLevel designMinigame designSystem designUser researchAnalyticsMarketing support
Discipline
UX/UI · art · levels · minigames · systems
Platform
Educational release
State
Released
Studio
Innova
Team
7 people
Measured impact
Grades improved by up to 3 points (1–20 scale)
05

Design problems

Learning that survives being a game
Reading comprehension and vocabulary had to be the thing the minigames actually train, not a wrapper around unrelated play.
Creatures as help, not collection
The companion system earns its place by assisting during minigames — a creature you can ask a question is a hint system with a face.
Pacing for a 9–12 audience
Platforming, narrative and minigames all compete for the same session, so level pacing had to hand off between them cleanly.
Proving the impact
Claims about learning only hold if they are measured — hence the testing programme and the grade data.
06

Systems in the shipped game

~/projects/escuela-kadabra
Creatures & companions
  • Over 15 unique creatures to capture and tame
  • Creatures act as entities that help the child, not pets to collect
  • Ask a creature a question to get assistance inside a minigame
  • Cosmetics unlocked through play
Minigames & learning
  • Minigame suite targeting reading comprehension and vocabulary
  • Designed with educational professionals and psychologists
  • Iterated through user testing and applied research
  • Measured improvement of up to 3 points on a 1–20 grade scale
World & structure
  • 2D platforming across multiple biomes
  • Heavy narrative framing — cursed teachers, an evil wizard, a source of magic
  • Level architecture and pacing built around the minigame beats
Audience
  • Children aged 9–12
  • Educational platformer, Spanish school context
  • Engagement monitored through Google Analytics
07

Team & pipeline

7 people

A team of seven. I came in as the artist and UX designer and made all of the 2D assets, interface flows and character animation, then moved into design — the minigames, the level architecture and the pacing between them.

The research loop is what made the project unusual: minigames were designed alongside psychologists and educational professionals, then run through user testing sessions and revised. I also handled the analytics side, watching engagement data to decide what to iterate on next.

Postmortem
What you would change with another pass. Send me the notes and this becomes a real section.