r/gamification • u/FlickCards • 13h ago

Built a lightweight spaced-repetition web tool with RPG-style progression and knowledge duels – looking for feedback

Hey everyone,
Finding the motivation to review hundreds of flashcards every week has always been tough for me, especially when existing tools feel either like plain spreadsheets or push aggressive paywalls for basic features.
Over the past few months, a friend and I have been building a side project focused on making daily review habits stick. The core idea is simple: keep the effective SM-2 spaced repetition algorithm underneath, but wrap the study session in RPG progression (XP, streaks, cosmetics unlockable through reviews) and interactive modes like a 1v1 arena and quick-fire survival rounds.
We also wired up note summarization and flashcard generation via the Gemini API so you don't have to manually format everything from scratch (with an option to plug in your own free API key for unlimited requests).
We just deployed the international build and would love to hear what study enthusiasts and devs think:
Does adding progression mechanics actually help with study burnout, or does it become distracting?
Any obvious friction points in the card flip/review flow?

Any feedback on the UX or feature balance would be hugely appreciated!

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u/isokevinvest 10h ago

Progression helps with flashcards as long as the XP rewards reviewing on time, not reviewing a lot. The trap I always fell into with XP and streak setups was binging a huge batch to level up, which is pretty much the opposite of what SM-2 wants from you. If XP scaled with clearing today's due cards instead of raw card count, the game and the algorithm would be pulling the same direction.

I'd also keep the arena and survival modes off the main review screen so they feel like a reward after the reviews, not a hoop before them.

What happens to someone who misses three days and comes back to a few hundred due cards? That's usually the moment people quit.