LinguaDuck: Learn & Level Up

LinguaDuck is a language-learning app I design, build and publish on my own. Version 2 is a full redesign: study now lives inside a retro pixel RPG. You create a duck hero, and every review, listening round and finished habit earns XP and gold that buy gear, hatch pets, open dungeons and furnish a manor. It runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac with Apple silicon and Apple Vision Pro, and it is free.

Most language apps feel like homework, and learners drop them after a week. I wanted practice that people return to for its own sake, without turning it into noise: the game has to reward real study, never replace it. It also had to stay calm and accessible — short sessions, no countdowns in grammar practice, an option to study without game rewards, reading fonts such as OpenDyslexic, contrast and reduced motion — and most of it had to work offline.

I am the whole team: product, game and UX design, pixel art direction, architecture, development, learning content and App Store releases. Store screenshots, the App Preview video and their check scripts are generated from the real Flutter screens by automated tests, so every release ships pictures of the app as it actually is. The first version went live on 8 September 2025; version 2.1 shipped in October 2026.

Flutter and Dart with Riverpod for state, go_router for navigation and the Flame engine for the game scenes. Modes include Word Drops, a listening game where you hear a word and drag its picture's drop into the pond (300+ illustrated words in 15+ languages); spaced repetition with themed decks and CEFR levels; Learn with Locals, native-speaker clips with captions, translations, slow replay and quizzes; a Japanese course built around 439 anime clips with full phrase breakdowns, kana and kanji with a stroke-order writing studio and focus mode; bilingual manga where any word can be tapped; Lanternlands, an offline isometric RPG where correct answers restore light; dungeons, habits and dailies, a market, pets and mounts, and AI role-play conversations.

LinguaDuck 2.1 is live on the App Store as LinguaDuck: Learn & Level Up, rated 4+. The release added Word Drops, the rebuilt Japanese course with 439 anime clips, 206 new pixel-art vocabulary pictures, native-speaker clips in French, Italian, Portuguese, Welsh and Swedish, and Lanternlands. I keep developing it: new courses, more game content and more languages.

• Open image: LinguaDuck: Learn & Level Up — the pixel duck logo and three iPhone screens: Word Drops, Camp and Adventure
• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Turn language study into an RPG

  Turn language study into an RPG

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Hear it. Catch the right drop.

  Hear it. Catch the right drop.

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Make new words stick

  Make new words stick

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Learn Japanese through stories

  Learn Japanese through stories

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Write Japanese with confidence

  Write Japanese with confidence

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — One idea. One step. Japanese.

  One idea. One step. Japanese.

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Meet a story. Learn its words.

  Meet a story. Learn its words.

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Japanese, one scene at a time

  Japanese, one scene at a time

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Hear how locals really speak

  Hear how locals really speak

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Your words light the way

  Your words light the way

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Brave dungeons & defeat monsters

  Brave dungeons & defeat monsters

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Equip & evolve your warrior

  Equip & evolve your warrior

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Hatch & train pet companions

  Hatch & train pet companions

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Build & decorate your home

  Build & decorate your home

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Build your daily study habit

  Build your daily study habit

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Speak confidently with AI

  Speak confidently with AI

• Open image: LinguaDuck 2.1 — Designed for every learner

  Designed for every learner