Monday: the usual
At 7:40 on Monday morning, Ruth Bell says “Have you made your bed?” for the third time. Marcus is looking for a PE kit. Nia, who is nine, is reading the back of the cereal box. Sam, who is five, has one sock.
That evening, after bedtime, Ruth downloads PocketQuest. She adds the two children and asks for a suggested plan for each age, then takes out piano because neither of them plays. It takes about ten minutes, most of it spent deciding what a tidy room is worth.
She makes “Brush teeth” a required quest with no coins, because in this house teeth aren’t negotiable.
Tuesday: the novelty
Nia signs in with the family code, taps her picture and types her PIN. She makes her bed before breakfast, which has not happened since the Olympics, and taps Done! Upstairs, Ruth’s phone buzzes. She taps Approve, and Nia’s tablet erupts with “Quest Complete!”
Sam wants to know why he hasn’t got coins for teeth. Ruth says it’s because teeth are just what we do. Sam accepts this for now.
Wednesday: the first “not yet”
Nia taps Done on “Tidy my room”. Marcus looks in and finds that she has moved everything under the bed. He taps Not yet and writes: “Nice try. Under the bed counts as the room.”
There’s some stamping. Twenty minutes later, there’s also a tidy room. Marcus adds a bonus, partly for the tidying and partly for the stamping stopping.
Thursday: the sweet shop problem
Nia has been saving for a bike in the reward shop, which Ruth set at 2,000 coins as a stand-in for a real birthday contribution. Today she wants the 150-coin “choose the film” reward instead.
She taps What if I spend now? The app tells her that it would push the bike back by some days. She looks at this for a while. Then she buys it anyway, because it’s a very good film. Ruth says nothing, which takes some effort.
Friday: a busy night
It’s nine o’clock and Ruth is in bed. There are six quests waiting. She taps Approve all, and the phone goes quiet because quiet hours are on.
Saturday: the wobble
Nobody does any quests until four in the afternoon. Nia says the app is boring. Sam has discovered the reward shop, and has asked for ice cream eleven times.
Ruth pauses and thinks about whether this is working. She decides that it’s Saturday.
Sunday: what changed
Nothing dramatic. Marcus still can’t find the PE kit. Sam still cries about teeth about one night in three.
But on Sunday night, Ruth notices one thing. All week she has mostly said “Have you checked your quests?” instead of “How many times do I have to tell you?” The question’s about the same. It just doesn’t feel like an argument.
Nia has found the Invest tab and read the rules. Marcus works it out with her on the back of an envelope: 1,000 coins locked away for a month pays four extra coins. She thinks this is a rip-off. Then they work out a whole year, which pays fifty, and she goes very quiet.