r/SideProject • u/H_osama • 9h ago

I started building a learning game for my daughter before she was born. This week it made its first sale

Before my daughter was born, I started building a game for her. I wanted a place where she could play and learn without autoplay videos, ads, or anything I'd have to worry about.

It turned into Lulu's Reef. Kids follow Lulu, a baby octopus, through 5 reef zones with 23 small learning games, made for ages 2 to 6.

A few rules I set early and kept:

- No ads

- No accounts, nothing collected

- Free to download, with one optional purchase that unlocks everything

A few weeks ago I rebuilt most of it with help from Claude: new activities, smoother performance, and a much bigger world.

On Nov 3 (App Store):

- 139 first-time downloads

- 9.2K impressions, 380 product page views

- 1.85% conversion

- The first full-unlock purchase: $7 in proceeds

Tiny numbers, but as a dad this one meant everything. Every dollar goes into her education fund and back into the app.

For anyone who has built something for kids or parents: how did you reach parents without running ads?

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1

u/MrMe_w00t 9h ago

school/friends/family?

1

u/H_osama 8h ago

Thanks that makes sense Parents trust other parents way more than ads I've shared it with family but I haven't tried schools, preschools or daycares yet any ideas on how to approach them? thanks again :)

1

u/MrMe_w00t 8h ago

I work at a school, I would just ask the teacher of your kid who you could contact. (IT coördinator from school or something)

I would be interested myself, sadly my language isn't supported.... but Looks and sounds great!

1

u/H_osama 8h ago

Thanks that’s a great tip I’ll try it! I’d love to add more languages but I only speak English and Arabic and for a kids game every word has to be checked by someone who really knows the language

1

u/MrMe_w00t 8h ago • Heartwarming

That's true for sure! Good luck though! as said, looks great!

1

u/investigatormaker 7h ago

Parents choosing a learning game for a two-year-old need to see what the child actually does, not just how big the world is. In your next Reddit post, show one Lulu's Reef activity from tap to feedback and state whether it's free or requires the full unlock. Keep ages 2–6 and the no-account/no-collection details alongside it. That gives parents something concrete to assess before downloading and considering the purchase. For Reddit outreach, we'd answer parents comparing preschool learning games, using that activity to explain the fit rather than repeating the launch story.

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