Most of these apps are the same paper chart with a login. That is not a criticism — the paper chart works — but it means the app is not doing anything for you unless it makes a few specific decisions correctly.
The six
| It should | Because |
|---|---|
| Never subtract | A total that can go down is one a child protects, and protecting a total means attempting less |
| Pay more for the hard things | If everything is worth one, there is no reason to attempt the difficult thing |
| Pay something on a bad day | Otherwise the week you most need it produces nothing |
| Have something reachable this week AND something far off | One without the other either plateaus or is invisible by Wednesday |
| Say what they DID, in your own words | A child cannot practice a category, only an action |
| Take four seconds | Anything that takes a grown-up longer is a chore, and chores stop |
What to ignore
Almost everything on the marketing page. Themes, avatars, streaks and notification schedules are the parts that vary between apps and the parts that decide nothing. The list above is the part that decides whether it is still being used in eight weeks, and it is rarely on the marketing page at all because four of the six are things the app must refuse to do.
The one to check first
Whether points come off. It is usually buried in a settings screen and described as flexibility. It is the single design decision that predicts whether the whole thing survives, because everything else can be adjusted later and arithmetic that subtracts cannot be talked out of it.
Climb Rewards was built on those six answers, and any app that gets them right will outlast one that does not.