A real, usable FirstRay that children can actually play.
FirstRay is a play based educational product helping children aged 7 to 12 discover careers through interactive gameplay. This proposal covers the Phase 1 web MVP, and everything described here can be tried live inside this document.
Ages 7 to 12
Target players
2 to 3 weeks
Estimated delivery
Responsive web
No app store friction
20 professions
Initial content target
What the MVP must prove
- Child engagement. Will children understand, enjoy and engage with the gameplay?
- Parent value. Do parents understand and see value in FirstRay?
- Commercial validation. Can FirstRay begin testing willingness to pay?
- Investor evidence. Can Captella Games show real usage rather than a concept?
Why web first
A responsive browser application removes download friction, so parents and children can reach FirstRay straight from the existing website. It gets feedback and engagement data flowing sooner while keeping the initial technical investment controlled, with an architecture built so a move to native mobile stays open in a later phase.
Three users, one product.
Every screen in the MVP belongs to one of three people. Keeping their needs separate is what keeps the build small enough to deliver and safe enough for families.
Child
The primary end user.
- Access their own parent controlled profile
- Use a child friendly interface
- Explore different professions
- Play career related games
- Receive encouraging feedback
- Return to continue exploring
Parent or guardian
Account holder and safeguarding user.
- Register securely
- Create and manage child profiles
- Control child credentials
- View their child's activity
- Understand professions explored
- Manage their subscription and give feedback
Administrator
Operational control and learning.
- Securely access the admin area
- View basic user and engagement information
- Manage key career and game content
- Review user feedback
- Use MVP data to inform future development
Before development begins we convert the agreed PRD, user journeys and user stories into the final build scope. That stage confirms MVP journeys, P0 functionality, the final screen list, gameplay mechanics, the simplified Career Clue Hunt environment, the subscription journey, required analytics, basic information architecture and technical recommendations. The objective is to resolve outstanding product decisions before significant development begins.
A calm front door built for a seven year old.
Children log in with credentials their parent created, then land in a simple home that points at two things only: play something, or explore a career.
Child login
- Child login with parent created credentials
- Credential validation
- Clear, friendly error states
- Parent controlled credentials
- Password change requests where included in final scope
Profile and home
- Display name and avatar
- Encouraging welcome messaging
- Explore Activities
- Explore Careers and Professions
- Simple navigation back to available experiences
Pre built avatar options are provided rather than introducing complex avatar creation.
Live prototype. The prototype in this proposal runs entirely in your browser with simulated data, so you can click through the real journeys before a line of production code is written.
Two mechanics, both playable right now.
The MVP focuses on the two agreed gameplay concepts. Both are prototyped in this proposal so the feel can be judged rather than imagined.
Career Clue Hunt
- 1Select or receive a profession
- 2Receive simple instructions
- 3Enter a real world themed interactive environment
- 4Identify clues connected with the profession
- 5Avoid incorrect distractor clues
- 6Receive immediate feedback
- 7Receive a result at the end of the activity
Clues can be words, images, objects, actions and other visual assets.
Quick-Fire Scenarios
- 1Receive a short real life scenario
- 2See several possible professions
- 3Select the profession that best matches
- 4Receive immediate feedback
- 5Continue through additional scenarios
- 6Receive a result after completion
This gives the MVP a second mechanic while reusing the career content architecture.
MVP visual approach
For this budget and validation phase we recommend avoiding a complex open world 3D environment. The objective is a visually engaging interactive scene or lightweight game environment that demonstrates the FirstRay concept without committing Captella Games to the cost of full 3D before engagement has been validated. The underlying structure can then be expanded significantly in later phases.
Adventure
Side scrolling pixel world with characters to talk to.
Explore
Top down scene the child walks around freely.
Classic
Single illustrated scene where clues are spotted.
The prototype includes all three so Captella Games can pick the direction that tests best with children before development locks in.
Live prototype. Scores, clue progress and results in the prototype are simulated locally. In the MVP they are stored against the child profile and surfaced to the parent dashboard.
Twenty professions, and feedback that never says failed.
The library is sized to validate the concept rather than be comprehensive, and every result screen is written to keep a child curious.
What a profession holds
- Profession name and child friendly description
- Image or visual
- Associated clues, objects, actions and words
- Associated skills and interests
- Related game content
Approximately 20 professions, subject to Captella Games supplying or approving the required content.
Feedback and results
- Immediate feedback
- Child friendly language
- Positive reinforcement of correct choices
- Constructive explanation of incorrect choices where practical
- No language that labels a child as failing
- Encouragement to keep exploring
After an activity the child can play another activity, explore the related profession, or return to the home screen.
Sample from the prototype library
The safeguarding layer, and the commercial one.
Parents hold the account. They create the child, control the credentials, see what their child explored, and decide whether FirstRay is worth paying for.
Registration
- Register with email and password
- Secure login and account verification
- Password recovery
- Terms acceptance and parental consent
- Access to privacy information
Child profiles
- Create one or more child profiles
- Display name and age or date of birth
- Avatar selection
- Create and manage child credentials
- Edit permitted profile information
Dashboard
- Recent activity
- Games started and completed
- Professions explored
- Basic interests or strengths where reliably derived
Not an advanced educational assessment or complex personalised report.
Subscription and payments
- Access to the available FirstRay plan
- Subscription and upgrade journey
- Secure payment through Stripe
- Subscription status and basic management
The precise commercial model, such as free trial duration, permanently free content and the point at which a paywall appears, is confirmed with Captella Games during the planning phase. The prototype shows a placeholder price so the journey can be reviewed before the model is fixed.
Enough control to operate and learn from the MVP.
A lightweight admin area, deliberately not an enterprise administration platform. One permission level is sufficient for the first version.
Admin access
- Secure login
- Protected admin access
- Logout
- Single admin permission level
Basic user management
- View parent accounts
- Locate user accounts
- View linked child profiles
- View basic account status
- Perform essential account support actions
Content management
- Professions and descriptions
- Clues, words, objects and actions
- Game content
- Feedback messages
- Active or inactive content status
The objective is to let Captella Games make routine content changes without relying on a developer for every update, and to review incoming parent feedback in one place.
The evidence layer, built in from day one.
Analytics are incorporated from the beginning rather than added after launch, because the MVP is a learning platform as much as a product.
Acquisition
- Parent registrations
- Verified accounts
- Child profiles created
Engagement
- Child logins
- Games started, completed and abandoned where measurable
- Professions explored
- Repeat usage and relevant scores
Commercial behaviour
- Subscription and upgrade views
- Payment attempts
- Successful subscriptions
- Cancellations where applicable
The questions this answers
Are children actually playing?
Are they completing games?
Are they returning?
Which professions are most interesting?
Which game mechanics perform best?
Are parents engaging with the product?
Are parents willing to pay?
Where are users dropping out?
Design
- Clarity and visual engagement
- Ease of navigation
- Age appropriate interactions
- Consistent FirstRay styling
- Responsive web layouts
- Gameplay that is understandable rather than overwhelming
Existing branding is the starting point. A complete rebrand is not included in the fee.
Technical deliverables
- Responsive web application
- Parent, child and admin authentication
- Database and MVP data relationships
- Child activity tracking
- Career Clue Hunt and Quick-Fire Scenarios
- Parent dashboard and lightweight admin
- Stripe subscription integration
- Analytics, feedback capture, deployment and error monitoring
Quality assurance
Functional QA across the agreed core journeys before handover for beta testing.
- Parent journey: registration to payment
- Child journey: login to results
- Admin journey: login to analytics
- Critical defects inside agreed scope fixed before handover
Four focused stages, roughly two to three weeks.
Timelines overlap because work happens asynchronously. The estimate assumes prompt content, timely decisions and a scope that stays inside the agreed MVP.
Scope and product alignment
- Scope confirmation
- Screen and page confirmation
- Gameplay decisions
- Content requirements
- Analytics requirements
- Technical planning
Output. Final MVP build specification
UX/UI and technical foundation
- Key interface designs
- Application architecture
- Database structure
- Authentication
- Parent and child account structure
- Admin foundation
Output. Approved direction and functional application foundation
Core development
- Parent and child experiences
- Career Clue Hunt
- Quick-Fire Scenarios
- Professions
- Dashboard and lightweight admin
- Analytics and payments
Output. Working FirstRay MVP
QA, refinement and handover
- Functional testing
- Bug fixing
- Client review
- Deployment
- Basic handover
Output. FirstRay MVP ready for controlled beta users
Timeline assumptions
- Required content is supplied promptly
- Product decisions are made within agreed review periods
- Feedback is consolidated
- Scope remains limited to the agreed MVP
- No major scope changes are introduced during development
If additional functionality is requested, its impact on cost and timeline is agreed before implementation.
£2,000 fixed fee for the FirstRay MVP.
One agreed price for the scope described in this proposal, structured so both sides know exactly what is and is not included.
Total development fee
£2,000
Fixed fee for the agreed MVP scope, delivered in roughly two to three weeks.
50%
On project commencement
50%
On development completion
Included in the fee
- Scope and product alignment
- UX/UI for the agreed screens
- Full MVP development
- Parent, child and admin experiences
- Both gameplay mechanics
- Stripe subscription integration
- Analytics and feedback capture
- QA, deployment and handover
Outside the MVP scope
- Complex 3D or open world environments
- Native iOS or Android applications
- Advanced educational assessment or psychometrics
- Complex gamification, rewards or social features
- Multi language support
- Full brand identity creation
- Ongoing content production
- Marketing websites or campaigns
These can be planned as later phases once the MVP has produced real usage evidence.
Assumptions and client responsibilities
- Captella Games supplies or approves career and clue content
- Existing branding assets are provided
- Feedback is consolidated within agreed review periods
- Stripe account and business details are provided
- Hosting and third party service costs sit with the client
- Scope changes are agreed in writing before implementation
Ready when you are.
The fastest route to knowing whether children love FirstRay is to put a working version in front of them.
Review this proposal
Click through the prototype and note anything that should change.
Confirm the MVP scope
We lock screens, gameplay decisions and content requirements.
Approve and commence
50% deposit, then Stage 1 begins within a few working days.
Beta with real children
Handover of a deployed MVP ready for controlled beta users.
Prepared for Captella Games. Every screen linked from this document is a live, clickable prototype running in your browser with simulated data.