Popcorn Capitals

Popcorn Capitals Case Study: Educational Telegram Mini App With Gamification

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Brief description

Telegram Mini App with financial literacy learning, gamification, and psychological tests

Task

Build a mini app for financial literacy learning with video lessons, psychological tests, progress tracking, referrals, rankings and economy, plus exams after the learning path.

About the project

We built a Telegram Mini App for a creator with learning and gamification. Inside: video lectures, custom tests, progress tracking, a tapper, a referral program, achievements, and rankings. The whole economy runs on PopcornCoin — an in-game currency with a listing plan. Users earn coins by completing learning and tasks. There is bot notification broadcasting via the admin panel and rewards for daily activities.

Business benefits

•ACTIVE USER SHARE GREW BY 250% THANKS TO DAILY TASKS, RANKINGS, AND PLACEMENT IN A TELEGRAM MINI APP

•QUARTERLY GROWTH DYNAMICS OF COMMISSION / IN-APP PURCHASE REVENUE STAYED AT 90% DUE TO ADDITIONAL MONETIZATION THROUGH THE POPCORNCOIN IN-GAME ECONOMY

•INVESTOR COUNT GREW BY 50% THANKS TO A NEW FUNNEL FROM USER TO INVESTOR

Features

User profile

•User card

•Progress across courses, learning paths, and tests

•Overall ranking

•Achievements

•PopcornCoin balance

•Activity history

•Watched lectures

•Completed tests

•Earned rewards

•All PopcornCoin transactions

•In-app purchase history

Telegram authorization

•Sign-in via Telegram ID — no login or password

•Telegram ID as a unique identifier

Learning management on the platform

•Courses built from modules and lessons

•Custom module and lesson content

•Video lecture playlists

•Saved video watch position

•Resume learning from the last place

Video content

•Built-in video player

•Watch tracking (start and completion)

•Watch events tied to user progress

Custom tests

•Multiple test formats: single choice, multiple choice, case questions

•Attempt limits

•Score calculation by results

Progress tracking

•Course completion percentage

•Progress per module

•Number of test attempts

•Earned points

Staged lesson unlocks

•Next lessons unlock only when conditions are met: minimum score threshold, previous module completed, attempts used or exhausted

•Learning sequence control

•No content skipping

Engaging mini-tests

•Easy product entry through short tests

•Fast-result format

•Themed tests (e.g. investor type)

•Repeat-visit mechanics

•Retake a test

•Result updates

•Tests as a retention tool

Internal currency

•PopcornCoin as the single unit of account inside the platform

•Balance shown in the user profile

P2E mechanics

•Learning integrated with the game economy

•“Action → reward” loop

•Progress linked to currency accumulation

Tapper

•Basic click-to-earn mechanic

•PopcornCoin rewards for activity

Achievement system

•Public achievements for completing courses

•Special statuses and user levels

•Achievement system and trigger set

•Reward system and activity rewards

•Triggers for achievements, rewards, and badges

•Math display for transparent accruals

User rankings and leaderboard

•Leaderboard generation

•Sort by activity, points, or currency

•User position display

•Public achievements and badges in the profile

•Competition stimulation

•Higher return rate and engagement

Referral system

•Personal referral link

•Unique link generation

•Deeplink into the mini app

•Invited users tracking

•Separate referral list

•Invitee statuses

•Rewards for invitee activity

Retro Drop program

•PopcornCoin for each referral

•Coin rewards for specific in-app actions

•Accrual history

•Math display for transparent accruals

•Lecture viewing

•Successful test completion

•Daily actions

•Weekly task completion

•Clicker activity

•Referral actions

Dynamic accrual balance system

•Limits on accrual counts

•Control over currency accumulation pace

•Configurable accrual coefficients

Technology stack

1. Frontend:

•React

•Redux Toolkit

•TanStack React Query

•Telegram.WebApp

Design goals:

•SHOW PROGRESS AND A WIN AFTER EVERY ACTION SO PEOPLE RETURN MORE OFTEN

•RAISE USER ENGAGEMENT BY 50% THROUGH CLEAR, TANGIBLE POPCORNCOIN IN THE UI SO USERS SAVE AND SPEND MORE ACTIVELY

•MAKE LEARNING CONVENIENT WITH VISIBLE RESULTS

•HTTPS://WWW.FIGMA.COM/DESIGN/XLZJHZZO3INST12KVDGDL2/POPCORN-(COPY)?NODE-ID=

Design results:

•BOLD PRESENTATION: THE NAME AND STYLE HINT AT AN ENTERTAINMENT FORMAT FOR INVESTING (CINEMA/POPCORN ASSOCIATIONS), MAKING THE PLATFORM MEMORABLE

•FOCUS ON OUTCOMES: DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS STATS AND SUCCESSFUL PROJECT CASES, STRENGTHENING INVESTOR TRUST

•SIMPLE PARTICIPATION: REGISTRATION AND EXPLANATIONS ARE CLEAR SO BUSINESS OWNERS CAN QUICKLY SEE THE BENEFITS