Duolingo swaps “lives” for energy – learning will get easier

The Duolingo service is changing one of the main elements of gameplay: instead of the usual “hearts,” the energy system will now be used. According to the developers, this step is aimed at motivating users to continue learning rather than punishing them for mistakes. The innovation has already started rolling out on the iOS app, while the Android version will get it later this year.

Why is Duolingo changing mechanics?”

In the old system, a user lost one heart for every mistake in a lesson. If you lost all five, you had to either wait, watch ads, or pay with in-game currency (Gems) to regain them.

• Each user will have 25 units of energy
• Each exercise expends one energy.
• Mistakes also take one energy, but bonuses for a successful series of tasks allow you to replenish it.
• Subscribers to Super Duolingo and Duolingo Max still get unlimited access as before – now to energy, not hearts.

“The old system could stop a user as early as the first exercise of the day. The new one doesn’t block training because of a couple of mistakes,” says Duolingo senior engineer Moses Wayne.

The effect is already visible

According to the team, user engagement metrics have increased significantly. People are taking more classes, spending more time in the app, and feeling frustration less often. The new approach focuses on rewards rather than punishment.

“We wanted to not just eliminate the annoyance of bugs, but also enhance the gameplay aspect of the app a little bit,” Wayne added.

Only on iOS

The energy system has already begun phased rollout on iOS, and the rollout will take a few weeks to complete. On Android, everything will remain the same until the end of 2025, and there will be no synchronization between the platforms yet.

This means that if you’re learning languages on Android and iPhone at the same time, you’re going to be faced with two different mechanics.

And if you’re learning languages on Android and iPhone, you’ll be faced with two different mechanics.

Duolingo becomes “AI-first”

The company recently said it’s betting on artificial intelligence: through generative models, Duolingo doubles the number of available languages, and new features (including grammar explanations and translations) are also being built on AI.

The story Duolingo swaps “lives” for energy – learning will get easier was first published on ITZine.ru.