Hangul Monsters and Math Monsters Are Now Completely Free

We have removed every paid item from Hangul Monsters and Math Monsters. Every mode in both apps is now free, on Google Play and on Apps in Toss alike.

How they were sold

Both apps launched with the basic modes free and the advanced modes behind a one-time in-app purchase.

• Hangul Monsters: consonants and vowels, consonant names and Ga-na-da syllables were free. The four word packs (no final consonant, with a final consonant, compound vowels, double consonants) and sentence reading cost 1,000 KRW each.
• Math Monsters: addition and subtraction on easy were free. The other operations cost 1,000 KRW per operation.

The idea was that an ad-free app has to earn its keep somewhere, and a price below a cup of coffee felt harmless.

A week with zero sales

One week after launch: zero orders on Google Play, zero orders on Apps in Toss. Installs trickled in, but nobody went through with a payment.

More than the number itself, I thought about the situation behind it. The person opening these apps is usually a parent sitting next to a small child. The child clears the consonants and vowels, taps the next stage with a grin, and a payment sheet appears. Closing the app is a far more natural reaction than reaching for a card, and that is exactly what happened.

So we took it out

These apps were built as educational tools from day one. Math Monsters started when my eldest quit a worksheet program and I began building a practice tool myself, a story I told in The Day We Quit Kumon. Hangul Monsters came from the same place. The whole point is that young children can repeat the exercises freely, and a payment sheet standing in front of that point felt wrong even to me.

Rather than clinging to a paid product that nobody buys, letting anyone open the app and try it with their child is much closer to the reason the apps exist. So the purchase code is gone entirely. The billing library and the billing permission went with it, which means there is no way to spend money inside the apps at all.

What changed

• Hangul Monsters: all four word packs and sentence reading are free, along with everything else.
• Math Monsters: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, every operation and difficulty, free.
• Still no ads, and still no sign-up.
• Had anyone already paid, we would have arranged refunds. Fortunately or not, that never came up.

Everything unlocks in the latest update. If your store does not show it yet, please check again a little later. The Apps in Toss versions are already updated.

Download

You can also play both games right in your browser, no install needed.

• Hangul Monsters: Google Play · Apps in Toss
• Math Monsters: Google Play · Apps in Toss

Running costs will be covered by ads in our other apps. If a child gets a little more comfortable with Korean letters and arithmetic while catching monsters, that is enough.

Updates are posted here and on Instagram (@fadongkwon.soft).