Inside Growing Up: Creating Educational Games by Parents, for Parents

In a time where educational games are too entertaining or too academic, Growing Up has vowed to bridge that gap with their games and make learning fun. We speak to Felicia Ngiam - founder of Growing Up, as she shares how she designs educational and entertaining games for all ages.

Q: Please give the readers a short introduction about yourself and your company. What is your “origin” story, and how did you come about starting this business?

I’m Felicia Ngiam, founder of Growing Up, a Singapore-based educational board game publisher focused on making learning engaging through play.

The idea started when I noticed a gap in locally developed educational games that were both meaningful and fun. Many products in the market were either overly academic or purely entertainment-driven. At the same time, I saw more children becoming glued to digital devices and losing opportunities for real human interaction.

I wanted to create something different-- games that not only support learning outcomes but also bring families and friends together. That’s how Growing Up was born. Today, we’ve developed a range of games like AniMAH, Cosmo Connect, Dish Dash, and O’Chess, all designed to make learning social, interactive, and enjoyable for children from ages 4 to 12.

Q: As someone who oversees several businesses, how do you approach balancing your time and focus between Growing Up and your other ventures? What insights have you gained from managing multiple enterprises?

I approach this by being very clear on my role in each business. I focus on high-leverage areas such as vision, partnerships, and key strategic decisions, while building a strong team to manage day-to-day operations. One key insight is that not all businesses require equal attention at all times. Different ventures go through different growth phases, so I allocate my time based on where the biggest impact can be made.

Another important lesson is the value of systems and delegation. Without clear processes and empowered team members, it’s impossible to scale across multiple businesses. I’ve built a centralized core team that supports all my businesses, allowing me to keep costs lean while maximizing the efficiency of my manpower. For instance, my marketing team oversees social media across all brands, and my operations team handles order fulfilment and customer service across the portfolio. Ultimately, it’s about working on the business rather than being stuck in it.

Q: How does Growing Up set itself apart from other educational product companies that seek to engage parents and educators in Singapore?

What sets us apart is our focus on social learning through play. We don’t just design games to teach concepts-- we design them to create interaction. Many current educational products are designed for individual use or tend to feel like an extension of schoolwork, but our games are intentionally built to be played together, encouraging communication, collaboration, and even friendly competition.

We also take a “family-first” approach, ensuring our games are enjoyable for both children and adults. This increases

replay value and makes learning a shared experience rather than a task.

Q: What key challenges has Growing Up faced in developing and marketing educational products in Singapore, and how did your team overcome them?

One major challenge is perception-- educational products are often seen as less exciting compared to pure entertainment or digital games. To overcome this, we focus heavily on gameplay experience first. If a game isn’t fun, it won’t succeed, no matter how educational it is.

Another challenge is market size. Singapore is relatively small, so scaling requires us to think beyond local demand early on. We address this by designing games with broader appeal, and exploring partnerships and distribution channels that can take us regionally and globally.

Q: In light of evolving learning preferences and play habits among children, particularly with the increasing prevalence of digital learning and entertainment, how does Growing Up ensure its products remain relevant and engaging?

We see digital learning as both a challenge and a reference point. Children today are used to fast-paced, engaging experiences, so our games need to match that level of stimulation - just in a physical, social format. We focus on simple but engaging mechanics, short learning curves with high replay value, and interactive elements that encourage participation 

At the same time, we position our games as a complement to digital life - a way for families to disconnect from screens and reconnect with each other. Before I began creating children’s games, I was livestreaming educational products like books and board games. Through that experience, I noticed that many parents today have limited time to engage with their children, and often find more complex games difficult to introduce or sustain.

That insight shaped my design philosophy: keep games simple, intuitive, and engaging. We focus on modernizing classic games or creating easy-to-play formats suitable for children as young as four.

Q: What methods do you use to collect feedback from children and parents, and how does this input affect the development of your games or products? What are some things that parents have directly said to you that's changed your design thinking process?

We place a strong emphasis on playtesting. We observe how children naturally interact with our games - what excites them, where they lose interest, and how they adapt the rules of the game. We also gather feedback directly from parents, educators, and event participants through conversations, reviews, and structured game sessions. This feedback directly informs our iteration process. Sometimes small adjustments like simplifying rules or adjusting pacing, can significantly improve the overall gameplay experience.

After launching our initial range of modernized classic games, we began receiving feedback from parents who were looking for more original concepts—games they hadn’t seen before. This prompted us to explore new themes that would appeal to children and push our creativity further.

At the same time, while we were exploring products for older children, many parents highlighted a gap in the market for kids aged 3–7, noting the limited board game options available for this group. This led us to focus on expanding our library for younger players by building on existing titles like Memory Snap and Opposite Bingo—language-based games—and adapting them into new themes. The goal is to provide parents with a wider variety of engaging, age-appropriate options for early learning and play.

Q: Can you share which of your games exceeded performance expectations, and what factors contributed to its strong resonance with audiences?

AniMAH (released on December 1st 2023) exceeded our expectations. Its success came from its familiarity combined with accessibility— it draws inspiration from mahjong, which many families already know, but simplifies it in a way that makes it inclusive for both kids and adults. That balance between tradition and innovation made it easy for families to adopt, and it naturally became a game that multiple generations could enjoy together.

Another strong performer is “Dish Dash,” a simple cooking game where players collect ingredients to complete dishes. Many food-themed games on the market are too complex for young children and adults to enjoy together, so we designed this as a family-friendly experience. Children as young as four can participate by matching ingredient images, making it easy and accessible. The dishes and ingredients are inspired by real-life recipes, allowing kids to learn what goes into each dish while keeping gameplay fun and engaging for the whole family.

Q: Are there any memorable moments at Growing Up that left a lasting impact on you or your team? Could you tell us more about them?

One of the most memorable moments is seeing families genuinely connect during gameplay— parents putting aside their phones, children fully engaged, and everyone laughing together.

There was a particular event where we saw kids teaching their parents how to play, and the roles were reversed. That moment really reinforced our mission— our games are not just about learning concepts, but about creating meaningful interactions.

Q: Have you ever considered expanding beyond Singapore to collaborate with educators, schools, or designers overseas? What excites or concerns you about bringing Singaporean educational games to an international audience?

Yes, expansion is definitely part of our vision. What excites me is the opportunity to bring a Singapore perspective on education, structured yet creative— to a global audience. We began expanding one of our games into the U.S. via Amazon, but quickly realized the learning curve and barriers to entry were much higher than expected. After exporting 200 sets, we found it challenging to navigate the platform, and incurred significant costs in warehousing and marketing, while sales fell short of expectations. Nonetheless, it was a valuable learning experience.

Our games are designed with strong fundamentals, and many of the learning principles are universal. The main consideration is localization, especially for language-based games. That said, we anticipate a few key challenges. Language barriers are a major consideration, as well as ensuring the content of our games is not overly localized to Singapore. For example, games that are heavily Singapore-centric or rely on Chinese-English formats may not translate well.

To address this, we plan to collaborate with local publishers or partners to adapt and translate our games, ensuring they are relevant and engaging for each market. But overall, I see strong potential for our products to travel beyond Singapore.

Q: Where do you see Growing Up in the next few years, and what can parents and educators look forward to from your upcoming projects?

In the next few years, I see Growing Up becoming a recognized brand not just in Singapore, but regionally and globally.

We are working towards developing stronger game IPs, expanding our product lines, and creating more structured learning-through-play experiences. We are also looking to publish more internationally adaptable games so that we can leverage economies of scale and bring costs down.

Parents and educators can look forward to more innovative games that combine education, interaction, and fun— while continuing to stay true to our core mission of making learning meaningful through play.

Q: For anyone interested in Growing Up’s products, where can they find and purchase your games?

Our games are available through our official website (www.growingup.sg) and selected retail and event channels. We also actively participate in pop-ups, school events, and exhibitions where families can experience the games first-hand.

We encourage parents and educators to follow us on our social platforms as well, where we regularly share updates, new launches, and upcoming activities.

Facebook: @kidsgrowingupsg

Instagram: @growingupsg