Stage 4: Gold & Shop

When enabled, students can earn gold with rewards. Students can then spend their gold on shop items. Shop items are either in-game items that give them benefits (like bonus experience or mana), or real-life rewards that you provide.

While experience points are typically used to reward good behavior (helping others, participation, being kind), gold is generally used to reward academic achievements (good grades, completed assignments, correct answers). This creates a nice balance: behavior earns levels and powers, while academics earns purchasing power.

The gold system creates an economy in your classroom, teaching students about earning, saving, and spending while keeping them engaged.

Prerequisites:

• Registered account
• Class created with students added
• Familiarity with Stage 1: Rewards & Powers

Configuration

Enabling Gold

To activate the gold system:

1. Go to Class Settings → Features
2. Enable "Gold"
3. Click "Save Changes"

Once enabled, gold-related options appear throughout your class configuration.

Rewarding Gold

After enabling gold, your rewards can include gold amounts:

1. Navigate to Class Settings → Rewards
2. For each reward, you'll see a Gold field alongside Experience, Mana, and Health
3. Set gold amounts for academic achievements (e.g., "Perfect homework" = 50 gold, "A on test" = 100 gold)
4. Click "Save Rewards"

Setting Up Shop Items

Create items students can purchase with their gold:

1. Go to Class Settings → Shop
2. Click "Add Item"
3. Configure the item:
   • Name - What the item is called (e.g., "Homework Pass")
   • Gold Cost - How much gold it costs
   • Effects - Optional stat bonuses (Experience, Mana, Health)
   • Needs Approval - Whether you must approve purchases
4. Click "Save Shop Items"

Types of Shop Items

In-game items provide stat bonuses when purchased:

• Mana potion (+1 Mana, 100 gold)
• Experience boost (+200 Experience, 75 gold)
• Health restore (+2 Health, 50 gold)

Real-life rewards require you to fulfill them:

• A physical school store item
• Homework pass

Buying Items for Students

As a teacher, you can purchase shop items on behalf of students directly from the class dashboard.

Accessing the Buy Panel

1. Navigate to your class dashboard
2. Find the student who wants to buy an item
3. Click on the student's card or avatar
4. Click the "Buy Item" button

Buying a Single Item

When the buy panel opens, you'll see:

• Available Gold - The student's current gold balance
• Shop Item List - All configured shop items for your class

Each item displays:

• Gold Cost - How much gold the item costs
• Name - The item's title
• Effects - Any stat bonuses (Experience, Mana, Health)

Simply click on an item to purchase it immediately.

After clicking, you'll see a confirmation toast message showing the purchase was completed. The student's gold balance and stats update instantly.

Buying a Custom Item

Sometimes you need to process a purchase that isn't in your configured shop. Use the Custom Item section at the bottom of the buy panel:

1. Set the Values
   • Name - Type a description for the item
   • Gold Cost - Set how much gold to deduct
   • Experience - Optionally add experience points
   • Mana - Optionally add mana points
   • Health - Optionally add health points (if health is enabled)
2. Click the "Buy" button to complete the custom purchase

Using Multiselect Mode

For situations where a student wants to purchase multiple items at once, use Multiselect Mode:

Step 1: Enable Multiselect Mode

Toggle the Multiselect switch at the bottom of the buy panel.

Step 2: Select Item Quantities

In multiselect mode, each shop item shows a number input field:

• Click an item to increment its quantity by 1
• Or type a specific number in the input field
• Set quantities for multiple different items

As you select items, the available gold counter updates to show:

• Available Gold - Remaining gold after selected items
• Total Gold - Student's full gold balance

Example: Available gold: 50 (of 200) - means 150 gold is allocated to selected items, leaving 50 available.

Step 3: Apply All Selected Purchases

Click the "Apply Selected" button to process all items with quantities greater than 0. Each item is purchased the specified number of times.

Example use case: A student saved up gold and wants to buy 2 "Mana Potions" and 1 "Homework Pass". Set "Mana Potion" to 2 and "Homework Pass" to 1, then apply all at once.

Managing Student Purchases

If students have accounts, they can request purchases themselves. You control how these requests are handled.

Approval Mode (Recommended)

With approval mode enabled, student purchases require your confirmation:

1. Student requests to purchase item from their dashboard
2. Request appears in your Activity page
3. You see:
   • Student name
   • Item requested
   • Gold cost
4. Click "Approve" or "Deny"
5. If approved:
   • Gold is deducted from the student
   • In-game effects are applied automatically
   • Real-life rewards need to be fulfilled by you

Configure in: Class Settings → Shop → Enable "Require Approval"

Direct Mode

With direct mode, students can purchase instantly:

• Student clicks to buy in their dashboard
• Gold is deducted immediately
• In-game effects are applied automatically
• Activity is logged for your review

Configure in: Class Settings → Shop → Disable "Require Approval"

Common Questions

Can I undo a purchase?

Purchases cannot be undone automatically. If a purchase was made by mistake, you can manually adjust the student's gold and stat balances.

How do I track what students have bought?

All purchases are logged in the activity history. You can view purchases from the Activity page or in individual student profiles.

Should I use real-life rewards or in-game effects?

Both work well! In-game effects (mana, experience) are automatically applied and require no extra work. Real-life rewards (homework passes, privileges) create stronger real-world connections but require you to honor them.

What if students hoard gold and never spend it?

Consider adding limited-time items, creating exciting high-value rewards, or running "sales" where items cost less gold for a short period.

Best Practices

Getting Started

1. Start with 5-10 items - Mix of in-game effects and real-life rewards
2. Price items appropriately - Most items should be affordable within 1-2 weeks of earning
3. Explain the system - Make sure students understand how gold and the shop work
4. Update regularly - Add new items to keep the shop fresh and exciting

Maintaining Engagement

• Variety in pricing - Have cheap daily treats and expensive long-term goals
• Seasonal items - Add special items for holidays or class events
• Student input - Ask students what rewards they'd like to see
• Track spending patterns - Adjust prices based on what sells

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• Don't overprice everything - Students should be able to buy something regularly
• Don't forget real-life rewards - If a student buys a homework pass, honor it
• Don't make gold too rare - Include gold in most rewards so students can participate
• Don't neglect the shop - An unchanging shop loses its appeal over time

Next Steps

Once your class is comfortable with the gold system, consider:

• Best Practices - Strategies for maintaining engagement throughout the year
• Class Management - Tips for monitoring your classroom economy
• Teacher Guide - Overview of combining all stages effectively

If you haven't enabled earlier stages yet:

• Stage 2: Student Accounts - Give students their own logins so they can browse the shop
• Stage 3: Health System - Add health points that can be restored with shop items