Think you can remember 12 digits in 1 second? 
Transcribing reality into monkey business? 
Excitingly intelligent, and we did it.

Players’ responded to Ayumu at lightning speed and with great enthusiasm. After its debut weekend, Ayumu was ranked number one overall for free educational games in 20 countries. Ayumu is more than just an iPhone game: it is a compelling, interactive test of memory and dexterity. 

Ayumu is an example of transcribing a true story into educational gaming. Ayumu is the name of a memory champion chimpanzee, capable of mental feats humans find impossible. His story, recorded by BBC, inspired us to create a learning tool disguised as a fun and engaging smartphone application.

Funnily enough the idea came to fruition on a day, which was set aside for the SMAL designers to work on their personal projects.  SMAL welcomed this project enthusiastically, as the brain-teaser is an app available in the Apple Store. Which meant it was also a brand-new challenge for the team: to build a complete iPhone app from the ground up. From sketching to wireframing, from testing to passing Apple’s approval process, Ayumu became SMAL's own version of ‘monkey see, monkey do’..