(21 January 2026 | Source: Ivan Strizhakov's Instagram account)
The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan spent $490,000 on creating a children's game for learning the Kazakh language. Users who tested the app pointed out technical issues and inconvenience in its use. According to public data, only a few people downloaded the game.
WHAT HAPPENED
According to data from the government procurement website, in 2025 the Ministry of Science entered into a contract with United Kingdom LLP to develop a game for teaching children the state language. The contract amount was 268.6 million tenge, which at the current exchange rate is equivalent to approximately $490,000.
USER REACTION
As journalist Ivan Strizhakov reports on his Instagram, he downloaded the app and published a video review of it. According to him, the idea behind the project seems positive, but the final implementation raised questions.
Strizhakov complained that the game freezes, there are no clear explanations on how to progress through the game's stages, and the controls are awkward. He also noted that, according to public statistics, only a few people downloaded the app.
The journalist also questioned the wisdom of developing a separate product. In his words, 'it is unclear why reinvent the wheel when similar apps already exist'.
'INTERROGATION SIMULATOR'
At the end of his review, Strizhakov added that the Financial Monitoring Agency of Kazakhstan (FMA) also planned to develop a game called 'Interrogation Simulator'.
The FBRK checked – on the government procurement website, a contract worth 31 million 250 thousand tenge (about $57,000) for the project '3D Game Simulator of Investigative Actions' is listed as completed. However, the state of the game itself and whether it actually exists remains unknown.