“The biggest win is streaks. Believe it or not, we have our own way of counting streaks — the streak is represented by this small animated flame — and you can get beautiful opal gemstones when you reach different streak milestones. That's the biggest win in the last year to improve retention and growth.”

Streaks outperformed every other retention feature Opal shipped in the last year

Schlenker names Opal's custom streak implementation as the single highest-impact retention feature of the past year. The streak counts cumulative focus sessions rather than simple daily check-ins, and the visual representation is a bespoke animated flame integrated with the Opal gemstone reward system. Users who hit streak milestones unlock new gemstones. The success is a reminder that well-established gamification mechanics still work when executed with craftsmanship and tied to genuine product behavior.