In-game rewards for outdoor exercise

In China, the creators of the popular mobile game Timi Run Everyday are forcing players to exercise in order to unlock special in-game rewards.

The mobile gaming industry is huge, and titles such as Farmville and Candy Crush Saga are proof that gamers are willing to cough up real cash for extra virtual lives and progress to reach the next level. For parents, this just adds more worry about kids using up their pocket money on top of spending too much time on their devices. In China, the creators of the popular mobile game Timi Run Everyday are now hoping to solve both problems, by forcing players to exercise in order to unlock special in-game rewards.

The game’s developers, Tencent, are teaming up with the upcoming Razer Nabu — a fitness band that can track activity, as well as offer call, message and social notifications. In the game, players have to help their character keep running by avoiding obstacles. When they connect their Nabu to their smartphone, the game will automatically convert any activity into virtual benefits, such as extra hearts, gold coins and special boost modes. The rewards are directly related to their real-world actions — if players get 8 hours’ sleep they’ll receive 8 hearts, and if they burn 500 calories they’ll win 5000 coins, for example.

Watch the video below for a demonstration of how the rewards work:

The collaboration hopes to tap into young people’s passion for games by converting that energy into positive exercise to keep them fit and healthy as they enjoy the game. However, players will have to wait as there’s currently no release date or price for the Nabu. Innovations such as Blue Goji have already aimed to help consumers exercise and game at the same time — are there any other ways to make fitness more fun with gamification?