
We've all heard of gamification with regards to fitness tracking. But while the likes of Endomondo, Jawbone and RunKeeper add a game-level to your workouts by creating a competitive environment for social groups, Aussie developer Asura Productions wants to add an actual game to your daily step counting objective.
Dungeon Tracker has landed on Kickstarter and, while it's struggling so far to gain any traction financially, we're big fans of the premise.
Essential reading: How to set your fitness goals and actually stick to them
Designed for the Apple Watch, the RPG uses not only step counting but heart rate monitoring, calories burned, distance traveled, and both daily and weekly goals to progress players through the game.
Your real world stats are turned into mana points which you can use to purchase items for your game's character.
It's intended for the Apple Watch only at the moment but the Kickstarter notes do state that an "Android Gear" version is on the cards too. We're guessing that they've got their smartwatch platforms mixed up there - either that or they've spilled the beans on an exciting new Samsung / Google mashup.
Gaming and wearables: The behaviour behind rewards and motivations
Whatever the outcome, we applaud the idea - although it's not entirely original. Zombies, Run! is a smartphone game where you out-run zombies with your real world stats.
However, a dedicated wearable game would definitely be a welcome addition, especially as most of the Apple Watch games so far have been pretty naff.
How we test