General Design Doc

The Problem To Be Solved

The basic problem is this: for some people, exercise is not inherently-rewarding, or not inherently-rewarding enough, for them to choose to do it as often as they might like.

This game sets out to solve this problem by introducing one or more reward mechanisms.

(Note: it is necessary, but not sufficient, to track a player's exercise. Without reward mechanisms, it ceases to be a game and is merely a place to log exertion.)

Possible Reward Mechanisms

Among them might be:

• XP: The traditional rpg reward; gaining XP results in higher levels. What it means to be a particular level is up in the air. The most noteworthy characteristic of XP is that it never decreases; it only goes up.

• Gold: A generic term for in-game currency. Presumably there will exist in-game things to 'spend' gold on. Unlike XP, gold might increase or decrease. Total net worth is likely to never decrease, but it's theoretically possible.

• Content: A sort-of 'second tier' reward; this would be, for example, unlocking a new quest at level 7.
  • In turn, completing quests could lead to further XP and gold.

• Social reinforcements: Basically, anything that comes out of playing the game non-solo.
  • These could include things in several other categories here: shared quests, purchasable items that you can show off to other players, etc.

• Status: Analogous to the STR/DEX/INT/CHA/etc. kind of stats in traditional RPG's. Probably increased by leveling up. Possibly tied to different types of exercises somehow?
  • Could affect how XP is scored for those exercises or how quests are resolved.