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My RuneScape-inspired fitness RPG, WalkScape, has a new Closed Beta wave starting one June 1st! (i.postimg.cc)

submitted 6 months ago by schamppu@lemmy.zip to c/games@lemmy.world

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Hello! ❤️

I'm the developer of WalkScape! My game is an online RPG that is inspired by RuneScape, where all of the in-game progression happens by walking in real life.

I myself have struggled to exercise enough, and I'm diagnosed with ADHD. This project started off as something I was working for myself to help me exercise more. The game has been in Closed Beta since January 18th, and the player feedback so far has been awesome!

There are three key things that make the game very unique for a mobile game, in addition to just being a nice and cozy game that incentivizes you to walk:

No GPS. Unlike games like Pokemon Go, WalkScape uses pedometer instead of GPS. This means you can walk where ever you like, including at your home or gym on a treadmill. And doesn't compromise your privacy.
No MTX or ads. I'm against all kind of predatory trends in gaming, especially predatory monetisation. WalkScape is completely community funded with Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee with no external investments.
Not hungry for your attention. WalkScape doesn't even need to be opened in the background for you to gain progress in it. The game is designed in a way where you only need to open it after your exercise, and if you forget to the game it doesn't punish you. It saves your "missed steps" for later.

If you're interested to give it a try, you can check out https://walkscape.app to find how to join the upcoming beta wave, see some stats about the game (people have already walked more than 1.5 billion steps!), and our roadmap.

I'll answer any questions you might have. Happy walking and stay hydrated ❤️

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[-] Vit@lemmy.world 33 points 6 months ago

I've been using this app for the past several months. I really appreciate the fact that you can just go about your day and then open the app 1 time in the evening and see all of your progress at once. Ultimately it's been a way better way to inspire me to get out and walk more than Pokemon Go was.

With PoGo, I'd constantly be stopping while walking about so that I could catch Pokemon. On top of that, with PoGo my routes were more or less predetermined since I'd need to walk specific places to spin stops to have enough pokeballs to keep playing. Not to mention the heavy battery drain with PoGo as the screen and GPS were constantly in-use. Additionally, PoGo always made me feel a bit awkward walking around parks if kids were playing nearby since I'm sure I looked like a total creep with my phone out...

But no more! Now I put my phone in my pocket and walk whatever direction I'd like for however long I want. No stopping, no battery drain, no daily streaks to maintain, no FOMO events to try and keep me using the app. And no more looking like a weirdo lol.

Love this app, thank you for making it. I hope one day soon it can use my activity tracker (I use a Fitbit) instead of relying solely on the phone being in my pocket, but my expectations have been blown away regardless. Phenomenal job.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 17 points 6 months ago

This was really awesome to read. Thank you, you made my day! More updates are coming this summer to make it even better. And hopefully smart watch + band integration soon as well. We're currently a bit delayed on that front as Google is redesigning how health app integrations work with Health Connect

[-] Dasnap@lemmy.world 31 points 6 months ago

Looks sweet; applied for the beta.

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[-] deezbutts@lemm.ee 26 points 6 months ago

This has been a phenomenal dopamine factory for my wfh software ADHD ass.

It's beautiful, clearly a labor of love, and I can't wait to see the roadmap progress! Wishing you the best of luck!

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 12 points 6 months ago

Thank you so much! And awesome to hear you've been liking it and it's been helpful ❤️

[-] Nighed@sffa.community 25 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Do you have integration with other health and fitness apps to retrieve non phone step counts?

I have a Garmin watch that does all my health tracking etc.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 29 points 6 months ago

Not yet, but it's on our roadmap. Google is right now doing a major rework on this (Health Connect), which delays our efforts on that for a moment as we need to wait for them to release it fully.

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[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Ditto but for Gadgetbridge on Android :)

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[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 23 points 6 months ago

wave:selling mith arrows 1k ea

[-] mossy_@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

fishing lvl?

[-] CoolMatt@lemmy.ca 9 points 6 months ago

[-] mossy_@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

nice

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[-] christov@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

Nice

[-] mossy_@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

umbrella didn't respond, reported for botting

[-] umbrella@lemmy.ml 9 points 6 months ago

no pls i was adding some songs to winamp

[-] mossy_@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

too late, gf sit

[-] Imperor@lemmy.world 20 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

That's amazing - Would it be fine if I covered this on my (very, very small) YouTube channel? My content isn't really related to anything fitness, but I am in the process of getting a bit fitter at the moment, so this could be a very fun thing to do and talk about for me, as I do have a weak spot for both RPGs and privacy respecting apps!

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 16 points 6 months ago

Sure thing! If you need anything or want to ask something specific, message me to contact@walkscape.app !

[-] Imperor@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Great, thank you! I'll get in touch :)

[-] Mad__vegan@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago

Looks fun. Supported and signed up. Thanks for posting

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 6 points 6 months ago

Thank you! Hope you enjoy it ❤️

[-] AverageGoob@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago

Tried it the last time I saw it it posted. Be warned, this takes a huge amount of battery life to run in the back ground. So much so I had to stop playing.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 32 points 6 months ago

This was already fixed like month ago! It was mostly happening on Pixel devices only.

Give a try to the new version, it shouldn't use much battery at all now.

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[-] Ethalis@jlai.lu 12 points 6 months ago

I tried the beta a few months ago and it was great! I kinda lost interest when I struggled to find a city with the workshop I needed at the time, but I'll try again now that a few updates have come out!

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

The game still doesn't have a very good way for finding certain places. I recommend to check https://map.walkscape.app and https://wiki.walkscape.app in the mean time if you're struggling to find something

We are going to improve this in one of the upcoming updates

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 11 points 6 months ago

I guess World of Walkcraft was too close to a takedown.

I'll keep an eye on this one because I do like my long middle aged man walks, and don't care for the constant fiddling needed for the likes of Pokémon Go, which seemed to reward laps of crowded spaces over meandering walks down rivers.

[-] JimSamtanko@lemm.ee 11 points 6 months ago

iOS or Android? I can’t seem to find anywhere where this is specified. As a fellow ADHD’er I’d love to check this out as I have the same issues. Also would love to support you if I can.

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[-] Zurgo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 6 months ago

How I mine for fish?

[-] GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee 10 points 6 months ago

I don't do betas, but I'm following your progress! I love this.

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[-] PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I know in previous posts, you've talked about leaderboards and comparing stats to friends. For those who might be embarrassed by their stats or who would be anxious comparing stats, is ir possible to hide these menus and/or play the game without them? In particular, is it possible to play with other social features still enabled?

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[-] Merritt@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's very cool you're making it in Flutter, my personal favorite for any coding task.

Is the game open source? Understandable if not, but if it is open source I'd be wanting to contribute! 😁

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[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 8 points 6 months ago

I tried to sign up but never got a confirmation email. It's been about 30 minutes. I checked my spam folder and it's not there.

Game looks cool though.

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[-] Wilzax@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

What will the monetization structure for this app look like after release?

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[-] PDFuego@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

I was in the Summer event and came third or so for Jarvonia overall. Like a dope I stopped using Discord right after that and haven't seen anything from the game since. Looks awesome, can't wait to get in.

[-] cooljacob204@kbin.social 7 points 6 months ago

Does it work for cycling?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 10 points 6 months ago

Not officially supported, but if you have your phone in your pocket while cycling, you'll get some!

[-] Ethalis@jlai.lu 9 points 6 months ago

It's probably less optimal than walking since I seem to get less steps in when I bike, but I can confirm it works

[-] Coasting0942@reddthat.com 7 points 6 months ago

iOS?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 7 points 6 months ago

Both iOS and Android!

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[-] illi@lemm.ee 7 points 6 months ago

Sounds great! So I understand you skill up stuff by walking, I assume traveling through the world as well? The site mentions there is combat as well, how does that work?

[-] Ruben@feddit.nl 10 points 6 months ago

Yes, travelling through the world is also done by walking irl. Though obviously the distances aren't quite 1 to 1. Combat is not implemented yet but coming later. Current plans are that it will be a turn based system and will be what's called "couch content", something you can do at home from your couch without having to walk. But all subject to change still.

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[-] Vexing@lemm.ee 7 points 6 months ago

So RuneScape X Poke'mon go?

Hmm

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 11 points 6 months ago

Well yes and no! Pokemon Go depends on GPS, so this is very different from that. And I talked to Niantic's manager at one convention, and they said their games are mostly focused on AR.

RuneScape in a lot of ways yeah! But we can't use their IP naturally, so the world and content is completely different.

[-] smeg@feddit.uk 17 points 6 months ago

they said their games are mostly focused on AR

This is amusing to hear. I've not played pogo for a few years ago I don't know if things have changed, but absolutely everyone I knew used the AR for 5 minutes because it was cool and then disabled it forever because it made the game sightly harder!

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 9 points 6 months ago

I thought the exact same. For me, the AR stuff feels like such a gimmick.

Pikmin Bloom was their most fitness focused game

[-] AngryMob@lemmy.one 7 points 6 months ago

Made an account and tried to sign up for beta access, but the Submit Application button doesn't work on my phone for some reason (or its sending 100 applications as i tried a few times lol). Using a Pixel 6, firefox mobile.

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[-] squirrel@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 6 months ago

It's a really nice game. The eggs and animals are a new addition right? Haven't seen them in-game yet.

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[-] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I remember hearing about this on Reddit a few years ago. Congrats on your beta!! Will check it out 🙏

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