Gamified Fitness for RPG & Fantasy Book Fans
Do you love reading about adventure and exploring in video games, but moving your body is just… boring? I have the solution. Don’t exercise! KIDDING. It’s 2024, everyone knows exercise is good for you. The answer is: gamified fitness. Here are some great options for those who want to be the adventurer-hero of their own life.
Darebee: free workout programs
Spellbound – Fantasy fitness adventure
”Spellbound is a fantasy fitness adventure 31-Chapters long and it is suitable for all fitness levels and all ages.” Darebee: Spellbound
- You don’t have to finish a chapter in one go
- You often get to choose which ”spells” to charge (aka workouts to do), which gives it flexibility and choice
- Dice! – great for those who get bored easily
- The only workout program I’ve ever finished (and I’ve started MANY)
Age of Pandora – Post-apocalyptic fitness quest
”Age of Pandora is the world’s first, fully immersive fitness quest.” Darebee: Age of Pandora
- a map(!!) where you move forward by doing your workouts
- Incorporates plot with workouts
- fight monsters, save people
- go at your own pace
Hero’s Journey
”Hero’s Journey is a role-play fitness program inspired by every hero’s transformation from minion to master.” Darebee: Hero’s Journey
- Be the fantasy adventurer protagonist you’ve always wanted to be
- Choose your weapon
- The choices you make have consequences
- Does not have an actual ”story” like spellbound has
Carbon & Dust – a space ballad
”Carbon & Dust is an action-adventure with you as the main protagonist set in a distant future when humanity has spread far and wide across the Galaxy.” Darebee: Carbon & Dust
- For the space and sci-fi lovers
- Incorporates plot with workouts similar to Age of Pandora
- Recommended doing a chapter in one go
- Not recommended for beginners
These are only some of their RPG fitness programs. If starting a whole program fills you with dread, here are some cool workouts:
Walking to Mordor (easy), Protagonist (normal), Dragonborn (hard)
Darebee is an ad-free nonprofit – they work on donations. If you like their workouts, donate them a dollar or two, so you can continue charging spells and saving the world while working out.
Apps
Walkr
- Turn steps into spaceship fuel, discover new cute planets
- Build giant blenders in space and feed the inhabitants of discovered planets
- Free, has ads
Zombies, Run!
- Missions, story, optional zombie chases
- Build your base
- Free version: unlock one mission a week
- Zombies, Run! membership (Abel Runner’s Club): around 6,49e / month (also unlocks Zombies, Run! 5k Training and The Walk)
- If you’d rather run with Marvel stories: Marvel Move: 8,99e / month
- Also great for walking
Zombies, Run! 5k Training
- The smaller, “couch to 5k” version of Zombies, Run!
- 3 structured runs a week, 8 weeks long
- No base building or chases, but still immersive with story
- Unlock by joining Abel Runner’s Club
The Walk
- The 500 mile walking adventure with a story
- No zombies!
- First episodes free, rest unlocked by joining Abel Runner’s Club
Fitness RPG
- Turn steps into energy, energy into upgrading heroes, battle monsters
- If you’re into hero-collecting games, this might be for you
- Free, has optional micropayments
- Note: make sure your step counting is working in the game before you go on a 10k-step adventure and notice it has tracked… 0 steps
If none of these gamified fitness programs or apps felt like your thing, maybe you’d like a gamified productivity app to track your fitness. If you have other ideas for fun fitness and gamifying workouts, please let me know in the comments!