FitPlay Games: Increasing Exercise Motivation Through Asynchronous Social Gaming

Many factors contribute to people's physical inactivity, but among the leading factors is a lack of motivation. Fitness trackers have been shown to encourage an increase in exercise, but they are frequently abandoned within a few short months. We developed our asynchronous-play social gaming platform, FitPlay Games, to fill the gap in motivation left by current fitness trackers. By providing users with a variety of asynchronous cooperative and competitive gaming styles, we enable them to find a motivation technique that works best for their lifestyle and fitness prowess. The platform encourages prolonged use of fitness trackers, helping users to have more healthy lifestyles. Individual games are designed to allow both the novice and the maven to have a chance at winning, leveling the playing field, and increasing motivation to win. The effectiveness, usability, and enjoyability of the social games will be assessed, with an emphasis on understanding differences in play habits due to gender and lifestyle.

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