Exertion game (part 2) : mobile exergame

Abstract

The increase in obesity rate worldwide has made people realised the importance of exercising. However exercising is often a repetitive process and most people lose their motivation to exercise after a while. Mobile exergames can solve this problem by providing the player with an interactive world to explore while exercising.

In this project, the author implemented a mobile running exergame that translates the player’s motion into movement for his virtual counterpart. The exergame was designed with the MDA methodology, with various gaming elements that seek to motivate the players to exercise. The game operates by having the player run around, collecting tokens in order to unlock the gate token and win the game.

The exergame provides the player with both a single player mode and a multiplayer mode. The single player mode was implemented using A* search algorithm to find the shortest path to the token while the multiplayer was implemented using the iOS in-build game center to connect the players. Various tests and two user studies were conducted to gather the player’s feedback on the mobile exergame.