Fitness games

[DarK_RaideR]

After running into too many wonderful fitness gamifications, such as the Mario Kart Bodyweight League, the Pushup Quidditch and several others, I took a shot and created the ambitious Warhammer PvP. Running for almost a challenge, it spawned a discussion in order to improve the imperfections noticed, which evolved into a brainstorm of game ideas and many people working on their own mini-games. It has become obvious that there is a need for a place where we can toss ideas around, help each other, perhaps launch trial versions and recruit people for testing, hence this thread.

 

Do you have a game in mind and need help? Some feedback on your first draft? Perhaps somebody's help to work on it together? Want some inspiration on what to make? Something you'd like to ask someone to try and make? Join us!

[ShadowLion]

Woohoo! Nerds and fitness and games... It was meant to be!

Count me in. Nerdhammer has been a blast (Thanks, D_R!) and I'm using it as inspiration for a firefighting themed game to keep myself (and others, if they're interested) motivated while waiting for Nerdhammer ll.

[Balthazar]

I'm here!

[Teros]

Well I made the Mario Kart one. I think that it worked out just fine; it was a matter of running it while simultaneously hosting a level 1 group, RPG group, following all my friends, and doing sweeps of all adventurers so everyone felt welcome which drained me a bit.

 

I'd like it if there was some sort of multi-pvp-based accountability groups that would be doing a VS setup.

 

Like, let's say we have the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'.  The good guy's totals for reps/sets/points would be pooled.  The bad guys would be pooled. At the end of the week; we see who won the round/match.

 

With the Mario Kart one, it was a free for all. I wanted to just do a 10 person trial run to see how it worked out and it turned out well.

 

There could be a 'theme' each 6wc; like one challenge have it be 'Mario's Team' VS 'Bowser's Team'.  Another time is could be 'Zombies' VS 'Survivors', or 'The Fellowship of the Ring' VS 'Sauron's Army'.  There's tons of options to cycle through.  I think that it was a good idea to have items/power-ups to change up the game a little bit; which is why I had my item roulette wheel:

 

 

And this idea could always be expanded.  That way the 'good guys' have an accountability group and host where the points are all tallied. And the 'bad guys' have a group hosted by someone else. If more and more people are interested; then there just becomes more factions while still keeping the same idea small.  Two groups? Good vs Evil. 4 groups? Harry Potter houses. 5 Groups? Game of Thrones. etc.

[Balthazar]

i love your wheel of fortune

[DarK_RaideR]

Like, let's say we have the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'.  The good guy's totals for reps/sets/points would be pooled.  The bad guys would be pooled. At the end of the week; we see who won the round/match.

[...]

And this idea could always be expanded.  That way the 'good guys' have an accountability group and host where the points are all tallied. And the 'bad guys' have a group hosted by someone else. If more and more people are interested; then there just becomes more factions while still keeping the same idea small.  Two groups? Good vs Evil. 4 groups? Harry Potter houses. 5 Groups? Game of Thrones. etc.

I think the Heroes vs Villains PvP is a good example of that mechanic at work, people adding their effort into a team pool, then each week a team wins.

 

I also like your idea of combining team accountability groups, then having those teams battling it out PvP style, as long as you have enough people to run all that, of course. There's plenty of themes, definitely, the question is how you translate challenges and workouts into "points" for a system that rewards effort, incorporates some randomness (like the items you mentioned), has a clear winner and a decent storyline to motivate people.

 

From my side and the lessons learned from WarNerdhammer, few people knew the world and its history, but the idea of recruiting troops through various workouts and fighting other players' armies over pieces of territory drew in a crowd. Now that its first run is almost complete, we have basically identified a need to tweak some things, mainly balance the recruitment cost with unit abilities and their actual effectiveness, as well as simplify and quicken the combat mechanic and resolution. I'm counting it as a success. The theme (Warhammer) wasn't that important in the long run as the idea (a fitness-based strategy game) and the big issue was the game system/mechanic.

 

My next project, to share some info, would probably be described as a quest-based one, set in a Cyberpunk world. Players are lieutenants of the resistance, they all want to help their rebellion but also compete against each other about who will be the most effective, earning their leaders' favour. The basic resource of the game is Influence, gained by lifting weight or doing bodyweight exercises, effectively allowing anyone to join. Points are calculated as reps*weight, so a few powerlifts can be as effective as several lighter ones (also considering to measure weight in kg instead of lbs to prevent the numbers from going crazy). As the game progresses, missions will be made available, not sure yet if that will be done every X amount of time or randomly whenever. Missions will have their story part and something they require the player to do, whether it's a certain workout, practicing music, painting, cleaning etc. The idea is to make workout, diet and life quests available, allowing each player to pick what fits their taste and goals. By completing those, they earn victory points, which ultimately decide the winner.

 

That's the basic idea, although I'm complicating it a bit. Some of you probably wondered what Influence is gained for. Well, there's a growing list of 30+ rebels and mercenaries, each with their own unique attributes. To perform every mission, players need to put together a team that will protect them, do the hacking etc. To enforce that, missions have specific team requirements. Therefore, players spend Influence to inspire team members to join them for that mission. This makes sure that even if someone keeps picking non-fitness goals, they'll still have to do some workouts at least to gain back the Influence they spent. It also introduces a certain strategic element to the game, especially since rebels/mercenaries are exclusive, can be active on one mission at a time and are only available for hire once that mission is finished. Do players work out just enough to put their crew together or do they pile up points to spend in case they need them in the future? Do they want to spend extra points to hire a powerful rebel/mercenary just so they'll be made unavailable for other players? If they need just a little extra to meet the mission's team requirements but all cheap recruits are busy, do they spend more for a more advanced recruit or wait and hope?

 

That's the basic idea, open to judgement, questions and comments. Also, if anyone has similar ideas, feel free to post them

[cn3wton]

So I think I may try to do my Risk PVP if we are running trial runs of our games.

[bassman123]

I think the Heroes vs Villains PvP is a good example of that mechanic at work, people adding their effort into a team pool, then each week a team wins.

 

I also like your idea of combining team accountability groups, then having those teams battling it out PvP style, as long as you have enough people to run all that, of course. There's plenty of themes, definitely, the question is how you translate challenges and workouts into "points" for a system that rewards effort, incorporates some randomness (like the items you mentioned), has a clear winner and a decent storyline to motivate people.

 

From my side and the lessons learned from WarNerdhammer, few people knew the world and its history, but the idea of recruiting troops through various workouts and fighting other players' armies over pieces of territory drew in a crowd. Now that its first run is almost complete, we have basically identified a need to tweak some things, mainly balance the recruitment cost with unit abilities and their actual effectiveness, as well as simplify and quicken the combat mechanic and resolution. I'm counting it as a success. The theme (Warhammer) wasn't that important in the long run as the idea (a fitness-based strategy game) and the big issue was the game system/mechanic.

 

My next project, to share some info, would probably be described as a quest-based one, set in a Cyberpunk world. Players are lieutenants of the resistance, they all want to help their rebellion but also compete against each other about who will be the most effective, earning their leaders' favour. The basic resource of the game is Influence, gained by lifting weight or doing bodyweight exercises, effectively allowing anyone to join. Points are calculated as reps*weight, so a few powerlifts can be as effective as several lighter ones (also considering to measure weight in kg instead of lbs to prevent the numbers from going crazy). As the game progresses, missions will be made available, not sure yet if that will be done every X amount of time or randomly whenever. Missions will have their story part and something they require the player to do, whether it's a certain workout, practicing music, painting, cleaning etc. The idea is to make workout, diet and life quests available, allowing each player to pick what fits their taste and goals. By completing those, they earn victory points, which ultimately decide the winner.

 

That's the basic idea, although I'm complicating it a bit. Some of you probably wondered what Influence is gained for. Well, there's a growing list of 30+ rebels and mercenaries, each with their own unique attributes. To perform every mission, players need to put together a team that will protect them, do the hacking etc. To enforce that, missions have specific team requirements. Therefore, players spend Influence to inspire team members to join them for that mission. This makes sure that even if someone keeps picking non-fitness goals, they'll still have to do some workouts at least to gain back the Influence they spent. It also introduces a certain strategic element to the game, especially since rebels/mercenaries are exclusive, can be active on one mission at a time and are only available for hire once that mission is finished. Do players work out just enough to put their crew together or do they pile up points to spend in case they need them in the future? Do they want to spend extra points to hire a powerful rebel/mercenary just so they'll be made unavailable for other players? If they need just a little extra to meet the mission's team requirements but all cheap recruits are busy, do they spend more for a more advanced recruit or wait and hope?

 

That's the basic idea, open to judgement, questions and comments. Also, if anyone has similar ideas, feel free to post them

The cyberpunk pvp sounds really interesting. cant wait to join assuming thats ok

[bassman123]

il also throw the idea out there,as a bleach fan if anyone else is interested in a bleach based pvp? may as well put an idea in or maybe a walking dead/the last of us theme?

[CommanderKidd]

I'm always interested in playing a zombie game and I loved Bleach.

 

I wasn't a big fan of the Walking Dead show but zombies for sure are a hit with me.

 

Also love the idea of playing Risk. You can use any number of themed maps with it too if you wish, there's a risk for anything these days.

[cn3wton]

So would anyone be interested in a survival game? Think Fallout Setting/ Day Z. Things you complete during the week up your chances of finding things like food/weapons/and your ability to move each week.

 

If theres interest in this I will do it. My idea is this.

 

I will make a map, like a legitimate hand drawn map that has a grid system on it. People will randomly start in different areas of the map. I will determine different skills. Right now I am thinking.

 

Survival - Ability to scavenge from nature for food and shelter, also allows the ability to sneak into occupied areas and loot without engaging enemies.

Charisma - Ability to interact with others. Allows for bartering and other ways of getting items from others.

Power - Able to complete feats of strength, increases defense and attack in altercations. Defeated enemies can be looted.

Fortitude - Increases movement and resistance to illness.

 

Basically the top 3 abilities are your main way of gaining resources. If you want to play a woodsman who just tries to ride out the apocolypse in the woods you would take a bunch of points in survival and hunt game. If you want to try to negotiate with people in the environment a high charisma may come in handy.

 

No one ability is better than another of course. I just need to come up with a ways to diversify them. 

 

My idea then is that you get 3 "modifiers" and these are earned by successfully completing your challenge goals. For instance lets say I choose 2 of my fitness quests and 1 diet quest. Fitness would go towards modifying either Survival and power, and the diet one would go towards fortitude. Then they give an extra point per successful challenge in that rank. 

 

Then when you do something with that ability it has a modifier. So lets say I move into a square that is a forest to loot. These areas have certain ranks of what I can find. A wooded area is most likely going to offer items up to a person with survival. So I would take and roll a dice to determine what I find. In this case it would be a d20 + 2. Then I would see what I find.

 

Items can alter these skills as well. You can find weapons to up power. Clothing can provide bonuses against cold etc. Of course actions will take away from your food meter, and time will also be a factor. So you have to ensure you try to find food and water to sustain yourself.

 

I think it could be an interesting thing as survival games seem to be the in thing right now.

 

Oh and the map would be big. Like there would be towns and cities on it.

[DarK_RaideR]

Something tells me a bunch of games will be launched next challenge. Which, don't get me wrong, is awesome

[ShadowLion]

The more, the merrier.

I've noticed that there are fewer accountability groups the last couple of challenges compared to previously, and I kind of wonder if PVPs and the more game oriented accountability groups aren't replacing many of the older style accountabilibuddies. It may be that the engagement factor of the gamified groups is stronger, and therefore more effective for people?

I really like cn3wton's idea of gamifying peoples challenge goals by directly tying the modifiers to quest completion.

[cn3wton]

It's official I'm running the survival game. If anyone wants to help out and test it I might do a test run next weekend.

[Balthazar]

Hey bro, I'm not sure if it is a PvP I will eventually join (never been much in to my zombies), but of course I'm more than happy to beta for you

 

who knows you might convert me

[cn3wton]

Don't think just zombies think fallout.

[Balthazar]

cough, i've never played fallout, cough

 

don't hate me

[cn3wton]

Bro...

[Steppinon D'Arrows]

When I first saw the title of this topic, I think it's pretty obvious what my first thought was.

[cn3wton]

Ive come up with 3 different skill trees for my pvp. I will be creating the Pre Alpha topic soon. If your interested in signing up let me know! And keep an eye out for it!

[CommanderKidd]

I didn't really care for fallout. I do like zombie things but more of the hordes of zombies gotta run and hide sort of thing than questing for supplies. You are right that it's an in thing right now though. I might be tempted to try a beta but I think I'll leave the full on challenge for others. Good luck with it!

 

I liked the Risk PvP idea though so I hope that still comes about in some future challenge.

 

Bassman123, how serious were you about doing a Bleach/anime themed one? I might be interested in helping out with that one.

 

I don't have an abundance of time for actually running anything but I can help flesh out rules etc if needed.

[ShadowLion]

@cn3wton - I don't think I'll have time for it during the main challenge, as I'll probably be running one of my own, but would be happy to help in the in-between weeks to test your ideas. It sounds like a fun game with lots of great ways to use people's existing challenge goals.

[Thom Stépan]

Ok just tossing this idea out there.

Why not a dungeon adventure pvp? Loosely based on any of the party rpg games out there. We could use our actual NF characters as the basis of the game. IE I am a lycan ranger so I could literally play that character. Already have stats and so forth. So a basic D&D style adventure could work.

I have seen some great ideas here.

[Teros]

So I think I may try to do my Risk PVP if we are running trial runs of our games.

What if reps count as resources and those resources are required to take outposts and conquer?  Also, if one person is kicking large quantities of butt, then you could always pool your 'resources' to counter them.

 

ex: Dark_Raider is going beast mode and does 300 pushups, 400 squats, 100 lunges or something.  That's 800 reps, which is 800 Resources.  In order to take the nearby outpost on the map (which is owned by me), I only have 300 Resources.  That means at the end of the week, he steals my outpost and has 500 resources left.  Well maybe he takes another neighboring outpost of mine and I'm desperate.

 

Cn3wton, you're directly next to me, so you know if I'm conquered, you'll be next. So we strike up an alliance.  Next week, you contribute 500 reps and I bust out 400 reps- enough to fend off Dark_Raider's 800 resources- thus pushing him back and regaining some of my territory.

 

The bigger the map, and the more people, the more interesting it gets. Everyone might want a free for all. Others might instantly want to start forming alliances. Or maybe there will be backstabbing if one side gets too strong.  Either way, reps=resources, and we plan for world domination in a 'season'.

 

How does something like that sound? Too difficult to juggle? Maybe there should be a max/cap # of people to try this out?  Maybe throw a d20 die in the mix to get some 'bonus' resources?

[Teros]

I didn't really care for fallout. I do like zombie things but more of the hordes of zombies gotta run and hide sort of thing than questing for supplies. You are right that it's an in thing right now though. I might be tempted to try a beta but I think I'll leave the full on challenge for others. Good luck with it!

 

I liked the Risk PvP idea though so I hope that still comes about in some future challenge.

 

Bassman123, how serious were you about doing a Bleach/anime themed one? I might be interested in helping out with that one.

 

I don't have an abundance of time for actually running anything but I can help flesh out rules etc if needed.

For zombies and scrounging for resources; you could have activity = durability of weapons. If your durability runs out, you'll get swamped and turn into the horde. Last survivor wins.

 

Again, just like the previous post I made, throw a d20 die in the mix for variability (You found a rusty axe! It has +20 durability)