BioBooksAwardsComing NextContactBlogFun StuffHome

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Your Life as a Game

***Again, I received no compensation of any kind for this post.***

I heard about an app called Habitica that was supposed to make your tasks into games and help you develop good habits by rewarding you as if your life were a game. This sounded like it might be worth trying, so I downloaded the app (it's free, but I believe there are in-app purchases) and gave it a shot.

First, it asked me questions about what I wanted to focus on and then it created habits for me. This might work for some people, maybe even most people, but I didn't like it and it didn't work for me. The tasks they gave me were not the ones I wanted to work on. It was by accident that I figured out I could change them by typing over what they offered me, but it would have been nice if they'd told me I could do this.

However, even after realizing I could change what was offered, I only did a couple of them because I hate typing on my phone and avoid it whenever possible. What I would have liked is if I'd been offered a broad selection of options and I was allowed to pick the ones I wanted. I wasn't looking for anything bizarre or out there.

Second, there were two different habit areas and I only knew about the one it opened up to when the app installed. I found the other one (again) by accident. Um, really?

In fairness to the app, I'm horrible about reading instructions and tend to clear text bubbles off my screen without much hesitation, so it's possible they offered explanations and I blew past them, but I honestly don't remember seeing anything like that, so I was in the dark.

Third, I realize the 8-bit graphics were a stylistic choice, but I didn't like them. 8-bit is just so ugly.

I think I made it a few hours before I decided gamifying my life wasn't for me and that this app was not going to work with my brain. I wanted it to work, I thought it might possibly be something that I could use to be better about doing things every day, but I ended up deleting it from my phone in less than a day. YMMV.

***Again, I received no compensation of any kind for this post.***