Guides · Games and tactics · 9 November 2026 · Thomas Schüller
Playful activity outdoors
Why challenges, spots and collections motivate people to move, how long the effect lasts and how to keep it going.
Game elements can get people moving. Hamari and colleagues summarise in their review that game elements mostly work, but their effect depends strongly on context and users and often fades once the novelty has worn off.
What lasts
Short-term stimuli fade. Shared goals, fixed meeting points and challenges that grow with ability last longer: a lap in the park that you manage a little faster each week, or a collection of summits over the year.
Safe and fair
Meeting points should be public and easy to reach, leaderboards kept with initials only. For children: play within sight and without tracking other people.
With sport catching
The tool sets up spots, offers challenges with stopwatch and lap times and keeps a leaderboard with initials; summit log and route finder add mountains and routes.
Key point: Game elements get people moving; shared goals, fixed meeting points and growing challenges keep them moving.
References
- Hamari, J.; Koivisto, J.; Sarsa, H. (2014): Does Gamification Work? — A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification. 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 3025–3034.
- Bull, F. C. et al. (2020): World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine 54(24), 1451-1462.