Often, the mind hates running even though the body is willing. What’s the way out? Stompers, a new app that Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck would be proud of if they were asked to stay active the entire day. Wait, weren’t they active all the time to the point of chasing each other with a baseball bat or worse, a canon?!
The new iOS app does that and a lot more to ensure users remain active. If you are an Apple Watch user, you would be familiar with the concept of “closing Rings”. You can compete with your friends everyday to close three Rings — red Move ring shows how many active calories you’ve burned, the green Exercise ring shows how many minutes of brisk activity you’ve done and the blue Stand ring shows how many times in the day you’ve stood and moved for at least one minute per hour. The concept simply motivates you. In Stompers, motivation comes in a different form.
In Stompers, there is a running track through what looks like a park that gets refreshed each day. All the friends are shown on the running track with the step count for the day. Get moving, walking, running to beat your wife, daughter, friend or boss to the finish line. Oh wait! The finish line is counted in hours, so keep moving.
What makes Stompers fun?
Think of everything that makes a Bugs Bunny episode fun. Remember scenes where Elmer Fudd comes at Bugs Bunny with everything he could lay his hands on — banana skin or baseball bat? You can do the same.
In Stomers, you have to compete with friends throughout the day to stay ahead of the curve and you can even show off Looney Tunes-style moves to make exercising fun
Sunday usually is laid-back but I made my wife “slip” on banana skin in the app to make her give up 500 steps before I suffered the same experience at the hands of my daughter. Soon after I got walloped with a baseball bat. I did what I had to do: Walk around the block so I could pay back the experience! It’s crazy Looney Tunes-type fun on the app. A baseball bat can knock you back 500 steps, rockets can shoot you forward 1,000 steps and with banana peels there is a 50 per cent chance of knocking you back 500 steps or giving you a boost of 500 steps.
Despite all odds, you have to keep walking or running and try to win the trophy for the day. It’s as simple as that.
Whimsical fun
Making the app fun are the graphics. The avatars you can take on are as high quality as, say, on a Warner Bros cartoon. Each avatar can be customised. The app’s art is by Jim Soper, who has done character designs for Looney Tunes and The Cuphead Show, according to The Verge.
Stompers doesn’t believe in using actual profile pictures, instead create an avatar. To add to the whacky nature of the app, there is a section where you can see “how many Danny DeVitos you’ve walked in a day” or how many steps you have left before you reach the moon or the percentage of Ohio you have walked across. The people behind the app are designer Soren Iverson and Josh Rozin.
How many Danny DeVitos have you walked today? Find out by using the iOS app, Stompers
Life longer, get moving
Many of us wear smartwatches to keep track of a number of metrics but somehow we don’t read too much into metrics and often we simply forget to move around, let alone run. The idea of formally exercising each day may not appeal to everyone but it shouldn’t stop us from moving throughout the day. Any activity, however modest, can reduce mortality risks. Like Lord Emsworth, there is a need to amble each day.
The app encourages users do just that, only in a fun way; it indirectly highlights the relationship between moving more and living longer.
In a world packed with marathons and gyms, it can be refreshing to simply take a stroll and get fresh air. You don’t have anything to prove in terms of six-pack abs but there’s a lot to gain from walking.
The problem at the moment is we drive to work, sit at work, drive home and sit at home. Groceries? Get them ordered, so we don’t need to move much. Stompers addresses the problem. It’s always fun to beat your best friend by, say, 100 steps at the end of the day.
Privacy? In case you are worried about sharing your contact list with Stompers, you can add friends individually to the “competition” list. According to reports, an Android version is in the works.
At a glance
App: Stompers: Steps with Friends
Platform: iOS
High notes
Makes staying active fun
There are plenty of whacky elements
Clean UI and well-designed avatars
Takes excellent advantage of Apple’s health metrics
Muffled notes
A single-player version is needed