Quest Up / Mobile App
Turning a chore into a quest.
Quest Up is a gamified health companion for sedentary gamers. I founded this startup to bridge the gap between high motivation and low consistency, adapting the "Quest Loop" mechanic to turn physical activity into a game.
TLDR: Motivation exists; consistency breaks.
The Challenge: Gamers have high cognitive motivation to be healthy but low behavioral consistency. Traditional fitness apps feel like a chore compared to the dopamine-rich loops of gaming.
The Solution: Quest Up adapts the "Quest Loop" mechanic, short, structured missions with instant rewards, to physical activity, lowering the barrier to entry for sedentary users.
context
Gaming is rewarding by design, movement is not
Games are built to hold attention through clear goals, instant feedback, and visible progress. Fitness, by contrast, feels effortful, unstructured, and slow to reward. Even gamers who want healthier habits default to long sedentary sessions because movement doesn’t fit naturally into the way they already spend their time.
Why this is a problem
Extended inactivity during long gaming sessions contributes to low energy, weight gain, back and eye strain, and declining long-term health. Because fitness feels intimidating and easy to postpone, consistency breaks quickly, making it harder for users to build sustainable habits even when motivation exists.
Solution Overview
I explored how to lower the barrier to fitness by borrowing the mechanics gamers already understand. By reframing movement as short, structured quests with clear progression and rewards, exercise can feel familiar, achievable, and easy to start within a gaming routine.
Expected Impact
Making movement feel game-like reduces friction at decision time and encourages small, repeatable actions. This approach supports safer, more consistent activity, helping users build healthier habits without giving up the experiences they enjoy.
problem
Motivation isn't the problem. The "Format" is.
Research with 15+ gamers (Discord, Conventions) revealed a paradox: Gamers want to be healthy, but fitness lacks the immediate feedback loops of gaming.
PROBLEM: Gamers often spend long hours sitting while gaming
"On average, I spend around 3 to 4 hours a day gaming"
PAINPOINT: Exercise Feels Like A Chore
"I want to be more active, but I don't feel motivated to exercise"
OPPORTUNITY: Gamers Are Interested In Gamified Fitness
"If I can see my daily progress visually, I might be able to stick with it"
The Insight: Fitness feels "unstructured and slow," whereas Games are "structured and rewarding."
The Opportunity: We don't need to change the gamer; we need to change the interface of fitness to match their mental model.
target user
Who I designed for
Primary Users: Gamers who want to be more active, but struggle to stay consistent.
Secondary Users: People who find fitness intimidating and need a guided, rewarding structure.
Meet Adam, a 21 year old computer science student who loves gaming, but is starting to feel the health impact of long sessions. He wants healthier habits, but struggles to stay consistent without giving up what he enjoys.
The Journey: I mapped out the typical gamer's lifecycle to identify the exact friction points.
User Goal: Wants to exercise without breaking their flow state or feeling like they are 'going to the gym'.
The focus became lowering the barrier to fitness by making movement feel familiar, rewarding, and easy to start within a gaming routine.
How Might We
motivate gamers to engage in physical activities to improve their long-term health?
solution
Designing the Core Loop: Move - Reward - Upgrade
The "Quest" Metaphor
Design Decision: I reframed vague goals ("exercise more") into binary quests ("Do 10 squats"). This reduces cognitive load and decision fatigue.
The Retention Layer
Design Decision: To prevent drop-off, I implemented streaks and leaderboards. However, visual progression (leveling up an avatar) proved most effective for this demographic as it aligns with RPG (Role-Playing Game) tropes.
The retention layer reinforces the loop through progress visibility (stats and streaks), social motivation (leaderboards), and self expression (shop and customisation). It keeps users coming back without adding complexity to the core action.
user testing
The Safety Iteration: Solving for "Grind" Behavior
During usability testing, I discovered a critical behavioral risk: highly motivated users were "grinding" exercises solely to earn currency, risking injury.
The Fix: I introduced an "Energy System" (a common gaming mechanic). Users have limited "energy" to perform quests each day. Why this matters: It enforces pacing, prevents burnout/injury, and paradoxically increases retention by leaving users wanting more for tomorrow.
outcome and impact
A winning idea
Quest Up was validated not just by user sentiment, but by market viability.
Winner: City Ventures Grand Spark Startup Competition.
Awarded: £3,000 equity-free grant & Accelerator acceptance.
Next Steps: Developing the MVP to test retention metrics with a live cohort of 50 users.