I wanted to develop an app for my Apple Watch Ultra that would make walks more interesting! As a fan of old virtual pets from the 90s, I wanted to use a V-Pet as a way to encourage me to do more exercise.
The thing I love about old virtual pets was that they were relentless at telling you to take care of them. If you missed even one day, you were at risk of losing your V-Pet. As a kid, it helps to form good habits for when you eventually have to deal with the real thing. Since taking care of a pet is also as habitual as exercise, why not combine the two?
What do I consider success when it comes to exercise? Is it weight loss? After a lot of thought, success is actually forming healthier lifestyle habits, therefor consistency with exercise is key.
I want to be fair and give all users the ability to walk or run, but when given the option I want to also make sure that users have a reason to pick the harder option!
Virtual Pets in VITAMA will eventually evolve into stronger pets, however I want to keep evolution trees secret so users have more of a reason to keep playing.
To test the concept, I wanted to create a minimum viable experience, something that I can use and test the app in a rough state to see if the idea is viable. I prototyped the app in SwiftUI in a few weeks and we were rolling.
What is the core loop that will get players to keep coming back? I studied old Tamagotchi toys to see how they create their loop with a virtual pet.
I started by planning out all the basic parts of the app I would need to make the game loop flow.
Using the App diagram, I wireframed out the key screens I would need to start the prototype.
Made with Middleman and Tachyons.