Future Self fuses together the impact of healthy habits with the fun of video games. Wellness habits lead to longer happier lives, but the problem is the payoff for the change is weeks or months. People often stop before they experience the benefits. The success of video games is they provide instant rewards and gratifications, yet there are few health benefits. Future Self takes the inputs of healthy habits and turns them into game rewards.
Future Self asks, If a better future you wrote a letter what would you want them to say to the younger you? If you actually stuck to your diet, if you really committed to living a better life, and made small but impactful changes what would you say? How would older wiser you encourage, motivate, and support younger you? Future Self Game is a mobile application which will mimic this future self using the mechanics of a video game loop.
All gamers know the video game loop. Do a thing, get a reward for the thing, use the reward to power up so you can go out and do bigger things. Repeat till you beat the game. Games like World of WarCraft, Final Fantasy, and Civilization use this model.
This loop also works for healthy habits, yet the time to completion or advancement is often measured in weeks or months and is often painful or unpleasant. Let’s examine jogging. First you have to buy equipment like shoes. Then you have to set aside time that you would rather be sleeping or playing video games. When you start to run, and you are bad at it. You huff and puff through 3 or 4 weeks of pain until you finally build up enough stamina and willpower to start enjoying the healthy habits. In 4-6 weeks you start noticing body changes. Then you increase your workout and you body also adjusts.
Future Self aids the player with the dopamine hit people need to feel accomplishment. The game will reward people for doing the wellness habits instantly. As they advance in their healthy habits they will also power-up in the game world. Eventually the body will catch up and the workouts and healthy habits will not be as burdensome and the game will have completed the mission of helping people through their first few months of self-improvement.
Future Self 