Stepstone Island

Stepstone Island is a casual mobile fitness game for Apple iPhone devices where players exercise to collect resources, clean debris, and help nurture an island back to health. Created in the Unity Game Engine, the game explores whether a system inspired by idle games can effectively encourage players to be more aware of their walking habits and to exercise more. It is linked with Apple’s iOS HealthKit API and converts players’ fitness data into in-game currency. This currency can then be used to buy various items in the in-game store to help restore the virtual environment. Guest characters may visit depending on what the player places on the island. During production, the game went through five sets of playtests with a total of forty-two testers. Overall, the game received positive feedback from players and their critique greatly improved the usability of the project, especially with the user interface. In addition, a number of testers became more aware of their exercise schedules through gameplay.