Give me a beautiful day and a companion and I’m happy to enjoy a walk in nature. On a level surface. For a limited amount of time. Okay, so walking for walking’s sake is not my strong suit. I admit there have been times I’m walking with my husband and I spend part of the time plotting places to hide a body. Granted, I am writing a mystery book so it’s not as creepy as it sounds. Maybe a little creepy, but I digress.
The point being, I need a goal. Especially when the weather isn’t cooperating or there’s a new season of something on Netflix. Pedometers are great and I’ve been known to walk up and down the hallway at night to get my Fitbit to my daily goal. But there is only so much joy watching the numbers go up can provide.
So why not enjoy stretching your legs and enjoying the outside while collecting animals? Or bugs, if that is your choice.
My first foray into walking games was Step Buy Step by Six to Start, the same folks who do the Zombies, Run! app.
The story starts with a wager, and the first mission is for 1,200,000 steps. While you walk, your steps add up as currency which allows you to buy animals to walk with you. The bonus is that not only do you now how fluffy things following you, but their steps add to yours. Buy a puppy and suddenly your one step is worth 2 more. A flock of sheep and you’re rocking out 36 extra steps.
Each of the three walk segments in the game gives different animals to choose from. As you buy them, the option for that animal may change to a potion which will double steps for a brief time. Be careful when you pop those potions into play. I got all excited one night and threw my potions on before realizing the community center was closing up for the night and the walking track would not be available. Those last ten minutes of valuable extra steps were gone forever.
The background slowly rolls through scene changes as you get closer to your goal. There is never enough to make you want to watch the screen while you walk, but it can keep you busy as you strategize what animal to buy next. Do I walk till I get enough to buy the pack of forest animals? Or do I opt for three bunnies?
Once you’ve finished the three walks, the game is done. You can opt to challenge yourself with seeing how quickly you can go through it a second time, but no new game options are added.
A few notes about game play. Be sure to go to settings and put Step Buy Step so that it doesn’t track movements automatically unless you want your driving time to add up on your steps. It does function at all times–even while playing other games–so if you’re like me and want to double up your walk by hatching a Pokemon egg and walk around the world, this is your app.
Unlike Pokemon GO, this app does track steps and not location, so treadmills and circular tracks work well. Sorry Android folks; the app is currently only for iPhone devices.
