Gamification: discovering the neighbourhood by cycling and walking

  • Posted on: 1 July 2019
  • By: Merle Schroer

Over the course of seven weeks, the interactive walking game "kreuz & quer" encouraged children and their families in the neighbourhood Moosach in the north of Munich to discover their area by walking, cycling or by scooter.

Participating in the game was for free and all generations could join. The goal was to find 50 small blue boxes that were attached to lampposts in the neighbourhood. Equipped with a map, participants were supposed to find at least two boxes within one hour. The collected points were scored on a RFID card. The score height depended on the travelled distances: The greater the distance to the previous box, the more points were scored. The RFID cards were handed out in schools, libraries and other public institutions.

The game provided 10 levels plus one further level as a surprise for the most diligent players. Participants could create their own team or join organziations such as schools or companies. On the "kreuz & quer" website, a real-time ranking displayed the best teams and organziations. To enable a fair chance for smaller teams/organizations as well, the ranking provided two categories:

  1. collected kilometres per team/organization
  2. average score per team/organization

It turned out that many children collected points on their way to school or in the afternoon as an outdoor activity. As a result, children (and many adults) spent more time outdoors and connected with each other in the context of "kreuz & quer".

Over the course of seven weeks, 72,000 kilometres were walked, cycled or rode by scooter by the participants. The best teams and schools were awarded with prices that encouraged once more outdoor activities such as vouchers for swimming, hiking or climbing.