University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Stepstone Island

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Stepstone Island

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Content Stepstone Island

By
Kathryn Nicole Pustolski

Master of Fine Arts

Interactive Media & Games Division

School of Cinematic Arts

University of Southern California

May 11, 2018

Stepstone Island Page 2 of 20
Stepstone
Table of Contents

List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. 3
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. 3
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Project Synopsis .............................................................................................................................. 8
Project Design ............................................................................................................................... 10
Playtests and User Feedback ......................................................................................................... 14
Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 20

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Stepstone
List of Figures

Figure 1: Images of the Stepstone Island mobile app depicting Olly introducing the player to the
island, the player gathering currency from fitness data, and the island covered in debris. .... 9
Figure 2: A diagram breaking down the core game loop of the project. ...................................... 10
Figure 3: Screenshots of Olly’s Outlet where the player may purchase items and upgrades with
the currency they receive from their fitness data. ................................................................. 11
Figure 4: Screenshots showing the Tools & Services portion of Olly’s shop and the user interface
for cleaning and watering plants. .......................................................................................... 12
Figure 5: Screenshots depicting the Guest Book, a guest’s profile, and how guests appear on the
island. .................................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 6: Results of “Compared to my normal WALKING SCHEDULE, this game made me...”
question from the post-playtest form. ................................................................................... 17
Figure 7: Results of “I felt this game made me MORE AWARE of my STEP COUNT” question
from the post-playtest form. .................................................................................................. 18
List of Tables
Table 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 15
Table 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 16

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Stepstone
Abstract

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.

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Stepstone
Introduction

According to a study titled Obesity, abdominal obesity, physical activity, and caloric
intake in US adults: 1988 to 2010, “The proportion of adults who reported no leisure-time
physical activity increased from 19.1%... to 51.7%... in women, and from 11.4%... to 43.5%...in
men” (Ladabaum). In other words, physical activity during a person’s free time in the United
States has decreased since the late 1980s. A possible reason for this decline may be due to the
rapid development in technology over the past three decades. With this advance, people are
facing more and more distractions from all of the digital devices that surround them. Smart
phones, televisions, computers and other devices battle for people’s attention during their limited
spare time by providing mostly sedentary activities such as social media, browsing the internet,
and watching videos.
However, the advancement of technology has also lead to various digital aids to help
people be more conscious of their health and wellbeing. For instance, since 2013, each Apple
iPhone and iPad contains a tiny computer chip called the M-series motion coprocessor that
“...collects sensor data from the accelerometers, gyroscopes and compasses… to detect and
measure motion, among other possible usage” (Page). Because of this chip, iPhone devices are
able to act as a pedometer and collect data based on a user’s physical activity. This information is
then shown to the user via Apple’s Health app, which has been included with each iOS version
since iOS 8. Now that a user’s fitness data is more accessible, how can this information be used
to motivate people to exercise in an enjoyable way? One answer is through mobile games that
require a level of physical activity to power gameplay.
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Stepstone
There has already been a number of such mobile games released on Apple’s App Store.
One of the more successful examples of a game that encourages physical activity is Pokémon
Go.
Pokémon Go is a mobile location-based augmented reality game developed by Niantic in
collaboration with The Pokémon Company. Released in 2016, the game revolves around players
physically traveling to explore and find virtual creatures known as pokémon, which show up on
the app’s map as if they were around the same location as the player. Players are motivated to
walk and travel in order to find, capture, and battle their pokémon with other players. According
to a review of the game by Kallie Plagge, “We ran inside when someone claimed a Bulbasaur
was in the fridge; we ran back outside for Ponyta. We walked a block or two to challenge a
nearby Gym only to have it taken over right from under us by someone we didn't know and
couldn't see…” (Plagge). Even with this game’s international success, it still presented some
major design flaws during the time of its release including how the game must be open in order
to play. This resulted in numerous accidents and injuries because players were constantly
distracted by their phone screens. For example, according to a 2016 USA Today article titled The
bad and the ugly of Pokémon Go, a person hit a police car in Baltimore, Maryland because they
were distracted by Pokémon Go while driving their car. In a separate accident, two men fell over
fifty feet after climbing over a fence in San Diego, California in search for Pokémon and had to
be rescued by a local fire department (Miller).
Another example of a mobile game that requires physical activity is Zombies, Run!.
Zombies, Run! is an immersive running, mobile game co-developed and published by Six to Start
and Naomi Alderman. Released in 2012, the game takes place during a zombie apocalypse and
revolves around a small outpost called Abel Township. Players play as “Runner 5” and go on a
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Stepstone
series of missions in which they run in the physical world and collect items for their virtual town.
While running, players listen to various audio narrations to uncover the story. There is also a
“Zombie Chase” option that requires the player to run faster to “out run zombies” for a short
period of time. If caught, they lose the supplies they have collected on their run. The use of audio
prompts rather than visual cues in Zombies, Run! presented less physical dangers for runners
compared to Pokémon Go. However, the game motivates players based on their fear and
anxieties of being eaten during a zombie apocalypse rather than casually searching for cute
creatures during an evening stroll. No one wants to be eaten by zombies, even if they are not real
creatures.
Although both games present various shortcomings in their design, both Zombies, Run!
and Pokémon Go represent two different successful systems in encouraging physical activity.
One kind of reinforcement system that has not yet been successfully integrated into a fitness
game is found in idle games. Idle games, also known as incremental games, are those that require
the player to perform simple actions in order to gain currency and then leave the game for
periods of time so that the game can essentially ‘run itself’. Examples of idle games
include Neko Atsume, Cookie Clicker, and Tap Tap Fish. These examples all exhibit a variation
of the same system; Feed the cats in order to get more fish to attract even more cats; gather more
cookies to buy farms that give you more cookies; buy coral to generate more vitality to buy more
coral and fish. Studying the strengths and shortcomings of prior games such as Pokémon Go and
Zombies, Run! in addition to integration of an idle game like system with fitness presented an
area worth exploring for this thesis. The result of that exploration was Stepstone Island.

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Stepstone
Project Synopsis
Stepstone Island is a mobile game where players help Olly, an anthropomorphic osprey,
clean a virtual island that has been left trashed and abandoned. By being active in the physical
world and using Apple’s iOS Health app, players are able to personalize and nurture their island
back to health. The fitness data collected with the Health app is converted into in-game currency,
and this currency may then be used to clean debris, plant trees, build landmarks, and interact
with the game-world. By exercising more frequently and being conscious of their daily activity,
players receive more currency to customize and maintain their island. Depending on what the
player places on their island, guest characters may visit and compliment their hard work.
Visually inspired by the islands in the Pacific Northwest, map illustrations, and the
outdoors in general, the game taps into a player’s desire to clean their environment and
customize their own space. The app’s cute, quirky, and cartoony style makes it both attractive
and appealing to the player, which was noted during various playtests of the project.
The game was developed in the Unity Game Engine exclusively for Apple iPhones. In
addition, a couple plug-ins were purchased from the Unity Asset Store including BEHealthKit by
Belief Engine and Super Text Mesh by KaiClavier to provide additional functionality for the
game. BEHealthKit is designed to make integration of Apple’s HealthKit framework into Unity
easier while Super Text Mesh is a text renderer that replaces Unity’s built in text mesh and UI
text components.
Figure 1 shows a group of screenshots depicting different parts of gameplay including
when Olly introduces player to the island, when the player gathers currency from fitness data,
and when the island is covered in debris.
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Stepstone
Figure 1: Images of the Stepstone Island mobile app depicting Olly introducing the player to the
island, the player gathering currency from fitness data, and the island covered in debris.

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Project Design

Figure 2: A diagram breaking down the core game loop of the project.

As shown in Figure 2 above, the main game loop requires the player to exercise in order
to collect in-game currency collectively called moolah. Out of the three currencies available,
only coins and milestones are collected based on the player’s health data. Coins are linked to the
player’s daily step count and milestones are linked to their daily distance traveled. In terms of
conversion, one coin is equivalent to one hundred steps and one milestone is equivalent to one
mile. The third currency available is daffodils, which can be obtained through characters visiting
the island. The game only takes in fitness data the current day of play. In other words, if a user
plays the game on February 26
th
, they would gain coins and milestones from the fitness data
accumulated on February 26
th
. Apple’s iOS Health app is also programmed to record daily step
count and resets its counter to zero at midnight each day. Therefore, having the game take in
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fitness data the day of works well with how the Health app is programmed. Push notifications are
also sent to the player each day reminding them to collect their coins and milestones before
midnight.
Figure 3: Screenshots of Olly’s Outlet where the player may purchase items and upgrades with
the currency they receive from their fitness data.
Once currency is acquired, players have the ability to buy an assortment of items and
services through the in-game shop, called Olly’s Outlet (See Figure 3). Items are sorted into four
categories in the shop; Tools & Services, Plants, Landmarks and Buildings & Decor. Some items
are not available at the start of the game and are unlocked when the player purchases an upgrade
for the shop with their moolah. All items except for those within the Tools & Services section
may be placed on the island.

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Figure 4: Screenshots showing the Tools & Services portion of Olly’s shop and the user interface
for cleaning and watering plants.
In order to clean debris from the island to make room for trees, buildings, flowers, etc.,
players must buy shovels and pickaxes from the shop (See Figure 4). These two types of tools
clear away specific types of debris on the island including boulders, fallen logs, and large bags of
trash. A third tool is available for purchase in the shop; the watering can. However, rather than
clearing away debris, this tool is used to water trees so they may grow from seedlings to saplings
and then to their adult state. Flowers do not require watering, and all plants placed on the island
do not perish even if the player does not visit the game for a long period of time. The design goal
of this decision was to encourage a player’s creativity with plant placement instead of punishing
them for neglecting the game.
Stepstone Island Page 13 of 20
Figure 5: Screenshots depicting the Guest Book, a guest’s unlocked profile, and how guests
appear on the island.
Players may unlock guest characters in their Guest Book, a menu listing guests and their
profiles, by purchasing and placing what the character would like to see on the island (See Figure
5). For example, Lola’s profile states that they would like to see daisies, mushrooms, and
lavender on the island. Once the player purchases and places these plants, then Lola is willing to
visit the island. Guests’ full profile will be unlocked during their first visit when the player taps
their boat and reads their introductory dialogue.
The player may unlock a total of seven guests, not including Olly. Once a guest is
unlocked, there is a chance that they may visit the island as long as the dock on the island is
intact and up-to-date. The player must exit or soft close the app and then open the app at a later
time in order for a character to show up at their dock. After a certain number of visits from
guests, the dock will break down and it is up to the player to repair it through a purchase in
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Olly’s shop to attract more guests. When guests visit, they give the player daffodils, a third
currency that may used in the shop to buy various items. In addition, if a guest is visiting and the
player collects their moolah, there is a chance that the guest will give the player compliments and
an extra daffodil. Guests only stay for a short period of time but may visit repeatedly throughout
gameplay. They may also leave behind trash when they leave for the player to clean.
In order to “win” the game, the player would have to unlock all characters and clean a
majority of the debris on the island. However, this is not a necessity and players may feel content
enough to focus on cleaning and building up their island. An option in Olly’s shop allows for
players to remove assets that they have previously placed which lets them modify and customize
their island for as long as they wish. An option to restart the game is available if the player would
like to start the game over.
Playtests and User Feedback

There were two kinds of playtesting that occurred over the course of development, short
term and long term. Short term tests occurred when a playtester was given a build of the game to
test interactions and mechanics. This type of testing lasted from about five to ten minutes and did
not require the player to exercise. The short term playtester was given a version with currency
already in place to test cleaning and caring for the island. Conversely, long term tests took place
over a number of days and required playtesters to exercise. After both short term tests and long
term tests, players were then prompted to fill out a post-playtest survey. Both short and long term
playtestest were presented rather informally, and short term playtests occurred earlier in
production than long term playtests. This paper will focus on the data collected through the long
term playtests.
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A total of five long term playtests were conducted between January 2018 and March
2018 with a total of forty-two people ranging from ages eighteen to fifty. Out of those forty-two
people, twenty-one filled out the post-playtest survey. In addition, a number of testers preferred
to gave feedback verbally rather than fill out the survey. After each playtest, adjustments were
made to the project based on the feedback received and then a new build would be prepped for
the next round of testing.
Based on the data collected from the post-playtest survey, all playtesters either agreed or
strongly agreed that the game environment felt welcoming to them. In addition, when asked what
they enjoyed most about gameplay, playtesters were most happy with cleaning debris off of their
island and converting their fitness data into currency. Table 1 below lists five playtester
statements from the post-playtest survey on what they enjoyed most about gameplay.
Table 1
Playtester statements from the post-playtest survey on what they enjoyed most about
gameplay.

Playtester Statement
1

“The renovation of the island and setting things up for guests felt satisfying and
addicting. I also like the existence of steps for points.”

2

“The progression of slowly cleaning up the island and watching it grow as I planted new
stuff felt real good. Also getting lots of money felt pretty good!”

12 “Buying upgrades for the island and clearing unwanted elements.”
18

“Collecting coins, followed by decorating the island. Seeing the step count turning into
coins feels very rewarding. I feel challenged to keep up with my past records. I wish the
UI for 'Step count received' could reflect more on this positivity/achievement though.”

20 “The visual responses were great! I felt like i was really helping out this island!”

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The question on the survey that produced the most interesting results was “If you could
sum up your experience in three words, what would those three words be?” This was an optional
question on the form, but quite a number of playtesters still submitted an answer. (See Table 2).
Table 2
Answers to “If you could sum up your experience in three words, what would those three words
be?” from the post-playtest survey.
Playtest 1 Playtest 2 Playtest 3 Playtest 4 Playtest 5
addicting, cute,
confusing
charming,
monotonous,
distant
Exercise to create!

a mellow step-
counter game

Fun, physically-
aware, bitchin’
Stepping Growing
Satisfying
Friendly,
encouraging, cute
Engaging, healthy
and pleasant

Clear the island
Easy, pleasant,
tidy
Simple Passive
Worldbuilding
relaxing,
rewarding, slow-
paced

Interested,
confused,
intrigued
calming cute
friendly

I need exercise

Cute, informative,
expandable

relaxing after
walking

destroy, plant,
friends

According to Table 2 above, two different playtesters said that the game confused them
in “Playtest 1” and “Playtest 2”. However, none of the playtesters in “Playtest 3” expressed
confusion. This suggests that the usability of the game improved between “Playtest 2” and
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“Playtest 3”. This was likely due to the rearrangement of the tutorial and simplification of the
tool system in between the two playtests. In addition, the response “I need exercise” indicates
that by playing the game, this playtester has become more aware of their exercise schedule and
may want to improve their fitness. This lines up well with the experience goals of this project.
Two questions on the post-playtest survey were centered around motivating players to
walk more and awareness of their step count. The results of these two questions are presented in
Figures 6 and 7 below.

Figure 6: Results of “Compared to my normal WALKING SCHEDULE, this game made me...”
question from the post-playtest form.

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Figure 7: Results of “I felt this game made me MORE AWARE of my STEP COUNT” question
from the post-playtest form.
Figure 6 states that fifteen out of twenty-one playtesters felt that they walked about the
same amount as they usually do. This suggests that the game did not motivate these playtesters to
increase their walking schedules. However, the survey did not take into consideration each
playtester’s individual walking schedules and perhaps they were already content with their
routine at the time of play. At most, it certainly did not discourage them from exercising and
enjoying the game. On the other hand, Figure 7 suggests that the game made nine playtesters a
little more aware of their step count and six playtesters much more aware of their step count.
Awareness of their exercise schedules is a step closer in deciding if they want to improve their
current exercise habits.
With more playtests and iterations of the project, usability and gameplay would continue
to improve. One feature that multiple playtesters wanted but was not implemented was a social
feature. Social features could range from social media integration to visiting another person’s
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island. However, a social feature was not implemented due to the scope and development time of
the project. Other suggestions that were not programmed into the game include cleaning multiple
islands, collecting achievement badges, and having step count affect the weather on the player’s
island.
Conclusion
Stepstone Island was the result of analyzing the pros and cons of prior games that require
physical activity to play and exploring how a system inspired by idle games may successfully
lead to physical activity. Unlike in Zombies, Run!, the game is not intended to encourage
physical activity based on a players’ fear and anxieties, but rather with an intrinsic motivation to
clean their environment, unlock new guests, and customize their own space. In addition, the
player may travel anywhere they want to gain coins and milestones because it is not location
based like Pokémon Go.
Playtests of the game resulted in a majority of playtesters experiencing a positive impact
during gameplay. The game also successfully made a portion of players more aware of their step
counts, and although a number of them did not feel the need to improve the exercise schedules
they already had in place, they still enjoyed playing the game. This suggests that implementing a
system inspired by idle games can successfully encourage people to be more aware of their
exercise schedules and improve their exercise habits overall.

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Works Cited

Ladabaum, Uri, et al. “Obesity, abdominal obesity, physical activity, and caloric intake in US
adults: 1988 to 2010.” The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 127, no. 8, 2014, pp. 717-
727.e12.
Miller, Ryan. “The bad and the ugly of Pokémon Go.” USA Today, 21 July 2016,
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2016/07/21/bad-and-ugly-pokmon-
go/87378730/.
Page, Sébastien. “How to use your iPhone as a pedometer.” iDownloadBlog.com, 29 April 2016,
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/04/29/how-to-use-iphone-as-pedometer/.
Plagge, Kallie. “Pokemon Go Review.” IGN.com, 12 July 2016,
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/07/13/pokemon-go-review.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Pustolski, Kathryn Nicole (author)

Core Title Stepstone Island

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 04/05/2018

Defense Date 05/08/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 2018,app,clean,Exercise,fitness,game,health,HealthKit,IMGD,interactive,interactive media,iPhone,island,media,mobile,OAI-PMH Harvest,project,step count,Stepstone,Unity

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Wixon, Dennis (committee chair), Lemarchand, Richard (committee member), Watson, Jeff (committee member)

Creator Email pkathryn@usc.edu,pustolskik@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-490467

Unique identifier UC11267330

Identifier etd-PustolskiK-6145.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-490467 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-PustolskiK-6145.pdf

Dmrecord 490467

Document Type Thesis

Rights Pustolski, Kathryn Nicole

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA