Using Gamified Elements to Increase Daily Step Count in University Students in Taiwan A RCT

"Participants will have the opportunity to gain points if they meet their self-set daily step goal throughout the experiment period.~Participants will also compete with others in their own respective groups on a leaderboard in regards to each day's daily step count."

Participants will be randomly assigned into groups of three to compete with other groups based on their daily step count. Each day, one participant will be randomly selected to represent the group against their opponent. If they walked more than their randomly selected opponent, the participant's group will receive a positive, encouraging message congratulating them for winning that day. If they did not walk more than their randomly selected opponent, they will receive a motivational message to encourage them to walk more.

Experiment participants will receive messages that encourage healthy behaviors. These include topics such as: nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and decreased consumption/use of unhealthy products (tobacco, alcohol, etc.).

Participants will play the mobile game Pikmin Bloom, which encourages users to increase their daily step count and allows them to utilize various gamified elements to do so. The game has many gamified elements included, such as personalization and avatar, social aspects, competition, collaboration, progression, and many more.