Habitica: Gamification For Your Life

How It Works

  • Habitica turns your tasks into little monsters you have to conquer
  • The more tasks you complete, the faster your progress in the game
  • You can win rewards like pets, costumes and other in-game prizes
  • If you fail to complete a task in real life, you lose health points in the game
  • Join at https://www.habitica.com

Habits, Dailies, and To-Do’s

  • Habits are the tasks in your life that you want to do regularly
  • Examples: exercise for 30 minutes, bring lunch, etc.
    • You can set up habits with positive or negative reinforcement
  • Dailies are tasks that you want to do on specific days
  • Examples: work on dissertation daily, attend research meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays, etc.
    • If you don’t complete your dailies, you lose health
  • To-Dos are upcoming tasks that you need to prepare
  • Examples: a conference presentation, grading final exams, etc.

example of habitica.com home page with babits, dailies, and to-dos

Playing with a Group

  • You can also play with a group of friends in a party
  • That lets you fight bosses and gain group rewards
  • Fighting bosses increases accountability
  • If you don’t complete your dailies, the boss hurts everyone
  • It’s also good to have a group of people to check in with when you’re feeling unmotivated

Hedgebeast Habitica Boss

Impact of Habitica

  • Easier to to prioritize tasks
  • Makes it easier to write every day instead of binge writing
  • Positive reinforcement for completing tasks
  • Increased accountability while playing with a group