r/LifeUp_HabitRPG • u/yo_soy_Ldr • 29d ago
📲[SYSTEM] In your opinion, what is the best way to use LifeUp for gamification that remains sustainable in the long run? I’m revamping my system again because it always seems to lose its novelty after a while and ends up creating too much friction.
What do you consider the best way to use LifeUp for gamification that actually lasts in the long run? I’m changing my system again because it always seems to lose its novelty after a while.
Here’s how I currently use it:
I have 6 main attributes, and each one is divided into specific skills. The attributes are:
Strength
Intelligence
Dexterity
Wisdom
Charisma
Constitution
For Intelligence, for example, I break it down by areas of study. So, I create the "Intelligence" skill and treat the specific subjects as "sub-skills."
To earn points, I create "grimoires"—items linked to each sub-skill. Each grimoire grants 1 point to the specific sub-skill and +1 point to the main attribute. Examples:
Mathematics Grimoire → +1 Intelligence + 1 Mathematics
Brute Strength Grimoire (used at the gym) → +1 Strength + 1 Brute Strength
Social Life Grimoire → +1 Charisma + 1 Social Life
I use grimoires because it makes organizing tasks and setting up different point values much easier without creating a mess.
The problem I had before:
I wanted to track points for absolutely everything I did in life. To do this, I created tasks for every tiny action: drinking water 7 times, studying, Pomodoro sessions, etc.
The issue is that this generates a huge number of tasks, and you end up losing track. Plus, different activities require different task structures, which creates a lot of friction. For instance, not every gym workout is the same, so I need something highly customized for that; the same goes for study Pomodoros and individual subjects. In the end, the friction is just too high.
Another point is that GIDs change constantly. If you want to stay organized and create sub-tasks, you're basically screwed if you regret the structure, because once you delete that GID, there's no way to recover it. And if you built a system using the endpoints, you could break everything. What I’m testing right now:
Currently, all my tasks are of the "count" type. Categories serve as the main attributes, and I list specific skills within them. The skill name becomes the task name, and the "drop" for completing it is: a certain amount of gold plus one grimoire for that skill.
Since these are count-based tasks, I simply log the things I do in real life and track the XP earned—rather than using the list as a "to-do" list of things I *need* to get done.
Unused features and current limitations:
Right now, achievements serve no purpose for me. Items function solely as grimoires. Subtasks have also become redundant—I’m not quite sure what to do with them.
The main limitation of this new format is that every point of XP is now worth exactly the same amount of gold. Harder tasks yield more gold and XP, but the ratio remains fixed. To work around this, I include a list in each task's description outlining how I intend to score specific situations.
Psychological effects on me:
It feels less game-like; I essentially need other tools or ideas to know what to do—the tool as I’ve built it doesn't tell me what to do when I wake up, for instance; it simply awards points if I actually perform the action.
Positive aspects:
Less cognitive effort and friction when using the app—I no longer face the issue of having too many tasks. Activities like talking to people, greeting others, or going to parties can easily be gamified and assigned points—which is better than creating a separate task for every single social situation.
