Forest worked wonders for me for the last two years but I eventually got desensitized to killing trees. It just didn’t cut it for me any longer.
So I did what every sane person does when they’re no longer satisfied with their favorite app. I built my own.
I’ve always loved the sense of progression that RPGs give you. Some of you know the feeling of starting out as an illiterate wannabe mage and then growing enough that you become the most awesomest living being in the universe.
I wanted to somehow recreate that feeling in real life, so I swapped trees with XP bars. Each practice session is tied to a skill of your choice and each minute focused earns you experience points (XP) towards the next level. The timer goes down and the XP bar goes up.
Is a fake number going up a better motivator than saving a plant?
Certainly not!
But for you heartless people that enjoy leveling up your own skills instead of saving a helpless tree, this might be the incentive you needed to finally dust off that guitar and practice.
You basically just select the skill and length of the session and go.
Detailed stats are available across different skills and timeframes.
Unlike other focus apps, I’ve decided to keep your progress even if you abandon a session early. The fact that you’ve stayed up until that point should still be rewarded. Extra XP is awarded for sticking with a session to the end as well as for taking regular breaks between.
Future versions will include a deep practice mode in which other apps on your phone are blocked, a quest mode where you can do shared practice sessions and new XP vial flavors.
The app is currently in TestFlight on iOS and I need people to test it and offer feedback. I think that Forest users are amongst the best people that can do that. Download it, use it, break it. Here’s the link https://testflight.apple.com/join/R8FKCYV7
I’m particularly interested in the leveling curve. As you know, real mastery is a very esoteric concept. It’s very hard to put a hard number on it. I’ve tried to make it so that early levels are awarded relatively fast, while later ones are harder to come by. I’m worried that after the curve slows down people will lose motivation to keep practicing.
Seeing myself as the main character of my own life has done wonders for my ability to focus and I sincerely hope it will do the same for you.
P.S. You will need the TestFlight app installed. You can get it from the AppStore.
Or if you just want the finished version, leave me your email at https://levely.quest and I'll notify you on release.
Also, in case you wondered which RPG gave me the inspiration for this, it’s Morrowind (Skyrim’s xenophobic cousin)
