What it means to gamify your life
A plain to-do list has one feedback loop: an item goes away. Gamifying your life adds a score to that moment, so finishing something leaves a mark you can see. Most life gamification apps also give you a reason to come back tomorrow, and the better ones add other people who notice whether you did.
The trouble is how much game comes with it. In an RPG-style app the list turns into the controls for something else: you look after a character, collect gear, and end up managing the game as well as the work. That suits some people very well. If it wore thin for you, our Habitica alternatives guide covers what else is out there.
Kudos takes a narrower view. The game is the score on the work itself, and the work stays on the screen.
XP that matches the size of the task
Every task in Kudos has a size, and its size sets its XP. Each step up is worth double the one below, so a workout counts for more than a glass of water without anybody arguing over the exact exchange rate.
| Size | XP | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Moment | 1 | Take vitamins, drink water, reply to a text |
| Quick | 2 | Make the bed, take out the trash, water the plants |
| Short | 4 | A 20-minute walk, pay the bills, read a chapter |
| Session | 8 | A gym workout, a 5k run, deep-clean a room |
| Big | 16 | A long hike, assemble furniture, revise for an exam |
| Feat | 32 | Run a marathon, move house, sit a final exam |
You don't have to price anything
Kudos reads the size from the title you type, and a title you have used before keeps the size it had, so two rows that look the same pay the same. If it guesses wrong, pick a different size in the task's edit sheet and your choice stands.
Your XP fills a daily goal on the board and adds up to levels over time, and badges mark the milestones along the way.
A streak that counts the days you turn up
A Kudos streak counts the days you open the app, not the days you finish everything. That is deliberate. A streak that snaps because a Tuesday went badly punishes you on the exact day you most need a reason to come back. Build a streak you can restart goes through what the research says about missing a day.
When a streak does end, Kudos shows you the gap and asks for a small commitment: three, five, ten or fifteen days. You pick one and start again. Nothing is stored and nobody is told, because the point of the pledge is the moment of picking it.
A weekly race, so a bad Monday isn't the end of it
Rankings in Kudos run on XP earned this calendar week. Everybody starts at zero on Monday, and a big day keeps counting until Sunday is over. You can rank against the people you follow, inside a group, or on the Global board, and leaving the Global board takes one switch in Settings.
Is Kudos the right kind of gamified?
We make Kudos, so read this with that in mind. Gamified productivity apps, compared sets it beside the other options, with their prices.
| If you want | Look at |
|---|---|
| A character, gear and party quests | An RPG-style app such as Habitica |
| A pet that grows as you look after yourself | A self-care app such as Finch |
| A score on your real tasks, with friends beside you | Kudos |
Common questions
- What is the best app to gamify your life?
- It depends on how much game you want. If you want a character and quests, an RPG-style app like Habitica is built for that. If you want your real tasks scored, with friends beside you and no avatar to look after, that is what Kudos is for.
- Is Kudos free?
- Yes. Kudos is free on iPhone and Android, there is nothing to buy inside the app, and you can start without an account.
- Can I use Kudos on my own?
- Yes. XP, streaks, repeating tasks and the Global ranking all work without following anybody, and you can bring friends in later.
- How much XP is a task worth?
- Between 1 and 32, depending on its size: Moment, Quick, Short, Session, Big or Feat. Each size is worth double the one before it.
- Can gamification make you less motivated?
- It can, and a 2019 study of Habitica users is one of the places that looked at why. Kudos keeps the score attached to real tasks, so what you are collecting is a record of work you did rather than something separate from it.