Risto on of the founders of Wandrio exploring tiles in Madeira.
We all know that being active is good for us. Still, everyday life, fatigue, the couch and the blue glow of our screens win far too often. Wandrio is a gamified movement app built on behavioral science, motivation research and studies on habit formation.
The goal is simple: make physical activity:
- immediately rewarding
- social and community-focused
- a natural part of everyday routines
These three elements are known to be central when the aim is to increase and maintain physical activity in the long run. We want to tap into these elements and make them part of daily life for as many people as possible. We want to get people out of their homes and into the nature. And we understand that its not so easy.
Here are the reasons why we believe, we can make a real difference.
1. Gamification, instant rewards and a lifelong journey
Motivation research shows that people continue actions that produce an immediate and visible reward. This is also why it can be so difficult to make choices that are good for your future. The benefits are delayed and offer no instant gratification. Future gains help the future you, not the current one. This becomes a problem especially when something that feels good right now, like eating pizza, watching a new TikTok video or having a beer, should be replaced with putting on clothes and stepping outside.
We want to reward Wandrio players with experiences that create a quick sense of pleasure in the brain. In this way, choices that have long-term benefits are also rewarded right now.
Games, social media platforms and especially slot machines have refined these mechanisms to perfection. Every click and every moment spent inside the app is rewarded with something new. You see a new video, you collect points, you open a treasure chest, you gain levels and achievements. Each of these signals to your brain that things are progressing.
Our brains are largely the same as they were tens of thousands of years ago and they do not truly distinguish between virtual achievements and real ones.
In Wandrio we bring these worlds together. You gain virtual achievements while experiencing real things in the real world.
Every step and every meter you take, earns points and reveals new tiles on the map. The brain receives a clear message: I did something that had an effect in the world. This small burst of dopamine makes it more likely that the behavior will repeat. And you actually explored the real world and found new places. Something that has a more lasting impact and fills you with feeling of achievement. You can feel these achievements in your brain, but also in your body.
But gamification is more than points and levels.
Wandrio offers you:
- A Personal Movement Log: The map evolves into a a visual record of all the places you have visited on your own two feet.
- Reflection: You can browse the map and recognize: ”I remember this places. It was a rainy day, but after the rain I saw an amazing rainbow.”
- Future Motivation: Unexplored squares and grey areas serve as a reminder that there are still places to go and see. Even in your own neigbourhood.
This creates a feeling that the journey is not about a single week or a single challenge, but something that spans an entire lifetime.
- first your own neighbourhood
- then your city
- eventually your country and perhaps the whole world
Walking is no longer “just walking”. It becomes a visible step toward today’s goal and toward your long-term journey of discovery.
2. Community and shared meaning: movement as part of something bigger
Exercise research and motivation theories such as self determination theory highlight three things:
- a sense of progress,
- connection to others
- and meaning.
When movement is tied to other people and a shared purpose, motivation is no longer based on the idea that “I should”. It is easier to go for a walk when you have agreed to it with a friend. Belonging to a group and wanting to be part of something are deeply rooted human needs. They are part of why our species has been so successful. One person cannot defeat a lion, but a group can build tools and cooperate as a pack to overcome far stronger opponents.
In Wandrio we do not want to simply share workout results. We want to build shared stories and goals that would be impossible to accomplish alone.
Collecting every tile in Finland
Imagine thousands of users collecting tiles together with the goal of crossing the whole country. A single user sees: “Your activity this week brought us one tile closer to covering all of Finland.” Suddenly even a short walk feels meaningful.
Turning movement into good
A workplace or community joins a Wandrio challenge for a month. Each collected tile increases a “goodness” meter which is converted into a donation for nature conservation or mental health work. Physical activity is no longer just an investment in personal wellbeing but a concrete contribution to others.
Nature missions
Our goal is to create location based missions that directly support biodiversity. For example, removing invasive species or documenting local nature conditions.
Friendly competitions
Studies show that lighthearted competition can significantly increase activity as long as the focus remains on fun rather than pressure.
Here movement is not merely collecting steps. It is participation in a project that has meaning for both the individual and the community.
It is also important to note that different people are motivated by different things. Some are highly competitive and ready to push themselves to extremes just to see their name on a leaderboard or in the history books. Others feel anxious about competition and prefer to focus on co-operation. Some simply want to discover new, unseen places in nature. We understand this and give everyone a game thats tailored to their needs. In the long run, it doesn’t matter why you move and explore, as long as you do it.
3. Daily missions and habit formation: small routines can change everything
Behavioral science widely agrees that lasting habits are built from small, repeated actions that attach to everyday situations. Very few people change their entire lifestyle at once, but almost everyone can add a short moment of movement into their day.
Major lifestyle changes often fail because too many new habits are stacked on top of each other. It is unrealistic to quit smoking, stop drinking, give up meat, lose ten kilos and start training for a hundred mile race all at the same time. This creates a fragile house of cards that will eventually collapse. When it does, people often feel terrible, blame themselves and soon feel like there is no point in trying at all.
The smaller and easier the habit, the more likely it is to stick. If you want to go to bed earlier, you can start with something as simple as turning off all lights at a certain time. After repeating this for a few weeks, you can add another habit like stopping screen use after ten in the evening. Start with one good habit and build from there.
Wandrio supports this by offering clear, short and achievable daily missions. They lower the threshold to begin and help build a consistent routine.
Daily Wandrio mission
“Before 2 pm, walk 3,000 steps and collect at least three new tiles on your way to work or during lunch.”
In practice the user might:
- get off the bus one stop early
- take a slightly longer route to lunch
- walk home by a different street
The mission is small enough to be realistic yet concrete enough to create a sense of achievement. Research shows that these types of tasks are effective in forming new habits: low effort, clear end point and visible feedback.
Small steps add up quickly. If the company holiday party is located next to an uncollected tile, it becomes natural to take a short one kilometer walk to pick it up. One extra kilometer is not much, but over weeks and months it becomes a significant change.
Vision: toward a movement revolution
Wandrio is not just a tile collecting app. It is a system that brings researched motivation mechanisms into everyday life.
- Gamification turns every step into visible progress and builds a sense of pride about all the places you have reached by moving while reminding you that the world is full of discoveries.
- Community and shared goals give movement a meaning that extends beyond your own body and mind.
- Daily missions and habit building tools help turn occasional walks into lasting routines.
Wandrio was born from the founders’ own experiences. Each of us has learned to appreciate being outdoors and moving in nature in our own way. We have seen how it supports both physical and mental health and general wellbeing. Now we want to share that joy with as many people as possible. We want to get people out of their homes and into nature to experience new things and explore.
One small tile at a time.
And before long, we will have explored the whole world together.
