Bike Lane Hero
An Android app that promotes cycling through gamification - conquer neighbourhoods by riding through them more often than anyone else.
Bike Lane Hero is an Android application with a simple mission: promoting cycling through gamification. Users record their rides and conquer neighbourhoods by riding through them more often than other players. Besides winning (and losing) neighbourhoods, users can check how they rank on the global leaderboard by distance, duration and neighbourhoods won.
The idea was that core gamification features are free for everyone who loves cycling, and an optional subscription unlocks additional features. The subscriptions are needed to cover server and service costs and to keep the app ad-free. I deliberately decided against ads, because I see it the way WhatsApp did in 2012: advertising is an insult to our intelligence and interrupts our train of thought. In my opinion, optional subscriptions are the best way to cover operating costs.
The app was inspired by “Rider State”, an application that was unfortunately discontinued in 2014. Sadly, Bike Lane Hero met the same fate in 2021, after being used by beta testers for over two years.