If you find yourself procrastinating on homework, avoiding responsibilities, struggling to make or break habits, or having trouble keeping organized, Habitica is the perfect app for you! Habitica is a task management app designed to work like a video game. Its unique approach to productivity keeps users motivated and focused on tasks at hand while still being exciting and enjoyable.

Habitica’s game-like structure keeps users motivated in many ways. Each Habitica user plays as a customizable character, much like ones seen in retro video games such as Pokemon. Players are rewarded with gold and experience points for completing tasks on their to-do lists and practicing good habits. Gold can be used to purchase gear and accessories for players’ characters. Experience points allow characters to level up and unlock new features of the game. If a task is neglected or a bad habit is practiced, players lose health points. If all of a player’s health points are lost, their character will die, and they will lose their progress. The idea of receiving rewards for being productive and consequences for avoiding responsibilities is a big motivator for most people. Habitica creatively harnesses this concept and smoothly incorporates it into the app.

Habitica doesn’t sacrifice functionality for fun. It has several features seen in other task management apps, such as a to-do list, task due dates, task tags, and task progress trackers. There is even a feature to rate the difficulty of each task, which helps determine the number of coins the user will be rewarded for completing it. The app also keeps track of habits, hence its name. Users can add positive and negative habits to their habit list, and check them off when they are completed. The app tracks the streak of how many times in a row a user has practiced good or bad habits, which can be used as a motivator.

Habitica, like all things in life, is not perfect. The app has one large loophole: cheating. If a user wanted to, they could create and check off as many tasks and habits as they like, without actually doing them. This would reward them for doing nothing, and completely defeat the purpose of the app. In order for Habitica to be effective, users must take it seriously.

I have been using Habitica for a few weeks, and it has definitely helped me be more productive. The app helps me keep track of all of my assignments, and makes me more motivated to complete them so that I can earn a reward. For example, I have been completing all the tasks on my to-do list because if I do, I can earn enough coins to buy my character a new sword! I am also more persistent with practicing good habits, such as going to bed on time. Seeing how long I’ve kept a good habit up makes me want to practice it even more! I would recommend Habitica to anyone who avoids responsibilities, tends to procrastinate, or wants to improve their bad habits. Habitica is available for download on Apple and Android devices and can be accessed from any web browser.