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RunKeeper will now bribe you to beat your best
You tell yourself you're gonna go running. You might even have an app that gently prods you to get your lazy keister up off the couch. But let's be honest, the most effective motivator is the good ol' fashioned bribe. That's why RunKeeper is teaming up with Kiip, a company that delivers ads and rewards through games and mobile apps. The idea isn't just to get you casually jogging though, but to actually get you to push yourself. Through the new workout rewards program, RunKeeper will deliver discounts on Propel Water, Secret Deodorant or even a Pebble smartwatch when you reach a personal best in distance or pace for instance. All the rewards are specifically chosen to appeal to RunKeeper's athletic market niche, so you shouldn't have to worry about being offered discounts on Transformers Blu-rays. You won't get bombarded by offers either, they'll only pop up sometimes -- and you'll really have to work for them. But it might be nice to get something at the end of a long marathon than a smug sense of self satisfaction.
Daily iPhone App: Give your butt a workout in Butterfly Sky
Butterfly Sky by Funday Factory was one of just a handful of apps that scored funding from the Kiip 2013 Build Fund, which gives indie developers with promising ideas the chance to create their apps. After playing severals hours of the game, I can safely say that the awarded funding was well spent. You play as Brian, a small creature -- I hesitate to say "person" because Brian is really just a face with arms and legs -- who lives on the back of a cheerful whale. It's up to you to help feed the whale and continue your journey to new areas, but this whale is strange: he only eats butterflies. The fun begins with your aquatic friend launching you high into the sky in search of his favorite food, and luckily the heavens are chock full of them. As you collect the butterflies you must bounce along floating clouds using your butt, with bonus points being awarded to collecting a specific set of insects or hitting specially numbered clouds in succession. When you miss a cloud and land below on your floating companion your collection is tallied. You can use the collected butterflies as currency in an upgrade shop to unlock new outfits, new house styles, and performance bonuses. The game does offer a number of different in-app purchases that allow you to fast-track your progress, but when the butt-bouncing gameplay is so enjoyable I don't see why you'd want to pay to skip it. In addition to the butterflies and other common items you'll also have the opportunity to collect rare butterflies and complete missions by meeting specific criteria, which adds some long-term goals to the basic game premise. Butterfly Sky is a great time waster and a feel-good casual game that can be mastered in just a matter of minutes. It also happens to be free to play. You may find yourself tempted to drop some real-world cash to boost your progress, but making your way to new areas and unlocking special items is possible without it.
