Gamification & Leaderboards

Making cycling exploration fun, rewarding, and community-driven

Why Gamify Cycling?

Gamification makes cycling infrastructure exploration more engaging and rewarding:

Encourages Exploration

Leaderboards and POI collection give riders a reason to explore new routes, landmarks, and areas they might not have discovered otherwise.

Motivates Riding

Tracking network coverage and collecting POIs provides tangible goals that motivate people to ride more often and explore further.

Builds Community

Leaderboards and achievements create friendly competition and connections among Victorian cyclists pursuing similar exploration goals.

Supports Tourism

POI collections showcase Victoria's landmarks, parks, and cultural sites, supporting local tourism and encouraging riders to appreciate their surroundings.

Strava Integration & Network Coverage

VicBUG syncs with your Strava account to automatically track your historical ride data and show how much of Victoria's cycling infrastructure network you've completed.

How It Works

1

Connect Your Strava Account

Link VicBUG to your Strava to import all your past cycling activities

2

Automatic Network Analysis

We analyze your historical rides against our infrastructure database to calculate your coverage percentage

3

Track Your Progress

See which protected lanes, trails, and bike paths you've ridden, and discover new segments to explore

4

Earn Achievements

Complete milestone percentages (25%, 50%, 75%, 100%) and earn passport stamps for different infrastructure types

Your Network Coverage Dashboard

Once synced, you'll see a breakdown of your coverage across different infrastructure categories:

  • Protected Lanes:Track unique protected lane segments completed
  • Separated Paths:Log dedicated cycleway and trail coverage
  • Total Network:Overall percentage of Victoria's mapped cycling infrastructure

Collectible Points of Interest

VicBUG features a tourism-focused POI collection system that gives riders an excuse to explore Victoria's landmarks, art installations, parks, and cultural sites. When you visit a POI location, you manually check in to collect it and earn points.

How Collection Works

  • POIs are placed at landmarks, parks, art installations, and cultural sites across Victoria
  • Ride to a POI location and manually check in when you arrive
  • Each POI has a rarity level determining its point value
  • No background location tracking - battery efficient by design

POI Categories & Rarities

  • 🏛️Landmarks & Historic Sites: Heritage buildings, monuments, cultural icons
  • 🎨Art & Culture: Public art, murals, sculptures, galleries
  • 🌳Parks & Nature: Scenic spots, viewpoints, beaches, wildlife areas
  • Point Values: Common (10pts), Uncommon (25pts), Rare (50pts), Epic (100pts), Legendary (200pts)

Why Manual Check-Ins?

Manual check-ins ensure:

  • • No continuous background tracking means better battery life and privacy
  • • Riders actually experience and appreciate the location (not just passing by)
  • • Gives cyclists a genuine reason to stop, explore, and discover new places
  • • Encourages tourism and supports local communities

Leaderboards & Challenges

Our leaderboard system tracks both individual achievements and community progress:

Network Coverage Challenges

Compete to ride the most unique protected lane segments and separated paths. Track your coverage percentage as you explore Victoria's cycling infrastructure network.

Leaderboards show who has covered the most of the network, both all-time and by season.

POI Collection Leaderboards

See who has collected the most POIs and earned the highest points. Rare and legendary POIs are worth more, rewarding exploration of unique locations across Victoria.

Competition encourages riders to discover new landmarks, parks, and cultural sites they might not have visited otherwise.

Seasonal Challenges

Leaderboards reset seasonally to give everyone a fresh start and keep competition engaging year-round. Both all-time and seasonal rankings are tracked.

New riders can compete in seasonal rankings without being discouraged by long-established leaders.

White Label Solutions

The passport/leaderboard system we've built for VicBUG can be adapted for other organizations. We're offering white-label solutions for:

  • Regional BUG Groups: Custom apps for specific areas with local challenges
  • Tourism Organizations: Trail passport systems for promoting cycling tourism
  • Councils & Planners: Community engagement tools for infrastructure feedback
  • Other Transport Modes: Adapt the system for hiking, running, or accessibility data collection

This is how we generate revenue while keeping VicBUG free and not-for-profit. Learn more about our white-label offering →

Our Gamification Philosophy

🚴 Exploration Over Speed

We reward discovery and exploration rather than just distance or speed. The goal is to encourage riders to experience Victoria's diverse landscapes, landmarks, and communities.

🌏 Tourism & Local Support

POI collections highlight Victoria's cultural sites, parks, and landmarks, supporting local tourism and encouraging riders to appreciate and engage with their surroundings.

🤝 Friendly Competition

Leaderboards create friendly competition that motivates exploration, but seasonal resets ensure everyone gets a fresh start and new riders aren't discouraged by established leaders.