Campus Games is an app-based game to promote physical activity that was developed at RPTU (formerly TU Kaiserslautern) and has been running since 2018. Students and employees play against each other for points, which they can collect through a combination of virtual and real games. Students, divided into house teams according to their departments, and employees play for four weeks each year for supremacy at RPTU. We have already been able to inspire over 5,000 students with previous rounds of the game.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of strenuous physical activity per week for adults between the ages of 18 and 65. Alternatively, it can also be a combination of moderate and strenuous physical activity, which should last at least 10 minutes.

Around 42% of the German population do not meet this WHO physical activity recommendation (Guthold et al., 2018), even though sufficient exercise has been proven to have an immense impact on our health, for example on life expectancy or as a preventative measure for diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. Exercise not only helps on a physiological level, it also benefits psychological components. It has been proven to improve wellbeing and increase quality of life (Brown, Bauman, Bull, & Burton, 2012; Abu-Omar & Rütten, 2006). According to the University Health Report 2021, only around 38% of students in Kaiserslautern meet the WHO's physical activity recommendation (Lesener, Blaszyck, Gusy & Sprenger, 2018).

And this is exactly where we come in with our "Campus Games" app! By combining digital and analog tasks, we playfully increase physical activity in everyday life. The "Bewegt studieren - Studieren bewegt" initiative by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) and Allgemeiner deutscher Hochschulsportverband (adh) provided the perfect setting for a unique opportunity to break new ground in promoting physical activity. The project was initiated and led by Julia Müller (research assistant to Prof. Lachmann) and Max Sprenger (Unisport and CampusPlus at RPTU).