Written by Short on exercise motivation? Use your friendly neighborhood Kojima game, Death Stranding, and its main man Sam Bridges as your muse. He spends his days lugging around cargo to connect and save the world. So, the least you could do is get moving to save your health.
Every day, motivation to stay fit is difficult for many people, including us gamers. Why would I want to go to the gym, or run outside in the elements when I have this game to play and that game to finish? Why would I want to sweat or feel tired when I can sit comfortably on my couch and chill?
This is the conundrum for many of us. Sure, I may be over exaggerating using gaming as an excuse. But, most of us suffer from motivation issues when it comes to exercise.
Therefore, as with many things here on Mind, body, GAMING!, I suggest you use your beloved games as motivation to exercise.
Gaming As Exercise Motivation?
Video games can be used in countless ways as motivators in all things. This solely revolves around your own creativity. But some games make it real easy.
One such game is Death Stranding, my first example in this series. Death Stranding is the first game from Kojima Productions and its famous owner Hideo Kojima. To describe it easily would be impossible. But, for those interested in what the game means to me, click HERE (article coming soon).
But back to the topic, what makes this game easy and perfect for a simple (not simple) game related exercise challenge is due to what you do in-game: you walk, run, hike, and even bike from one point to the next. Most importantly, upon completing a mission, the game shows you your total distance!
My Challenge To You
The Death Stranding Challenge is to walk/hike and run the total distance Sam does in your game. It will take time and dedication, but it will be worth it once you have completed a long journey comparable to what you did in this game!
The game features story missions (Orders) and side missions (Standard Orders). There are around 70 story Orders, and over 500 standards. That’s a lot! So, for time’s sake, let’s stick to the main Orders.
Also, yes, I am still counting the distance used with vehicles. I found it pointless for me to not use vehicles in-game just because of this challenge.
Record your total distance down and do all of it. It is not a quick challenge. It will take some time, and rightly so. Now, for the MULEs, er, I mean, RULEs
The RULEs
- Record Your Order Distances
- Walk/Hike/Run that Distance
- Optional: Wear a Loaded Backpack
- Optional: Wear a BB (or similar)
1. Record Order Distances
There are 70 Orders, or story missions in Death Stranding. Almost every story mission, once completed, will show you a distance travelled in kilometers.
Write this down, take a picture, whatever you need to record this. This distance is vital to doing this challenge.
If you have not recorded your distance and want to participate in this challenge, you can use mine. The point is to mirror an element of gameplay in real life, and that is movement. You don’t need mountains, BTs, MULEs, even trikes.
Use a calculator if converting to miles.
I’d advise you to play the game however you would like. However, if you dink around too much on main order missions, you could end up having a huge amount of distance to cover.
If you don’t care, then great! Theoretically, you could have almost any amount of distance per order if you wanted.
I personally stuck to a pretty straight ahead path where I could when doing story Orders due to this challenge. By the end, the total distance I travelled in the Death Stranding story was 135 miles.
The total distance I travelled in the Death Stranding story was 135 miles.
I will include all of my distances below if you want to borrow some or didn’t get a chance to record them yourselves. Or if you went haywire and held on to a story Order while doing side missions, raking up the total distance to craziness. Up to you.
2. Walk/Hike/Run That Distance
Once you have your distance recorded, you walk, hike, or run it. Street or trail, it doesn’t matter. I suppose a treadmill could work, too, as well.
For my challenge, I’m doing a mix of walking and hiking, with full gear on, and running, without gear. I might even count walking the dog.
The challenge isn’t just doing the work, it’s the time it will take. 135 miles will take a LONG time for the average exerciser. I don’t want this challenge to intimidate you out of doing it. But I also want a challenge to be a challenge.
Since there are people who run 135 miles in a single race, you can do that, too. But most will just need to spread it out and be disciplined, on your own time.
Even if you have not finished the game, you can begin the challenge once you have ANY distance. You can even do a bike if you want or some other form of exercise (rollerblades!).
The point here is to move and use the game as motivation, remember. In fact, it is fine to just do some of the distance, not the entire thing.
In order to know your distance travelled in real life, most modern phones can help. There are also watches that have this feature. If you have neither, you can use sites like Map My Run to create a path to follow (and remember).
For all you runners out there, you will do this in no time. So, I suggest you adding to your challenge by combining multiple Orders and running those distances per run. Up to you; you can define your own rules.
3. Optional: Wear a Loaded Backpack
Once I found out real porters exist that hike with huge piles of cargo in real life, I had to give it a try! I purchased an external frame and loaded it up with similar looking cargo to Sam.
I’m pretty sure mine is far less heavy, though. I plan on adding more as I continue. Near the end I’m planning on lugging a person (alive) on my back, too.
You can use any form of backpack, of course. And this is optional.
4. Optional: Wear a BB (or similar)
Want to take this one step further? Strap a baby doll to your chest. You really can use anything. What is the point of this? To have fun, silly.
If in public, you will get some looks. I definitely got some looks.
The Death Stranding Challenge Video Series
When I hike carrying the GIANT cargo and BB, I’ll stream LIVE on the channels listed below followed by videos. My schedule of the hikes will vary unfortunately but you will be able to stay up to date with the videos.
As with everything online these days, if you like the videos, leave a like, or better yet, a follow. Myself and the Mind, Body, GAMING! project appreciates any and all support.
Videos:
YouTube Playlist
- Introduction
- Packing GIANT Cargo Backpack
- Death Stranding in REAL Life: First Time for Everything
- Death Stranding in REAL Life: Snow Hike
Streaming Channels:
My Death Stranding Order Distances
I started my challenge on January 19th, 2020. I still have a long way to go!
Below are my recorded distances in game, all rounded up. Those not available were the missions without any distances.
| ORDER | km | mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2.3 | 1.4 |
| 2 | na | |
| 3 | 3.3 | 2 |
| 4 | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| 5 | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| 6 | .4 | .2 |
| 7 | 1.7 | 1.1 |
| 8 | .5 | .3 |
| 9 | 2 | 1.3 |
| 10 | .1 | .1 |
| 11 | 1.6 | 1 |
| 12 | 4.7 | 2.9 |
| 13 | 4.7 | 2.9 |
| 14 | 8.8 | 5.5 |
| 15 | 2.9 | 1.8 |
| 16 | .5 | .3 |
| 17 | na | |
| 18 | .9 | .6 |
| 19 | 1.1 | .7 |
| 20 | 4 | 2.5 |
| 21 | 6.4 | 4 |
| 22 | 1.6 | 1 |
| 23 | 18.5 | 11.5 |
| 24 | 8.8 | 5.5 |
| 25 | .42 | .26 |
| 26 | 1.2 | .8 |
| 27 | na | |
| 28 | 2 | 1.2 |
| 29 | na | |
| 30 | 5.6 | 3.5 |
| 31 | 6.1 | 3.8 |
| 32 | 2.8 | 1.7 |
| 33 | 1 | .6 |
| 34 | 1 | .6 |
| 35 | 2.1 | 1.3 |
| 36 | 8.8 | 5.5 |
| 37 | 6.7 | 4.2 |
| 38 | 12.4 | 7.7 |
| 39 | 1.4 | .8 |
| 40 | na | |
| 41 | 11.1 | 6.9 |
| 42 | 2.4 | 1.5 |
| 43 | ||
| 44 | 3.3 | 2.1 |
| 45 | na | |
| 46 | 5 | 3.1 |
| 47 | 3.9 | 2.4 |
| 48 | 1.5 | .9 |
| 49 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| 50 | 2.7 | 1.7 |
| 51 | 3.3 | 2.1 |
| 52 | 3.4 | 2.1 |
| 53 | 1.1 | .7 |
| 54 | 1.6 | 1 |
| 55 | 1.3 | .8 |
| 56 | 4.7 | 2.9 |
| 57 | na | |
| 58 | .9 | .6 |
| 59 | 3.2 | 2 |
| 60 | 2 | 1.2 |
| 61 | 2 | 1.2 |
| 62 | 4 | 2.5 |
| 63 | 1.4 | .9 |
| 64 | 2.3 | 1.4 |
| 65 | na | |
| 66 | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| 67 | 2.3 | 1.4 |
| 68 | 11 | 6.8 |
| 69 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| 70 | 1.9 | 1.2 |
Completing the #DeathStrandingChallenge
Due to the nature of this challenge, it will be ongoing. I will update this section with distances, dates, and videos below as I do them. I’m only including exercise specified for the challenge, not my everyday miles (I get a lot at my job).
| DATE | MILES | TYPE |
|---|---|---|
| 1.19.20 | 2.2 | hike |
| 1.25.20 | 5 | hike |
| 1.27.20 | 1 | run |
| 2.09.20 | 5.2 | hike |
| 3.02.20 | 2.9 | run |
| 3.08.20 | 5 | run |
| 3.11.20 | 4.7 | run |
| 3.18.20 | 3 | run |
| 3.27.20 | 6 | run |
| 4.01.20 | 3 | run |
| 4.06.20 | 5.2 | run |
| 4.09.20 | 1.8 | run |
| 4.11.20 | 8 | run |
| 4.12.20 | 2.2 | hike |
| 4.14.20 | 3 | run |
| 4.19.20 | 7.5 | run |
| 4.21.20 | 2.2 | run |
| 4.23.20 | 3.1 | run |
| 4.27.20 | 10 | run |
| 5.08.20 | 6 | run |
| 5.11.20 | 3 | run |
| 5.13.20 | 5.1 | run |
| 5.17.20 | 11.3 | run |
| 5.23.20 | 12.5 | run |
| 5.25.20 | 1.3 | run |
| TOTAL | 120.5 | of 135 |
Good Luck Have Fun
Death Stranding is an amazing game, and has turned into a great motivator for me. The amount of distance that Sam travels is pretty hefty, when all is said and done. We can all do this, too.
I wish you all luck but most importantly, I hope you all have fun. This is a long term challenge and so far, for me, it has been a blast!
Just persevere, stay disciplined, and get it done!
I’m personally gonna keep adding more cargo to my pack. I cannot wait to see how high I can get it!
Comment below with any questions and be sure to tell me about your own adventures in Death Stranding! I want to see pictures and videos or it didn’t happen.