Frequently asked questions
We’ve outlined the most frequent questions we get below. If you have a question that’s not covered below, please visit our support portal.
General Questions
It’s both! Lost Tides is a game where the activities you do in the real-world become your progress in the app-based game. The real-world activities are those that are recommended by your health provider.
Absolutely! While you might not typically think of games and psychology in the same sentence, games are actually great at driving and reinforcing positive actions. (Interested in the science?) In this case, recovering from injury requires a lot of hard work on your part, so we’ve made a game that helps you along your path to recovery.
We’ve intentionally made Lost Tides very easy to play in a few minutes per day. Whether you identify as a sophisticated gamer or a total NON-gamer, everything is easy to understand, and you don’t have to memorize lots of complicated rules. Just tap the icons on screen and interact with the prompts!
Yes. Lost Tides features a daily mobility goal that you need to have approved by your doctor/healthcare provider in order to set up.
The game will ask you how much activity your healthcare provider has approved you to do on a daily basis:
Minimal: Get up every 20-30 minutes
Very Light: Short 5-10 minute walks
Light: Longer 10-20 minute walks
Moderate: Long 20-30 minute walks
If you have not been approved for any activity or you haven’t talked to your healthcare provider yet, you may select these as options in the game and you will bypass the mobility goal of the game.
No. Lost Tides can pull activity directly from Apple Healthkit on iPhones with a motion coprocessor (iPhone 5S and newer), and via Google Fit on Android smartphones with motion tracking (most modern devices), so while we recommend a fitness tracker for the best experience, you can absolutely play Lost Tides using just your smartphone.
Lost Tides syncs activity from Apple Healthkit (iOS) and Google Fit (Android) which in turn accept steps and workout data from a wide range of fitness trackers and apps, like Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin and others. Please consult your individual fitness tracker or app to ensure it syncs to Apple Healthkit or Google Fit.
We maintain a list of compatible fitness trackers and apps on our compatible trackers and apps page.
iPhone: iPhone 5S or newer with iOS 10.3.X or higher.
Android: Android version 5.1.1 or higher. Device needs to have at least 2GB of ram, higher with some devices.
Captain and Crew Gameplay
Yes! You can invite up to 4 friends or family to join your ship’s crew. Having your support network join you on your adventure is a key aspect to Lost Tides.
As crew members they’ll have different gameplay than you will as the captain (see more below).
The captain is at the center of the Lost Tides game experience. The captain:
The crew plays a supportive role in Lost Tides. The crew’s primary job is to generate Crew Points for the captain to spend at encounters and to repair the ship.
The crew may also look ahead to encounters and vote for the path they’d like the captain to choose. Each vote cast increases the odds of success for that path.
The crew does not experience the daily medic check-ins or encounters that the captain does.
Yes. The gameplay in Lost Tides is centered around the captain’s experience (i.e. the person recovering from injury). The captain is in charge of the ship and makes the key decisions at encounters. He or she talks with the ship medic each day and takes actions.
The crew’s experience is a supportive role. Crew members’ primary job is to generate Crew Points for the captain to use at encounters and to repair the ship when it takes damage. The Crew does not experience the ship medic check-ins that the captain does.
Have a question that’s not answered here? Visit the Lost Tides support portal.