Narravia

Your walks turn into the next chapters of a story. Narravia offers a collection of 'walkbooks'—stories you unlock by covering more miles and tracking your progress in the app. Motivation has never been so... narrative-driven.

‍

The initial idea from our game development team was to create a virtual running app that rewards users for the miles they cover. However, we realized that many people who could benefit from motivation to be physically active might not start with running. Walking is the simplest form of outdoor activity accessible to almost everyone. We aimed not only to make the app available to a wide audience but also to offer them a motivating, high-quality reward.

The first step was assembling a team of experts from various fields (programming, UI design, literary studies, and graphic design) and building a network of collaborators—including authors, illustrators, voice actors, editors, and proofreaders. The first version of the app was released on the Google Play Store and App Store on September 5, 2023, and it currently has 2,500 users.

The app fully utilizes AWS and the benefits of cloud systems. It scales according to user needs, ensuring resources aren't wasted. We use Domain Driven Design and Clean Architecture with Python, FastAPI, and Boto3. Relational data is stored in RDS Aurora, while document data is managed in DynamoDB.

The basic version of the app is free, as are demo versions of each story—typically the first chapter or two—to attract more users by allowing them to try the app before making a purchase. To access the full version of a story, users purchase each story individually, paying only for what interests them.

We are not only continuously improving the app with new redesigns that enhance usability, but also expanding our portfolio with a focus on maintaining high literary quality and artistic illustrations. Each walkbook consists of a text and audiobook, along with accompanying illustrations created by Polish artists. All texts undergo a full editorial process and complete audio production to ensure a product of high artistic and technical quality.

We also organized the Fantastyczny Nabór (Fantastic Recruitment), which provides an opportunity for young, talented writers to debut in a completely new literary format. We have been nominated for the Mobile Trends Award in the Startup category and presented ourselves at this year's Pyrkon Fantasy Festival and the Summer Fantasy Fair in Gdańsk. The app is still rapidly evolving; we plan to expand our literary portfolio and introduce new features that will enhance the Narravia experience (including offline mode, bionic reading, and an intuitive in-app  store).

People are naturally curious to see how a story unfolds. We’ve combined this with everyday habits, like carrying a phone and walking, to create a rewarding experience that motivates movement and fosters healthy habits. true

‍