Ring Fit Adventure

Ring Fit Adventure combines the fitness game genre with a light RPG adventure and managed to win over even players who had long been skeptical of exercise-focused titles. The game ships with unique hardware accessories -- a flexible ring called the Ring-Con, into which one Joy-Con controller slots, and a leg strap for the other -- which use these to sense squeezing, pulling, and squats, so the player's real physical movement directly controls the in-game character. The Ring-Con itself is purely mechanical with no electronics, and all the sensing is handled by the sensors inside the controllers.

The story is a lighthearted excuse for a string of exercise minigames: the evil dragon Dragaux has stolen the region's freedom, and the player's character, together with a talking ring named Ring, must run through dozens of worlds, gathering experience, treasure, and leveling up stats like in a classic RPG. Individual levels combine running in place across a map, battles against enemies resolved with specific exercises tied to attack types such as ab, yoga, or strength moves, and short minigames testing balance or reaction speed. Because each exercise has its own color and enemies have varying resistance to each color, a subtle tactical layer emerges that naturally pushes the player to alternate muscle groups instead of repeating a single favorite move. The game tracks heart rate if the player connects a compatible watch, and lets them adjust workout intensity to their own fitness level, from a light warm-up to a genuinely demanding, adrenaline-pumping session.

Due to gym closures during the pandemic, Ring Fit Adventure became one of the most sought-after and long sold-out titles on the market, proving that gaming can serve as a legitimate form of home exercise. The game also includes standalone quick workout sets outside the adventure mode for players who just want a short daily session without following the story, plus a quiet mode with exercises that don't require stomping for apartment living. Today Ring Fit is regarded as the most convincing attempt at gamifying exercise any major publisher has ever undertaken.