The Mission

Zima’s mission is to help people build healthier screen habits in a fun, social, and rewarding way. In todays world words like doomscrolling and brainrot are becoming the norm, it's clear we're all feeling the effects of too much screen time. Zima is here to change that. It’s a Tamagotchi-style virtual pet that reacts to how you use your phone. Healthy screen time? Your Zima is happy, growing, and unlocking cool new outifts and customizations. Too much scrolling? It starts to show, becoming tired, sad, or even grumpy. It's a soft, visual nudge to be more mindful. You can even see your friends Zimas, so you're not doing it alone. Zima turns screen time into a game with a real impact. Zima is more than just a virtual pet, it’s your personalized digital wellness dashboard, transforming screen time data into clear, visual insights. By making your habits easy to understand and engaging to track, Zima empowers you to take control, build awareness, and create healthier patterns with purpose. We’re twin brothers, one studying Data Science & AI at Maastricht University, the other Business & Marketing at the University of Edinburgh. Growing up with the rise of social media we've felt the screen time struggle firsthand, and now we're combining our skills to build something that actually connects. With a mix of technical know-how, creative strategy, and a personal stake in the problem, we’re not just building Zima for the users, we are the users.

The Challenge

Across the world, on average people are spending over 6.5 hours a day on screens. It's leaving all too many feeling drained, distracted, and disconnected. Most screen time apps out there are either boring, naggy, or don’t really give you a reason to come back. Zima takes a different approach, making it easier (and more fun) to build better habits, one small step at a time.

The solution

Our solution is to gamify screen time through a virtual pet that reacts to your digital habits. Healthy screen use keeps your Zima happy and unlocks rewards, while overuse affects its mood and progress. Zima also provides simple, visual screen time insights to help you understand your habits. With fun customization, progression, and a social layer to see friends Zimas, it turns self-awareness into motivation making better habits easier to build and stick with. ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ The Current State of Development: Currently ZIMA is being devoped for Android and the Apple integration will start later. We currently have a working prototype for Android with health that accurately reflects the real screentime usage of the user. We also have our Tamagotchi character react appropriately to the different moods/screentime. There is an animation system in place with different animations for different moods. Our next steps are: •Implement character customization and more 3D models •Introduce a reward system •Add Sound Design •Add Leaderboard and Social System •App blocker/focus timer •Suite of focus, habit tracking and productivity tools •Widget/Wearable support ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★