Comparison

A Step Ahead Challenge vs Cardio Quest

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

A Step Ahead Challenge

Embark on a virtual walking adventure where your real-world steps power your survival against zombies, robots, and aliens. Complete missions, upgrade your character, and join teams to conquer challenges in a post-apocalyptic world. New adventures are released regularly.

Highlights
  • Sync steps from fitness trackers
  • Form teams and get active
  • Use steps to complete missions
  • Use exercise to battle enemies
  • Track progress on maps and leaderboards
  • Regular content expansions
Read full description

It's finally happened... the apocalypse is here and your only hope for survival is to outrun the zombies, rogue robots and alien invaders who've taken over! A Step Ahead™ is a walking adventure game that's powered by your physical activity. Use your real-world steps and exercise to complete missions in the wasteland, upgrade your character, and go on an epic fitness adventure. Getting started is simple: 1. Download the A Step Ahead™ app 2. Click your organization's personalized invite link or enter the Invite Code for your organization's challenge in the ASA app** 3. Use your real-world steps and exercise to go on an interactive fitness adventure Adventure through all of the ASA™ challenge series: The Outbreak™ Zombies are here… and they're hungry! You and your team will face a variety of challenges, obstacles and distance goals as you run (or walk) through a zombie-infested wasteland, helping other survivors and working to help those in need and rebuild society. Robotica™ What happens when the world's richest man, Albus Mousse, builds a sentient A.I. and charges it with protecting humanity? It determines that the biggest threat to mankind is… mankind. Race to avoid capture while you look for a way to shut down the servers and free the people "helped" by the army of rogue robots. Invasion™ They came from beyond the horizon, but why? And for what? Alien invaders are here and they're setting up shop on planet Earth. Work with your team across this adventure series to figure out why the aliens are here and how to get them to leave the planet. Seasons+™ A special series for challenges themed around the seasons, holidays, and special series crossover missions. Features: - Sync your steps and exercise from Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Watch or Apple Health Kit* - Form a team and get active** - Use your real-world steps to move your team - Use your real-world exercise to battle enemies - Keep track of your progress on the level maps and leaderboards - Tons of content, with regular expansions and updates - Play as humans OR enemies in over 20 different challenges across 4 different themes and settings - New adventures are released every quarter. *Use your favorite fitness tracker or fitness app to sync your activity data to A Step Ahead. Please consult your individual app(s) to ensure that they have permission to write Steps and Workouts to Apple Health. **A Step Ahead requires an invite code in order to participate. If you are part of a private group challenge, please consult your challenge organizer for your invite code. If you're an individual or group in need of an invite code, please visit asachallenge.com to get started. This project was completed with assistance from the Georgia Film Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

About

Cardio Quest

This fantasy role-playing game transforms your real-life workouts into epic battles. Track your heart rate to fight monsters, earn loot, and level up your hero. Compete with friends on leaderboards and track your fitness progress.

Highlights
  • Heart rate tracking for combat
  • Fantasy role-playing gameplay
  • Monster battles during workouts
  • Earn loot and level up hero
  • Friend tracking and leaderboards
  • Workout tracking
Features
Read full description

Cardio Quest is a fantasy role-playing video game that challenges players to get active and improve their health. By tracking heart rate during exercise, players do battle while they work out in real life. Watch your Hero slay monsters as you get fit and earn epic loot. Follow friends, rank on leaderboards, track your workouts, and level up as you turn your workouts into gaming marathons. Cardio Quest is currently in Open Beta. Come join the future of connected fitness!

Screenshots

A Step Ahead Challenge4 screens
Cardio Quest4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: A Step Ahead Challenge at 4.8 against Cardio Quest's 4.2. A Step Ahead Challenge also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (7.2K vs 59). Cardio Quest's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cardio Quest sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. A Step Ahead Challenge asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

A Step Ahead Challenge holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: A Step Ahead Challenge has 7.2K ratings behind it against 59, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 55% of A Step Ahead Challenge's written reviews are positive against 59% of Cardio Quest's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

A Step Ahead Challenge ships an update every 5 weeks, Cardio Quest every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
A Step Ahead Challenge versus Cardio Quest: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterA Step Ahead ChallengeCardio Quest
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (7.2K ratings) — better4.2 (59 ratings)
Positive reviews55.2% of reviews59.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.2K — better59
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size238 MB1.2 GB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperFIX HealthPress Forward Games LLC

Customer experience

A Step Ahead Challenge

All ratings6,980 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews125 reviews
Positive55.2%
Neutral14.4%
Negative30.4%

Cardio Quest

All ratings59 ratings
Positive79.7%
Neutral5.1%
Negative15.3%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive59.5%
Neutral8.1%
Negative32.4%

User reviews

A Step Ahead Challenge

From 7.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤝 Great team building
  • 🏃‍♀️ Motivates exercise
  • 🕹️ Fun and engaging game
  • 🔍 Competitive aspect
  • 🔔 Helpful notifications

Room to improve

  • ⏱️ Slow load times
  • 🤕 Unfair team size disadvantage
  • 🤔 Lack of direction/instructions
  • 💰 Expensive per challenge
  • 🔍 Difficulty selecting players

Cardio Quest

From 59 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Great motivation for workouts
  • 👍 Fun and engaging gamified experience
  • 🚀 Encourages healthy lifestyle
  • 🌟 Unique RPG workout combination
  • ❤️ Adds years and health to life

Room to improve

  • 🤯 Overwhelming for new users
  • 🤔 Confusing UI and setup
  • 🪲 Bugs and glitches present
  • 🔄 Repetitive gameplay and grind
  • ⚖️ Item and skill set imbalance

Bugs and requests

A Step Ahead Challenge

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Syncing issues with fitness trackers
  • App crashes after updates
  • Steps not registering properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add countdown timer
  • Improve team management features
  • Introduce more challenge types
  • Provide post-mission recap
  • Allow skipping tutorial

Cardio Quest

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • Cannot connect to Hyperate application
  • Bug interface
  • Needs separate app for Apple Watch data
  • Sync feature has limitations (free version)
  • App loses track of heart rate
Show 13 more
  • UI is unintuitive
  • Cannot figure out how to level up
  • Won't connect to Garmin
  • Cannot add devices via app
  • Calories burned not accurate for stairs
  • Duplicate gear not going into inventory
  • Sync issues with heart rate
  • Game needs to be resynced constantly
  • Disconnects during workouts
  • Doesn't sync
  • Can't sync iWatch
  • Doesnt work with device
  • Incomplete at the moment

Requested features

12 requests
  • Simpler UX for new users
  • More things to manage
  • Less time managing/learning
  • Add an idle element (e.g., mining)
  • Upgrade system for duplicate gear
Show 7 more
  • View pets during battles
  • Move around a virtual world like an MMO
  • Combat and social aspects
  • Compatibility with cheaper smartwatches
  • Option to use data from Apple Fitness
  • Retroactively correct step count
  • Allow app to run in background for quests

In-app purchases

None

A Step Ahead Challenge

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Cardio Quest

One-time2
  • Monthly Premium Features$4.99
  • Monthly Battle Pass$9.99

Questions

Is A Step Ahead Challenge free?
A Step Ahead Challenge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cardio Quest free?
Cardio Quest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, A Step Ahead Challenge or Cardio Quest?
A Step Ahead Challenge is rated higher. A Step Ahead Challenge averages 4.8 out of 5 from 7.2K ratings, while Cardio Quest averages 4.2 from 59 ratings.
Do A Step Ahead Challenge or Cardio Quest have ads?
Neither A Step Ahead Challenge nor Cardio Quest shows ads.
Which is updated more often, A Step Ahead Challenge or Cardio Quest?
A Step Ahead Challenge ships an update every 5 weeks, and Cardio Quest every 2 weeks. Most recently, A Step Ahead Challenge was updated on November 6, 2026 and Cardio Quest on November 3, 2026.

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