You had no internet access in the park, I assume. And even then, a large part of that effort was the executive decision to go to the park and stay there.
The point of this app, from what I can tell, is to take away the need to exert executive function to remain typing. The computer focuses for you, by operant-conditioning you to focus.
If you have enough executive function to get you over the initial hump of getting-into-flow by just pre-emptively taking away distractions, then by all means, do whatever you like to write. Take a notebook to a cafe. Use a typewriter in your garage. Take a tablet and a bluetooth keyboard on a long flight.
But if you viscerally resist the idea of starting, whether due to a lack of motivation or a strong feeling of perfectionistic anxiety or whatever else—this app (and other similar apps) can help you overcome that. Especially if you set it up in advance so it opens up at a scheduled time with your work from last time already loaded into it. You've got to start, or you'll lose something important. Once you've started, and you're in flow, the app's "game mechanic" isn't all that important—but the point is to use something, anything, to get you over that hump when you can't do it yourself.
I did have Internet access (Ricochet modem) but it wasn't as important back then unless there was an ops issue .. what I really needed was just the mobility to go anywhere, lose the distractions and focus on my writing, with a good view in the background.
I think its an under-utilized means of handling the issues this app attempts to address: go somewhere else with your laptop and focus.
The point of this app, from what I can tell, is to take away the need to exert executive function to remain typing. The computer focuses for you, by operant-conditioning you to focus.
If you have enough executive function to get you over the initial hump of getting-into-flow by just pre-emptively taking away distractions, then by all means, do whatever you like to write. Take a notebook to a cafe. Use a typewriter in your garage. Take a tablet and a bluetooth keyboard on a long flight.
But if you viscerally resist the idea of starting, whether due to a lack of motivation or a strong feeling of perfectionistic anxiety or whatever else—this app (and other similar apps) can help you overcome that. Especially if you set it up in advance so it opens up at a scheduled time with your work from last time already loaded into it. You've got to start, or you'll lose something important. Once you've started, and you're in flow, the app's "game mechanic" isn't all that important—but the point is to use something, anything, to get you over that hump when you can't do it yourself.