By Jen Spice for Nashville Fit

A free, seven-stop adventure is about to turn a downtown walk into a game.

If you grew up with a Nintendo controller in your hands, I have a very good reason for you to put on your walking shoes. The little plant creatures from Pikmin are coming to downtown Nashville, and apparently they want us to get our steps in.

The Nashville Pikmin Gathering begins Saturday, October 3, with a free, seven-stop MINI WALK through downtown in the Pikmin Bloom app. Visit the Special Spots and you can collect in-app Gold Seedlings for location-inspired Decor Pikmin. You can absolutely come along even if you have no idea what that sentence means. I’ll be the one learning as I walk.

For the GameCube kids, this is a fun hit of Nintendo nostalgia. For families, it’s a scavenger hunt that happens to get everybody outside. And for the rest of us, it’s an excuse to see our own city beyond the stretch between the parking garage and wherever we’re meeting for dinner.

Here’s my Nashville Fit challenge: Let’s start at Walk of Fame Park, screenshot our step counts, find all seven spots and see how much ground we actually cover. I’m not promising 10,000 steps. I’m promising to report the real number after we try it. Bring a friend, bring the kids, grab a coffee along the way and tell me if you would have walked that far without tiny plant people leading the charge.

The walk is available in the app from October 3 at 10 a.m. through November 1 at 6 p.m. For the full event experience, head to Music City Walk of Fame Park, 121 Fourth Avenue South, on October 3–4 or October 31–November 1. A staffed tent and augmented-reality photo opportunity will be there from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on those four days. The seven Special Spots remain available in the app between the event weekends.

There’s even an optional challenge near the Music City Heroes sculpture: plant 1,000 flowers in the app to earn a special event postcard. The Broadway Entertainment Association is the local organizer, with Nintendo of America bringing the Pikmin world to Music City.

Download Pikmin Bloom, charge your phone and wear shoes you actually want to walk in. Then tag @NashvilleFit with your final step count. I need to know who finds all seven—and whether Nintendo just tricked us into having a really good walking day.

Get the official MINI WALK details and see the Downtown Nashville event listing.

Check the official event page before going; dates and activities may change.

Author: NFM Staff

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