How Stepwars works: territory capture, XP and Kip coins

Walk to develop your map

Open the map, start an outing and walk around your neighbourhood. Distance actually validated inside cells contributes to capture. At the end, your result shows confirmed distance and any rewards.

The game combines exploration, collection and personal progression. You can advance without other players nearby. Clans, raids and multiplayer competitions are not part of the version described here.

• What a gamified walking app does

The rules at a glance

These parameters translate the currently published French game guide. They can change with game updates; the confirmed in-app result remains the reference for an outing.

Ten metres of capture effort, not a ten-metre hexagon

The map uses geographical hexagons. Capture requires ten validated metres accumulated inside one cell, independently of the cell’s size. Six metres on one outing and four on another can complete it.

Total walking distance cannot predict captures. A loop revisiting the same cells and a route crossing new ones can be equally long with different results. A cell on private property does not permit entry.

XP, levels and rewarded outings

Rewards begin at 200 validated metres on an eligible outing. Distance gives five XP for each complete 100 metres, rewarding at most 1,000 metres per outing. Thus 200 metres gives 10 distance XP, 600 gives 30 and 1,000 gives 50. A longer walk cannot exceed that distance XP cap.

At most three outings are rewarded per UTC day, with at least 30 minutes between rewarded starts and a total of 150 daily XP including missions. Simulated outings do not earn rewards. Ten levels mark progression; level 2 begins at 120 XP.

Kip coins and the camp

An eligible outing gives one Kip coin per complete ten validated metres, capped at 100. A 600-metre outing gives 60 coins, while two kilometres still gives at most 100. An outing no longer eligible for rewards, including a fourth rewarded attempt in a day, gives no coins.

The initial shelter is included. Upgrading to a cabin costs 300 Kip coins; the following wood-and-stone upgrade costs another 600, or 900 in total for both stages. Coins have no monetary value or conversion into cash.

A workshop and expedition table extend the camp. The camp location is personal and its stored position is rounded. Check the app before moving or upgrading your base.

Missions, weekly goals and the campaign

Choose an optional mission before leaving: Petite escapade at 250 metres, Un peu plus loin at 600, or Nouveaux repères at 1,000. These are the French interface labels. A completed mission adds up to 30 XP when the outing is eligible and the daily cap leaves room.

An eligible 600-metre outing with the matching mission gives 30 distance XP plus 30 mission XP and 60 coins, provided all conditions are met. With 140 daily XP already earned, the new XP reward is reduced to ten.

Choose a weekly rhythm of two, three or five outings. The campaign starts with walking milestones, then a territory chapter that can progress through new captures without requiring a cell to be lost.

Explorers, outfits and badges

Alex and Maya are the explorers presented in the wardrobe. The four outfits are Éclaireur initially, Cartographe after three eligible outings, Nocturne after ten and Botaniste after the first chapter.

The five badges—Premier pas, À votre rythme, Habitude en chemin, Cartographie and Horizon élargi—mark eligible outings or zone acquisitions. They describe recorded progression, not a public ranking. These are the labels used in the French app interface.

GPS, interruptions and privacy

Grant location access, then explicitly start and finish outings. Tracking may continue with the iOS screen locked when available; after a restart, resume explicitly. Validation is not guaranteed in tunnels or among buildings.

The game may reject imprecise points, inconsistent jumps or measurements too far apart. Safely reach an open area after a signal loss and inspect the result after synchronisation. Result images do not display the precise track.

Precise GPS points are used temporarily to validate movement. The latest precise server points are removed when an outing is paused, finished or abandoned. A limited local buffer handles some interruptions; it is not unlimited offline storage. Cells, distances, results and progression remain associated with the account and can reveal places you visit, even without a complete route history.

• Privacy policy (French)
• Terms (French)
• Prepare your first outing

The app in pictures

These screenshots come from the iOS interface running in a simulator. The map uses a test location; the camp is shown in a verification preview. They illustrate the interface, rather than a real outing or a week of progress. The pictured app interface is in French.

Frequently asked questions