Conquering Land

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Claiming territory

Run a loop (your path encloses an area). On sync, a loop that meets the minimums registers as a claim and the enclosed area becomes your territory at Outpost tier.

• Minimum distance: 500 m
• Minimum enclosed area: 5,000 m²

What if my loop overlaps land someone already owns? You only claim the part that isn’t already owned (the non-overlapping portion). Overlapping someone else’s territory starts a siege instead — see War. My run wasn’t a clean loop. Self-crossing routes (figure-8s, an out-and-back that ends in a loop) claim the largest enclosed loop. A purely linear/out-and-back route doesn’t enclose area, so instead of claiming land it builds a Wall (below).

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Why didn’t my march count?

Your GPS track is always saved first — you never lose a march — but land is only claimed if the track passes validation:

• Too short or too small: a claim needs the minimum distance and enclosed area above (water routes use smaller minimums). A tiny loop builds toward a Wall instead.
• Not enough GPS: a track with only a handful of points can’t be trusted as a real route and is set aside.
• Implausible movement: points that jump an impossible distance apart (a GPS “teleport”), or a sustained speed too fast for your activity, flag the march for review rather than claiming land.

A flagged march shows as under review — no land is awarded, but nothing is lost, and genuine routes clear review. GPS drift among tall buildings, a partial drive, or an indoor/treadmill session with no real GPS are the usual reasons a march doesn’t claim.

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Tiers, fortification & effort

Claimed land has five tiers, from weakest to strongest: Outpost → Village → Keep → Stronghold → Citadel Higher tiers resist invasion better. The map shows a territory’s tier and degrades it visually as its defence drops. Raise a territory’s tier by running through it again. Each campaign adds fortification:

fortification = effort × distance (km)

A 5 km run at your normal pace adds 5 units; the same route run hard (1.5× effort) adds 7.5. Walking counts too — it’s measured against your own walking pace. Effort is your pace compared to your own 30-day average, not absolute speed. A fast day for you earns a high modifier no matter how fast that is in absolute terms:

• Way below your average: 0.5× (a floor — slow/recovery days still count)
• At your average: 1.0×
• 10% faster: 1.2× · 25% faster: 1.5× · 50%+ faster: 2× (the ceiling)

Why doesn’t an elite runner have an advantage over me? Because everything is measured against your own baseline. Your personal best earns the same reward tier as anyone else’s personal best.

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Decay

Territory drops one tier if you don’t run it within its decay window: Higher tiers hold out longer — the reward for building a Citadel is durability. Full current values live in the Game Reference. Unprotected means an Outpost left for 21+ days. It still shows in your colours but has no defence — a rival can take it easily. Territory never decays below Outpost; it just becomes Unprotected.

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Walls

A linear run (out-and-back, minimum 500 m) builds a defensive Wall along your route. Walls aren’t land — they’re border fortifications that make it harder for invaders to cross.

• Wall — decays after 14 days without a run.
• Reinforced Wall — stronger; decays back to a plain Wall after 21 days.

Get a Reinforced Wall by running the route twice within the decay window, or once at high effort (above your baseline pace).

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Districts

When a Wall connects two of your own neighbouring territories, the pair becomes a District — a single named holding on the map. You christen it (name it yourself, or let your Herald choose a name) to claim it. Your two holdings and their connecting Wall are drawn together under one unifying outline, with your crest and the District’s name at its centre. Each District shows a completeness meter reflecting how fresh its connecting Wall is and how healthy its member territories are. A District becomes fractured (drawn with a broken, dashed outline) if its connecting Wall decays away or one of its member territories is lost. You have a short grace period to restore it — re-run the Wall or win the territory back — before it dissolves.

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Different activities

Beyond running/walking, Cavalry (cycling) and Naval (rowing/paddling/watersports) are supported. Each activity is measured against its own personal baseline, so effort is fair across activity types. Water routes claim along waterways; cavalry covers more ground at speed. The five tiers are the same underneath — only the labels change to suit the activity:

• On foot: Outpost → Village → Keep → Stronghold → Citadel
• Cavalry (cycling): Staging Post → Barracks → Garrison → Stronghold → War Camp
• Naval (water): Mooring → Harbour → Naval Station → Admiralty → Fleet Anchorage

Decay timers and defence behave identically across all three.