Yes. Capture The Map is free to play.

No, the web map works on its own. Upload a GPX file at /map from any device. A dedicated app is coming, it is not available to download yet.

Anything that can export a GPX file: Garmin, Apple Watch, Suunto, Coros, or a phone app like Strava. Direct integrations with specific platforms are planned, but GPX export works today with whatever you already use.

Why did my loop not take the hexes someone else holds inside it?

A loop can never take a street somebody physically walked: enclosing a neighbourhood from its edges must not conquer ground a rival actually covered. Your loop fills everything unclaimed inside it, and it takes other players' loop fill, but their walked streets survive as an island in your fill. To take those you walk them yourself: the most recent walk always wins a street. The flip side is that your fill is soft: anyone can carve hexes out of it just by walking through, so big loops grab a lot and hold it lightly.

Why was my run rejected?

Every activity goes through layered plausibility checks. The file has to carry usable timing data, the pace across the whole activity has to be believable for the mode you picked, and no three minute stretch can be faster than a walk, run or ride sustains, so stopping for a while cannot launder a fast stretch. Together those catch the ordinary case of driving a route and calling it a run. They are not perfect, and they will keep tightening: a car crawling in traffic at walking pace is genuinely hard to tell from a walk on speed alone.

Why does my file need timestamps?

Because a recording with no timing data cannot be checked at all, and stripping the times out used to be the easy way past the speed checks. Anything that records an activity writes timestamps: a watch, Strava, or any tracking app. A route you drew in a route planner does not, so it claims nothing. Record the route for real and it counts.

Can someone take my streets?

Yes, that is the game. Whoever ran a street most recently owns it. Gear like a Shield or a Turf Tag can delay a takeover or make your ground last longer once claimed, but nothing prevents it outright.

Does recording keep working with my screen off?

In the app, yes. Grant the background location permission when you press Start and your whole route counts, phone locked or not. If you would rather not grant it, recording still works with the screen kept on, and the app keeps the screen awake for you.

The arcade currency of your stash, earned by playing and never sold. Prize drops pay them alongside power-ups, duplicates convert into them, and they are spent on merges.

Can I gift power-ups to friends?

Yes, within limits designed to keep gifts personal and worthless to farmers: you gift to Campmates you have known for at least a week, received power-ups are bound to you, and nothing can ever be sold.

Mutual connections, accepted on both sides. Campmates unlock duos (your first walk, run or ride together earns you both a prize drop), shielding each other's streets, and gifting.

What is a Secret Stash?

A prize drop you leave pinned to the real street where you found it, for a Campmate or for whoever you send the link to. Collecting it means physically passing the pin on a recorded activity. The pin is placed on the street, never at your exact trace point.

Can the app navigate me round a planned route?

Yes. Plot a Ghost Route, tap Navigate, and the app guides you turn by turn while it records, speaking each instruction so you can keep your eyes up. Go off route and it tells you plainly, and you can rejoin or carry on as a free run without losing the recording.

Consecutive days with at least one claim. Your map panel shows it beside any hexes due to lapse soon, so a quick walk can save ground before it goes neutral. Nothing nags you; the panel just tells you what is at stake.

Territory resets with each season. Cosmetics and collectables you have earned stay yours across seasons.

No. Once you have a saved home location, claims within roughly 250 metres of it are dropped before they ever become public territory.

Does closing a loop actually give me the streets inside it?

Yes, but only the ground, not other people's streets. A loop can never lasso streets someone has physically run themselves, only a later run can take those back.

What area counts as my leaderboard?

Roughly the 5 km neighbourhood around wherever you are running. There are two scoreboards, explained on the leaderboards page.

Am I ranked against riders if I walk?

No. Walks and runs are ranked on the On Foot board and rides on the On Wheels board, over the same shared map. A bike covers about four times the ground of a walk in the same hour, so one table would be no race at all. Capturing ground is identical either way, and a hex counts on the board of whoever holds it right now, so a street ridden off a walker moves to the wheels board until it is walked back.

Capture The Map is built on MapMap, a routing and mapping platform.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is it free?: Yes. Capture The Map is free to play.
Do I need the app?: No, the web map works on its own. Upload a GPX file at /map from any device. A dedicated app is coming, it is not available to download yet.
Which watches work?: Anything that can export a GPX file: Garmin, Apple Watch, Suunto, Coros, or a phone app like Strava. Direct integrations with specific platforms are planned, but GPX export works today with whatever you already use.
Why did my loop not take the hexes someone else holds inside it?: A loop can never take a street somebody physically walked: enclosing a neighbourhood from its edges must not conquer ground a rival actually covered. Your loop fills everything unclaimed inside it, and it takes other players' loop fill, but their walked streets survive as an island in your fill. To take those you walk them yourself: the most recent walk always wins a street. The flip side is that your fill is soft: anyone can carve hexes out of it just by walking through, so big loops grab a lot and hold it lightly.
Why was my run rejected?: Every activity goes through layered plausibility checks. The file has to carry usable timing data, the pace across the whole activity has to be believable for the mode you picked, and no three minute stretch can be faster than a walk, run or ride sustains, so stopping for a while cannot launder a fast stretch. Together those catch the ordinary case of driving a route and calling it a run. They are not perfect, and they will keep tightening: a car crawling in traffic at walking pace is genuinely hard to tell from a walk on speed alone.
Why does my file need timestamps?: Because a recording with no timing data cannot be checked at all, and stripping the times out used to be the easy way past the speed checks. Anything that records an activity writes timestamps: a watch, Strava, or any tracking app. A route you drew in a route planner does not, so it claims nothing. Record the route for real and it counts.
Can someone take my streets?: Yes, that is the game. Whoever ran a street most recently owns it. Gear like a Shield or a Turf Tag can delay a takeover or make your ground last longer once claimed, but nothing prevents it outright, see territory.
Does recording keep working with my screen off?: In the app, yes. Grant the background location permission when you press Start and your whole route counts, phone locked or not. If you would rather not grant it, recording still works with the screen kept on, and the app keeps the screen awake for you.
What are credits?: The arcade currency of your stash, earned by playing and never sold. Prize drops pay them alongside power-ups, duplicates convert into them, and they are spent on merges, see the stash guide.
Can I gift power-ups to friends?: Yes, within limits designed to keep gifts personal and worthless to farmers: you gift to Campmates you have known for at least a week, received power-ups are bound to you, and nothing can ever be sold. The full rules are in the gifting guide.
What are Campmates?: Mutual connections, accepted on both sides. Campmates unlock duos (your first walk, run or ride together earns you both a prize drop), shielding each other's streets, and gifting, see the camp guide.
What is a Secret Stash?: A prize drop you leave pinned to the real street where you found it, for a Campmate or for whoever you send the link to. Collecting it means physically passing the pin on a recorded activity. The pin is placed on the street, never at your exact trace point.
Can the app navigate me round a planned route?: Yes. Plot a Ghost Route, tap Navigate, and the app guides you turn by turn while it records, speaking each instruction so you can keep your eyes up. Go off route and it tells you plainly, and you can rejoin or carry on as a free run without losing the recording. See the Ghost Route guide.
What is a combo?: Consecutive days with at least one claim. Your map panel shows it beside any hexes due to lapse soon, so a quick walk can save ground before it goes neutral. Nothing nags you; the panel just tells you what is at stake.
Do power-ups reset?: Territory resets with each season. Cosmetics and collectables you have earned stay yours across seasons.
Is my home visible?: No. Once you have a saved home location, claims within roughly 250 metres of it are dropped before they ever become public territory.
Does closing a loop actually give me the streets inside it?: Yes, but only the ground, not other people's streets. A loop can never lasso streets someone has physically run themselves, only a later run can take those back.
What area counts as my leaderboard?: Roughly the 5 km neighbourhood around wherever you are running. See leaderboards for how the two scoreboards work.
Am I ranked against riders if I walk?: No. Walks and runs are ranked on the On Foot board and rides on the On Wheels board, over the same shared map. Capturing ground is identical either way, and a hex counts on the board of whoever holds it right now. See leaderboards for how the split works.
Who makes this?: Capture The Map is built on MapMap, a routing and mapping platform.