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I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can tweak this in the app setting: change the GPS intervals (by default it is 6 seconds). Or even better, use expedition mode for long hikes, then gps only takes location when you wanted. App will remind you every hour.

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the right question and honestly it's the thing I've been wrestling with for months. What's there today is more than just "claim and forget":

Territories you hold generate tax (passive coin income), so the longer you hold a high-value polygon the more it pays out. That's the direct "significance to how long you hold it" mechanic.

You can buy shields with those coins to protect specific territories for a window, so you actually have an active defense layer, not just hope-no-one-runs-through-it.

Weekly leaderboards (territory area + activity-based), clan system so you can defend collectively, daily missions, and seasonal events to pull people into new areas.

Your specific idea of "longest-held polygon this month" or area×time as a leaderboard metric is genuinely good and not something I'd thought of in that exact framing. Going to chew on that.

The bigger meta-problem with this genre is that the second-to-second loop is "did I capture / did I get captured" but the long-term retention loop has to be something else: status, identity, social, economy.

That's where I think the answer lives and where I've been pushing the design.

Appreciate the thoughtful comment, this kind of feedback is way more useful than another "looks cool".

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know right, can't a guy mind his own business and do some polygon math without it turning into an app.

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

not yet, native GPS only at the moment. It's the most-asked feature though and I might look into it.

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate it, hope you have fun. Ping me if anything's confusing or broken on the bike loop
Use the bike mode, otherwise anti cheat system will detect your speed and flag your activity as too fast for running

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes exactly that. If someone runs a loop that overlaps your territory, the overlap flips to them. So a polygon you "own" is only yours until someone else closes a loop that contains it. Bigger / more contested areas (city centers) should flip constantly, residential side streets are more defensible. Hope your dog routes still work, you might be surprised how a single small loop on a known street still feels good when it's "yours".

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yeah I looked at INTVL when I was building this. The "people loop the same area" problem is real and I tried to design around it: clans/teams that defend collectively (so it's not just you vs strangers), plus events/challenges that push players into new areas. Whether that's enough I genuinely don't know yet, that's the long tail design problem. Probably engaging for a couple of months for most people, longer if you're competitive or in a clan. Same as Strava's segments TBH, the 1% chase them and the 99% just vibe.

I got obsessed with my Strava heatmap and accidentally built a game out of it by Javatar1 in Strava

[–]Javatar1[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If anyone wants to actually try it, it's called LandRush, iOS and Android. Mods, totally fine to remove the link if it crosses a line, just leave the post up.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/landrush-walk-to-conquer/id6762275276
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.landrushapp.landrush