Guide
How to play
Get from the trailhead to the summit using as little energy as possible — before the sun sets.
The map
Each day’s trail is a small topographic map split into squares. Every square has a height from 0 (the valley floor) to 9 (the summit). Contour lines mark each level, exactly like on a hiking map: lines packed close together mean steep ground. You start at the trailhead — the small square at the bottom of the map — and the summit is marked with a flag.
Walking and energy
You move one square at a time: north, east, south or west. Every step costs energy:
| Step | Cost | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Level ground | 1 | 4 → 4 |
| Up one level | 3 | 4 → 5 |
| Up two levels | 5 | 4 → 6 |
| Down one level | 2 | 5 → 4 |
| Down two levels | 3 | 6 → 4 |
| Three or more levels | — | a cliff: not allowed |
Because going down also costs extra, dipping into a valley and climbing back out is expensive. The cheapest route usually follows a ridge or traverses along a contour line, even if it’s longer.
Cliffs and tarns
Any step that changes height by three levels or more is a cliff, drawn with red hatching on the edge between the two squares (the little ticks point downhill). Blue squares are tarns — mountain lakes. You can’t cross either.
Daylight
Every step takes one hour, and the daylight bar shows how many you have. If the sun sets before you reach the top, undo a few steps and try another line. On Mondays there is plenty of light, so you can take any detour you like. Later in the week the daylight is tighter than the cheapest route, and you’ll have to decide which climbs are worth paying for to save time.
Par and stars
Par is the lowest energy that gets anyone to the summit before dark. It’s computed exactly by a solver, so it is always achievable — and there may be more than one route that matches it.
- ★★★ — you matched par.
- ★★ — within 10% of par (at least 2 energy of leeway).
- ★ — you reached the summit.
Controls
- Touch: tap a neighbouring square, swipe in a direction, or drag from the hiker to sketch several steps at once. Tap the square you just left to step back.
- Mouse: click squares, or drag from the hiker. Hover a square to highlight its cost.
- Keyboard: ← ↑ → ↓ (or WASD) to walk, U or Backspace to undo, R to reset, H for a hint, L to have your surroundings read out.
Hints
The hint button lights up the best next step from where you are and tells you the best finish still possible. If the summit is already out of reach before dark, it will say so. Hints don’t cost stars, but the share card shows how many you used.
FAQ
When does a new trail come out?
At midnight in your own time zone, like a newspaper puzzle. The countdown on the result screen shows how long is left.
Does everybody get the same map?
Yes. Each day’s map is generated from the date, so everyone playing on the same calendar day walks the same ridge and can compare scores fairly.
Is every trail actually solvable?
Always. Before a map is used, a solver checks that the summit can be reached before dark and computes par — the true minimum energy under the daylight limit. If a candidate map fails, it’s thrown away.
Why is the shortest route not the cheapest?
Climbing costs three times as much as walking on the level, and losing height costs extra too. A straight line over a knoll and down into a gully can easily cost more than walking around them.
How does the streak work?
Your streak counts consecutive days on which you reached the summit of that day’s trail. Archive trails count towards your stats but not your streak.
Can I replay a trail?
Yes — press “Play again” after finishing. We keep your best result for that day.
What is practice mode?
Random maps at any of the seven difficulty levels, as many as you like. Practice maps don’t affect your daily stats.
Can I play offline?
Yes. After your first visit, the game works without a connection. On phones you can add it to your home screen from the browser menu.
I switched phones and my stats are gone.
Stats are stored only in the browser you play in — there are no accounts. The stats page lets you download a copy of your data.
Is it accessible?
The whole game can be played with the keyboard, and screen readers announce your height, energy, daylight and the cost of each neighbouring step. Animations follow your system’s reduced-motion setting, and height numbers can be shown on every square. If something doesn’t work for you, we want to know.