Roadmap

Where Step On It: Trail Quest is, and where it is going. Status labels are honest: shipped means implemented in the repository (not necessarily device-verified yet), in flight means actively being built or awaiting a decision, proposed means it exists only as a design idea — nothing is promised.

Milestones

Milestone	Goal	Status
M0 — Product decisions	Core rules, platform scope, tracker	shipped
M1 — Step feasibility	Physical phone/watch tests, step contract, UI & visual direction, sync contract	in flight — design done, physical-device verification pending
M2 — Offline playable slice	Walk → attack → gold → upgrade → save/reopen, server groundwork, visuals	shipped (local verification)
M3 — Synchronized alpha	PostgreSQL backup, interrupted/repeated upload tests, recovery, operations review	in flight — sync + auth implemented locally; deployment and device tests pending

Shipped

Core game shipped

Offline prototype, playable end to end

One-step-one-attack combat with Health Connect import, high-water step accounting and exact offline-batch summaries.
Auto-attack on by default; pause with saved steps and manual Strike/All release.
Fixed non-scrolling game screen with custom overlay menus, accessibility (TalkBack, reduced motion, 200% text) designed in.
Full original pixel-art sprite pipeline (heroes, 26 foes, bosses, town, effects) generated by code.
Town hub “Switchback Hollow” prototype: tavern, quest board, outfitter, dungeon gate.
Renamed Step On It: Trail Quest; shoes are the heroes’ weapons (swing, kick, throw).

Progression systems shipped

Numbers provisional, tuning continues

Three gameplay heroes with traits, 13 named upgrade ladders and endless per-hero levels (WA-30, WA-34).
Opt-in ascension with renown; rules v3: Area 50 gate, renown banked from the deepest run.
Endless economy: exponential enemy health, health-scaled rewards, five rotating biomes with Elder bosses, laps.
Active Trial tap dungeon with the capped +5% walking bonus (WA-32).
57-badge achievement gallery reading lifetime records.

Platform & engineering shipped

In the repository; live deployment partially pending

Go sync API with PostgreSQL, idempotent operation log, deterministic server-side game replay, metrics and health endpoints — running on the project’s own server.
Android outbox, cloud sync wiring and opt-in backup accounts (Google or email+password) implemented; production rollout of the newest endpoints pending.
Shared game_rules.json single source of truth for the Kotlin/Go/Python rule copies, with a verification script and CI running the parity and unit test suites.
Balance simulator for walking patterns, rest days and ascension pacing.

In flight

Device & operations verification in flight

Physical Pixel 10 Pro / Pixel Watch 4 step tests: locked-phone walks, delayed watch sync, permission states, minimum Android version, Samsung device once known.
Deploy the account/backup endpoints and run real upload/restore journeys; password-reset email delivery; Google OAuth client IDs.
Level replay decision (WA-28): forward-only v1 is recommended and awaiting review — no farming rewards for now.
Balance tuning from play tests: hero prices, trial interval/cap, ascension curve.

Town build-out in flight

Quest board: step-powered objectives with delayed-step attribution rules (design drafted, rewards undecided).
Town interiors, NPCs, native walker views, time-of-day presentation variants.
Saving the avatar’s town position; landscape/tablet arrangement.

Proposed — not decided

Retention concepts proposed

From the design evaluation; every item must preserve rest-is-safe and free-forever

Loot & gear slots: boss drops like boots (“+10% gold on 2,000+ step walks”) or charms that tweak hero traits — build variety beyond flat damage.
Town workshop/crafting: biome materials gathered by walking, forged instantly at a blacksmith — no idle timers.
A meaning for 6,000 steps: e.g. a daily “Expedition Cache” of materials and a cosmetic token, with a rest-safe punch-card instead of streaks. Still an open decision; it can never gate first progress.
Glanceables: home-screen widget / lock-screen view of area, steps-to-next-boss and cache progress.
Pocket feedback: haptics and biome sounds. Social (later): co-op weekend world bosses with shared cosmetic rewards.

The Milestone Warden awaits proposed

Boss contact sheet including the Milestone Warden.

A sixth boss — the Milestone Warden — is already drawn. What the mentioned 6,000-step figure means (first boss, upgrade, daily goal, or something else) is still an open player decision; until then the Warden waits, and the first step counts anyway.

Open decisions

Final rendering-style approval (pixel art is the current direction) and biome names.
What the 6,000-step figure means; any crafting/gear economy beyond today’s gold loops.
Android minimum version and device matrix; watch data route; possible phone-step fallback.
Production hosting beyond the alpha; password-reset email provider; linking Google and password accounts later.
Whether a step-powered side dungeon ships alongside the tap trial, and with what rewards.

Never

Permanently out of scope

Real-money anything: no in-app purchases, subscriptions, paid unlocks, ads or premium currency — in any release.
Idle DPS, auto-clickers, timers or waiting mechanics that create progress from elapsed time.
Rest-day penalties, streak decay or timed bosses.
Leaderboards or competitive multiplayer in v1 (a client step count is not proof of walking; any social feature needs its own trust model).