How It Works

CycleWar turns every ride into permanent progress. The world is divided into small hexagonal cells (roughly 65m across). Ride through one, and it's yours to keep — forever, whether you ride it once or a thousand times.

Discovering cells

As you ride, your GPS route is converted into the cells it physically crossed. The first time you ever cross a given cell, it's added to your personal discovery record. This record is permanent and private to you — it can never be reduced, overwritten, or taken by anyone else.

XP — how points are earned

• Activity XP: 1 XP per 250 metres ridden (roughly 4 XP/km). No cap, and it counts every time — commuting the same route daily is rewarded just as much as exploring somewhere new.
• Coverage XP: 1 XP per cell you cross, as long as that specific cell hasn't already paid out Coverage XP in the last 60 minutes. This cooldown is per cell, not per ride — stopping and starting a new ride doesn't reset it.
• Discovery XP: 2 XP, awarded once — the very first time you ever cross a specific cell, on top of that cell's Coverage XP. Crossing it again later never earns a second Discovery bonus.

Levels

Your Score is your total lifetime XP — it only ever goes up. As it grows, so does your level, and each level-up grants a small bonus on top. Levels are purely a reflection of how much you've ridden and explored over time; there's no way to lose XP or level down.

Streaks

Ride at least once on a calendar day to keep your streak alive. Miss a day and your current streak resets to zero — but your longest-ever streak is always recorded separately, so a good run is never erased from your history.

Daily challenges

Three new challenges appear every day (distance, new cells, and similar goals) and reset at midnight local time. Completing one earns bonus XP on top of whatever you'd earn from the ride itself.

Leaderboard

Riders are ranked by total Score, both globally and within their chosen home city. Since Score only ever increases, rank reflects cumulative riding and exploring over time, not a single ride or a lucky streak.

Rival Events

Rival Events are time-limited competitive events riders can opt into, where you contest territory head-to-head with other attendees — separate from, and never at the expense of, the permanent discovery record described above. Points earned in a Rival Event are their own currency and never affect your lifetime Score. Rival Events are rolling out gradually; check the app for currently active events.

Frequently asked questions

Still have a question? Visit Support.