Running deserves better than spreadsheets. Strategy deserves better than pay-to-win.
Fitness apps turned running into lonely data to stare at. Free-to-play strategy turned winning into whoever spends most. Milestead is the antidote: a calm nation builder where your effort is the entire economy.
Runs, harvesting, inventory, buildings, and ages work end to end. Next: real-device testing, hardening, and closed testing before release.
The re-enchantment of the daily run
Remember when running wasn't about splits and zones, but about seeing what was past the next corner? Milestead turns familiar streets and park loops into a resource map. That Tuesday recovery jog isn't filler anymore — it's the timber run your Lumber Camp has been waiting for.
Effort is the only currency
No cash speed-ups. No loot boxes. No energy meters. If your Town Center needs stone, you put your shoes on. Upgrades apply instantly when you've earned them — resources are the gate, never your wallet.
Phone in pocket, eyes on the path
Harvesting is automatic — there is nothing to tap mid-run. A short safety reminder plays before each run, and the map is for planning beforehand and reviewing afterwards. Never for navigating traffic.
What your nation could look like
Early illustrative renders exploring the settlement fantasy. The shipped game gets its own original art — these set the direction, not the final pixels.
The three pillars of Milestead
Place matters
Six resources mapped to real land use. Parks pay timber, industrial blocks pay metal, campuses pay knowledge. Your neighborhood is the game board — learn it like one.
Variety by design
Harvested cells regrow over 72 hours, and every age-up demands knowledge — so the optimal strategy is always to explore somewhere new, never to grind one loop.
Privacy by design
Raw GPS traces stay on your device. Only harvested cell IDs and quantities sync — never your route, never your home, never sold, never shared with advertisers.
An honest roadmap
No hype phases, no fake percentages. Three stages, in order.
Core loop & hardening
Run tracking, harvesting, inventory, buildings, and ages — plus real-device GPS and battery testing, offline support, and account controls.
Closed testing
Small waves of real runners on iOS TestFlight and Android closed testing. Tuning regrowth, costs, and anti-cheat caps from real data.
Store launch
Public release on the App Store and Google Play with the full five-age progression, privacy pages, and support in place.
Want a say in what gets built?
Early testers shape tuning, costs, and the map. Join the list and help steer the roadmap.