You open the textbook. You read three paragraphs, your mind wanders, you reread the same three paragraphs. Fifteen times over the evening.
At 11pm you close everything. You worked, you think, but nothing shows it: same desk, same chapter, same feeling of not having moved.
So here, there's a village, a road leading out of it, and it's you who takes it.
As long as you're working, you move forward. The moment you put everything down, you stop right there, and you'll pick up from there. Nothing congratulates you and nothing blames you: the distance is exactly what you worked for.
About twenty hours later, you're at the summit. Behind you are 9 places you'd never seen, a full purse, and animals who've been walking with you since the village.
3 reasons to leave your phone face up
Make starting cheaper, and make what you've already done visible. That's all a timer can do, and it's already a lot when you're studying alone.
You're not committing to anything
The hardest part isn't working for 3 hours, it's sitting down. Here there's no duration to hold and no timer to finish: you press start, and the 4 minutes you do will count as much as the 4 hours.
Your goal becomes a quest
Finals, thesis, competitive exams: you set your goal on day one and break it into steps. Each step you check off earns 2,250 coins, the whole goal 7,500. Unchecking one doesn't take them back: done is done.
A streak that can't be faked
Coming back every day pays off more than working in bursts. The fox and the bear each cover one missed day a week — own both, and that's two — without your streak breaking, and neither can be gamed: the counter only moves while you're actually working. Your record itself never drops.
One button, and you walk
You press start, you move forward. You hit pause, you stop. There's no duration to pick, no timer to finish, no countdown watching you: you walk as long as you're working, 150 steps a minute.
On your phone, put it down next to you, screen on. As long as Arpente is in front of you, you keep moving; pick it up for anything else, and you stop walking. Nothing is blocked, nothing is punished: you stop, that's all, and you start again when you come back.
On a computer, the timer keeps running when you switch tabs. Looking up a course, opening a PDF, rereading an email: that's work. Picking up your phone while you're studying isn't.
And a long walk pays extra. Thirty minutes in and a hare joins you. An hour, a black cat. Two hours, a tortoise — then a coin bonus every half hour after that. None of it is required: a four-minute walk still counts in full. A long one just counts for more.
10 places between the village and the summit
You start where the houses thin out. Each next place is earned by working, and the further you go, the more it pays: the village pays back your stake, the summit doubles it.
There's no rank to climb and no badge to unlock. There's a road, and you move along it.
"Arpenter" is a French word for travelling while measuring the ground — there's no clean English equivalent, and it's the closest word to what this app does, which is why it's called Arpente.
- The VillageThe houses thin out. The road starts here.
- The ForestNot a roof on the horizon, only trunks.
- The RiverYou have to follow it before finding the ford.
- The LakeThe water doesn't move. You do.
- The JungleThe path closes behind every step.
- The DesertNothing to get your bearings by, except direction.
- The CaveThe sky disappears. The sound of your steps comes back.
- The MineSomeone dug here, then left.
- The MountainThe snow erases the path behind you.
- The SummitNo one saw you leave the village.
The hedgehog, the black cat, the dragon, and 18 more
They join you along the way and never leave. The hedgehog trots ahead of you, the bird lands on your staff when you slow down, the bear brings up the rear. 14 can be bought with your coins, from the hedgehog at 900 up to the bear at 34,500.
The other 7 are earned: the raven for 7 days in a row, the dragon for reaching the summit, the phoenix for starting over once you've arrived. The black cat shows up an hour into a single walk.
Each one has its own story, and that's what you're really collecting. They all give the same bonus, so you pick the one you love, not the one that optimizes.
The hedgehog900 coins
The cat3,600 coins
The fox8,700 coins
The deer13,800 coins
The owl24,000 coins
The bear34,500 coins
6 of 21. The rest are discovered along the way.
"He doesn't follow you. He's going the same way, that's all."
The cat, 3,600 coins"He showed up at the hour when everyone else would already be gone."
The black cat, can't be bought"He'd been waiting up there. He won't say for how long."
The dragon, at the summitIt doesn't congratulate you and it doesn't blame you for anything
You walk exactly as much as you worked, and the rest of the time, your traveler waits for you. Three days, three weeks: you reopen the app, it's right where you left it, with your coins, your animals, and your place. You pick up from there.
Nothing to catch up on, nothing to buy back. Your streak is good news when it lasts, never a debt when it breaks.
And no one will come asking where you were: the app has no server, so it has no way to write to you.
places to cross, from the village to the summit
animals who join you along the way
steps for an hour of work
3 steps, no download
The app installs from your browser. It isn't on the App Store or Google Play, and it won't be.
Open the link
The app starts directly in your browser. You can take your first steps without installing anything at all.
Add to home screen
The share button on iPhone, the three-dot menu on Android. An "add to home screen" line appears.
That's it
An icon sits with your other apps. It opens full-screen and works without a network.
Your first steps are one button away
You press start, you work, you move forward. You stop whenever you want, and what you've walked stays walked.