Off the Map

Off the Map is a slow-paced hiking game for nature lovers. Walk real landscapes at your own pace: real terrain, real plants, no hurry. There are no quest markers. Each world is a real place, rebuilt from its elevation data and maps and grown from its own plants. You choose the trail, stop where you like, and walk on when you're ready. THE FIRST WORLD: SÃO TOMÉ A volcanic island on the equator, and a 28 km trail from the lowland forest at 450 m towards the summit of Pico de São Tomé at 2,024 m. Giant figs with buttress roots, strangler figs, tree ferns, wild coffee and giant begonias; above 1,400 m the cloud forest, with crooked trees hung with moss and beard lichen. Mountain creeks run over broken rock, and cliffs rise where the mountain is steep. Sun, cloud, mist and rain come and go on their own. REAL PLACES The terrain comes from real elevation data and OpenStreetMap, one to one. The trails are where they are. GROWN FROM REAL PLANTS The forest is modelled from the island's own species, zone by zone, from the valley to the summit. SLOW BY DESIGN No enemies, no timer, no score. You walk, climb over fallen trunks, and look around. EARLY ALPHA This is an early alpha, and it shows: you may get stuck on a steep step now and then, and some things are still missing. It's free while in alpha. The same game runs on iPhone, Mac and Android. Android 11 or later, 64-bit, Vulkan 1.1 and 4 GB of memory, with a mid-range chip from about 2021 or newer (Snapdragon 695, Exynos 1280, Dimensity 7000 or better). The game is large; use Wi-Fi to download it. WHERE IT'S GOING More worlds in other biomes, one at a time. Later: camping, gear, time of day, and weather that matters to how you hike. HELP SHAPE IT The alpha is for people who like walking in the woods and don't mind rough edges. Play for ten minutes, then tell us: does it feel like a real forest? Where does it look empty, wrong or repetitive? Any stutters, or places where you get stuck? Write to [email protected]. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Terrain produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30.

The world now downloads once after the install (about 0.7 GB, Wi-Fi unless you allow mobile data) and then plays offline. More plants, new rock, pools and flowing water, the summit with its marker, a notebook, game controllers, a new sound mix, and Send feedback in the pause menu. Early alpha, tested in the emulator only: report problems at https://playotm.com/feedback.