Introduction
Basic information
Developer Name: Not A Cult
Full Name: WalkScape
Release Date: Ongoing beta (invite/early access)
Released on: iOS (TestFlight) and Android (beta)
Cross Play: Not applicable (mobile; account-based progress)
Initial thoughts
The developer kindly granted us access,credit where it’s due. My wife uses a wheelchair. I reached out with specific questions about how wheelchair propulsion could map to progress, shared that steps alone didn’t register for her, and asked about alternatives. After that, I didn’t receive any meaningful reply or guidance. That silence set the tone: I ended up keeping WalkScape installed for myself purely as a step logger with light RPG flavor, while she had no practical way to participate.
Story and setting
Plot overview
Light fantasy framing: your avatar trains skills by converting real-world activity into resources, tasks, and passive progress. It’s more framework than authored tale, of course, it is still in beta, and a story or plot might be added in the future.
World building and immersion
Identity is expressed through long-term skill gains and unlocks rather than branching narrative. You feel growth numerically, not dramatically.
Character development
Small dopamine pings when you bank a day’s movement can be pleasant. For us, the exclusion of wheelchair input blunted any sense of shared journey; milestones felt solitary and, frankly, a little hollow.
Emotional impact
The app hints at a larger, RuneScape-like world via zones, skills, and flavor text. Immersion hinges on the activity loop fitting your life. If your movement isn’t steps, the fantasy never fully forms.
Rating for story and setting
I have visited multiple aspects of the story, and after some thought and objective thinking, I rated the story and setting with an 4
Gameplay and mechanics
Core gameplay mechanics
Walk → accrue steps → convert to XP/resources → unlock tasks → repeat. The step-first model keeps things simple and private, with minimal on-screen fuss. It works as a check-in routine for walkers. There is not much more to it.
Difficulty and balance
Pacing scales with your daily patterns: consistent walkers see steady momentum; sedentary days slow everything. For wheelchair users, progress may not register at all, turning balance into a binary wall: moving plenty, yet doing nothing in the game’s terms.
Pacing of the game
Designed for incremental, daily cadence: bank progress, queue tasks, return later. That’s elegant if inputs register. If they don’t, the loop stalls into periodic disappointment.
Innovation and uniqueness
Fusing pedometer data with old-school RPG goals is clever and, in spirit, wholesome. Without equivalent inputs (wheel pushes, rotations, or distance from wearables), the innovation feels unfinished, even for a beta form.
Controls and user interface
Clean menus, readable icons, and low cognitive load. Accessibility depth is limited: no wheelchair mode, few calibration tools, and sparse onboarding for assistive scenarios. Even a simple choose your movement modality wizard would help.
Microtransactions
In beta we encountered no ads or microtransactions. Monetization appears restrained, which aligns with the app’s calm tone.
Rating
After combing through many of the mechanics, the pacing, and other factors of this game, I rated the gameplay and mechanics with an 5.
Graphics and art style
Quality of graphics and art direction
Functional and friendly. The aesthetic supports a background companion rather than vying for attention. Clear skill icons and legible typography make quick sessions painless.
Technical performances
Stable on our devices. Battery impact felt modest when synced to our phones. It is a select task and walk model, no input lag when steps were taken, if they registered.
Environment and design uniqueness
Most of the world is communicated via lists and panels. It’s tidy, but variety is limited; the charm comes from accumulation, not spectacle.
Rating
It took me some time to give the graphics and art style an objective rating. There are many things to consider, but ultimately, I rated this section with a 5.
Sound and music
Music score and how it contributed to the game
Since it is a walking app, I did not have sound on that much. I cannot even remember if it has sound since I only use it to check my daily steps nowadays.
Sound effects quality
Minimal task complete chirp and taps. Subtle enough not to annoy; you won’t remember them, I certianly dont, and that’s fine.
Voice Acting
None, which fits the genre.
Rating
After a lot of consideration, I rated the sound and music section with a 6.
Replayability
Game Length and content volume
Effectively endless: daily accrual and long-tail goals. There’s plenty to chase if your activity maps to steps. For me it will become an endless loop of keeping score of my steps.
Extra Content
Beta cadence brings tweaks, QoL adjustments, and the promise of more tasks/skills. Nothing we saw changed the wheelchair limitation.
Replay value
High for walkers with consistent routines. Near zero for wheelchair users unless alternative inputs are added; there’s simply no loop to return to.
Rating
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to rate the replayability and game length of Walkscape with a 5.
Suggestions and comparisons
Suggestions and feedback
– Add a Wheelchair Mode: map pushes/rotations or wheel circumference × rotations to progress; allow per-user calibration and sensible anti-cheat thresholds.
-Accept alternative activity inputs: rolling distance from wearables, active minutes, heart-rate-based exertion zones, or arm-cycle sessions; choose any combination during onboarding.
-Provide accessibility onboarding: a setup flow that asks for your mobility profile, offers test calibration, and clearly explains how your movement becomes game progress.
-Establish responsive accessibility support: even a templated acknowledgment with timelines and workarounds would help users feel seen.
Comparisons
Compared to step-centric gamified walking apps (e.g., Pikmin-style gardeners or Zombies, Run!), WalkScape is calmer and more respectful of your attention. Compared to general fitness trackers (Apple/Google Health with rings/goals), WalkScape adds RPG permanence, but only for step-based movement.
Personal experiences and anecdotes
The access grant was appreciated and started things on a hopeful note. I wrote about our case, asked concrete questions, and flagged that nothing registered from the chair. After that, silence. I kept using WalkScape as a quiet step logger, banking a few resources at night, while my wife watched the same screens do nothing for her day after day. We wanted a gentle game we share while living our lives. We got a tracker I use alone.
Rating
Taking in all the personal experiences with Walkscape, I give it a personal rating of 1.
Last words
Pros
- Privacy-first, low-friction loop that respects your time.
- Calm, clean UI with readable skill progression.
- No ads or pushy monetization in beta.
Cons
- No wheelchair mode; pushes/rolls don’t translate to progress.
- Follow-up on accessibility questions was unhelpful/absent.
- Single input (steps) creates a hard gate for many disabled players.
- Limited accessibility settings and calibration tools.
- Little to engage with if your steps are low or non-existent.
- Narrative/world flavor too light to compensate for mechanical exclusions.
- Wearables integration feels underutilized for non-step movement.
- Co-play aspirations collapse when one partner can’t progress.
WalkScape brings a kind, minimalist vision to movement-as-RPG, and I genuinely want it to succeed. But until it treats different ways of moving as first-class inputs and communicates clearly with players who ask about them, it remains a niche step companion rather than an inclusive game.
FINAL RATING
3.5
Please let me know what you think of Walkscape in the comments!
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Not my cup of tea, not even playing on mobile or had used such applications/games like this for stats and motivation i guess. Harsh personal rating but i cant comment on it, if it is easy to add such support or not for those kind of (small?) project, no idea. But yes maybe they could have reply to you about this at least?
I do like the Idea and general design. Sad that there is no good way for Simone to play it. Sounds like simple MMO with real steps.
Man, it sucks that the devs didn’t reply to your concerns. I can see how that doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence in the game… :/
Heard about such games, although never tried it. You are right that such apps/games need more accessibility options because people who are fit would hardly use these and people who have some kind of issue/difficulty are more likely to give these a try. Personally, I don’t go out enough to warrant giving it a try, especially after reading your review.
Nice Idea those games where you include actual activities into the gaming topic. Although I very rarely to never make use of those ^^. Maybe they could include GPS tracking for wheelchair…
That was an interesting review.
The pixel art style seems like a nice touch.
But honestly, I just can’t bring myself to play games like this.
At first, the idea of this sounds good to me, until you mention that it only tracks steps. My lifestyle already limits my time to walk around, and I had assumed other activities could replace this, for example, hand/arm exercise or running. Looks like I’ll pass this game.
Games seems very..inspired by pokemon go. Has potential, but it could be improved. I feel like the developer should add support for the disabled as well, seeing as not everyone who will play can walk- some need wheel chairs to move around.
This doesn’t look like something I’d enjoy, maybe like 20 years ago I would have liked something like this. It just feels like now, there’s so many more, better options of games to be playing like this, even on the phone. It doesn’t help that it sounds like the devs aren’t very responsive.
This game could have been executed so much better. Looks to me like they focused more on width of the content, than the actual depth of the content, and those tracking issues don’t help it.
For example, they could have had only a few skills at first, and not that many materials done well, and only progress from there. Kind of diluted for a start already.
Quality over quantity, please.
Cool idea in theory, but if a game is built around movement it really needs flexible tracking options for everyone to actually enjoy it
I like how honest this review is. I hope the developers add real inclusivity soon, because everyone deserves a chance to play.
I like the idea, but games like this don’t work for me. I need real-life incentives to go out and walk – which I have plenty of. So I probably will never use it. But I can imagine that it can be a lot of fun for the right audience.
Accessibility and variety of inputs is very important and I hope it is added soon
The idea is cool and I love the Runescape inspiration but sounds like it needs more features and fantasy storylines to get engaged in and excited about! Really sad that there’s no accessibility settings for those who have a harder time walking, I hope they eventually listen and implement it!
I don’t usually play mobile games but this feels really fun … i do think that it could have been better though after reading the review though…
Seems a good idea, can be helpful to take a break from time to time and check it
I agree with mark and this game isn’t good.
So Another game with Potential, but just not it. I think with a few tweaks and changes, this can be a solid 7. Let’s see what the devs do!