How Progression Works
Hexes change hands. These numbers don't. Volts, badges, streaks, trails — everything in this chapter only climbs.
The Volts economy
One score follows you everywhere, and three streams feed it. Rush Volts are the untouchable kind: banked the moment you earn them, in every context — standalone runs, fortifies, castles, win or lose.
Hex Volts are the kind you hold. Arena ground can be taken from you, Duel by Duel; territory ground can only be traded — which makes the map above the Arenas the safest bank in the game.
- 1Every ZapRush run banks its Volts to you forever — even the runs that missed a wall or lost a castle.
- 2Arena hexes carry the Volts of their best run, plus the clustering bonus for owned neighbors. Lose the hex in a Duel and its Volts go with it.
- 3Territory hexes carry Volts too — and swaps move them with you. Even losing a castle only relocates you; it never robs you.
- 4All three add up to one total — the number Most Volts ranks the world by.
Badges & the eight ladders
Eight ladders, 97 badges, zero forms to fill: the counting is automatic, the badge lands the moment the number does, and a big jump that clears several tiers at once arrives as a single bell.
Badges are like completions — earned means kept. Nobody takes one back, not even the player who out-ranks you. Your badge wall lives on your public profile, ladder by ladder, for anyone to read. Below: five stops, from the shelf to the wall.
- 1Volts — every Volt you've banked. 20 tiers, Flicker (500) to Supernova (3,000,000).
- 2Knowledge — your best ZapRush streak. 10 tiers, Novice (5) to Omniscient (150).
- 3Territory — hexes held. 20 tiers, Wanderer (5) to Worldshaper (100,000).
- 4Conquest — duels and castles won. 10 tiers, Trespasser (1) to Despot (2,500).
- 5Defense — attacks turned away. 10 tiers, Lookout (1) to Atlas (2,500).
- 6Persistence — your longest daily streak. 9 tiers, Newcomer (3 days) to Eternal (365).
- 7Fortification — the tallest wall you've ever built. 8 tiers, Cell (15) to Fusion (150).
- 8Skill — perfect runs: 100% on a stack of 20+ questions, counted once per stack. 10 tiers, Marksman (1) to Flawless (5,000).
you ever earned
The seven leaderboards
Seven boards, because there are seven ways to be dangerous. All public, all live. Pick the one that sounds like you and start climbing it.
Below: the boards, the menu that reaches them, and the scope filters on the main ranking.
- 1Most Volts is the main board — the lifetime ranking. Around it: Best ZapRush, Biggest ZapFolio, Combat, Daily Streak, Most Active, Highest ZapWall.
- 2Conquest and Defense share the Combat board — one page, a WINS / DEFENSES toggle.
- 3Skill is badge-only: perfection is between you and the wall, not a ranking.
- 4Most Active is board-only — games played, full stop, no badges attached.
- 5Boards read the present: your tier label there reflects today's number. Your profile keeps everything you've ever earned.
- 6Most Volts also filters by scope — Global, or any Level-1 / Level-2 category.
Daily streaks
Finish at least one game a day — any game, anywhere — and the streak counts it. Days roll at UTC midnight. Miss one and the current run resets — no freezes, no mercy.
Your best run is remembered even after the current one dies: that's the number the Persistence ladder and the Daily Streak board read. It rewards the simple, surprisingly hard discipline of showing up.
ZapTrail
Your completion map through the hierarchy. Open it on any topic and it shows exactly how deep you've cleared — which ZapStacks are done, which ZapCores are sealed, what stands between you and the next tier.
When a map button looks locked, ZapTrail is the answer to "locked by what?" — it names the unfinished business. Five stops on a real trail below.
- 1Open ZapTrail from any topic page — it maps your completions at that level.
- 2Every ZapStack, ZapCore or category shows as done or not-done; filter All / Complete / Incomplete.
- 3Climb up a level or drill into any child without leaving the panel.
- 4Clear everything on a rung and the ZapClaim lands in your ZapFolio — the trail is the road to the ladder above.
The numbers climb quietly. The bell is how the game speaks up — that's the next chapter.