Every season there is a challenge, and joining in costs nothing. This autumn it is all about finds: the leaves are falling, it is perfect walking weather and the question is who finds the most stones. The challenge runs from 1 September to 30 November, so there is still plenty of time to catch up.
What counts
Every find you report during that period counts as one point. You do not need to sign up for the challenge: as soon as you report a find with your account, you are on the ranking. Because you can only report a find on the spot, or with the stone in your hands, only what you have really found counts. That keeps it fair.
How to follow the standings
Every challenge has a public ranking, which anyone can view, even without logging in. If you are logged in, you always see your own position, even if you are not near the top yet. You choose how your name appears in the ranking under Settings, at “Name in challenge rankings”: your full name, just your first name or anonymous.
On your own, with your family or with a team
Besides the ranking for everyone, there are standings for families and for teams. In a family, the finds of all members are added together, including those of the youngest. A team scores with the stones that have been assigned to the team. Within your family or team you can also see who is top among you, and how they compare with the overall number one.
Challenge another group
Fancy taking on the neighbours, the grandparents or the class next door? Then link your family or team as rivals. From then on, every challenge you both take part in shows a head-to-head comparison, separate from the overall ranking. You can always remove a link again.
How to go about it cleverly
Before you set off, check the map to see what is nearby and read the hints. Then walk or cycle a regular loop past a few stones. Take your phone with location switched on, because you report a find within 50 metres of the stone. And if you find one, put it out again after a while, so the next finder can enjoy it too. A challenge without stones on the map gets boring fast.
And then it carries on: December brings the winter challenge, which is all about who paints the most new stones, and January brings the New Year Stock.
