Walking games 2026
A walking game is a game where your steps are the controller. You walk in real life, and something happens in the game: a creature hatches, a spaceship flies, a story moves on, a journey gets closer to its end. Some of them need you out at real places on a map. Others count the steps you take anyway and turn them into progress. These are the ones you can download today.
We make reTrek, one of the games below. It sits in the list in alphabetical order like everyone else, and the last section says why we built it.
Fantasy Hike
One long fantasy journey, walked step by step, “from your comfy halfling hole all the way to Mount Fire”. Your steps move you along the map, past characters you can race and alongside friends whose progress you can see. On iPhone it reads Apple Health and Apple Watch, and on Android it has its own pedometer and works with Health Connect. Free up to a mile a day. A one-time purchase removes the limit, and a subscription adds the full set of features, including sharing progress with friends. iPhone and Android. Fantasy Hike on the App Store
Pikmin Bloom
A map game, from the makers of Pokémon GO and Nintendo’s Pikmin series. Your steps grow Pikmin that follow you, and walking plants flowers along your path, so every walk leaves a trail of colour on the map. There are group walks, weekly challenges with friends, and giant mushrooms to defeat together. Steps count in the background. Free to play, with optional purchases. iPhone and Android. pikminbloom.com
Pokémon GO
The best known walking game there is. You catch Pokémon at real places, visit PokéStops and Gyms, and join raids with other players. Walking hatches Eggs and earns Candy for your Buddy Pokémon. With Adventure Sync on, your distance counts through Apple Health or Google Fit even when the game is closed. Free to play, with optional purchases. iPhone and Android. pokemongo.com
reTrek
Two kinds of game in one app. In routes, your daily steps move you along real trails, Everest Base Camp, the Inca Trail, the Camino de Santiago and others, with a short film about the place at each milestone. In quests, you walk through a branching story: each stretch you finish unlocks the next chapter, some chapters ask you to walk a set distance against the clock, and your choices decide which ending you reach. You can walk with friends and pool your steps, or race them. Steps come from Apple Health or Health Connect. One route and one quest are free for good, and PRO opens the rest. iPhone and Android. retrek.me
Walkr
A space game powered by steps. Your walking fuels a spaceship that discovers planets, and you complete missions to help small creatures find their way home. You can join fleets with friends and climb through leagues. It counts steps with your phone’s motion sensor. Free, with ads and optional purchases, or a SPARKFUL subscription. iPhone and Android. Walkr on the App Store
Zombies, Run!
An audio adventure you listen to while you walk, jog or run. Each mission is an episode of a story set after a zombie outbreak, and optional chases ask you to speed up to get away. Supplies you collect on the way help build your base. It works outdoors, indoors and on a treadmill, and it is happy at walking pace. Free to try, with a membership that unlocks every mission. iPhone and Android. zombiesrungame.com
Side by side
| Game | Kind of game | What your steps do | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fantasy Hike | One long fantasy journey | Move you toward Mount Fire | Up to a mile a day |
| Pikmin Bloom | Map game | Grow Pikmin and plant flowers | Free to play, optional purchases |
| Pokémon GO | Map game at real places | Hatch Eggs, earn Buddy Candy | Free to play, optional purchases |
| reTrek | Real routes and branching story quests | Move you along a trail or through a story | One route and one quest free |
| Walkr | Space exploration | Fuel a spaceship | Free with ads, purchases optional |
| Zombies, Run! | Audio story | Carry the story, outrun zombies | Free to try, membership for all |
All six are on iPhone and Android.
Are there free walking games?
All six can be played without paying. Pokémon GO and Pikmin Bloom are free to play, with purchases that speed things up rather than unlock the game. Walkr is free with ads. Zombies, Run! lets you try missions before a membership, Fantasy Hike walks you a mile a day for free, and reTrek has one route and one quest free with no trial.
Why we built reTrek
We built reTrek for people who find walking easy and doing it every day hard. A game helps, because there is always something you want to find out on the next walk. We wanted that something to be real places and stories worth hearing, so a route in reTrek follows the actual trail with a short film at every milestone, and a quest is a story that only moves when you do. Everest Base Camp and The Sealed Letter, a quest set on a medieval messenger’s road to Avignon, are both free, so you can try a route and a story before deciding anything.