# Coining a reward system

### November 4, 2015 Posted By: Mihnea

With our iOS Beta in full swing, we’ve been making a great deal of progress with Run An Empire over the past few weeks. Now it’s time to share what’s been going on!

## Stability updates

We’ve been making some under-the-hood improvements based on our iOS Testers’ feedback:

- Added a ‘retry’ button on the ‘run upload’ screen so you don’t lose your data if your connection isn’t there or strong enough to reach our servers.
- Made the map auto-refresh after uploading a run, so you can see your progress right away.
- Removed redundant code for a smaller download package.
- Implemented better cheat detection. We’re flagging all “vehicular assisted” runs now with much improved accuracy. Very revealing stuff! (We’re not acting upon the data… yet.)

## Going Free To Play

After a lot of research and careful thought, we’ve decided to make Run An Empire a “free to play” (F2P) game.

This means that, on launch, the game will be free to download for anyone who wants it – your friends, family and neighbours will all be able to join in on the action too. The world of Run An Empire looks set to get a lot busier!

Why have we decided this? Short answer: because we think the game will be more fun if there are more people playing.

**Why Free To Play?**

Player-vs-player competition is a big part of Run An Empire. A lot of testers have said the game would be better if they had more people to play against. In some quieter areas it’s a bit like having an awesome walkie-talkie but nobody else to talk to. Based on download data from other F2P and paid-for titles, we think we could get a hundred times more people playing this way, which’ll create a more sustainable community over time.

**How will Run An Empire make money then?**

Not that many of you will be interested in how we make money, but we’re exploring “cosmetic” purchases – items that change how other players see you.

Some elements of the coat of arms will be purchasable with in-game currency (other elements can only be unlocked through achievements). The game will have two currencies – coins and gems.

**Coins (coming soon)**

Coins will make the game more interesting in several ways:

- They make sure there’s always a reason to go for a run, however busy your area is
- They reward you for carefully maintaining your territory
- They’re stealable from other players
- They show how good you’ve been over time, not just at the present moment
- They can be spent on upgrading your supporter creatures

**Gems (coming later)**

Gems are more precious than coins. They will randomly generate on the map at the start of a run – so they might tempt you to change your planned route. They can be spent on embellishing your coat of arms in other ways – such as helms and mottos. They will also be purchasable.

## Coins are now live in the iOS Beta

We’re now testing an early version of coin collection in the iOS Beta – which for now has limited functionality but it still enables our Testers to harvest coins and spend them on upgrading their coat of arms!

## To sum things up

A lot is happening as we approach our launch. Our iOS Testers are hard at work assessing the experience and flagging any issues that come up – all of this while having a great deal of fun, of course!

And while this update concerns the iOS build for now, it is of course a key step forward for all platforms – these are core features that will be available across the board at public launch.

That’s it for now – stay tuned for more updates very soon!