FAQ - Daybound Tower

Getting Started

What is Daybound Tower?

Daybound Tower is a health-driven tower climbing RPG. Your real-world steps, stairs climbed, and workouts are converted into in-game tower parameters each day. One run per day — yesterday's activity decides today's climb.

How do I start playing?

Download the app, grant HealthKit permission, and start your first climb. The app reads yesterday's health data to generate your daily tower parameters, then you run the climb simulation.

Do I need special equipment?

No. Any iPhone with HealthKit support works. Steps can be counted by your iPhone alone. An Apple Watch enhances stair counting and workout detection but is not required.

Can I play more than once per day?

No. One run per day is the core design. This keeps the game tied to your daily activity cycle and prevents grinding.

Gameplay

How are tower floors calculated?

Your step count is multiplied by a conversion rate (roughly 10,000 steps = 1,000 potential floors). A daily variance of up to ±10% is applied. The actual reached floor depends on boss encounters along the way.

How do boss encounters work?

A boss guardian appears every 10 floors. Your base boss clear chance starts at 45% and increases with stairs climbed. The first boss (F10) is always guaranteed. If you fail a boss, the run ends. Equipment stats, passives, and a pity system can improve your odds.

What do workouts do?

Recording a workout in HealthKit grants a daily buff — one of: boss auto-clear (first boss is free), floor skip (+20 floors), or gold multiplier (x1.5). The buff is randomly assigned each day.

What happens on low activity days?

A Low Activity Support system kicks in below 2,000 steps. You are guaranteed a minimum of 30 floors, and negative variance is suppressed. You can still play every day regardless of activity level.

How does equipment work?

Equipment drops at the end of each run. Items range from Common to Legendary rarity and carry random affixes that boost HP, ATK, DEF, boss chance, or gold. You can equip items and reroll affixes using gold.

What are passive skills?

Passives are bonuses purchased with gold that last for a set number of floors. They include boss chance boost, gold bonus, variance control, boss retry, and iron wall (DEF bonus). Free users have 2 passive slots. Pro users can expand up to 5 slots.

Pro & Pricing

Is the game really free?

Yes. The full game — climbing, equipment, passives, bosses, and progression — is completely free. There are no ads, no energy timers, and no locked content gates. Pro is an optional upgrade for players who want to expand their equipment collection.

What does Pro unlock?

Pro ($4.99, one-time) expands three collection limits: up to 3 equipment drops per run (vs 1), 24 inventory slots (vs 8), and passive slots expandable to 5 (vs 2 fixed). Pro does not affect combat power, boss chance, or gold — it is not pay-to-win.

What is the Tip Jar?

The Tip Jar lets you support the developer with a small one-time tip (Coffee, Lunch, or Dinner). Tips grant a cosmetic badge displayed on your profile. They have no gameplay effect.

How do I restore purchases?

Go to Settings (gear icon on the home screen) and tap "Restore Purchases." Your Pro unlock will be restored via your Apple ID.

HealthKit

The app says "Health Access Required." How do I fix it?

Daybound Tower needs read-only access to your Health data (steps, stairs, distance, workouts) to generate your daily climb. If you denied permission or it was never granted, follow these steps:

Open the Settings app on your iPhone
Tap Privacy & Security
Tap Health
Tap Daybound Tower
Enable all data categories (Steps, Flights Climbed, Walking + Running Distance, Workouts)

After enabling access, relaunch the app. Your yesterday's activity data will be used for today's climb.

What Health data does the app read?

The app reads yesterday's step count, flights of stairs climbed, walking/running distance, and workout records. This data is used solely to calculate in-game parameters and is never sent off your device.

Can I play without granting Health access?

The app requires Health data to generate your daily tower parameters. Without it, your steps, stairs, and workouts cannot be converted into gameplay. We recommend enabling all categories for the best experience.

Accessibility

What is Wheelchair Mode?

Wheelchair Mode replaces step-based gameplay with wheelchair push count and wheelchair distance from Apple HealthKit. Floors, boss chance, and low-activity support are recalculated using push-specific conversion rates so wheelchair users get an equivalent gameplay experience. Available since version 1.2.

How do I enable Wheelchair Mode?

Open the app, go to Settings (gear icon), and toggle "Wheelchair Mode" under the Accessibility section. The change takes effect on your next daily climb.

Do I need an Apple Watch for Wheelchair Mode?

Yes. Push count data is recorded by Apple Watch. Without an Apple Watch, push count will be zero and your daily floors will rely on the Low Activity Support system.

How are floors calculated in Wheelchair Mode?

Push count is multiplied by a conversion rate (roughly 4,000 pushes = 800 floors). Boss chance is calculated from push count instead of stairs climbed. Distance uses wheelchair distance from HealthKit. The low-activity threshold is adjusted to 1,000 pushes.

Technical

Is my data sent to a server?

No. All game data is stored locally on your device using Core Data. There is no server, no account, and no network communication. Your data stays on your iPhone.

Can I transfer progress to another device?

Save transfers between devices are not currently supported. Your progress is included in iCloud device backups, so restoring from a backup may preserve your data.

The app feels slow or stuck.