A real-world nature collection
Everything alive, collected.
Photograph what you find. Biotadex names it, tells you about it out loud, and files it in a collection that scores you against everyone else who went outside today.
How a walk works
Point. Name. Keep.
- Scan anything alive. The camera has a scanner, zoom, burst and crop, because a bird will not wait.
- Check the name. You see the top match beside a reference photo, the confidence, and the alternatives. Pick the right one, or get closer and scan again. Groups are refused: Lizards is not a species.
- Bank it. A tap adds the species to your collection, with the photo, the place and the time. Each species counts once.
- Hear about it. The app reads the find aloud: what it is, how rare, and up to three did you know facts, in English or Spanish.
Named, scored, warned about, kept. 
Home: today’s crate, the moments that are open, what is near you. 
The book: packs to complete, earned by playing.
It talks
The find is read to you.
About a second after the result lands, a voice tells you what you found, what kind of thing it is and how rare, then up to three short facts pulled from the species' own record. It is written for the ear, not the screen, and it follows your language: Spanish finds are read in Spanish by a Spanish voice, with the facts fetched from Spanish sources. Pro members also get the facts as cards they can reread.
Score
Rarity pays. Steeply.
Every species is scored by how often it is observed in the wild. The scale is steep on purpose: one rare find outweighs a long run of common ones, so the game rewards looking harder rather than scanning more.
When the scanner is 85% sure or better you are paid in full. Below that, the award is scaled by confidence and the rest is held until the community weighs in. 3 confirmations release it with a 25-point bonus, 3 flags reverse it. A confirmed uncertain find is worth slightly more than a confident one, because it added a verified record.
| Rarity | Points | |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 50 | Most of what you will meet |
| Uncommon | 150 | Worth stopping for |
| Rare | 400 | Worth the walk |
| Very rare | 1,000 | Give it space |
Your own breakdown, private to you: where every point came from.
Moments
Conditions you have to be out in.
Nature is already time-sensitive, so the urgency is real rather than invented. Each moment is a window, worked out from the sun, the weather and the tide where you are, and every species caught inside it scores a multiple of its normal points. Only the highest multiplier counts; they never stack. Each moment is also a set of stickers, earned by catching its species while it is open.
A moment’s own page: what it pays, and how to earn it.
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First frost
4× points
The first morning the ground is white
-
First snow
4× points
The first snowfall of the year
-
Golden hour
3× points
The hour before sunset
-
First light
3× points
The hour after sunrise
-
Dawn chorus
3× points
When the birds start
-
After the rain
3× points
Snails, salamanders and fungi come out
-
Night shift
2× points
Full dark
-
Low tide
2× points
The shore, uncovered
-
King tide
2× points
The highest water of the year
-
Storm light
a set to finish
Kept for the set. Pays nothing extra, on purpose
-
Bloom
a set to finish
Spring
-
Migration
a set to finish
Things passing through
-
High summer
a set to finish
The long days
-
Leaf fall
a set to finish
Autumn
-
Deep winter
a set to finish
The cold months
Ranks and rankings
Two ladders, on purpose.
Rank is how far along you are, by distinct species. It climbs at the same rate for someone photographing lichens on a wall at lunch as for someone at a national park, and it sits on your avatar wherever you appear.
The leaderboard is ordered by total points, global and among friends, so rarity, verified finds, moments and everything else count. There are also weekly challenges: a themed target near you with a points prize and a deadline.
- Noviceyour first find
- Observer5 species
- Naturalist15 species
- Field Guide30 species
- Explorer50 species
- Expert100 species
Validate
Other people check your work.
Finds that come in under the confidence bar go to a queue where other collectors confirm or flag them. People who already collect that group, and people who collect nearby, are asked first. One vote per person per find; 3 settle it. Your own finds never appear in your own queue, and flagging good finds to hold a rival back is against the rules everyone plays by.
And then
The rest of the world.
Stickers
A sticker album that trades
Fourteen packs, fixed print runs, public circulation, and one-to-one trades with people you know.
Read how it works
Sanctuaries
Hold the parks near you
Document more species in a real park than anyone else and it pays you points every day, until somebody takes it.
Read how it works
Postcards
Cards you can only make there
Viewpoints, peaks, waterfalls, lighthouses. Stand at one, photograph it, send it to a friend.
Read how it works
Crates & items
A walk worth taking
Crates on real footpaths, better the further you walk. Stickers, point caches and items come out. Never sold.
Read how it works
Free and Pro
Free to play.
20 identification scans a week, spendable however you like; a long walk can use them all in one go. Everything else is unlimited: your collection, the map, validating, crates, trading, gifting.
Unlimited scans, the written fact cards, and extra draws from every crate. Those draws buy more stickers and items, never more points. Nothing purchasable can ever move the leaderboard.
Go outside.
Biotadex is in field testing now and coming to iOS and Android. Exact locations of finds are never published: every one is snapped to roughly a square kilometre before it is drawn anywhere.
Questions: support@biotadex.app