Archipelago · Stillcraft

What's inside

Everything Archipelago does.

Everyone is an island

No photo, no profile: a name, one detail that stuck and up to four things they love, drawn as engraved landmarks on the shore — mountains, a coffee house, a cat, a dice.

Sorties of courage

A ladder of six rungs in ordinary life — a nod, a question, a name, praise, a contact, an invitation — three tries each, then the open sea. 38 real tasks, from the lift to a dinner invitation.

A shell for every no

The try counts, not the answer. Every refusal brings a shell of courage for the collection, and every tenth one is a nautilus.

The second time

After meeting there's a week for the second step, the hardest part of any friendship. A paper boat waits on the new island with ready messages to copy; send one and it drops anchor.

Hours build bridges

Log roughly how long you were together. Rope becomes planks at 50 hours, stone arches at 90, a lantern arch at 200 — and the island drifts closer to yours.

Creaking and fog

A month without meeting and the bridge sags and creaks. Half a year without a word and the island is lost in the fog — and one message brings it back.

Ferries and the lighthouse

Introduce two of your people and a ferry runs between their islands. Have people over and light the lighthouse: everyone gets the hours, and those who hadn't met get a ferry too.

Sailing notes and harbours

A few lines to remember for next time — the exam on Friday, the dog's name. Harbours are the places you keep coming back to, where the same faces become people.

Kept for years

A pennant on the bridge for every year known, anniversaries, a summary of every year in the Atlas, thirteen long expeditions and a ship's log of everything. The whole chart saves to one file for the next phone.

One evening look

At most one notification a day, around half past six, and only when it matters: a paper boat not yet sent, a bridge just starting to creak, an anniversary.

Screens

Captured in Archipelago.

Archipelago: The chart — **The chart**Your people, their bridges and ferries.

Archipelago: An island — **An island**Hours on Hall's scale, sailing notes.

Archipelago: The second time — **The second time**A paper boat with ready messages.

Archipelago: A sortie — **A sortie**The ladder of courage and its shells.

Archipelago: The Atlas — **The Atlas**Harbours, expeditions, the years.

Archipelago: Ship's log — **Ship's log**Who and when, year after year.

Archipelago: Welcome — **Welcome**Why friends take hours.

Hours and bridges

Bridge	Hours together	What it means
Rope	0–50	An acquaintance
Planks	50	A casual friend
Stone arches	90	A friend
Lantern arch	200	A close friend

Get it

Get Archipelago.

Install

Version: v1.0.0
File: Archipelago.apk
Requires: Android 9.0 (API 28) or newer. No Google services needed.
Permissions: Notifications only, for the evening reminder. No internet, no contacts, no account, no ads, no analytics.
License: MIT · fonts PT Serif and Caveat (SIL OFL)

Download the APK on your phone.
Open it and allow installs from this source when Android asks.
Pick your harbours, then chart someone you already know — or try today's sortie.

Download APK All releases

Build from source

JDK 17+ (Android Studio's bundled JBR works) and the Android SDK. Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Room, DataStore, WorkManager; the whole chart — coasts, bridges, fog, shells — is engraved in code on an Android canvas.

git clone https://github.com/bigdevwhale/archipelago.git
cd archipelago
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest assembleDebug   # app.mostki.dev, next to a real install
./gradlew assembleDebug -Pdemo              # app.mostki.demo: a year of islands already lived
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest -Prender --tests '*RenderArt*'   # screens and the icon to PNG

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