Game Rules — the actual mechanics

How it works. Every logged entry is scored, then two different totals are tracked per player: raw reps (the plain sum, which drives closure — default target 300, a "Light" match is 150) and the adjusted score:

So an athlete can close on raw reps and still lose to a couch player who moved less but earned more per rep. This is the whole product thesis in one formula: effort wins the day.

Worked example (from a real bot match): Ben (couch) logs 40 then 110 push-ups; Nico (athlete) logs 80 squats. Ben's second entry fires the comeback boost. Ben: 40×1.5 = 60, 110×1.5×1.2 = 198, closure bonus +15 → 273. Nico: 80×0.85 = 68. Ben closed and won; against a fitter closer the upset is live.

v2 (engine-ready, waiting on straps): when an entry carries a measured avgHrrPct and the player has a learned baseline, the multiplier blends live heart-rate evidence with the declared tier — 70% measured, 30% declared. The camera/HR lane (Verification) already logs those fields.

Anti-sandbagging: baselines drift-correct (≤10% per update) and volume-based tier correction catches a "couch" player doing 5× everyone's reps.

How it works. Eligibility is recomputed on every log: (leader − you) / leader > 0.30 while the match is live and you haven't used it. The boost is tagged onto the entry at log time (not a global multiplier) so it composes — a comeback entry inside a lightning window scores ×1.2 ×3. The bot standings mark eligible players with ⚡ so the group can see it coming.

Mechanically this enforces the design promise: everyone has a genuine shot until the last set.

How it works. The first log that takes a player's raw total to ≥ targetReps flips the match to complete, stamps closedBy, and logging stops. Final standings = live standings + 15 to the closer, re-ranked. Winner and closer can be different players — the app and bot cards both show who closed.

House rules (enforced in code): activating spends the card, except a blocked steal; lightning stacks with a comeback entry (×1.2 ×3 = ×3.6); steal amount is previewed against the current leading rival before you commit. All power-up functions are pure — they return a new match state + a result card, never mutate.

Screens of every power-up surface (arsenal sheet, detail, steal toast, blocked toast, lightning toast) are in App Screens → power-ups.

How it works. The deadline is the next 21:00 Australia/Sydney by default (Time Freeze extends it). A 1s app ticker recomputes the remaining time, the level, and the dual clock — group timezone (AEST) + your local — every second. At the deadline the day auto-closes exactly once: logging locks, the day's winner (highest adjusted among that day's entries only) is recorded to dailyHistory, a recap renders, and the next play day begins. Multi-day matches accumulate one winner per day.

How it works. recapFor(match, dayKey) builds the summary from that day's entry slice: winner + margin, "you led until…" tracking (if you led at any point and lost, the recap says so — the sting is the hook), pot growth since the previous close, and the next play day's opening time in your local timezone. The home screen shows a temporal state chip (day in progress / next day opens at…) via the same machinery.

How it works. Each finished match feeds recordMatch: 1st place +3, 2nd +2, 3rd +1, MVP vote +1 (a second podium so effort gets recognised even without a win). Ladder sorts by points → wins → MVPs. At season end the top points total is crowned champion and divisions swap: bottom of A ↔ top of B.

Streak forgiveness: a streak about to break can be saved once per season by topping the charity pot up by ≥ $2 — preserved, not extended. No free rides, money never goes to a player.

How it works. The pot is a pure ledger per match: contribute(pot, playerId, cents) appends, potTotalCents sums, designate(pot, charity) records the winner's choice at result time. In the bots, pot 500 chucks $5.00 in and the card reads "Winner picks where it goes". The money story stays a pledge ledger until the legal opinion lands (see Status — L1); employer-funded pots are the clean interim.

How it works. An entry logged through the camera verifier carries verified:true; a strap session attaches avgHrrPct, which the v2 handicap blend consumes. Standings compute verifiedPct = verified raw / total raw per player, surfaced on every leaderboard (app + bots). In the bot grammar, log pushups 25! marks the entry verified.

Full mechanics in Verification.