Hire a mercenary scout to instantly reveal an unexplored node in the 4x402 strategy game, paid via x402 in USDC.
What it does
This endpoint is part of 4x402, an async multiplayer 4X strategy game built for the Farcaster community. Four players compete on a procedural network graph, expanding territory, managing resources, and outmaneuvering opponents over multi-day matches. The game uses the x402 micropayment protocol to power mercenary actions and an intel marketplace, all settled in USDC on Base.
The `/mercs/scout` endpoint lets a player hire a mercenary scout for a specific game instance. According to the game docs, the Scout mercenary costs $0.25 USDC and instantly reveals one unexplored node on the map—bypassing the normal 2-tick delay of the in-game scout action. This is a real-money action: the x402 challenge requires a payment of 250,000 units (0.25 USDC, given 6-decimal USDC on Base) to the payTo address. The endpoint accepts POST requests and returns JSON.
The game features fog of war, so scouting is essential before capturing or attacking nodes. The mercenary scout provides an instant tactical advantage by revealing node stats (type, output, defense) without spending in-game credits or waiting for tick resolution. This endpoint is scoped to a specific game instance identified by its UUID in the URL path.
Capabilities
Use cases
- —Instantly reveal an unexplored node's stats (type, output, defense) during a 4x402 game
- —Gain tactical intelligence before committing in-game credits to a capture or attack
- —Automate scouting via an AI agent that pays USDC micropayments to explore the map
Fit
Best for
- —Players in active 4x402 games who need instant intel on unexplored nodes
- —AI agents or bots participating in 4x402 matches
- —Developers building automated strategy tools on top of x402-powered games
Not for
- —General-purpose map or geospatial data lookups
- —Users without a USDC balance on Base network
- —Anyone not participating in the specific game instance referenced by the UUID
Quick start
curl -X POST https://4x402.com/api/games/81aadc3c-6fae-4818-8cf4-62db3e517655/mercs/scout \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-PAYMENT: <x402-payment-header>' \
-d '{}'Example
Request
{}Endpoint
Quality
The endpoint is live (402 challenge captured) and the game docs clearly describe what the Scout mercenary does and its cost. However, there is no OpenAPI spec, no documented request/response schema beyond the x402 challenge's outputSchema stub, and no example responses. The request body format and response structure must be inferred.
Warnings
- —No OpenAPI or formal API documentation available; request/response schemas are inferred from game docs
- —Response JSON structure is unknown—no example response could be sourced
- —Endpoint is scoped to a single game instance UUID; it may become invalid when the game ends
- —No robots.txt or agents.txt found on the origin
Citations
- —Scout mercenary costs $0.25 USDC and instantly reveals 1 unexplored nodehttps://4x402.com/docs
- —x402 challenge requires maxAmountRequired of 250000 (0.25 USDC) on Base networkhttps://4x402.com/api/games/81aadc3c-6fae-4818-8cf4-62db3e517655/mercs/scout
- —Normal in-game scout action costs 5,000 credits and takes 2 ticks; mercenary scout is instanthttps://4x402.com/docs
- —4x402 is an async multiplayer strategy game for 4 players built for the Farcaster communityhttps://4x402.com/docs
- —USDC asset address 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913 on Basehttps://4x402.com/api/games/81aadc3c-6fae-4818-8cf4-62db3e517655/mercs/scout