Hire a mercenary scout to instantly reveal an unexplored node in the 4x402 strategy game for $0.25 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 protocol to power real micropayment-driven mercenary actions.
The `/mercs/scout` endpoint lets a player hire a mercenary scout for $0.25 USDC (250,000 units of USDC on Base, which has 6 decimals). Unlike the normal in-game scout action (which costs 5,000 credits and takes 2 ticks), the mercenary scout reveals one unexplored node instantly. Payment is made via the x402 protocol's X-PAYMENT header using USDC on the Base network. The endpoint accepts POST requests and returns JSON.
This endpoint is scoped to a specific game instance (identified by the UUID in the path). The game features fog of war, so scouting is essential before capturing nodes. Mercenary scouts offer a pay-to-accelerate (not pay-to-win) advantage, trading real money for tactical speed. The game also features a raider mercenary ($0.50) and siege mercenary ($1.00) at separate endpoints.
Capabilities
Use cases
- —Instantly reveal an unexplored node's stats (type, output, defense) during a 4x402 game
- —Gain tactical information advantage before committing in-game credits to capture a node
- —Accelerate early-game exploration by paying USDC instead of waiting for tick-based scouting
Fit
Best for
- —4x402 players who want instant intelligence on unexplored nodes
- —Agents or bots playing 4x402 that need programmatic access to mercenary actions
- —Farcaster community members participating in competitive async strategy games
Not for
- —General-purpose map or geospatial scouting unrelated to 4x402
- —Users looking for free game actions — this requires a real USDC micropayment
- —Use outside of an active 4x402 game instance (the endpoint is game-scoped)
Quick start
curl -X POST \
https://4x402.com/api/games/fd34982d-c763-4a5a-aa82-714cc93111d2/mercs/scout \
-H 'X-PAYMENT: <x402-payment-token>' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json'Endpoint
Quality
The endpoint is live with a valid 402 challenge, and the game docs clearly describe what the mercenary scout does and its cost. However, there is no OpenAPI spec, no request/response schema beyond the minimal outputSchema stub, and no API-level documentation. Request body format and response structure must be inferred.
Warnings
- —No OpenAPI or detailed API documentation available — request body and response schema are unknown
- —Endpoint is scoped to a specific game UUID; it may become invalid when that game ends
- —No explicit request body schema provided in the x402 challenge outputSchema
Citations
- —Mercenary SCOUT costs $0.25 USDC and reveals 1 unexplored node instantlyhttps://4x402.com/docs
- —Mercenaries are hired using USDC via the x402 protocol and provide powerful, instant effectshttps://4x402.com/docs
- —The x402 challenge requires 250,000 units of USDC (asset 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913) on Base networkhttps://4x402.com/api/games/fd34982d-c763-4a5a-aa82-714cc93111d2/mercs/scout
- —4x402 is an async multiplayer strategy game built for the Farcaster community with 4 players and 10-minute tickshttps://4x402.com
- —Normal in-game scout costs 5,000 credits and takes 2 ticks; mercenary scout is instanthttps://4x402.com/docs