The Kingmaker Adventure Path utilizes a type of gaming called sandbox exploration. The essential element of the sandbox is that the world exists as a laid out area, and the PC's job is to explore it.
In fact, in 'Kingmaker', the PC's overarching quest is to explore the entire region known in the world of Golarion as the Stolen Lands, beginning with the Northern Greenbelt. To this effect, the Greenbelt has been divided into a hex map, with each hex covering a 12-mile area (that is, a line from one edge of the hex to the other is 12 miles long - overall, the hex covers an area of around 120 square miles). Each hex is dominated by one specific terrain type - plains, forest, hills, mountains, water - which affects travel time through the hex.
Traveling through a hex requires a certain amount of time, with the party's speed being determined by the slowest party member. Fully exploring a hex, however, requires that the party take much longer - whereas traveling through a hex is mostly a matter of hours, exploring a hex is usually a matter of days.
When you explore a hex, you not only go through the action of charting and fully mapping a hex, but you can uncover Sites of Interest. There are three types of Sites: Landmarks (example: Oleg's), which you uncover automatically once you enter a hex; Standard sites, which you discover automatically after exploring a hex; and Hidden sites, which require the PCs to pass some kind of skill test - usually, but not always, Perception - to locate.
Once you fully explore a hex and uncover all Sites within it, you are awarded XP for taking a step forward in completing your assigned mission.
Exploring the Stolen Lands