Before You Play
What HashClue Is
A physical cache contains a secret string. A cryptographic hash of that string is published on Ethereum. Anyone may attempt to discover the cache and submit the string. The first valid on-chain submission wins the round.
HashClue is not a puzzle game. It is not a riddle. It is not a logic challenge. It is a competitive search where physical discovery and on-chain submission intersect.
How Participation Works
You may purchase clues to progressively narrow the physical search area. You may submit paid guesses of the secret string. The protocol verifies guesses cryptographically. The first valid on-chain submission wins the round.
Finding the cache does not grant priority. Only submission order matters.
What Clues Are Like
Clues progressively constrain location, environment, and method. They do not contain riddles, puzzles, or wordplay. They do not require interpretation. They reduce the search space.
Read This Before You Spend ETH
This page is not a rules page. It exists to set expectations and establish informed consent before participation.
HashClue is adversarial. It is not designed to be fair in the colloquial sense. It is deterministic. Identical rules, applied identically, with no recourse. Discovery of the cache does not guarantee winning. Participation does not guarantee anything.
This is a field operation, part cryptographic arena, part physical expedition. Observation, timing, resources, and operational discipline determine outcomes more than cleverness alone.
A separate threat model exists for a full adversarial analysis.
What You Are Walking Into
You can be watched. Other participants may monitor the search area and observe your discovery.
Discovery gives no priority. The first valid on-chain submission wins. Finding the cache first means nothing if someone else submits first.
Someone richer can outspend you. Clue purchases, guess submissions, and physical search logistics all cost money. The protocol does not equalise resources.
Someone faster can beat you after you find it. If another party observes, copies, or otherwise obtains the secret string from the cache, they can submit before you. The protocol will not distinguish between you.
The Cartographer must be trusted at placement time. Before the hash commitment is published, the Cartographer knows the secret string. There is no cryptographic mechanism that prevents them from retaining or sharing it. This is an irreducible trust assumption.
No authority will reverse outcomes. There is no dispute resolution, no appeals process, no human review. Cryptographic finality is the only finality recognised.
The cache can be destroyed. The physical cache is not protected. It can be tampered with, removed, or rendered unrecoverable by any party at any time. If this happens before you find it, the round may become unsolvable.
You may spend money and win nothing. Clue purchases are non-refundable. Guess fees are non-refundable. Travel costs are your own. The protocol makes no promise of return.
Trust and Transparency
For this round the Cartographer has created a sealed evidence package and publicly timestamped its hash prior to the opening of play. This measure is optional and non-normative. It is intended to demonstrate pre-commitment without disclosing location information. See the Proof of Existence note for scope and limitations.
Consent
By participating in HashClue you accept all of the above without qualification. Participation means purchasing clues, submitting guesses, or conducting physical searches.
No mitigation is offered. No exception exists.
For full technical documentation, threat analysis, and normative protocol references, see Technical Documents.