How It Works
How a Round Works
A round begins when a hash is published on-chain. At that moment a cache exists somewhere in the world containing the secret string. The hash locks it in. Nobody can change it afterward, including the person who placed the cache.
Clues unlock in a fixed order. Each costs a posted price in ETH. When someone pays, the clue becomes visible to everyone. You are not buying private information. You are buying public information earlier.
The clues narrow the geography. The first might tell you the hemisphere. By the fifth you might have a few hundred square metres. Even after all eight clues, billions of valid coordinate pairs remain. You cannot compute the answer. You have to go look.
Anyone can submit guesses at any time during a round. Each guess costs a fee that scales with the pot. Wrong guesses add to the pot. The string you submit is hashed and compared to the published hash. It matches or it does not. There is no partial credit.
When someone submits a matching string the round freezes. A verification window opens to check for protocol errors, not to judge the finder. If no errors are found, payout executes. 85% to the winner, 10% seeds the next round, 5% to charity.
A new round begins automatically.
The Clue Ladder
Eight clues, purchased in sequence. Each one eliminates a category of uncertainty and narrows the search from the entire planet to a physically walkable area and a concrete method of hiding.
The eight rungs fall into four phases. These are not protocol constructs. They describe how the search changes as information accumulates.
Phase 1. Global Orientation (GEO-1, GEO-2)
Which part of the world matters. Everything else can be dismissed. The search goes from planetary to continental.
Phase 2. Environment and Substrate (ENV-1, HST-1)
The environment class and the physical substrate associated with the cache.
Phase 3. Travel Plausibility (GEO-3, GEO-4)
The geographic area tightens from regional to local. Players can evaluate whether travel to the search zone is realistic. By the end of this phase the area is compact enough to plan around.
Phase 4. Physical Resolution (GEO-5, MET-1)
The final geographic boundary is drawn and the hiding method is revealed. The search moves from screen to ground.
Rung by Rung
1. GEO-1 Hemisphere
Which hemisphere the cache is in (north/south, east/west). Three-quarters of the Earth is immediately irrelevant.
2. GEO-2 Macro Geographic Cell
A large geographic region within the hemisphere, roughly continental or sub-continental in scale. The vast majority of the planet is now ruled out.
3. ENV-1 Environment Class
The general environment where the cache is hidden. Indoors, outdoors, underground, or in water. Entire categories of hiding places are eliminated.
4. GEO-3 Regional Geographic Cell
A regional area within the macro cell. Players are focused on an area that may correspond to a recognisable region, state, or territory.
5. HST-1 Host Class
The physical substrate the cache is associated with. A structure, the ground, rock, vegetation, or a body of water. Entire classes of physical features can be ruled out.
6. GEO-4 Local Geographic Cell
A local area compact enough that players can identify it on a detailed map and assess it for travel. The search transitions from research to trip planning.
7. GEO-5 Micro Geographic Cell
The smallest area the protocol will ever disclose. This is the final geographic boundary. What remains must be covered on foot.
8. MET-1 Method Class
How the cache was physically placed. Set down, hidden, attached, buried, submerged, or embedded. No further clues exist beyond this point.
What Winning Means
Be the first to submit the correct string at finality.
Finding the cache is not winning. Photographing the string is not winning. Only the on-chain submission matters.
If you find the cache and someone copies your string before you submit, they win. The protocol has no way to determine who discovered it first. Physical discovery is invisible to the chain.
For full rules and governance see the Technical Documents. For risks and informed consent see Before You Play.