On February 20th, MonteCrypto: The Bitcoin Enigma will launch on Steam for $2, but its price point is more of an entry fee than the cost of the game. Unlike a traditional release on the PC gaming storefront, MonteCrypto is a modern-day mystery box, and the first person (or group of people) that solve all 24 puzzles will be rewarded a single Bitcoin. That’s an $11,000 prize as of this writing, and much more mysterious than an ancient artifact or something silly like that.
It’s a novel concept for a puzzle game, and one that feels like an event rather than just another release into the ether by a studio. Users will be hustling to work together, throw others off the path with red herrings, or possibly go at it alone to inch through the spooky home that holds the treasure… er, Bitcoin at the end? Here’s what the FAQ says happens at the end of the hunt:
How can I access the Bitcoin?
– You need to recover the wallet.dat file that is located in your game’s files.
What is a wallet.dat file? How do I recover it?
– A wallet.dat file is a file that contains the private keys required to unlock the wallet. It has been encrypted with a 24 words-long password using the BitcoinCore client. By playing MonteCrypto: The Bitcoin Enigma and solving all the enigmas, you will be able to decrypt the password.
So it seems as if the game itself is meant for people savvy enough to be able to decrypt the password (or even bypass the mainframe). It’s another example, along with the million dollar battles that go on in Eve Online, that the real world and the digital are becoming ever more interlinked as technology allows. Imagine this happening again, but in full VR? Users would be forced to be immersed in a completely different world with real stakes. It’s something a dystopian post-apocalyptic tale or a Steven Spielberg movie is made of.
It’s currently unknown if one of the puzzles is to explain Blockchain technology to your grandma, but until proven otherwise, we’ll assume it is.
(Via IGN)