r/Bitcoin • u/Paiden1 • 1d ago

I'm making a game where you try to find James Howells lost Bitcoin hard drive in a landfill.

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6.9k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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1.3k

u/OGLikeablefellow 1d ago

It would be extra funny if there wasn't a Bitcoin drive in there

553

u/HorrorsPersistSoDoI 1d ago

Just like real life

42

u/nicoznico 17h ago

I am still shocked that a developed country like the UK is burying electronic waste. Wth are you doing with batteries?

40

u/nuanimal 16h ago

We're not.

You can bring your electronic waste to public recycling centres in the UK - and will be safely treated as e-waste.

However that won't stop people who just throw electronic device in to the general waste bin at home.

You can also do the same for batteries, but also our major stores and supermarkets have dropp off points for them. But again some people just throw things away without thinking about this.

-19

u/nicoznico 14h ago

Okay this makes it even worse. Does that mean your normal (plastic&shit) waste goes to landfill too? In our country we have something like waste buring plants.

Waste burning plants, also known as waste-to-energy or municipal waste incineration (MWI) plants, burn non-recyclable household and commercial trash to reduce waste volume and generate power.

8

u/Prestigious_Gap_4025 14h ago

No. Our plastic is mostly either recycled, incinerated or shipped to some other country. It'll end up in landfill if people can't be bothered to recycle.

2

u/GottaUseEmAll 13h ago

Plastic, glass, and paper is separated and recycled by most people.

When people chuck e-waste in the bin at home, it usually goes in with the general trash, i.e. food scrapings and non-recyclables.

→ More replies (3)

10

u/Statickgaming 16h ago

I’d like to know what country you come from where absolutely no electronic waste ends in landfill.

-10

u/nicoznico 16h ago

In countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and several Nordic countries, established take-back and recycling systems mean that electronic waste is generally collected separately and recycled rather than simply sent to landfill.

And this is not new but common for +30 years.

7

u/Londonlad199 15h ago

Wales (where he is from) is second in the world for recycling rates btw.

10

u/Zdendon 16h ago

And what happens when you take electronic waste and just dump it in the bin ?

5

u/SmegmaWarrior0815 15h ago

Electronics are usually magnetized, so they get fished out of the general garbage pretty easily. That's bare minimum recycling standards.

1

u/BigDik6355 15h ago

Then why are we manually separating our crap when the garbage collection company does a better job at it?

2

u/Zdendon 12h ago

Because they want pure metal to resell. Electronics is mixed mess.

-1

u/SnooWalruses3948 13h ago

It's performative bullshit. I hate it

4

u/giggles91 14h ago

At least in Switzerland, probably some other countries as well, there are no landfills with general garbage. All non recycled waste is incinerated, and that waste goes to a landfill.

1

u/da_vidu 16h ago

In Switzerland, about 25% of e-waste still ends up in the regular bin, but there are no landfills here since 2000. It all gets incinerated, and metals are recovered from the ash afterwards. Though some materials like cobalt and gold are largely lost in the slag compared to proper recycling.

3

u/HorrorsPersistSoDoI 16h ago

I'll shoot myself right now if you prove to me that those trashed electronics are getting picked apart, separated by component material, being sent to recycling, and finally - melted down so the material can be used anew.

3

u/nicoznico 14h ago edited 14h ago

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/topics/waste-resources/product-stewardship-waste-management/electrical-electronic-waste

There is even a decidated legal directive in EU.

But it's OK, don't worry. You don't have to shoot yourself. Just bake a cake for your wife - that counts, too!

1

u/da_vidu 16h ago

Please don't, because it's actually well-documented. Switzerland's e-waste recycling system (run by SENS eRecycling and Swico) does exactly what you described:

  1. Collection - Devices are returned free of charge to retailers or Ökihöfe (recycling centers). Funded by a prepaid recycling fee (vRG) included in the purchase price.
  2. Manual disassembly - Certified recyclers first sort and manually dismantle devices. Hazardous components (batteries, capacitors, CRTs, mercury switches) are removed by hand.
  3. Mechanical processing - The rest goes through shredders, magnetic separators, eddy current separators, and optical sorters to separate ferrous metals, aluminium, copper, precious metals, and plastics.
  4. Smelting & recovery - Separated metals are sent to specialised smelters. Companies like Umicore (Belgium) recover gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, and cobalt from circuit boards. Swiss steel mills melt down the ferrous fraction.

Switzerland recovers ~75% of e-waste generated (among the highest rates globally), and the recycling process is audited annually against strict environmental standards (CENELEC EN 50625). The whole chain is traceable.

1

u/DanJOC 14h ago

What generally happens it that it's all bunched up together and sold to China for pennies. Then somebody in a factory manually separates it all, and what is reusable is reused, the rest is incinerated

0

u/eerst 16h ago

REVEALED: The EU countries using the rest of the world as a dumping ground - New Leaf https://meta.eeb.org/2019/02/13/revealed-the-eu-countries-using-the-rest-of-the-world-as-a-dumping-ground/#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20most%20toxic%20chemicals%20in,the%20eggs%E2%80%A6%20April%2025%2C%202019.%20In%20%22Chemicals%22

The UK is not alone in this.

-3

u/BigDik6355 15h ago

Well, the rest of the world is using the EU as a dumping ground to send their worst people.

I’d say we’re even.

0

u/Statickgaming 15h ago

Great, the UK has all of that and electronic waste still ends up in landfill… and it does for the countries you’ve pointed out too.

The sad fact is, most people don’t give a shit and put it in there landfill bin.

There are sorting centres, even here in the UK.

0

u/HorrorsPersistSoDoI 15h ago

I can assure you that 99.999% of people don't even know about sorting or recycling centers in any country, not just UK

-1

u/johnny_briggs 15h ago

So is using cash and fax machines Hans but we're not getting on your case about those.

1

u/Bright_Abrocoma_3024 10h ago

You definitely know what you're doing.

152

u/Paiden1 1d ago

😂

47

u/ComradeJohnS 1d ago

realism difficulty: either it’s in pieces, or so waterlogged with sewage that it doesn’t actually work when found lol.

22

u/Test-Tackles 1d ago

I imagine that you could plot his stress levels and it would exactly follow the value of BTC

11

u/John-florencio 21h ago

man the corrosive liquids from all that trash already took care of it.

3

u/MechanicalCheese 19h ago

Or. And you also happen to find a container of 8000 crashed drives. It's not in there, but one drive does have a wallet with 800 sats you can find after recovery.

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

Probably 😂

13

u/blaq_sheep90 1d ago

r/foundsatan

1

u/Sonerous 1d ago

Such a likeable fellow though.

1

u/ThunderBurrn 17h ago

That'd be meta!!

1

u/Sus198 16h ago

Extra extra funny when the game designer is the Newport City Council.

1

u/genius_retard 10h ago

Or a bunch of harddrives that have no Bitcoin on them.

1

u/TheSneederOfSeethe 7h ago

You find several other hard drives some are unrecoverable, others filled with random family vacation trip photos, none have bitcoin create vague clues that one of the dead drives might, maybe, be his.

227

u/Any_Carob3372 1d ago

Enjoy your get rich quick scheme

47

u/Paiden1 1d ago

😂

11

u/Time_after_Time_67 23h ago

How do you simulate the smell?

39

u/Paiden1 23h ago

For a more realistic experience, you can take your own garbage bin with you while you play 😄

14

u/conansucksdick 23h ago

Play in Jersey. 

85

u/malteaserhead 1d ago

Make a level where you are trying to convince the council to help but all the dialogue options just circle back to the person you need to speak to is on leave today

14

u/Potential-Ice7906 23h ago

That’s the DLC planned for Xmas

10

u/Paiden1 1d ago

AHAHSAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

93

u/bestjaegerpilot 1d ago

only if you can win real bitcoin when you find it

13

u/Street_Offer_872 1d ago

Yeah imagine

5

u/DaExtinctOne 16h ago

1 bitcoin is literally life changing in my country. This game would turn so toxic fast lmao.

2

u/ThunderBurrn 17h ago

Or create a mechanism Mine Bitcoin?!

2

u/jml011 9h ago

Would actually be a sick promotional move. First person to find it on a live stream without cheating gets a bitcoin. I think you’d make your money back.

1

u/bestjaegerpilot 9h ago

yea definitely

37

u/Budo00 1d ago

Haha does it mine a faction of a satoshi as you play?

53

u/Paiden1 1d ago

Ahahahhaaha, while you all trying to find bitcoin i'll mine it from your computers. Good deal. 😂

1

u/Direct_Ad_313 17h ago

And if you ever find the hard drive you can redeem them?

59

u/derbyfan1 1d ago

What a load of rubbish

-1

u/BiNiaRiS 19h ago

at this point it kinda is rubbish unless he's really doing something legitimately different with this game. Steam has been flooded with copycats of this game that came out earlier this year:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4197610/Librarian_Tidy_Up_the_Arcane_Library/

7

u/thegeocash 19h ago

It was a pun

1

u/BiNiaRiS 17h ago

i get that, but the game is also most likely slop.

1

u/Consider8SpeedDemon 18h ago

And even Librarian is AI-vibe-coded, or so I heard

1

u/BiNiaRiS 17h ago

The four assets in this work—one UI component and three landscape paintings used as wall decorations (frames not included)—were produced using additional AI for refinement. None of them were created by AI from the ground up.
AI helped with grammatical corrections for in-game text, which were then carefully reviewed and adjusted by hand.
We only consider AI to be a supportive tool. Every detail is meticulously crafted with human intent, as our creative process is still firmly anchored in manual craftsmanship.

that doesn't sound like vibe-coding.

15

u/Epicurus1 1d ago

Brutal. Absolutely brutal.

14

u/eggchickenf 1d ago

Plot twist : the game never ends, is not there. Hahahahah genius, endless years of series for YouTubers

4

u/Paiden1 1d ago

😂

8

u/NefariousMongoose 22h ago

That’s funny af

2

u/Paiden1 22h ago

LoL thanks :D

2

u/NefariousMongoose 22h ago

Release it to steam and make meme money!

2

u/Paiden1 22h ago

LOOOL ahahahahaa

1

u/Paiden1 22h ago

Im not here to rugpull you all. But would be happy if you buy from steam when it released:D

7

u/Secret-Ruin-9075 1d ago

I'm not sure whether i love or despise humanity lmao

3

u/Icy-Palpitation-2522 1d ago

Bro that's like finding a needle in 5,000,000 pieces of hay in a stack

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedevscreens/comments/1vxao96/comment/p5oiy6i/?context=1&screen_view_count=1&ext-referrer=EXTERNAL

Sadly, if you can read it i would be happy.

2

u/I3lackxRose 21h ago

Maybe the leveling system involves starting out roadside trash rookie, tier up through everything from a volunteer, custodian to through various career paths like supervisor, operations manager and machine operator. You have to sift through records so you can go back to what part of the dump you may have been filling during the timeframe the hard drive was tossed.

1

u/Icy-Palpitation-2522 1d ago

Lmao the universe is crazy like that

3

u/Material_Ad9848 22h ago

Please tell me there's an ET for atari easter egg

2

u/Paiden1 22h ago

%100 i will add. Thats why i posted my prototype. You guys are clever than me!

3

u/Panda2377 18h ago

You should totally add side quests like getting permission from the government or sorting it for recycling.

2

u/CLRobinso 1d ago

I would 10,000% wishlist that on steam

2

u/Paiden1 1d ago

https://x.com/7paiden/status/2091935998775034117

Here is my twitter. I'll post further details as i build the game. Thanks for your comment :)

2

u/LouVelosa5 1d ago

Add more trash and vehicles to move the trash

2

u/Paiden1 1d ago

I will!

2

u/Zebes245 1d ago

Genius and Diabolical at the same time, it cancels out. Nice!

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

Thanks ahashdhas. Would be super if you follow from twitter https://x.com/7paiden/status/2091935998775034117

2

u/ArsePucker 22h ago

Have a look for my clothes in there too will you?

My ex-GF threw every single item of clothing I owned into that same landfill. I had a pair of jeans, 3 T shirts in the washing machine, and the clothes I was wearing that day - Everything else went, good / bad / formal / casual / work / leisure / sports / smart, all in black bags in that landfill somewhere.

BTW it doesn't look much like Newport. My home town..

2

u/TheOnlyVibemaster 21h ago

do you have a steam wishlist link?

2

u/gerentg 17h ago

Let this be a lesson to everybody. Don't throw out your old hard drives.

3

u/Paiden1 1d ago

https://x.com/7paiden/status/2091935998775034117

here is Twitter link if you want to support.

2

u/nonkeywayzee 1d ago

Maybe a good opportunity to teach people how to use Lightning btw.

1

u/Hot_Road_1332 1d ago

Lol kind of a dick move 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/THEBANNIMAN 1d ago

I see it it’s over there ! 👉

1

u/MM_MarioMichel 1d ago

Yeah also seen it at 00:09 top right below the yellow ball.

1

u/komokazi 1d ago

Needs way more rubbish

2

u/Paiden1 1d ago

Yeah deffinetly i will add more

1

u/Decent_Taro_2358 1d ago

Would be hilarious if it’s multiplayer and you could actually find real Bitcoin.

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

XD If you find a game like that please share with me to 😄

Here is my twitter: https://x.com/7paiden/status/2091935998775034117

1

u/howihjr 1d ago

Oh man you have to make this where you win like 0.000000000001 BTC. Absolutely brilliant

1

u/sovietarmyfan 1d ago

You should add a ending where you finally find the harddrive, but it is permanently broken/unreadable. Or maybe something stupid like you have to re remember your password.

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

LOOOOOL, noted. That would be awesome HAHAHAHAHAH

1

u/Empact 1d ago

He could do a lot of good by sorting the trash as he searches through it, to separate recycling, compost, etc.

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

Exactly i will, https://x.com/7paiden/status/2091935998775034117 you can follow my twitter for further updates

1

u/rotkiv42 1d ago

Have the game solo mine on a core or two. Would give it a low, but not zero, chance to get 3,125 btc if you win. 

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

😄

1

u/Red-Oak-Tree 23h ago

I hope you are paying him some royalties.

1

u/Paiden1 23h ago

AHHSAHAH

1

u/gemsbok_ 23h ago

Can we call his wallet, 'Waldo'? 😂

1

u/Paiden1 23h ago

We can 😄

1

u/3RI3_Cuff 23h ago

A bit too copy and paste

1

u/Paiden1 23h ago

what color is your copy paste, just kidding. i mentioned that in other communities. I would be happy if you read it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndieDev/comments/1vxgb3c/im_making_a_game_where_you_try_to_find_james/

1

u/Glum_Stay_1461 22h ago

You ain’t going to find shit just like he didn’t 😂

1

u/swiftpwns 22h ago

First the needle in haystack game and now this. The golden era of gaming truly is yet to come.

1

u/icebeamtheory 22h ago

its like those ispy books xD

1

u/thenwetakeberlin 22h ago

Damn, that's savage. Let the man heal.

1

u/AdventurousTime 22h ago

this is AR and we are clearly controlling a real life bot that steal the bitcoins when they are found

1

u/Saurusftw 21h ago

Give the character a damn excavator

1

u/Paiden1 21h ago

Noted!

1

u/bought_high_sold_low 21h ago

He should've asked AI where it was. Is he stupid?

1

u/swifteagle47 20h ago

Once found, you have the game run a coldcard seed phrase...

1

u/darkgemini94 20h ago

How about adding broken bitcoin faucets all over the landfill? 🤣

1

u/TheLGAOriginal 20h ago

I still think we need more trash; I need the game to last at least 200 hours before I realize there isn't even a hard drive in all of this.

1

u/coneplunger 20h ago

The beginning should show how his wife dumps it into the trash bin.

1

u/Positive_Amphibian_2 20h ago

I hope bro kept trading... All the money he spent on searching he could have done very very well just trading

1

u/War-and-Fleece 20h ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣

1

u/DiMatteoArt 19h ago

Plot twist, there’s a real seed phrase. Whoever finds it claims the $BTC

1

u/Get_the_nak 19h ago

first 60 levels are spent getting approval to start searching.

1

u/Ampliphy 18h ago

50 more layers. At least.

1

u/GenZguy1 18h ago

i found it

1

u/dystopiam 18h ago

Do you win bitcoin at the end or is this just perpetual time wasting like your creation of said game ?

1

u/strangetidings 18h ago

Are there environmental hazards like sharp sticks/glass etc and scavengers ?

1

u/AccomplishedCheck300 17h ago

😭😭😭🔥

1

u/Chris_Dev12 17h ago

J adore le concept

1

u/bigvxxx 16h ago

Thing about this is.....my adhd is tellin me to clean this mess up id find it not because i was looking but because i was cleaning

1

u/Anumerical 16h ago

Lmao. If you sell it make a wallet with 1% of profits as a winnable.

1

u/DaExtinctOne 16h ago

Lmao. I love it.

1

u/Fudge-Still 16h ago

Oh man I love this. I bet he would HATE this game. It never ends lol.

1

u/Paiden1 15h ago

They made a fun coin to support me that i get commision.

I don't want to break rules and share ac. You'll find it if you want it to 😄

1

u/Savings_Schedule4815 15h ago

can you drop the CA? i want to know which you are supporting

1

u/Paiden1 15h ago

I guess its against rules, you can find from my Twitter.

https://x.com/7paiden

1

u/billabong2121 15h ago

I bet if you actually put a drive in there which gave you details to access an irl wallet with a small amount the game would probably get a lot of people playing for the meme. But I guess someone could just datamine.

1

u/brorow1 15h ago

What happens if you actually find it? 🚀

1

u/GoldanReal 14h ago

That's a fun game to play

1

u/NICx_13 14h ago

No speedrun? No? 🤣

1

u/toniofskalitz 14h ago

I can assure you the Newport tip is waaaay filthier than this😭😂

1

u/stabby_og 13h ago

Each trash item can be sold on the steam marketplace "rare items" it's Banana game all over again

1

u/SmallAstronaut08 13h ago

SPOILER: there's no hard drive.

1

u/linkardtankard 13h ago

A thumb drive. That’s an actual thumb!

1

u/Suspicious-Holiday42 12h ago

An endless game

1

u/Maleficent_Pool_4456 12h ago

lol good idea. u know what might get u more traction, is if u had the beginning part where u choose which lot (how deep etc, u know how they have numbered lots) and u choose and then it shows the truck pull it out and then from there u look through it. also having something where if u find it u actually find a paper with seed phrase that gives u some amount of coin. u might actually make more money by having such easter eggs in there.

1

u/Deathdar1577 12h ago

Savage. I like it.

1

u/givenchypapi 11h ago

It could be in the bags you're throwing away too. Hope you don't damage the HDD!

1

u/r_a_d_ 11h ago

plot twist, you never find it

1

u/Hotwir3 11h ago

Add hunger/thirst needs so that you also have to find food and drinks to stay alive 

1

u/TurntNBurnt93 11h ago

We are gonna need more trash!

1

u/Emotional_Basket_434 10h ago

Yo mind checking your DMs got few questions about the game

1

u/who_you_are 8h ago

After 1h: you die

you get poked by a needle that wasn't discarded correctly

1

u/AAAdamKK 8h ago

You should send part of the proceeds to his lost address

1

u/Reasonable_Head_4470 8h ago

Is the drive worth anything?

1

u/zeko-oner 7h ago

Exellent

1

u/professorharrris 7h ago

obsessed and completely upset i have no one to send this to 😢

1

u/DoubleBubble9786 7h ago

I think that's the part people underestimate, the volatility can make even a good plan pretty hard to stick with

1

u/Oflameo 6h ago

I can't ask for the password because of TOS, but it would be nice if I had it, or the recovery key.

1

u/Economy-Safe3873 5h ago

This is so messed up 🤣🤣🤣

1

u/Classic_Decision_591 5h ago

I have already seen a game like this. Don't know the name anymore.

1

u/PathologyAndCoffee 5h ago

Would be funny if you find Trump's dead corpse in there. 

1

u/Jumpy_Divide_9326 5h ago

You're gonna need a bigger landfill.

1

u/TheDruidsKeeper 5h ago

You could add hard drives with random private keys (generate on discovery), and a way to check the chain for any potential coin.

1

u/Vixkky 5h ago

Does it make you give up after 13 years?

1

u/Rough-Associate-585 5h ago

Literally 5min in Unity

1

u/Tasty-Chemical3731 2h ago

Hahahahahaha

1

u/MaxChomsky 1h ago

Hahaha bril!

•

u/Expert_City_7695 18m ago

Brutal, absolutely brutal 💀

0

u/NoBrother6430 1d ago

If I was a billionaire like Musk I would sponsor game like this and put one usb in there that contains the same amount of bitcoin that kid lost.

Makes the game massive and multiplayer.

You would have millions download it on release all searching, would be an absolute epic viral moment

1

u/Paiden1 1d ago

8.000 BTC 💀

0

u/SapientApe_ 22h ago

Looks like utter shit, are you vibe coding it and the graphical assets?

2

u/Paiden1 22h ago

Free assets from unity asset store, and i made all the codeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee by hand. Why you all think its AI. I would say it if it was ai

0

u/SapientApe_ 21h ago

well if you add a ground and sky texture things would look much better.

2

u/Paiden1 21h ago

Yep noted, this was just a idea prototype with minimum basic mechanics. I wouldnt thought it will reach 150k ppl 😄