Here’s another Bitcoin gem:

Takara

One of the things I like to do with my kids is to go geocaching, a game where you get the geolocation and a set of clues for a hidden treasure and then go looking for it. Usually that treasure is a logbook in which you record that you found the cache and then return it to its location for another person to find. It’s a great way to give the kids a reason to be out and hiking on a pleasant afternoon and teach a few navigation skills.

Takara is a new IOS app that is a combination of geocaching and scavenger hunt using Bitcoin. Bitcoiners can ‘drop’ bitcoins at their location, or select a location on a map. Takara hunters (takara means ‘treasure’ in Japanese) can see where bitcoin caches have been left and then make their way to that location to collect the reward.

There have been other apps before that ‘gamified’ Bitcoin, notably Bitcoin Billionaire where you tap the screen to mine faux bitcoins and then use those proceeds to upgrade your lifestyle, and Satutobi (from the makers of Takara – saru means monkey and tobi means jump or fly in Japanese) where you send a monkey careening through the trees to collect Bitcoin. You can then use those bitcoins to buy upgrades, like springs for the monkey’s feet or jetpacks.

Takara brings the idea of gamifying Bitcoin to the next level and has the potential of catching on far beyond the core Bitcoin community.

The game is new and there are relatively few treasure boxes scattered across the word so far, but they are growing, and if the community comes together to scatter a few thousand bits here and there, we could create a lot of reason for people to get interested and get involved.

Another great feature of the app is that when you drop the cache, you can add a picture with a link. Further, to keep people from spoofing their location and stealing the cache, you can add a question that the person must answer to get the bitcoins. This means that Takara will be a great way for bitcoin businesses to advertise their wares and to incentivize people to find them.

Here are a couple of screen shots I’ve taken.

If you know another great Bitcoin gem and think it out to be here, click here and let us know!