A neon-lit board where decentralized empires rise, orange coins fuel strategic alliances, and the clatter of dice echoes the heartbeat of a trustless protocol.
Meet Arnold and Emily—bitcoin’s dynamic nomad duo—who turned their rage against broken financial systems and cross-border payment nightmares into Blockhunters, a board game where Satoshi’s whitepaper meets Monopoly’s thrill.
From the dunes of Namibia to the favelas of Brazil, their creation isn’t just a game—it’s a rebellion disguised as cardboard, where mining blocks feels as addictive as stacking sats and consensus rules spark more drama than a halving party. 
This is bitcoin, unshackled from jargon, injected with neon chaos, and weaponized for global adoption—one roll of the dice at a time. Buckle up: the rabbit hole just got a leaderboard.
Building on Bitcoin
- Introduce yourself and tell us more about your first steps in bitcoin
Arnold:
We’re both digital nomads. We met in Namibia back in 2022, and we’ve been best buds ever since.
Emily:
I’m a freelance designer. I’ve known about bitcoin for years, but I only got seriously interested during the pandemic while dealing with the friction of getting paid by international clients.
It was anger toward the banking system that motivated me to take action. But I wouldn’t say I fully dove down the rabbit hole until I met Arnold and we started travelling to different bitcoin circular economies together.
Arnold:
I first started to really pay attention to “crypto” late 2016 during my study, when I talked about it with classmates. It turned from a hobby, to a volunteering copywriting job, to a side job, to 2 years later my (first) full time job; a bitcoin-only reporter for Dutch audiences.
Today I work for My First Bitcoin, a bitcoin-only educational non-profit, that focuses on grassroots global adoption with open source tools for circular economies, meetup organisers and community builders.
- What was the “aha!” moment that sparked the creation of Blockhunters? How did bitcoin’s culture inspire a board game?
Emily:
The “aha” moment probably happened when we came together. Arnold had a strong foundation, and I brought the specific skills and fresh perspective needed to complete it, so it was a perfect match.
Arnold:
We amplified each other’s strengths… My concept met Emily’s expertise, my logical brain combined with her creative one. It was through our collaboration that the game started to flourish in a way that neither of us would have achieved separately.
- How do you translate complex bitcoin concepts (like mining, halvings, or decentralization) into engaging gameplay mechanics?
Arnold:
Players go through the entire process of mining a block. They add together the sum of the numbers from the previous block, then draw nonces to see who gets the closest, and then that player wins a reward.
Emily:
The block rewards half every two blocks too, so players naturally experience the concept of the halving cycle.
Arnold:
The whole system is decentralized, as well. All players verify transactions as they go into the mempool. It’s designed that way because that’s how bitcoin works, but it made it so that cheating in Blockhunters is practically impossible, which is one of the coolest parallels to bitcoin’s built-in transparency and trustlessness.
Emily:
One of my favourite mechanisms in the game is our consensus rule: players can change literally any rule of the game as long as they have 51% agreement. It can be something silly or strategic. I’ve seen it used to settle hilariously passionate disputes. It’s a great way to show how governance and consensus actually works in decentralized systems.
- Is Blockhunters competitive, cooperative, or a mix? What’s the ultimate goal for players?
Emily:
It’s both! The ultimate goal is to collect the most bitcoin, which makes it competitive. There is always a winner at the end.
Arnold:
With that said, all the players have to work together to some degree, in order to build the blockchain and keep the system running.
- Are there hidden nods to bitcoin lore, memes, or history that enthusiasts will geek out over?
Emily:
So many! There are also fun little Easter eggs in the design – for example, we put one of our characters, Xin, in a Satoshi shirt. He was wearing it long before Jack Dorsey made it cool!
Arnold:
The power cards (which are like chance cards) were a great way to bring in bits of bitcoin history. For example, there’s a card where you lose your hardware wallet and have to go searching for it in the dump. Everyone knows that story. There is just enough to make long-time bitcoiners smile, while still being accessible to newcomers.
- How did you incorporate bitcoin’s iconic symbols (orange coins, blocks, etc.) into the physical design?
Emily:
We didn’t lean too heavily into bitcoin’s usual visual identity… of course our coins are orange, and we use the ₿ symbol. But bitcoin has no marketing team, and sometimes I think the space gets flooded with recycled visuals. Orange and black everything. And Blockhunters is a game! It should feel fun and vibrant. That’s why we went with a more colorful, vaguely cyberpunk-inspired look.
It still nods to bitcoin, but it has its own personality. The goal was to create something that felt bitcoin-adjacent without being visually boxed in by the typical design tropes. We used all the colours!
Arnold:
The visual design was definitely Emily’s domain, but I love how it turned out. I wanted more colours too, and she nailed it. The board looks amazing.
- What’s your favorite game piece, and why does it embody the spirit of bitcoin?
Arnold:
The private keys! They each belong to characters which are inspired by global use cases for bitcoin. I have an affinity for Omar, he’s our Senegalese character who is using bitcoin to peacefully opt out of the CFA franc system.
Emily:
He’s one of my favourites too. I also love Hila! She’s kind of inspired by Roya Mahboob, who I think is really badass.
- How does Blockhunters make bitcoin accessible to players who’ve never owned a sat?
Emily:
You could take out all the bitcoin terminology and still enjoy it. It’s truly just a fun board game.
Arnold:
We knew it was important that the game actually JUST be a fun game. It’s a bonus that players naturally pick up core concepts like mining just by playing. No prior knowledge needed.
- Could Blockhunters be used as an educational tool in schools or workshops? Share your vision!
Arnold:
Absolutely. Blockhunters is already being used in circular economies and educational initiatives around the world as part of their community-building efforts. It’s proven to be especially valuable in workshop settings. Hands-on learning makes a big difference.
Emily:
We really want to get it to underserved areas in a not-for-profit way. The places that stand to benefit the most from bitcoin adoption are not the easiest to reach. Yet we believe bitcoin education is the most important thing, and we have this incredible tool that can help. We’re exploring nonprofit partnerships and alternative distribution methods.
Community Building
- What was the toughest part of designing a bitcoin-themed game? How did you overcome it?
Arnold:
Sometimes we’d be tempted to tweak a mechanic just to make it more fun, faster, or easier to explain, but if it didn’t align with how bitcoin actually works, we couldn’t do it. Staying true to the protocol was non-negotiable.
Emily:
But in the end, being constrained by bitcoin’s rules wasn’t actually a limitation. If there’s one thing I know from a career in design, it’s that creativity thrives within boundaries. When easy solutions are off-limits, you’re forced to dig deeper. Those constraints pushed us to become better creative problem solvers, and ultimately made the game stronger.
Arnold:
We also had to learn when to leave things out. You can theorize forever about how to build a second layer on top of the game to represent the Lightning Network, or how to incorporate mining fees into the gameplay. But if you try to include everything, it becomes too complicated and loses the magic. We had to know when to stop!
Emily:
And it’s interesting: we’ve often seen the ideas that we chose not to build into the game come up naturally in conversation after people play. Players immediately start brainstorming about what you could do to represent X Y or Z. It shows the game is doing exactly what we hoped. It’s like a tabletop analogy that triggers people into understanding bitcoin more deeply.
- What’s the most surprising or heartwarming feedback you’ve received from players?
Arnold:
For me, it was when a young boy in Madeira played Blockhunters and told us it was the highlight of his day. That kind of joy is so real! We’ve also heard from parents who bought the game for their kids, and then the kids started bringing it to their friends, sharing it on their own. Watching the game change hands (peer to peer!) makes me so happy.
Emily:
For me, it was Brazil. We made a sale there and connected with the person who ordered it. We learned there are real shipping barriers there, high taxes for the customer. Coincidentally, I already had travel plans to go there, so I ended up meeting him, his wife, and an incredible local community.
It turned into a local meetup/BitTalks event and an amazing game night, both with huge turnouts and new friendships. Best of all, he told me he had actually read all the characters’ backstories after getting the game. It filled me with so much joy to know people are actually reading the stories we created and learning about bitcoin’s real-world use cases.
This series of events also led to the Portuguese translation (coming soon!) and renewed our focus on expanding our shipping solutions. Brazil is truly magical.
- How does Blockhunters foster community, both online and offline? Any plans for tournaments?
Arnold:
We’ve already hosted several tournaments, many in the Netherlands, but they’ve happened worldwide. We know Blockhunters is featured regularly at some regularly occurring bitcoin game nights, like in Bali and El Salvador. We will continue to encourage this for sure!
Emily:
Honestly, bringing Blockhunters to a bitcoin meetup kind of makes you the hero of the night! It’s a great shared activity, breaks the ice, facilitates discussion, and lowers the barrier for newcomers.
Arnold:
We also sell the game to meetup organizers at a discount. So if you host a meetup and want to bring a game, just reach out to us!
What’s Next?
- What updates, expansions, or collaborations can players anticipate for Blockhunters?
Arnold:
We have always had ideas for expansion packs. So many ideas!
Emily:
Stay tuned!
- Where do you see Blockhunters in 5 years? A cult classic or a gateway to global bitcoin adoption?
Emily:
Hopefully both! I’d love for it to be a cult classic in the bitcoin world. It’s a fun game! But we also want it to be one of the go-to tools in the toolbox for bitcoin educators.
Arnold:
It’s such a replayable game, so I see it being played all over the world, being available in every language. And not just at meetups but in living rooms, classrooms, and community spaces. I’d love for Blockhunters to become more widely known.
- How can the global bitcoin community support your mission?
Emily:
First of all, I have to mention how much the community has already helped! Blockhunters was entirely crowdfunded on Geyser, and we also received a small grant through their platform. ALL of our translations (Spanish, German, Indonesian, Portuguese, French) came from volunteers in the community.
Arnold:
We don’t do this to get rich, we do it because we believe in bitcoin, and we recognize education is the most important thing that leads to global adoption. The more people understand bitcoin, the more empowered they become.
Emily:
If you want to support us, the best thing you can do is play the game! Introduce it to friends and family. It’s such an easy way to orange pill people. And if you’re a bitcoin educator or meetup organizer, get in touch! Same if you are able to translate the game into a new language and help us maximize the accessibility.
Arnold:
It’s so awesome to see how bitcoiners rally around each other’s projects. We literally could not have created this amazing game without the community.
For more info, visit: https://blockhuntersgame.com/
