Wherigo Finish Cache Builder

Check a Wherigo completion code on the server, so the real final never ships inside the cartridge.

Free, just a username and passphrase, no email. Caches you build show up in My Caches so you can reopen and edit them without hunting for the edit link, and watch plays and wins. The same account syncs My Puzzle Texts across devices and manages your short links.

My Caches

A Wherigo cartridge cannot make network calls, so a cartridge can never check an answer for itself. This builder is the other half. Your cartridge ends by showing the player a completion code, the player opens your play link and types that code in, and CacheSleuth checks it and hands back your final coordinates or keyword. The real answer is stored here and never travels inside the .gwc, so there is nothing in the file worth decompiling.

The code below is not one you invent. It comes from the Protect this cartridge panel in the Wherigo Builder, under Give the player a completion code: you pick what the code is worked out from, the panel writes the arithmetic into your cartridge and tells you the exact code it will produce, and you paste that here. A code typed straight into a cartridge is stored in the file in plain text, so anyone who downloads the cartridge can read it and finish your cache without going out there. If you built your cartridge somewhere else, make sure it works its code out the same way rather than carrying one.

Do not put sensitive, personal, or inappropriate content in a cache. Anything you create here is public to anyone with the link, and you are responsible for what you publish. Keep a copy of your edit key, it is the only way to change or delete your cache later.

Cache

Cache name

GC code (optional)

Your email (optional)

Only the site admin can see this, in case they need to reach you about your cache. Never shown to players.

Intro message (shown before the code box)

Intro image URL (optional)

Owner hint (optional)

Cartridge

Shown to the finder so they know which cartridge to play. Both fields are optional.

Cartridge name

Download link (optional)

Must start with https://. Leave it blank if the cartridge is only linked from your cache page.

Completion code

The code your cartridge works out and shows the finder at the end. It is stored hashed, never as plain text, so the code itself is not in the play link, not on this page, and not sitting in the database in readable form. A server secret and a limit on how fast codes can be tried online guard it further. Because the code is only eight digits, treat it as a check on honest finders rather than as a strong secret.

Code the cartridge works out

Case, spaces, and punctuation are ignored on both sides, because a finder is reading a handheld screen and typing on a phone. At least 8 letters and digits are required, which is what the Wherigo Builder's derived code has always been: a short code is one somebody can simply guess. Because the code is only ever stored as a digest, this page cannot show it back to you later. When you come back to edit the cache, leave the field empty to keep the code you set, or type a new one to replace it. This stops the answer from being decompiled out of your cartridge, and because the cartridge never checks the values it asks for, there is nothing in the file that can tell a guess from the truth either. This page is the only thing that can, with 10 tries in 10 minutes for each Finish page. It does not stop somebody who has actually been out there from handing the code to a friend, and it costs the finder an internet connection at the end of the hunt.

Reveal (shown when the code matches)

Final coordinates Keyword (for a geochecker)

Final coordinates

Message (optional)

Reveal image URL (optional)

Play as a preview

Where can I host images for free?

Paste a direct https:// link to an image. Free image hosts that give a direct link include ImgBB, postimages.org, and Cloudinary. A geocaching.com image link works too. The link must start with https://.

I understand this cache is public, contains nothing sensitive or inappropriate, and I am responsible for its content. I also understand that caches which sit unused are removed automatically: one that is never played is deleted 30 days after it is created, and one with no plays for two years may be deleted.

Keep your cache in play to keep it live. Share the play link so people visit it; unused caches are cleaned up over time.