Waar de F*ck is STUK?: searching along with StukTV, even when everyone shows up at once

In Waar de F*ck is STUK?, Giel, Thomas and Stefan of StukTV hide somewhere in Europe. During the broadcast week, from 19 to 23 October 2026, viewers join the search on wdfis.nl. Every day they drop three pins on the map: where is Giel, where is Thomas, where is Stefan? Whoever is closest in total after five days wins €1,000. Your Tech Club designed and built the game for Signal and StukTV.

What did the game need to do?

A show where viewers search along needs a game that moves as fast as the broadcast. There were five rounds, one per broadcast day. Each round closes at a fixed time: Monday to Thursday at 18:00, Friday at 13:00. Until that lock moment, viewers can move their pins. After that they are fixed, and anyone who misses a lock moment is out.

That set three requirements. It had to be clear to everyone in a few taps, including people opening the site for the first time from TikTok or Instagram. It had to be fair, because there is €1,000 at stake. And it had to keep working at the moments when it is busiest.

The peak moments

A game that goes with a TV show doesn't grow quietly. There are two kinds of peak. The first comes after a call to action in the show: within seconds, a wave of viewers opens the site at the same time. The second comes every day just before the lock moment, when everyone who is still unsure drops their pins at the last minute. At both moments, nothing can falter.

So we designed the system around those peaks, not around an average day.

The start page never reaches the database

The page everyone sees first is rebuilt every 15 seconds and served from a CDN in between. A wave of viewers arriving at once does not ask the database for anything per person. A hint or change from the editorial team is still live everywhere within about half a minute.

Submitting is one step, the email follows

Submitting pins is one call to the database. The confirmation email doesn't go out in the same step, but through a queue that is sent in batches every 15 seconds. A busy mail server never slows down submitting. And an email that arrives later costs the viewer nothing: their pins count from the moment they were submitted, as long as they click the link within 48 hours.

Capacity is ready before the broadcast

The site runs on several servers in Amsterdam that scale up automatically. But scaling up takes minutes, and a wave after a call to action arrives in seconds. So capacity goes up before every broadcast. To work out how much, we built a load test that mimics exactly that wave: new viewers loading the page and a share of them submitting pins straight away.

The lock moment is fixed in the database

At 18:00 a round closes, and the database handles that itself. After the lock moment it refuses any change to the pins for that round, including from admins and developers, and a closed round never reopens. No new versions go live in the two hours before each lock moment, and every lock moment has a checklist: from capacity and backups to a test on a real phone.

Taking part in a few taps

On their first visit, viewers choose their age: 18 or over, or younger with a parent's permission. A short three-step tour then points at the real screen: dropping pins, the lock moment, the prize. The map is a 3D globe of Europe you can zoom into down to the buildings. At the bottom are Giel, Thomas and Stefan with their photos: pick a name and tap the map.

No account, but one entry per person

There is no account. The first time, viewers enter their name and email address and confirm via a link in the email. After that their phone remembers them and they save their pins straight away. On another device the same email works as a login link, and it only replaces pins if the participant chooses to. That way, someone who knows another person's email address can't quietly overwrite their pins.

Variants of the same address count as one participant, such as capital letters, a +label or dots in a Gmail address. And a bot check stops automated entries.

Rewarding taking part, not the standings

Viewers don't see the real locations, scores or standings: the winner is announced after the last broadcast. To give something back anyway, viewers get a streak and badges for taking part, such as Early bird and All five. With one button they share an image of their pins on Instagram, TikTok or WhatsApp. Anyone who wants one gets a reminder two hours before the lock moment if their pins aren't in yet.

The editorial team at the wheel

The editorial team works in its own admin environment, with a password and a code from an authenticator app. There they prepare hints from TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, adjust lock moments while a round is still open and enter the three real locations after each lock moment. The leaderboard then calculates each participant's distance to Giel, Thomas and Stefan, as the crow flies and to the metre.

Because there is money to be won, the leaderboard also shows signals that may point to fraud: several participants on the same network, the same three pins or email addresses that are almost identical. These are indications, not proof. The winner is always checked by hand before any payout.

Privacy and reliability

The game only asks for what the prize requires: name, email address and age choice. The data is stored in the EU, the site runs in Amsterdam, and there are no tracking or advertising cookies. Sign-ups that are never confirmed disappear automatically. Email links and device keys are only stored as a fingerprint, so they are worthless if they leak.

The software is tested with every change: more than 600 automated tests on the app and the game rules, and 146 tests that check the rules in the database itself, such as the lock and who can access which data. On top of that, a test plays through the viewer's whole journey on desktop and mobile and checks the screens for accessibility.

Where does it stand now?

The pin game is live on wdfis.nl and runs during the broadcast week, from Monday 19 to Friday 23 October 2026. After the last broadcast, StukTV announces the winner.