Treasure hunt (game) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A treasure hunt is one of many different types of games which can have one or more players who try to find hidden articles, locations or places by using a series of clues. This is a fictional activity; treasure hunting

Treasure hunting

Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure which has been a notable human activity for millennia. -In modern times:In recent times, the early stages of the development of archaeology included a significant aspect of treasure hunt; Heinrich Schliemann's excavations at Troy, and later at...

can also be a real life activity. Treasure hunt games may be an indoor or outdoor activity. Outdoors they can be played in a garden or the treasure could be located anywhere around the world.

Children's games

Treasure hunt are sometimes organised by parents as a game to be played at children's parties. This could be in a range of formats; just searching for items, following clues as a group or splitting into teams to race to a prize.

An armchair treasure hunt is any activity that requires solving puzzle

Puzzle

A puzzle is a problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver. In a basic puzzle, one is intended to put together pieces in a logical way in order to come up with the desired solution...

s or riddle

Riddle

A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and...

s in some easily portable and widely reproduced format (often an illustrated children's book), and then using clues hidden either in the story or the graphics of the book to find a real treasure somewhere in the physical world. However, although these may seem to be for children, this genre is aimed at dedicated adults.

Adult games

The use of a treasure hunt as a party game is attributed to socialite Elsa Maxwell

Elsa Maxwell

Elsa Maxwell was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter, and professional hostess renowned for her parties for royalty and high society figures of her day....

. She said that:

In the Treasure Hunt . . . intellectual men were paired off with great beauties, glamor with talent. In the course of the night's escapades anything could happen.

There is a growing market for treasure hunts consisting of fixed landmarks in the real world, rather than a specially-laid trail at a particular event. Companies are providing these hunts as corporate team building activities in cities around the world with London, Dublin and Sydney key examples.

Geocaching

Geocaching

Geocaching is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world....

is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a global positioning system (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world.

Letterboxing

Letterboxing

Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual...

is another treasure hunt game. It is played outdoors and combines elements of orienteering

Orienteering

Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...

, art and problem-solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a logbook and a rubber stamp.

An armchair treasure hunt uses a book or a puzzle as basis, in which clues are hidden. This type of Treasure Hunt normally takes months to solve and has immense prizes to be won, for example the lipogram book: Toxic Panda by Adam Adams.

Online treasure hunts are a new development where participants follow clues and visit different websites (or even physical locations) to solve riddles. Participants can win prizes for correctly solving puzzles to win treasure hunts. Many of these online hunts are subject to internet gaming laws that vary between jurisdiction.
A photo treasure hunt is a new way to play the well-known Treasure Hunt game. The main difference between them is that in a Photo Treasure Hunt the competitors have to collect pictures rather than collecting items.

In 1956, comedian Jan Murray

Jan Murray

Jan Murray was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and game show host who made his name on the Borscht Belt.-Early life:Murray was born Murray Janofsky in The Bronx, New York City...

created and hosted a variation for television, also known as Treasure Hunt. The game pitted a pair of contestants answering questions to qualify to go on a treasure hunt that involved choosing from among thirty treasure chests that included anything from gag prizes to valuable merchandise and/or cash. The show also offered home viewers a chance for a treasure hunt, when a postcard was chosen from a large drum by a young guest who revolved the drum several times to mix up the entries. The show aired daily in the morning and once a week in the evening until 1959, when the networks began canceling game shows in the wake of the quiz show scandal.

External links

Real Treasure Hunts

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Children's games

Adult games

See also

External links