A Treasure Hunt Is Unfolding on the East Coast

Video game designer Jason Rohrer says safety is baked into the rules
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2024 8:26 AM CDT
A Treasure Hunt Is Unfolding on the East Coast
A screenshot from an explainer video about the treasure hunt.   (YouTube)

Somewhere in one of eight states on the East Coast, a modest gold sculpture is sitting out in the open on the forest floor. Whoever finds it gets to keep the object, worth about $25,000, along with half the money collected from people who shell out $20 apiece to receive daily clues, reports WTOP. (The bonus was about $10,000 as of Sunday morning.) This modern treasure hunt, called Project Skydrop, is the brainchild of video game designer Jason Rohrer. It kicked off last week, but hunters can still join. Those who do get clues emailed to them, including aerial photographs and an ever-shrinking circle in which the object is located. (A video explains.)

"I know it's not gonna be solvable on day one," Rohrer tells Outside Online. "And I know it's definitely going to be solvable on day 21." To avoid the chaos and even deaths that accompanied the legendary Forrest Fenn treasure hunt, the rules specify that the object must be obtained "peacefully," and cameras around the object are recording to make sure that happens. As the Hustle notes, "You don't want to be the bad guy in the Indiana Jones movie." The winner must find the object in person, and it's hidden somewhere in Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, or Vermont, per a release.

For those unfamiliar with Rohrer's work in the field of video games, the term "high concept" comes to mind, and Outside has some interesting examples:

  • "His game Passage is a five-minute meditation on the beauty of life and the inevitability of death and part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. A Game for Someone was designed to only be played 2,000 years in the future and is currently buried somewhere in the Nevada desert."
(More treasure hunt stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X