Previously this month a wonderful treasure was found by a father and son! They had excitedly followed clues given in the armchair treasure hunt, Soup to Nuts, by Nickolas Nelson. Nickolas has provided another chance to follow clues to a treasure! This time in The Tone in the Tree treasure hunt which offers a prize valued at around $1,000!
Who will discover this incredible hidden treasure? Let’s learn more about it! Enjoy!
Six Questions with Nickolas:
- 1Q)How awesome! The Tone in the Tree Treasure Hunt, has been released, and is the second armchair treasure hunt created by you! The first one, Soup to Nuts, was successfully solved and prize claimed. Many searchers are truly enjoying these challenges to find treasure. What is inspiring you to create such hunts?
I was originally introduced to the treasure hunting community through Fandango! It got me out in my community and got me moving. I saw beautiful places that I never would have found if I didn’t think I had the “correct location” for Fandango’s key! I started creating hunts to-
1. Get people put into the world again and
2. To relieve myself of some of the valuable/curious items I have collected through my job history in museums, hopefully to a creative minded individual!
- 2Q) Can you share what is hidden in the ‘Treasure Chest’ for The Tone in the Tree Puzzle? And what details or advice can you give on how searchers should go about discovering a solution?
The chest is full. I packed it as well as I could using my Tetris skills. I don’t want to be too specific but there are gemstones loose, cut and raw. Gold pieces and a couple of artifacts from my museum job. There is also a beautiful box inside the chest that takes a sliding combo to unlock containing a special surprise.
The location of the chest and the key (within 3000 feet) can be deciphered with the map alone. Once you have the location (found on the map through visual clues and strategic cipher solved) you’ll need to go to the location (BOTG) and use the map as a visual indicator to find the chest and the key.
- 3Q) What do you most enjoy about giving others the opportunity to solve clues and finding hidden treasure?
I often travel to beautiful locations, near my own home and afar and always find myself thinking of how cool it would be to discover something hidden in all of that beauty. I figured hiding some treasure would add a certain amount of magic to the world. Also I am driving myself mad with fandango so I wanted to share the feels, if you will.
- 4Q) Your first hunt, Soup to Nuts, was made to be solved relatively quickly? What are your thoughts about The Tone in the Tree treasure hunt? Do you feel this hunt will take longer to solve or find?
Soup to Nuts was my first hunt and was designed to be played out in the month of October. The tone in the Tree has been designed with a permanent placement in mind. So, as to say, this hunt is meant to be challenging. I do not see this one being solved in a jiffy. However, as long as it takes is as long as it takes, I will not be retrieving the chest or key after a certain date. If no one finds it then it is truly hidden treasure and I can live with that.
- 5Q) I know you have worked on Fandango- the armchair treasure hunt with a treasure valued at $10,000 known to be hidden somewhere on Mount Desert Island. Have you worked on other treasure hunts besides Fandango? What are some adventures you have experienced in the search for treasure?
I have only worked on fandango, with the occasional glance at the “Boston” page from “the secret” because I spent a few years there as well. Fandango though takes enough of my time. Myself and Nick Spera, who supported me a lot with designing/troubleshooting The tone in the Trees, are pretty immersed in fandango. No time for another one at the moment. Participating in fandango has shown me every nook and cranny of MDI, places I would have never found if I wasn’t misguided by that Fox. I hope to pass that on to my hunts participants.
- 6Q) After The Tone if the Tree is found, do you plan on creating other hunts?
I will do other hunts in the future. I have a nice personal collection of oddities, gemstones etc. I’m also a creative mind and usually have to have a project going to stay sane. So keep an eye out! There is more to come!
.
.
.