What is Find Nobody’s Treasure Hunts?
Find Nobody’s Treasure Hunts are puzzle hunts based in Massachusetts. The hunts, which are to be solved over a weekend, provide clues to a hidden proxy item which can be used to the claim the hunt’s treasure! The hunts are created by active members and searchers in the treasure hunt community. They have experience, and have proven, they know how to put on great hunts.
Let’s learn more about them in the following Six Questions!
Six Questions with Chantel:
- 1Q) Thanks for participating in MW’s Six Questions! Please tell us a little bit about the background of Find Nobody’s Treasure hunts. What inspired you, when was your first hunt, how many hunts do you host each year, etc?
Thanks, Jenny! Find Nobody’s Treasure is a team of three: myself, Chantel, my husband, Mike, and our friend, Pat. Mike and I met Pat while competing against each other during a Massachusetts area treasure hunt back in 2014 and quickly formed a friendship while discussing our love for puzzles. We tried (unsuccessfully) to run some locally based hunts back in 2014, but when it didn’t pan out, just stuck to noodling over small local hunts as well as the big ones like The Secret. We gave it a go again in June of 2022 with a hunt titled ‘COMEBACK’, and have garnered enough interest to continue putting on about four hunts a year!
- 2Q) Spectre releases 11/2! How can a searcher get involved in this hunt? Is it for anyone or is it region specific?
We’re based in Massachusetts and, to date, have only run Find Nobody’s Treasure hunts within the state – Spectre included. Our hunts are designed “scavenger hunt” style, with puzzles leading you from one boots on ground location to the next, until ultimately reaching the proxy item. So, while you don’t necessarily have to be “local”, you would need to be willing to spend your weekend trekking around Massachusetts and discovering some cool new places!
As far as getting involved, our Facebook group is a great place to start! Important info and sign ups are always pinned to the “Featured” section at the top of the page.
We also share on Instagram often!
- 3Q) As a treasure hunt creator, what advice do you give new people just getting involved in the hobby? And more specifically, those that are just getting involved with your hunts?
Start with simple puzzles. Google is an excellent resource for finding online puzzle games, as well as code breaking tools. For those who are new to our hunts, I highly recommend scrolling back through our Facebook group posts or using the search feature at the top of the page and searching “WALKTHROUGH”, which will pull up all of our previous puzzles and how to solve them!
- 4Q) What do you enjoy most about creating treasure hunts?
Honestly sometimes creating a puzzle can be just as tricky – and fun – as solving them. It’s essentially solving the puzzle in reverse… You know what the answer has to be, and now you have to build something that, with a little work and some well placed clues, will allow others to make the right connections and reveal the answer. Another thing we really love is actually going out and being on site when hunters arrive at a location! Hearing how much fun they’re having (or not – ha!) while they’re in the thick of it really helps build good relationships within the community.
- 5Q) What would you say to someone who enjoys adventures, but feels they aren’t good at solving puzzles or cracking codes?
Find a friend or two to play with. You could start at home with a puzzle-in-a-box like Hunt a Killer or Deadbolt Mystery Society to get a feel for how these types of games work. (They sell single HAK boxes at Target!) And for your first (or first few!) IRL treasure hunts, it’s so important to go into it with the expectation that you’re there to have fun. Every puzzle you crack is just practice for the harder ones to come! And that dopamine rush when you finally crack one makes all that hard work worth it.
- 6Q) When is your next hunt? How can someone stay informed about Find Nobody’s Treasure Hunts?
Spectre is our last hunt scheduled for 2024! While we haven’t quite slotted a date for the first hunt of 2025 yet, those interested should join our Facebook group to stay up to date, or shoot us an email at findnobodystreasure@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list!
