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THE BE AFRAID HUNT – Six Questions Treasure Hunt Spotlight!
A NEW HUNT! This week, Six Questions welcomes Tres, creator of The Be Afraid Hunt, a fully armchair treasure hunt launching alongside a new song and music video from Alien Atmosphere. Combining music, hidden artifacts, and deeper layers of lore, this adventure offers a unique way to hunt without ever leaving home.
Read on to discover the story behind the hunt, its prizes, and what’s coming next!
(Join discussions on the clues on the MW discord, Forum, or Facebook)
Six Questions with Tres:
Q1) Thank you for sharing your adventure with the treasure-hunting community! For those who may not know you, could you tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved in creating treasure hunts, puzzles, or adventures?
Thank you, Jenny. I’m glad to share it with this community. I’m Tres, and I run Mainstay Automation in Scottsdale, Arizona. It’s a modern growth partner for businesses, human-led and AI-expanded. Honestly, I built it selfishly, to solve all the problems I ran into while growing a business.
Puzzles and scavenger hunts are something I grew up loving. I’ve always been observant, but for a long time I didn’t know communities like this one existed. Then, several years ago, my niece introduced me to Five Nights at Freddy’s, and I fell deep into the lore rabbit hole. I can’t get enough of it.
The Be Afraid Hunt is the first official hunt I’ve personally created at scale. I’ve always wanted to build one, and only now do I have the resources and the technology to bring it to life.
Q2) Please introduce us to The Be Afraid Hunt. What is the adventure about, what inspired you to create it, and what makes it unique?
Be Afraid is the new song by Alien Atmosphere. The band is identical twins Nick and Matt Kwilosz. Nick sings and plays guitar while Matt plays drums. The song comes out Friday, Oct 30, and the official video premieres on YouTube that night at 7:30 PM Arizona / 10:30 PM Eastern. The hunt opens at the same minute.
With the song release, there are 30 artifacts and 7 pieces of lore. The artifacts are pieces of the brothers’ lives: Matt’s Trans Am, Matt’s cymbal, Nick’s French bulldog, Nick’s songbook, Nick’s first show ticket. All 30 are named and pictured on the hunt page (https://www.mainstayautomation.com/be-afraid/), so you know exactly what you’re looking for. We never say where they are. The 7 pieces of lore have no pictures. You find those on your own.
The numbers come from the song’s first line: “I’m on my seven thirty flight from Sky Harbor to L.A.” Seven pieces of lore, 30 artifacts. The video premieres at 7:30, too.
I’d been looking for an excuse to create a hunt of my own, and Be Afraid was the perfect match. It let me get creative and get my feet wet building a story in layers: the musicians and the story that inspired their music, the story the video tells, the people behind the band, and underneath all of it, the lore. The lore is where it gets juicy. It’s already set to span 10+ songs. The first album is mapped and in the works, and each song comes out as a single roughly every 4 to 8 weeks, so there’s a lot ahead.
What makes it different is that the hunt lives inside a music release. You’re searching the release itself, and there’s a real band behind it. The music is real. AI is only a tool here. It helps build the story, the creative, the artifacts and the lore, all to support real people like Nick and Matt, who are out there making the music and dazzling crowds at their live shows.
Q3) What can you share about the prize or rewards? What will the lucky finder receive, and is there anything special about the treasure itself or the story behind it?
There are three cash prizes. The first complete, correct list of all 37 wins $1,000. Second place gets $250, third gets $100.
All three winners also get signed band gear: a signed band shirt, a signed drumstick from Matt and a signed guitar pick from Nick.
Each of the top three also has the chance to have a character made in their likeness for Be Afraid content.
Q4) How can someone participate in this hunt? Please share how to get started, where to find the clues or materials, any costs or requirements, and the deadline or important dates hunters should know. Is it a BOTG armchair treasure hunt or Fully armchair?
It’s fully armchair. There’s nowhere to travel. Everything is in what we release with the song.
Start at the hunt page:
https://www.mainstayautomation.com/be-afraid
It has the artifact bank and the entry form, and the official video plays there once it’s public.
The dates:
– Friday, Oct 30, 7:30 PM Arizona / 10:30 PM Eastern: the official video premieres on YouTube and the hunt opens.
– Nov 13, 7:30 PM Arizona / 9:30 PM Eastern: the last items are released.
Where to look: anything we release with Be Afraid can hide an item. That’s as specific as I’ll get.
It’s free to play. When you have all 37, you send one list through the entry form on the hunt page, naming each item and where you found it. Who can enter, and how and when the hunt ends, are on the rules page:
https://www.mainstayautomation.com/be-afraid/rules
Q5) Can you describe the types of puzzles involved in the hunt – and their difficulty level? If someone is brand new to the treasure hunting community do you feel they have an equal chance to claim the treasure?
The artifacts are a looking hunt. The artifact bank tells you what each one is; the work is spotting it. Some you’ll catch quickly. Others take a second look, or a third. The hunt page says “Look closer,” and I like to think it means it.
The lore is the hard part, on purpose. My rule from the start was that the lore has to be much harder to find than the artifacts. There are no pictures for the 7 pieces, so part of the work is knowing one when you see it. I won’t say more than that.
Of the hunts we have mapped, this first one is intentionally the easiest. I want fans of the band to be able to follow along, and I’m getting a feel for the audience. Seasoned hunters will likely breeze through it. The ones after it get harder.
Can a newcomer win? I think so. The hunt starts for everyone at the same minute on Oct 30, and the artifact bank shows everyone the same 30 things. The prize goes to the first complete, correct list, and that takes patience as much as experience. A newcomer with a sharp eye and some evenings to spend has a real shot.
Q6) Are you working on any other hunts, puzzles, books, projects, or adventures that you’d like to share? Is there anything else you’d like hunters to know about this adventure or about your work? Where can people follow you, find updates, or learn about your future projects?
Be Afraid is the first of many. The story is set to span 10+ songs, and each new single brings a new hunt.
If you find this post after Oct 30, you haven’t missed it. The last items are released Nov 13.
The hunt page has the song, the video once it’s public, and the artifact bank. Follow Alien Atmosphere at @alienatmosphere on Instagram, TikTok and X.
Thanks again, Jenny.
And to everyone hunting: Look Closer