Below find a list of the top ten armchair treasure hunts and their lost treasures to find. They are a great way to work the mind, have exciting adventures, and find real life hidden treasures! These type of treasure hunts allow you to research, discover, and solve clues right from the chair of your own home; and then once you feel you have solved enough clues and hints, they either inspire you to go in search and retrieve those lost treasures, or can be claimed right from your home.
How great is that?! What might you solve and find? Some of these hunts have cash prizes on spot, others have redeemable tokens or relics. Some are worth a few hundred dollars while others are worth thousands or even a million- if you can solve the clues leading you to those secreted treasure locations. Each hunt has its own pros and cons for a searcher. Some require BOTG (Boots on the Ground / a physical presence needed for retrieval), some are fully armchair, some involve solving codes and ciphers, and others might be simply following a poem’s meaning.
So many different styles and ways, and a person needs to decide which is best for them. A top ten for myself, might not be the same top ten for another.
And so, below, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER is a list of top ten armchair treasure hunts. The list is constantly revolving as some hunts get solved and new ones come available.
Please see the following link for a complete list with near 40 armchair treasure hunts listed!
MW’s Treasure Hunts’ Page for a full list of hunts on this website.
Get Your Quest on with MW!
The Secret: A Treasure Hunt (available on Amazon)
Published in 1982 by Byron Preiss
Book with clues in form of matching Verse and Image
9 buried casques yet to find (Learn where the casques are thought to be)
BOTG search for a Key in the casque- can be redeemed for a gemstone (value varies)
No end date. Hunt remains until all found (Three have been found: 1984/Chicago, 2004/Cleveland, and 2019/Boston)
Go to MW Forum section-Own Board
Go to MW Category on website for more posts
Tribute: Hunt for the 13th Casque
- Hunt released on MW in February 2019 by John Michaels (here)
- Image and Verse contain clues
- BOTG is required to retrieve the treasure
- The Treasure is Original Casque, Silver, and Pink Tourmaline gem (valued over $2,000)
- No End Date
The Hatter’s Hat
- Released 11/27/2020
- Clues within book
- BOTG required to find a golden key and message to claim the treasure
- Treasure is valued at $10,000
- No end date
The Oracle (Available on Oracle Website)
Published in 2005 by Pete Wilder (purchase $2.99)
Book/PDF download with clues – both visual and literal
Search for hidden item/OR claim from home
Prize around $6,000 cash
No End Date
Six Q’s with Pete Wilder on the hunt
Go to MW The Oracle Forum section
Go to MW category on website
The Beacon Star (Available on Amazon)
Published in 2017 by Randy Pischel (purchase for $6.99)
Book with clues -both visual and literal
BOTG search for item to claim prize
Prize valued at over 5,000 cash
No end date
Six Questions with Randy Pischel on the hunt
Go to MW Forum The Beacon Star section
Go to MW category of website
Treasure Island: Treasure Hunt Edition (Available on Amazon)
- Released 11/10/2021 by David Jacobsen
- Clues within a book (Available on Amazon $20)
- BOTG (hidden somewhere in the US)
- Treasure is valued at $10,000. Includes gemstones, coins, and other relics
- No end date
Go to the MW Forum for Discussions or Facebook Group
MW’S PAGE ON TREASURE ISLAND HUNT
SIX QUESTIONS with David Jacobsen / Creator
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The Cipher Available on YouTube
- Video released in July 2020
- Clues within Video (Google Doc linked below video)
- BOTG required to claim prize
- Treasure is ‘a mystery’ (but said to worthwhile)
- No end date
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Echo the Owl (The Last Echo)
- Released on 4/1/21
- Clues within a PDF Downloadable Booklet (7 pages)Available to order thru Echo the Owl link
- BOTG required to find a proxy item (a Treasure chest with a few goodies and contact info)
- Hidden somewhere on Mount Desert Island, Maine
- Treasure is a Golden Owl and other valuable gemstones valued at $4,000 (image here)
- No end date stated
Rabbit: A Homecoming Tale armchair treasure hunt
- Released April 2022 by Brad Jamieson of MidniteStudio
- Clues within a PDF: FREE to download on website
- Fully Armchair (Claim all from home)
- Treasure is cash prize (grows from donations – currently around $250)
- No end date
Xavier Marx and The Missing Masterpieces
- Released 10/27/21 Sean Cronin
- Clues within a book: Available on AMAZON ($19)
- A proxy item is hidden somewhere in the contiguous United States
- BOTG
- Treasure is $10,000 cash
- No end date
Click Below to go to MW’s Treasure Hunts’ Page
with a full list of hunts on this website.
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Ok, Given that I lost the Water Puzzle, I’m going to try and redeem myself on one of these! 😛
I’ve given the 12th Plate one a little bit of work and think I understand some of it pretty well. I also have relatives living in the Greensboro area that may conduct a search.
I don’t really have the time to crank down on this one, but agree with Jenny that it needs to be solved. So if anyone would like to take a shot at it and run with what I’ve come up with so far, please let me know.
Fandango is at Thunder Hole, better go get it before 2020 when it ends!
Well this is a pleasant surprise, Jenny.
I never really thought of Forrest Fenn’s Thrill of the Chase as an “Armchair” Treasure Hunt.
I’m sure there are those…like myself…trying to reconcile a The Little Girl From India not getting past the first two clues…like Forrest said…without boots on the ground.
And I’m sure there are others…let’s call them “party poopers” 🙂 …who would say…
“Now don’t start THAT again!” LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGTWmrnPdgk
Now…to figure out what I want to do…or ask someone else what they want do.
How exciting! Baskets of cash:)
Man I’m confused on the 52 Master Pieces. I have no idea how I’m supposed to interact with them. I get the idea of filling in the grids, but I don’t understand some of the puzzles when the answers don’t even matter… Like the 2 guides, 1 liar, 1 truth teller. I know the answer to it but cannot enter it. And it really has no bearing on the grids that I can see. They need a video explaining how to do a sample of one of the masters step by step, so everyone can understand the basics.
Hi Iron Will, I will be doing a SixQ with the creator of this wonderful site before long…. I’m sure all can be made more clear with that -as I’m too just learning more about the puzzle. But it looks so awesome and fun! Keep puzzling! ~jenny
It won’t Jenny. For one, all the prizes but 3 have been claimed. Grand Prize is gone. Number two, there’s no clear explanation on the process of solving the puzzles, save for a text explanation that doesn’t go into depth enough for people to understand. I just got done talking with them via email, and it seems like an introvert genius recruitment tool. It doesn’t matter if you know the answers to their given puzzles, you still have to follow some vague mysterious protocol to get a grid key. On top of that you have to get two more grid keys to overlap them all. One is a gimme. The HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT key. The other two are downright impossible to find due to no clear visual example of how to solve each of them. Wasted 2 hours of my life being frustrated with it all.
Sorry you feel that way Iron Will. Everything can’t be for everyone.
I, myself, am truly enjoying the puzzles and the 52 MP site when I get time; and although the major prizes have been claimed (which was mentioned in the above summary), the fun of challenging yourself, exercising the mind, learning some remarkable history, and more is all still very available.
I enjoy it for what it is…..which is a beautiful website created to be educational, encourage, inspire, and challenge one to think out side the box.
The fact there are a few prizes available is a bonus. And when they are gone…it doesn’t matter either. Treasure is found in different ways.
It’s a puzzle site….offering challenging fun…. and it has for me. For those who don’t like that sort of thing…..I suppose it should be said, ‘These aren’t the things you are looking for… just move along, move along….lol..:)
That Jedi Mind trick worked. I’ve figured out The Hidden in plain sight Key and the Trade Key from the Master Locksmith. Trying to figure out the expert puzzle.
I don’t think there could be such a thing as a genuine armchair treasure hunt, unless it existed solely on the page, with no treasure or token hidden in a real place. It might be possible to solve a puzzle involving a place you’ve never been to, but I don’t see how you could be certain without visiting the location, unless the treasure hunt setter is kind enough to tell you.
Dear Iron Will (and any other new puzzlers with similar questions),
Welcome, and thanks for taking the time to post your comments. I suspect that many players have felt similarly perplexed the very first time they visited the site. That said, we’ve had thousands of correctly submitted solutions, so hopefully we can help to guide you on track.
There are two layers to this contest…the “surface layer” which is accessible to everyone, and the contest layer, which is admittedly much more challenging. As you proceed through the book page by page, you’ll see hundreds of self-contained puzzles, with hints and answers available. This is the primary resource that provides puzzles for players of all ages and skill levels.
For a contest with $5200 in prizes, it was necessary to make the contest layer more challenging, or else many players might have solved everything too quickly. Even with the new “How to Solve a Master Piece” feature we’ve added, the contest puzzles are meant to take time and persistence, often requiring players to learn about other puzzles that are explained throughout the site. The “How to Solve a Master Piece” was only recently added after the major prizes had been awarded.
Any good puzzle will first appear to be impossible, and then straightforward once understood. We’ve taken great care to make sure that even the most challenging puzzles in this contest are comprised of steps that are fair, logical, and non-arbitrary. At some point we will reveal the steps of an individual Master’s solution (one whose prize has already been redeemed) to help explain the contest mechanism. Until then, I’d encourage you to have some fun with the individual puzzles throughout the site. The more you do, the more the hidden puzzles throughout the site may begin to reveal themselves and their solutions will make much more sense.
All the best,
David Cohen, author of 52 Master Pieces
P.S. In the future, please feel free to email us directly at 52masterpieces@gmail.com.
Wow, thanks Jenny! I wouldn’t technically call mine an armchair treasure hunt since there’s physical retrieval of the treasure involved.
It’s like you’re reading my mind, though. Since the value isn’t as great as some others (and doesn’t really encourage long distance participation), I’ve been considering tweaking it a bit to make it a true armchair hunt where someone with the correct solve could win the giftcards (but not the other contents of cache). Thoughts on that modification?
The Bossall one is an awesome armchair treasure hunt that I’ve been working on for months. Great stuff! I highly recommend it.
Thank you Jenny. We do want the 12th Plate coin to be found before the end date in December.
Madesquare makes a great point about “genuine armchair” hunts. And, though we believe this one will be solved by one of you or a Raleigh local (if you are not), it is nice to point out that we released a January clue and plan to do so for, well, each of the 12 months.
Since these clues may only make since to those in the hunt ~ and we want it solved ~ it may just be that in December, we take Madesquare post to “heart” (see there, it’s V-day). Hmmm…offer up in December as part if any final clue that if a treasure hunter in the game can tell us exactly where it is, we could get it for them. Great Thinking!
Hi Jenny – An important update regarding my little hunt. As of September 16, 2017 the cache has been found BUT the gift cards have not been claimed!
The finder has 30 days to claim the gift cards.
If the gift cards are not claimed per the instructions in the book (and found on my site) by 11:59pm EST on October 16, 2017 this will become a legit armchair treasure hunt – no travel needed to win the gift cards!
The gift card balance is now locked in at $700. The balance will no longer grow. This prevents a finder from delaying their claim in an attempt to grow the reward.
I’ll provide additional guidelines on my site if the gift cards are not claimed by the deadline.
Thanks MartinS- I will update the page soon. Thanks for letting me know and CONGRATS on a FIND! I’ll send an email to you for additional questions. thanks!
Thanks Jenny! I’m still waiting for the finder to claim the gift cards.
So while the cache has been discovered, the hunt may not be over.
It may become a true armchair treasure hunt worth $700.
Stay tuned!
I worked “The Secret” for a couple months this year before coming across a solution for Image 2, Verse 5, but unfortunately my dig request was denied by the landowner. Turns out that the new publisher doesn’t have a record of the casque locations, even though they put the book back in print and claim that “The hunt is still on…”
Anyway, I published my work on the Quest 4 Treasure forums for other hunters’ use, but I don’t know if this “third casque” location will ever be validated without an actual dig.
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