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After the success of their first treasure hunt, X Marks NJ is back with a brand-new adventure. Their second hunt brings a fresh set of clues, challenges, and discoveries for searchers to unravel, and, of course, another treasure waiting to be found!
In this Six Questions, we take a closer look at what’s new this time around, how the experience has evolved from their first hunt, and what searchers can expect as they set out on the trail. Adventures await!
Six Questions with X Marks NJ:
- 1Q) The next part of the Hux Soul series is about to release! Congrats! What are you most excited about this time around? What do searchers need to do to take up the challenge and begin their quest for the treasure? Oh! And what is the treasure?
There’s a lot I’m excited about, but probably the biggest thing is that this hunt is completely different from the first. The puzzles are different, there are more of them, and the journey is bigger. But most of all, I’m excited to tell Hux’s origin story and create a landscape where the seekers aren’t just solving the story—they become part of it.
For anyone who wants to join the adventure, registration is $20 through the X Marks NJ website. The winner can choose between a $700 cash bounty or a beautifully restored, fully functioning 1969 Gottlieb Mibs electro-mechanical pinball machine. And yes, the pinball machine plays a role in the story.
Site Address: https://sites.google.
- 2Q) For those who tackled your first hunt, what can they expect to find differently for this hunt? Will their experience with your first hunt give them an advantage, or will this hunt require them to approach the clues with a fresh perspective?
Double the clues. Double the weeks. Double the options—and hopefully double the fun.
In Hunt I, seekers had to go boots-on-the-ground every week. This time, the only required journey is the final one: retrieving the Hearthbright.
There is also a “Scenic Route” for those who want to explore. There are 21 locations—one in each New Jersey county—and seekers earn a substantial hint for every seven they complete. Visit all 21 and you’ll have three very powerful hints to help you find the Hearthbright.
It’s a longer road, but for those willing to travel it, the odds are very much in their favor.
- 3Q) Do new searchers need to know anything about your first hunt before jumping into this one, or can they begin with a completely clean slate?
I would visit the website and explore. Read the clues from Hunt I, watch Hux’s videos, and spend some time with the lore and legend of the Hearthbright.
None of that is required to solve Hunt II, but it will make the experience better. This hunt is designed so that seekers don’t simply solve puzzles—they become characters in the story. The more you know about the world, the deeper you’ll be able to step into it.
- 4Q) What goes into choosing the hiding location? Is the location selected first and the clues built around it, or how do you choose a spot? And what are searchers looking for exactly?
The final location is every bit as important as the clues that lead you there. In both hunts, I chose the final location first and built the clues around it.
The treasure is the Hearthbright, and it’s not just a proxy—it’s part of the story. In Hunt I, seekers searched for the Hearthbright Dawnpiece. This time, it’s the Hearthbright Daycrest. The final hunt will reveal the Hearthbright Duskwind.
According to the legend, all three were created from melted pieces of an old locomotive with a dark past. Only three exist. I never even had one made for myself—which I now regret because they really are awesome pieces.
The seeker who finds the Hearthbright also claims the bounty.
- 5Q) Do you feel like you approached this hunt more confidently the second time around, or did creating a second hunt present an entirely new set of challenges?
Hunt II has been much harder to create than the first. I spent a tremendous amount of time developing the story and designing puzzles that felt completely different from Hunt I.
That was important to me. I don’t want seekers to ever know exactly what to expect.
And Hunt III? It will be different from both. I think it may be the best of the three, and I’m already looking forward to creating it.
I’ve always loved maps in treasure hunts. Hunt I had a map. Hunt II has a map. Hunt III will most likely be just a map- a really, really big map.
- 6Q) What would you say to someone who is on the fence about taking on the hunt because they aren’t sure they have what it takes to solve the clues or find the treasure?
I’d tell them what I used to tell my students: You miss 100% of the shots you never take. I didn’t get into treasure hunting because I thought I was going to find the treasure. I got into it because I wanted to go on the journey.
Some of my favorite childhood memories of family vacations to Disney World weren’t necessarily the destination—they were the journey getting there. Sitting in the car, inventing games, making up stories, watching for those South of the Border billboards along I-95, and laughing the whole way. That’s really what I’m trying to recreate with X Marks NJ: an excuse to go somewhere, explore, have an adventure, and make a memory along the way.
But if you asked Hux, he’d probably say something much simpler:
Raise your sail. Burn the dock.