Treasure Hunters: Puzzles & Players, the Finale

Well, my summer craziness has subsided and I’ve finally gotten time to write the last Puzzles & Players column for Treasure Hunters. If any of you happened to play in the Guild Wars Live event at the Penny Arcade Expo a couple of weeks ago, e-mail me and let me know what you thought of it!

It’s time to analyze the puzzles and players for the two-part finale. But first, I’d like to let the winner of the last puzzle challenge have his say. John Beety was the first person to send me a correct answer to the last puzzle challenge. The different cars with flowers and country names were CARNATIONS (the numbers on the cars also let you spell nations). Let’s see what Mr. Beety had to say.

Quite a bit has been made of the similarities and differences between Treasure Hunters and The Amazing Race. Many fans of Treasure Hunters emphasize the differences between the shows and point out that they have different ways of operating. They appreciate that a checkpoint race is not the same thing as a hunt. Why do they have to do that, though? Simply put, Treasure Hunters has not done enough to distinguish itself from the most similar show in recent memory, except in a negative way (see: editing.) Treasure Hunters should have been able to stand on its own merits and successfully carve out its own identity, instead of being “Not The Amazing Race” or, worse, “Not as Good as The Amazing Race.” Of course, all of this is moot unless Treasure Hunters gets a second season.

I think Mr. Beety is correct that Treasure Hunters hasn’t managed to distinguish itself in a very positive way. With some glaring exceptions, the puzzles themselves were quite good – far better than I thought they would be, to be honest. However, every other aspect of the show, from the host to the editing to the team selection, was less than stellar. Reality shows need compelling characters and storylines to keep viewers’ entertained. It’s also key to allow viewers of a puzzle hunt to have a chance to solve the puzzles themselves and then to tell them clearly how those puzzles work. Treasure Hunters fell down a lot on all these aspects. I’m afraid that could mean the end of a really promising premise. Ah, well.

Now, on with the finale. I’m treating the finale as a single episode, since there were only two real puzzles and one winner. Let’s check the puzzles out and see if they were worthy of the final episode.

The puzzles:

Library of Congress Puzzle

In this puzzle, the players had to search the Library of Congress – a fantastic location for a puzzle – to find one of three books: Poltroons & Patriots, Official Histories, and The American Flag: of Stars and Stripes. The Library of Congress is enormous, with over 500 miles of bookshelves. However, if players knew how to find and search a card catalog, they could locate one of the books. Behind each book was a large folio – the seventh, and final, artifact. Host-Boy told teams that it held the key to the treasure and that “the key has been in front of you every step of the way.” The book they found was The Star-Spangled Banner. It talked about the flag – the object that has been in front of them the whole time. The book had a flag and a map. The flag was semi-transparent. When laid over the map, it formed Xs at all the places the teams received artifacts. The last page was totally blank, but noted the book was printed on the old printing press at the Library of Congress... not coincidentally where the teams were.

Once at the printing press, there was a blank plate that held many of the artifacts teams had found throughout the hunt. There was also a book with information on how to use the plate to make a print. Teams had to put the artifacts in place and work the press to print a page that created a treasure map with information about the Battle of Baltimore from the War of 1812. It noted the location of the Francis Scott Key Truce Ship, where Francis Scott Key wrote the words of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Players had to head to the ship and find the way inside. There, they received a box with a star token and a map that duplicated the one they printed, and then had on the back a key, the word Lazaretto, and that the “answer is in front of them.” A glass pane was etched with a map included the location called the Lazaretto Battery. Teams had to take their boats and search the waters for the location of the battery. It was now “Key” Industries, and there was a large American flag hanging from the sign. Once at the battery, teams had to search the building for a secret room. There was a slot in the door to the room. When a team put its token in the slot, the doors to the room opened, leading them to the final puzzle.

This was a great puzzle! The location was in theme and really cool. Having many of the objects the teams collected throughout the hunt come together to print a map was really nifty – and looked like a lot of fun to discover. The location was important to the puzzle and it used much of the materials gathered in the hunt. The actual finding of the box on the ship seemed thrown in, but that’s okay. Using a star coin to get in the final treasure room was a nice touch. Great puzzle!

Treasure Room Puzzle

In this puzzle, players had to figure out what five letters would open the cryptex. The chamber contained many astrological signs and, supposedly, the key to the treasure. There were also stars and key symbols and other words carved on the walls and floor. The floor also had a couple of circles with more of the same carvings on it. Players also had the map of the Battle of Baltimore with the date of September 12-14th highlighted therein. Players needed to realize that the code “FSKEY” for Francis Scott Key would open the cryptex. Once the cryptex opened, inside there was a piece of metal that attached to one of the circles. Once spun, the piece pointed to the star symbol. Then the team had to hit the star on the wall, which opened the door to the chamber beyond and the fortune hidden therein.