Real-Life Treasure Hunt for $25,000 worth of Gold Begins on the East Coast

Creators Jason Rohrer and Tom Bailey hid 10 troy ounces of 24-karat gold in one of eight states for the ultimate adventure

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Jason Rohrer, well-known indie game developer, and recording artist Tom Bailey are making every aspiring treasure hunter’s dreams come true today with the launch of their latest creation, Project Skydrop. Over the next three weeks, players will be given daily clues to outwit their opponents for the ultimate treasure: $25,000 worth of 24-karat gold. Forged into an intricate golden sculpture, the prize is made of 10 troy ounces of 99.99% pure gold and has been hidden on the forest floor in a state somewhere on the East Coast—in either CT, DE, NH, MA, MD, NY, PA, or VT.

Project Skydrop is a unique, real-world treasure hunt unlike any other in modern day history.

Best known for the AI Jessica Simulation from Project December, the memento mori game Passage, and being the first game developer to have a museum retrospective dedicated exclusively to his work, Jason has been at the forefront of developing avant-garde games and simulations for the past 20 years. Along with collaborating on Project December, Tom Bailey is the former frontman of Warner-signed band Maxeen.

“Many of us spend quite a bit of time watching other people have adventures in movies. We wanted to turn those imaginary adventures into something that people could actually live,” said Jason Rohrer. “Project Skydrop brings all these elements together to make a real-world experience unlike anything that’s ever occurred before. We’re hoping to make the greatest treasure hunt of all time.”

“Imagine you’ve got your earbuds on and you’re listening to a John Williams score. You see the golden artifact just ahead of you in the woods. You reach out and grab it,” said collaborator Tom Bailey. “It’s like a real-world Indiana Jones treasure hunt except your face won’t melt off when you actually look at the treasure.”

How it works: Individuals can pay $20 to enter the challenge at any time and, starting today, they’ll start receiving daily clues to help them piece together the treasure’s exact location. The challenge runs for three weeks and will culminate the week of October 4^th, or earlier should someone find it sooner.

Map radius clues: Each day, an online map will show a shrinking circle, with the treasure’s location somewhere in that wider area. On day one, the circle starts out with a massive 500-mile radius, but by day two it will go down to 400 miles, day three 300 miles, and so on. By the end of three weeks, the circle will shrink down to a single foot, pinpointing the exact location of the treasure.

Aerial image clues: New aerial photographs will be released each day, panning out from higher and higher altitudes that look down at the treasure’s location. Starting today, the first aerial clue will include a close-up from four feet above the treasure, then eight feet above on day two, and so on. Every photograph will provide more and more visual context and map detail until the treasure is found.

Growing prize bounty: Not only will the winner claim the $25,000 worth of gold, but they’ll also take home the prize bounty cashout, which is summed from half of each entry fee that people have paid to enter the challenge. For example, if 1,000 people join, the bounty will be worth an additional $10,000. If 10,000 people join, the bounty will be worth $100,000. As more people join, there’s no limit on how big this bounty could become.

“When I first saw the treasure, everything about it intrigued me! I could have asked a million more questions of Jason about his treasure and the hunt he’d devised,” said Renee Habashy, appraiser at Hannoush Jewelers. “I immediately signed up to participate, knowing I will not likely be someone doing the hunting, but happy to be a spectator and participant. We don’t see enough ideas that are truly original, but that’s what this treasure hunt is.”

Individuals can sign up for this once-in-a-lifetime, real-world treasure hunt by visiting the Project Skydrop website.

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