A New Hampshire game designer announced on September 19 that he had hidden a 24-karat, 10-troy-ounce gold statue worth $26,000 on the forest floor, but now the map’s shrinking location has hunters of treasures approaching.
Jason Rohrer of Dover is one of the co-creators of Skydrop Project – a real-life treasure hunt for a gold statue hidden somewhere on public land in the northeast.
When the game was released, the map showed that the potential search area was a 500-mile radius circle spanning from New England to Washington DC.
But on Monday, the map’s release had limited the area to a 35-mile radius, with the circle approaching Massachusetts and a small portion of Vermont.
It focuses on the I-91 corridor in the Pioneer Valley that includes the cities of Amherst, Northampton, South Hadley and miles of thick forest.
Jason Rohrer of Dover is one of the co-creators of Project Skydrop: a real-life scavenger hunt for a gold statue hidden somewhere on public land in the Northeast.
The lucky winner will receive a 24 karat, 10 troy ounce gold statue valued at 26,000 and the prize, which is currently valued at $76,372 and is constantly increasing with every second.
The gold statue is hidden somewhere in Massachusetts or a part of Vermont, according to the most recent 35-mile map revealed Monday.
For those players who have invested heavily in finding the whereabouts of the treasures, they can pay a $20 registration fee that gives them access to a changing aerial map of the forest floor.
The first photo submitted was just a foot off the ground, but last Monday, the image soared above the treetops, the Boston Globe reported.
Rohrer said that toward the end of the search, the photo will reach a height where players will be able to identify geographic details that will be an important clue to the location of the treasure.
Subscribers You also have access to tracks that are sent between 9am and 3pm daily.
But tracks are submitted on a “first come, first served” basis, meaning those who join first get their tracks first. If someone joins later, they will still have access to tracks posted in previous days.
For those players who have invested heavily in finding the whereabouts of the treasures, they can pay a $20 registration fee that gives them access to a changing aerial map of the forest floor. PICTURED: Rohrer (left) with his sister Jacks (right).
Project Skydrop is expected to be resolved on October 10, when the map will be reduced to just one square foot.
Subscribers also have access to tracks that are submitted between 9am and 3pm every day, but tracks are submitted on a “first come, first served” basis, meaning those who join early get their clues first.
There is also a discord subscriber server where they can chat about their findings and which has a whopping 10,613 members.
For the winner, it’s not just about the value of the gold statue they will walk away with: the prize is currently valued at $76,372 and is constantly increasing every second, as shown on the project’s website.
Internet sleuths are teaming up online to discover the location of the treasure; even Rohrer has been participating in threads on his Reddit account.
In the GeoPuzzle Reddit thread a mailfeaturing a photo from the trail camera monitoring the golden statue, one user commented: ‘Also, there is no visible moss growth. So the camera is most likely facing north.’
Rohrer was apparently impressed by this finding and responded, “Actually, I think you’re right.” You are a smart can!
Users also joke about the trail camera photo of a squirrel next to the trophy, as an homage to the original promotional video that showed an animated squirrel with the treasure.
a user aware a picture of a squirrel in the woods and wrote “found,” prompting one Redditor to comment, “That squirrel knows where the treasure is.” If we find the squirrel, we will find the treasure.
Users also joke about the trail camera photo of the squirrel next to the trophy, as an homage to the original promotional video that showed an animated squirrel with the treasure.
Rohrer and Tom Bailey collaborated on Project Skydrop over a three-year period. Bailey helped create the game, designed the statue, and created the music for the stunning announcement video. PICTURED: Rohrer (left) with his sister Jacks (right)
Rohrer and Tom Bailey collaborated on Project Skydrop over a three-year period. Bailey helped create the game, designed the statue, and created the music for the stunning announcement video.
Rohrer has a strong reputation in the gaming world for his creation of Passage, Inside a Star Filled Sky, and A game for someone – a game meant to be played 2,000 years in the future and buried somewhere in the Nevada desert.
Rohrer told the Boston Globe that his most recent project is an attempt to improve the treasure hunt as a game genre.
If successful, Rohrer wrote on Reddit that he would like to do a scavenger hunt somewhere in Europe.
Project Skydrop is expected to be resolved on October 10, when the map will shrink to just one square foot.
