Our Treasure Hunt is now available for playing. I have created some test sites (Soutbank, London / Portsmouth Uni / Brunswick, Hove / Weald & Downland Museum, Singleton) but it is very easy for anyone to create one. The beta can be found here.
The goal of Treasure Hunt is to navigate a course of waypoints using picture clues (with a little help from the “warmometer” – it tells you if you are getting hotter or colder!). When the game starts you are presented with a picture on your phone that should point you in the direction of the first location. As you near this point, a second picture will be shown, which should allow you to identify the exact point (in a following post, I will be sharing some ideas for how you might do this). If the clues alone are not enough, you can reveal a hint – and don’t forget the warmometer.
And now down to details
Start by giving the game a name. This is how you will see it in the list of games when you go to Treasure Hunt on your phone.
Then click on “add new waypoint” then go down to the Name and er… give it a name. Then add a description – this will appear when the user gets to the destination. If you give a hint, the user will see this when he clicks on the hint button on the phone.
Now use the map to find your target – you can use either a map or the satellite view (hint: you can also the search facility). Click on the map to add the coordinates of your waypoint.
Click on the image tab to upload the 2 images needed for you location. You select them from your local drive and then click on the red “upload” thingy. Bear in mind that different phones have different screen sizes and that you need to make sure that your clue will be understood however seen. In order to help, click on the point of interest for each picture and the program will crop the image in the best way possible. Also don’t forget that in strong light your pictures may not be seen to best advantage so try and increase the contrast and not include too much detail (more on this soon).
Nearly there. Just repeat the above by adding new waypoints. And (I was going to say Hey Presto, but changed my mind) there’s your treasure hunt. Click on “Submit Game” to send it off to to LocoHQ.