Abstract
- Sea of Thieves has kicked off its newest Thriller occasion, The Hoarder’s Hunt.
- The four-week occasion will see gamers fixing puzzles each in-game and elsewhere on-line, with real-life treasure to be gained.
- We spoke to the crew behind the Thriller to find the way it was impressed, the way it was made, and be taught slightly about what’s in retailer.
Because the story goes, in 1730, Olivier Levasseur stood on the gallows, awaiting his execution for a lifetime of piracy – which had included the theft of an infinite treasure haul from a Portuguese galleon, subsequently buried on the Seychelles island of Mahé. Requested for any final phrases, Levasseur eliminated a necklace from his neck, shouted, “My treasure for he who can perceive!”, and threw it into the watching crowd. That necklace was hung with a parchment that includes a 17-line cryptogram, seemingly providing the situation of his hidden riches. For greater than three centuries, treasure hunters have tried and didn’t decode the message on that parchment, and the gold stays misplaced to today.
It’s a becoming inspiration for Sea of Thieves’ new thriller, The Hoarder’s Hunt, which is able to take gamers each in-game and past within the hunt for a real-life treasure – a golden cranium, which will probably be awarded to the primary participant that solves a large number of puzzles (with extra bodily treasure for the following 110 gamers to achieve the top of the method, and in-game rewards for others who participate). These puzzles won’t be fairly as tough to decode as Levasseur’s treasure, but it surely definitely gained’t be a easy course of.
For Lead Designer Chris Davies, the promise of the occasion is easy: “To ship the last word treasure hunt. Sea of Thieves is 5 years outdated, and we’ve performed lots of permitting gamers to pursue that pirate fantasy of looking for treasure, and digging it up. [So,] how can we provide the last word model of that? Taking it outdoors of the sport in addition to in-game and really provide real-world treasure for our neighborhood to go looking out.”
To do this, The Hoarder’s Hunt will function out-of-game puzzles, unfold out throughout the web world, which is able to lead you to otherwise-locked in-game Voyages, which in flip result in extra out-of-game clues to decode. All of this will probably be wrapped up within the story of a brand new character, H, who – for the following 4 weeks – will ship gamers cryptic messages, serving to direct them to their subsequent aim, resulting in a race to the prize (and you may signal as much as obtain H’s first message now). The primary participant to complete that remaining Voyage will obtain the golden cranium as their reward.
Apart from Levasseur’s gold, the occasion has been impressed by different treasure hunts, from Cadbury’s Conundrum promotion (which provided actual golden eggs for people who may clear up complicated puzzle books), to Prepared Participant One’s story about an internet hunt with monumental real-life rewards. But it surely’s additionally a response to earlier Sea of Thieves occasions. Earlier than launch, Uncommon arrange a quest to earn real-life golden bananas, and the sport’s first Thriller occasion noticed gamers cracking the case of who killed Sea Canine DeMarco. However The Hoarder’s Hunt goals to enhance on each.
The hunt for the Golden Bananas noticed fewer and fewer gamers capable of take part till its finish – The Hoarder’s Hunt will stay open to all proper till its conclusion. In the meantime, the Thriller of DeMarco was pretty open-ended, resulting in a really lengthy thriller, dominated by clues solely from Uncommon’s personal social channels. This hunt will probably be way more open but it surely’ll be time-limited, giving gamers extra attention-grabbing puzzles, however with an endgoal at all times in sight.
To do that, Uncommon has labored with real-life puzzlemasters, tasked with creating really mind-boggling duties that may ship gamers all around the web within the hunt for the following answer – with a view to creating a really attention-grabbing dynamic: this must be a collaborative effort, with a number of gamers working collectively to uncover options – till it transforms into a person hunt for that remaining treasure.
“What we don’t need,” explains Davies, “is people, puzzle specialists, to type of squirrel themselves away and clear up these individually. We wish this to be one thing the place the neighborhood must lean on one another, the place they speculate on potential avenues of investigation to seek out the options. And by getting the neighborhood working collectively, that’s what makes it such an attention-grabbing dynamic shift, [until] folks attain that time of, ‘Okay, that is truly a race with a cool prize on the finish of it.’”
And that remaining race will probably be fascinating to see – the second this turns into a real dash for the top will probably be a take a look at for gamers’ ethical compasses in addition to their brains. It’s really the primary participant to unravel the thriller that earns the reward – not their crew. The ultimate golden cranium comes with 4 removable golden keys, permitting the victorious participant to reward their crew – however they don’t need to. That’s very a lot by design:
“[This is] the last word take a look at of the Pirate Code,” says Head of Model and Licensing, Adam Park. “As a result of basically as a crew you may go and win this prize however whoever proposed that voyage would be the precise winner. In order that particular person may at that time flip round and select to maintain the prize for themselves, or it’s been made in such a means that it may be cut up with the keys – they will share their spoils however once more, it’s going to be one other fascinating take a look at of how folks truly behave. I do know what I’d do… you’d by no means hear from me once more.”
“That’s why I’d by no means crew up with you Adam,” laughs Davies.
All of this has led Uncommon to assume in new methods about the way it delivers this Thriller. For the out-of-game puzzles, the mantra has been that there’s no puzzle too tough, so long as the clues have been supplied pretty, and that a minimum of a couple of gamers may crack the code and share it with the neighborhood. I gained’t give something away, however be ready to search for clues in some very sudden locations.
Even the in-game Voyages are a brand new enterprise, although:
“We’re calling them Hunt Voyages,” says Davies. “In the end, you’re attempting to find one of many keys that can be utilized to unlock the chests which were added to each Gold Hoarders tent. It’s a singular Voyage, totally different to what we’ve performed earlier than. It’s going to ship you all through the areas within the sport, island-hopping, to do a map-wide scavenger hunt for these keys. However clearly, after 5 years, our super-engaged gamers know these areas just like the again of their hand. And what we truly need this to really feel like is, even in case you haven’t performed the sport as a lot, even in case you’ve lately joined the sport, you’ve nonetheless received an incredible likelihood of successful these.”
The important thing to that’s the new character, H. Gamers have been fixing in-game riddles for years, however H speaks to gamers in a wholly totally different means: “H will see issues by way of a barely totally different lens and describe issues in a barely totally different means. You possibly can’t depend on how we often describe these points of the scenes, it’s worthwhile to interpret H’s lexicon and the way they discuss this stuff, attempt to perceive what H was seeing after they had been making these notes and following of their footsteps.”
In impact, H would be the sport’s personal model of the Thriller’s inspiration, Levasseur, providing inscrutable supplies for gamers to puzzle over, focus on, and work collectively on – till they strike out on their very own to obtain the last word prize. However don’t dilly-dally; you could have so much lower than 300 years to determine this one out.
The Hoarder’s Hunt begins in Sea of Thieves right this moment. Join now to participate.
Sea of Thieves 2023 Version
Microsoft Studios
$39.99
$19.99
Xbox One X Enhanced
PC Recreation Go
Xbox Recreation Go
Xbox Reside Gold membership required to play on Xbox One; bought individually.
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2023 Version Out Now
Have fun 5 years since Sea of Thieves’ launch with this particular version of the sport, which features a copy of Sea of Thieves itself with all everlasting content material added since launch, plus a ten,000 gold bonus and a choice of Hunter cosmetics. The Hunter Cutlass, Pistol, Compass, Hat, Jacket and Sails will make sure you reduce a formidable determine as you set sail for journey!
In regards to the Recreation
Sea of Thieves gives the important pirate expertise, from crusing and preventing to exploring and looting – all the pieces it’s worthwhile to reside the pirate life and turn out to be a legend in your individual proper. With no set roles, you could have full freedom to method the world, and different gamers, nonetheless you select.
Whether or not you’re voyaging as a gaggle or crusing solo, you’re sure to come across different crews on this shared world journey – however will they be pals or foes, and the way will you reply?
A Huge Open World
Discover an enormous open world crammed with unspoiled islands and underwater kingdoms. Tackle quests to hunt for misplaced loot, forge a status with the Buying and selling Corporations and battle foes from Phantoms and Ocean Crawlers to Megalodons and the mighty Kraken. Attempt your hand at fishing, make maps to your individual buried treasure or select from lots of of different non-obligatory targets and side-quests!
Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life
Play the Tall Tales to expertise Sea of Thieves’ distinctive narrative-driven campaigns, and be part of forces with Captain Jack Sparrow in Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life, an acclaimed authentic story that brings Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean crusing into Sea of Thieves. These immersive and cinematic quests present round 30 hours of the last word pirate journey.
A Recreation That’s At all times Rising
With every Season bringing in new sport options each three months alongside common in-game Occasions and new narrative Adventures, Sea of Thieves is a service-based sport that’s nonetheless rising and evolving. Examine again often to see what free content material has been newly added, and see how far you may climb by way of every Season’s 100 ranges of Renown to earn particular rewards.
Develop into Legend
In your journey to turn out to be a Pirate Legend you’ll amass loot, construct a status and outline a singular private fashion along with your hard-earned rewards. Adventurer. Explorer. Conqueror. What is going to your legend be?
