As part of a charitable fundraising effort, Burlington, VT-based Mobiaum has created treasure maps leading to the location of $500 stashed in the city.
Two hundred identical maps have been made, with puzzles leading to the location of the hidden money. The maps are available at Breakout Escape room next to Pritchard Park, A-Escape on Leicester Hwy, and for delivery in downtown Asheville via a text message to (203) 997-1648. Digital copies followed by a mailed copy of the map can be purchased at Mobiaum.com. Any individual interested in joining the hunt can choose to pay whatever they would like for the map, but the suggested donation is $5-$10. The goal of the effort is to raise money for Homeward Bound of WNC by selling the two hundred maps.
The event will continue until the money is found, however to ensure that it ends by January 31st, clue videos will start being posted each day starting on the 20th. A public Facebook event has been created to transmit information and updates about the status of the hunt. Anyone interested in following along or getting information can do so through the Mobiaum Facebook page or the public event. There is really no ‘too late’ to join in, the map can be solved with a few spare hours and a good thinking cap.
The previous hunt took place in Burlington, VT where $240 was raised for the Committee on Temporary Shelter; 85 players participated. Previous winner Lauren Mazzoleni had this to say, “It’s a really cool idea, as you look at the map there’s a lot of different layers to it. It also took a lot of teamwork.” Lauren worked with two other friends to solve the puzzles to reveal the money location.
“It’s designed to be done with friends or with multiple people” idea creator, David Gunsallus says. “It’s made as something people can do over the course of many days with multiple people until it’s finished.”
Once the treasure hunt ends here, Mobiaum will be going to Savannah, Georgia to do it all again. Until then, though, the month of January belongs to Asheville!