You can win $10,000 in cash at this Miami treasure hunt
Treasure Quest Adventures wants to hand over a $10,000 cash prize to someone in Miami. But if you want it, you’re going to have to be smart enough to figure out where the money is.
The new, post-COVID scavenger hunt event arrives in Miami in February, with smaller prizes in hunts to follow in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Think of it as trivia night meets escape room, a group puzzle along the lines of Miami’s beloved Tropic Hunt. You sign up online. At 11 a.m. on the day of the event, you’ll get an email with a link that allows you into the Treasure Quest portal, where you’ll find clues about where to go. You’ll eventually end up at a large outdoor space — Treasure Quest Adventures is social-distance savvy — where piecing together more clues will hopefully lead you to the promised land (that is, 10K in cash).
Founder Ian Lovejoy, who launched the events in the Washington, D.C. metro area last August, says the clues could be anything from a math problem to pop culture knowledge. Expect visual and audio clues, too.
“It starts out like ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’ ” he says. “The first questions are easier. Then you’ll get a clue specifically about a public location in the Miami-Dade County area. It could be a park or historic site or a popular civic area. We try to use off-the-beaten path locations.”
Treasure Quest Adventures started as a way to get people outside during the COVID pandemic. Lovejoy says the majority of contestants in the D.C.-area events were families (anyone under 18 participates for free, otherwise you need to buy a ticket).
The appeal of the hunt, he says, is that it’s not passive. You have to think and work together to win.
“It’s exciting because it’s not like a lottery, not random,” he says. “If you are skilled and have your wits about you, you can win. Anybody can win. People who are competitive, who have natural interest in riddles, can win. We’ve had soccer moms in their 50s win, young men in their 20s win. It’s fascinating — we never know who’s going to win.”
Another bonus: 10 percent of proceeds will go to hunger-relief organization Feeding South Florida.
Lovejoy hopes to take the treasure hunts to 10 more cities early in 2021, in particular southern cities with warm climates, like Orlando, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and possibly spots in the Carolinas.
“There’s a reason we’re not in Detroit right now,” he says.
Treasure Quest Adventures
Feb 27: $10,000 prize in Miami-Dade County; tickets $55; under 18 free for all hunts
March 6: $1,000 prize in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County; $35
March 13: $1,000 prize in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County; $35
March 20: $1,000 prize in Miami-Dade County; $35
To register: finishthequest.com/registration