Participants must be 18 years or older to enter either hunt and claim a prize. No purchase or donation is necessary to enter or win. Purchases and donations provide no extra clues, entries, priority, or advantage. Final geographic eligibility will be published before launch; participation is subject to applicable law.

The armchair hunt opens January 6, 2027, at noon CST. All ten cards can be solved from home. Cards release at noon CST on January 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, and 30, and February 2. See the Release Timeline.

BOTG opens February 5, 2027; the exact opening time will be announced before launch. Do not begin the physical search before the official opening. The BOTG hunt closes on Fat Tuesday, February 9, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. CST (UTC−6), unless its prize has already been awarded.

The armchair prize pool starts at $250 USD. The armchair winner is the first eligible participant whose complete, correct response is received by The Keeper through the official private submission form, subject to verification and compliance with these rules. Submission priority is determined by the website’s recorded receipt order and timestamps, not when a response was solved, drafted, or shared elsewhere. An incomplete or incorrect response does not establish priority.

The armchair winner announcement is scheduled for the BOTG opening on February 5, subject to completed verification. If verification is still pending, the announcement follows once it is complete.

Individual card checks are being held back at launch. If optional checks are introduced later, they will be released to everyone together. Using them is never required to qualify, and they do not constitute a prize claim. Submit your answer through the private Keeper submission form. Keep the receipt and timestamp. A receipt does not confirm correctness or an award.

The BOTG prize pool starts at $500 USD. The BOTG winner is the first eligible finder or team representative to lawfully recover the authentic proxy treasure after BOTG opens, submit the required correct claim to The Keeper through the official submission process, and satisfy verification and the in-person exchange requirements. A correct response alone does not qualify for the BOTG prize. A location guess, suspected discovery, or automatic website response does not confirm a prize award.

The verified winner must be present in person with the authentic proxy treasure to exchange it for the BOTG prize pool at an arranged real-world location near New Orleans (NOLA). The exchange may be arranged as soon as the win is verified. The in-person exchange and prize pickup must be completed no later than Ash Wednesday, February 10, 2027.

The official BOTG starting information and final clue will be held until the opening time, then released to everyone together. No participant receives advance access to those unreleased materials or permission to search before BOTG opens.

Hunters may compare discoveries and collaborate, subject to the team and prize-sharing terms below. Do not tamper with the website, bypass release controls, impersonate another hunter, or use stolen private hunt materials.

Each hunt has one prize award, payable to one verified individual winner or eligible team representative. For an armchair team, the representative is the eligible participant who submits the first complete, correct response received by The Keeper, subject to verification. For a BOTG team, the representative must be the eligible finder or claimant who meets the recovery, verification, and in-person exchange requirements. Collaboration does not create separate prize entitlements for team members or increase the prize pool.

Any agreement to share a prize, including whether to share it at all, the recipients, proportions, timing, and payment arrangements, is solely a matter between the representative and their teammates. Teams are responsible for choosing their representative and agreeing to any sharing arrangements. Treasure Krewe is not a party to those arrangements and does not administer, guarantee, enforce, or resolve them.

Once Treasure Krewe has awarded and delivered the applicable prize to the verified winner or representative in accordance with these rules, its obligation to distribute that prize is fulfilled. To the extent permitted by law, Treasure Krewe has no responsibility or liability for the representative’s subsequent division, transfer, use, or failure to share the prize, or for disputes among team members concerning those matters. This provision does not exclude liability or duties that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Treasure hunt at your own risk. Participation is voluntary. You are responsible for assessing your abilities, weather, crowds, traffic, and site conditions, and for making safe, lawful decisions. Stop if access is closed or conditions are unsafe. This statement does not limit any rights or responsibilities that cannot lawfully be limited.

Follow the law, posted opening hours, closures, and directions from property owners and public officials. A clue never grants permission to trespass, force entry, dig, damage property, disturb vegetation, or enter a restricted or unsafe area.

Respect other hunters, residents, businesses, and parade operations. Do not harass anyone or disturb unrelated objects. If access is closed or conditions are unsafe, stop. Report a suspected missing or disturbed treasure privately to The Keeper rather than disturbing the site further.

Donors will be able to choose the current hunt’s armchair pool or BOTG pool. Contributions increase the selected pool and provide no advantage in the hunt. Contributions are not open yet. Final contribution, settlement, and refund terms will be published before funds are accepted.

A gathering is planned for February 10, 2027, with time and venue to be announced. Attendance is optional for everyone. The armchair winner does not have to attend in person. The required BOTG treasure exchange can be arranged separately from the gathering.

Check this website for official releases, corrections, and rule updates. Winner announcements remain subject to completed verification. Armchair submissions and contact details are retained privately for prize review and follow-up. A hashed account identifier counts site visits, approximate countries and U.S. states, puzzle participation, and answer checks across devices. Administrative activity is excluded. Hunt accounts use a made-up username and password; no email or real name is required to create an account. No email is collected for account recovery. Hold your password close like a treasure. If you lose it, your account cannot be recovered. Completed puzzles and earned marks are saved to the account. Your account keeps the hunt experience consistent between visits. Unsubmitted answers are not saved. Passwords are stored as salted hashes; session tokens are stored as hashes. Beta test progress is separate from live hunt progress. Network hashes help limit sign-in abuse. Prize claims may separately require private contact details. Final payment terms and the complete privacy notice will be published before the hunt opens.