A New Mystery, The Hoarder’s Hunt, Begins on May 11th!

Treasure seekers, now is your time to shine! Starting on Thursday, May 11th, Sea of Thieves’ second Mystery will set players the task of solving a mysterious set of clues from an elusive puppet master known only as ‘H’. Mixing out-of-game puzzles and in-game Voyages, it offers the first player to finish this treasure hunt the one-of-a-kind prize of a replica Gold Hoarder skull – with additional physical prizes on offer for crew members and runners-up.

The Hoarder’s Hunt takes on a slightly different format and flavour to the first Sea of Thieves Mystery, Who Killed DeMarco? That Mystery also encouraged players to team up with other members of the community, setting out to solve the murder of a beloved Sea Dog. Using a variety of social media mechanisms, ARG elements and in-game clues, it unfolded over four months, with each step unlocking dynamically as players hit key milestones.

However, this new Mystery seeks to be a little snappier in delivering clues – with the key twist to the tale being that the fastest players to complete the final Stage will bag themselves seriously cool real-world rewards.

How It Works

Proceedings will kick off on Thursday, May 11th, when the first clue will drop at www.seaofthieves.com. This will kick off Stage One of The Hoarder’s Hunt – entitled Skin of Gold – and send players out to obscure corners of the internet to find and solve the first set of clues. Keen-eyed, sharp-minded puzzlers will ultimately discover a keyword to submit back at the Sea of Thieves website. If correct, that will unlock access to an in-game Voyage, which the successful solver can collect from Larinna. Seeing the Voyage through to the end will complete that Stage of the Mystery.

There will be four Stages in total: Skin of Gold, A Feathered Fortune, Portrait of Plunder and The Crowning Glory. Each comprises an ARG clue hunt and in-game Voyage – and every time, the Voyage entitlement will need to be unlocked by a successful keyword.

The final Stage will see pirates who’ve solved every step thus far embark on a fraught and frantic race to obtain a special in-game golden key. This key is required to complete the Mystery – with the first eligible pirate to propose and successfully complete the last Voyage bagging the headline prize. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, wait until you’ve seen the clues…

A Tribute to Treasure Hunting

Inspired by real-world treasure hunts and pop culture classics such as Ready Player One, The Hoarder’s Hunt is an epic adventure which offers an unforgettable and unique treasure. This Mystery pulls together the best of what we learned from Who Killed DeMarco? while also paying homage to famous Easter eggs and treasure hunts that came before.

From the story of Olivier Levasseur, the pirate who, just before his untimely end, threw a cryptogram into a crowd that clued the recipient into the location of an outrageous hidden pirate fortune, to Atari’s famous Swordquest, which also rewarded its best players with real-world treasures, The Hoarder’s Hunt is a celebration of clues and puzzles – and those who can’t resist unravelling them.

Prizes and Rewards Galore

Of course, the coolest prize up for grabs is a recreation of the Gold Hoarder’s skull awarded to the first pirate to complete the Mystery. The skull’s accompanying gold keys are designed to be shared with crewmates who joined the winner for every step of the journey.

Those who solve The Hoarder’s Hunt hot on the heels of the first crew to complete the challenge will also receive real-world prizes, with 10 runners-up receiving exclusive silver keys and 100 third-place pirates getting their hands on Reaper’s Mark medallions. With such glittering prizes on offer, we’re hoping you’ll feel compelled to tackle the clues that ‘H’ will be leaving behind.

For players who don’t quite qualify for the physical prizes, there are still in-game Titles, Trinkets and gold rewards to collect – plus, for the duration of the Mystery, washed-up Bullion Crowns will appear across the world. Players stumbling across these can hand them in to the Gold Hoarders for a handsome payoff so even if you’re not directly tackling the treasure hunt, you can still benefit from it as you travel across the map!

Who Can Play?

With such a complex and global treasure hunt, those who want to tackle The Hoarder’s Hunt will need to opt in to be eligible for the final prizes and to move through each of the Stages. For the finer details on who can or can’t compete in The Hoarder’s Hunt, full terms and conditions will be available when our dedicated Mystery page goes live on May 11th.

The Race Is On!

So, now you know: Sea of Thieves' second Mystery kicks off next week! Stay tuned to our social channels for updates as it progresses – you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitch, and share suggestions and theories on the official Forums or Discord.

Grab your magnifying glass, practise your puzzle-solving and set a course for Sea of Thieves on May 11th, when The Hoarder’s Hunt will drop its first conundrum…