Welcome to the Flock
Golden Pigeon is a treasure hunt community started in 2024 in New York City. Originally inspired by great treasure hunts in Massachusetts, it was time that competitive treasure hunting made its return in the Big Apple.
Golden Pigeon hosts treasure hunts designed to last no more than 24-hours for all levels -- no prior experience or knowledge is required. The hunts consist of 5 puzzles and 5 locations, all contained in one area of New York City. Where? You'll have to solve the Opening Puzzle to find out.
FAQ
What Happens on The Day of the Hunt?
At 9 A.M, each team will be sent a Starting Puzzle. Once solved, the puzzle will guide you to a location in New York City. Once onsite, you will need to find something (typically a QR code) to unlock the next puzzle. Teams will solve puzzles and visit locations (typically 5 per hunt) until arriving at the final destination and claiming the treasure to win the cash prize.
Locations in one hunt will all be relatively close to each other. The hunts are designed to be walkable or an easy subway ride from location to location. While they may not be restricted to one borough, you won't be traveling from the Bronx to Staten Island in one hunt.
While the hunt goes on, clues will be given as needed. Golden Pigeon sees all and is able to track what puzzle or location teams are on. Each stage varies in difficulty and the amount of time needed to solve a puzzle. As a rule of thumb, more than three hours on any stage warrants a clue to keep the hunt moving.
What Do I Need to Bring?
You NEED:
- A device that can receive emails for hints throughout the hunt.
- A device that can scan QR codes.
- Google.
- Comfortable walking shoes.
- PHONE CHARGERS
-
You MIGHT WANT:
- A notebook, pen or pencil.
- Smart teammates to help you out.
You DO NOT NEED:
- A Car (All locations are accessible via NYC Subway or on foot.)
- A Shovel (There is NO digging involved in any Golden Pigeon hunt.)
- Experience (Puzzles might be challenging, but this hunt is beginner friendly.)
What Is A Puzzle?
Along the way, you'll encounter puzzles that you will have to solve to get to the next location or object (typically a QR code) that needs to be found on site.
While "Puzzle" can be hard to define, there are some things that are almost always true:
Puzzles result in an answer, which is generally a word, short phrase, location, or name. The goal of solving the puzzle is to find the answer.
Puzzles don’t come with instructions: figuring out what to do is part of the puzzle.
Usually, when you’ve correctly solved a puzzle and gotten an answer, it will be obvious that you’ve done the right thing. All the information provided by the puzzle will somehow “fit together”.
Second of all, no two puzzles are alike. One moment, you’ll be sleuthing for clues in a cryptic-sounding sentence; the next, you’ll be researching parts of a riddle; and then, you might find yourself working out a crossword-esque word game, or even folding origami!
For resources for beginners at solving puzzles: https://www.thehuntforgood.org/about-1-2
For something a little harder: https://puzzles.mit.edu/resources.html
You might want to look into these common ciphers, codes and puzzle types:
Braille, Semaphore, Morse Code, AZ126 Ciphers, Book Index, Indexing, Polybius Square Ciphers, Prime Ciphers, Ceaser Shifts etc.
Puzzle Resources
As a treasure hunter with experience under your belt, you'll find tools that will help you solve puzzles faster and more accurately. Because these hunts are designed for both people with experience and with no puzzle-solving experience, to level the playing field, I wanted to share some useful puzzle tools that might help with a puzzle or two. I encourage you to do your own research and find tools you love, but to get your started:
1. DCODE Cipher Identifier:
This cipher identifier will help find potential types of ciphers that the information you have could be encoded with. It will spit out a list of potential matches.
2. DCODE Puzzle Tools:
Dcode has a plethora of other puzzle tools. If you know what cipher you are working with, you can visit that page for a solve.
3. Anagram Solver.Net:
The best Anagram solver out there. Uses proper nouns.
4. AZ126 Solver:
Helps translate letters of the alphabet to numbers and vice versa. If you have a set of numbers under 26, this is usually the go to.
5. Cache Slueth Code Tables:
Give you lists of cipher types and how they work.
Rules
Golden Pigeon games are games of skill with a cash prize.
To protect the integrity of the hunts, there are strict rules that teams must follow in order to participate:
In order to play
-
All Participants MUST register on the ticketing website for each hunt they will partake in.
-
Registration must occur before the deadline set for each hunt.
-
To claim the cash prize, each QR code must be scanned by a registered participant on the team.
-
Each participant must be 18+.
-
Each participant must sign the liability waiver on the ticketing website.
On the Day of the Hunt
-
Do not alter QR codes in any way.
-
Return all clues the exact way that you have found them.
-
Do not vandalize Golden Pigeon property or property where clues are found.
-
Do not break and enter.
Teams and Participants in violation of these rules may be penalized, or in some cases, banned from future hunts.