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Treasure Hunt Engineer

Your kid designs a real treasure hunt — maps, secret codes, a working cipher wheel — and the whole family plays it. Nobody finds the treasure without them. Pure DIY fun: nothing for sale, nothing to buy but paper and sneakiness.

GROWN-UP EFFORT, KIT VS INVENTING IT YOURSELF
FROM SCRATCH~5 hrs
WITH THE KIT30 min
Your whole job: supply one treasure 🍬

MAKER PATCH 02 · PATCH: MAP MAKER · AGES 6–12 · ANY WEATHER, ANY SEASON · $14

Read this bit together

This page is for both of you. One column each. Then decide.

👋 FOR THE FUTURE ENGINEER

You become the boss of a secret operation

You get an official map of your house to draw. A cipher wheel you build and spin to write messages nobody can read. An alien alphabet called pigpen. Twelve top-secret clue cards. And at the end, your whole family runs around following YOUR clues while you watch like a genius mastermind, handing out hints only if they pay you in hint coins.

The best part: the grown-ups don't get to know anything. The secrets are yours.

☕ FOR THE GROWN-UP

Systems thinking in a pirate hat

Designing a hunt is sequencing, spatial mapping, audience-aware writing, and two genuinely real cipher systems (Caesar shift, pigpen) — dressed head to toe as a game. Your kid builds mostly solo; your jobs are a 2-minute safety check on hiding zones, one cheap treasure, and being theatrically stumped on hunt day.

The best part: it's indoors-or-yard, screen-free, works in any weather, and the rematch designs itself.

Flip through real pages

Five of the twenty-four pages, exactly as they print — including the cipher wheel your kid cuts out and the Master Trail Sheet that keeps the clue chain honest.

Treasure Hunt Engineer cover with the Map Maker patch The Master Trail Sheet: engineer the clue chain Cut-out working cipher wheel Official clue cards to cut out and hide The Map Maker patch to color, cut, and earn

How the weekend goes

THE ENGINEER'S ARC
PLOT · pick a theme (pirate, spy, dragon…), choose the treasure, size up the hunters' riddle skills20 MIN
MAP · draw the official blueprint of hunt territory, complete with compass rose and code-named rooms30 MIN
ENGINEER THE TRAIL · chain 4–6 hiding spots on the Master Trail Sheet, write clues with riddle recipes and secret codes1 HR
HUNT DAY · invitations under doors, hint coins issued, family hunts, engineer cackles, treasure found, patch earned45 MIN

What's in the pack

MAKER 02 · PACKING LIST
ENGINEER'S OATH + HOW IT WORKS2 pgs
PARENT PLAYBOOK (SAFETY + AGE DIAL)2 pgs
HUNT SCHOOL: THE CHAIN RULE + SECRET HQ2 pgs
MAP STUDIO: BLUEPRINT + TEA-STAINED MAP FRAGMENT2 pgs
MASTER TRAIL SHEET (THE ANSWER KEY)1 pg
CLUE SCHOOL: RIDDLE RECIPES + 4 SECRET CODES2 pgs
CUT-OUT CIPHER WHEEL + PIGPEN KEY2 pgs
12 CLUE CARDS + X-MARKS-THE-SPOT + TREASURE TAGS4 pgs
INVITATIONS, RULES, HINT COINS + GAME MASTER SCRIPT2 pgs
HUNT LOG + REMATCH DESIGNER + REAL CIPHER HISTORY3 pgs
MAP MAKER PATCH + CERTIFICATE2 pgs
TOTAL24 pgs
Supplies check: a printer, scissors, tape, pencils, and one treasure (candy stash, movie-night ticket, the family's dessert taken hostage). A paper fastener makes the cipher wheel spin fancier; a pushpin and an eraser work fine. That's genuinely everything.

Decided together?

Both paper sizes included · instant email delivery · the engineer starts tonight

Start engineering · $14

More of a lemonade family?

Kit 01 teaches the money game with a real stand and a Launch Plan for your town.

See the Lemonade Stand kit