What is Treasure Hunting?

Treasure Hunting is the most gamified activity within Upland.  Simply put, Treasure Hunting is finding a ‘Treasure’ hidden on a randomly selected property within whichever city you are in.  Once a Hunt has started, click on any property within your block explorer’s discoverable range.  There is a button that says Treasure.  Click that and an arrow will appear that will direct you toward the hidden Treasure.  Scroll your screen in the direction of the Treasure, pick a new property to check by sending your block explorer to it and repeating the process until you are close enough that the Treasure appears. 

2) What do you win by Treasure Hunting?

• Treasure Chest- Random amount of UPX, just click to open once you have found it.
• Pinata- Random amount of UPX, click repeatedly to maximize the amount of UPX
• Spark Chest- An amount of Spark dictated by several factors, usually .01-.12 Spark.

          2 Kinds of Hunts

1) Standard (Non-Competitive)

Unlimited standard Treasure Hunts are available daily.  The first one per day is free, after that the cost is 50 UPX per hunt.  The advantage of a standard Treasure Hunt is that you are not competing against other players.  You are only competing against the clock.  You have 5 minutes to find the Treasure.  Most of the time the reward will be a small amount of UPX, but approximately 1 out of 20 Treasures will contain a very small amount of Spark.  Tier 1 cities will give you .02 Spark, while Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities will award .01 Spark.

2) Limited and Exclusive (Competitive)

Limited, Exclusive and Special Event Hunts spawn automatically.  Keep an eye out because they will have a 5 minute countdown before they start.  It does not cost anything to participate other than the cost of sends.  But be fast, because these typically don’t last long and there’s only 1 winner.  The reward is typically UPX, more UPX than the standard Hunts and occasionally Spark.  Make sure to practice the standard Hunts before attempting these, you need to be able to find chests in about 1 minute if you want to have a chance.

Will I advance in the game by treasure hunting?

There is no simple answer to this.  When you are learning to Treasure Hunt, expect to lose UPX, not gain it.  Eventually it’s possible to break-even or maybe end up slightly ahead, however it’s unrealistic for the majority of players to expect huge UPX gains from Treasure Hunting.  I would say for most players, the point of Treasure Hunting is to gain Spark.  Spark is the token used to build houses.  Spark can be found in miniscule amounts during Treasure Hunts and it is a grind to get a substantial amount of Spark, no doubt, but it’s possible.  Here are a few things that can help you decide if Treasure Hunting is right for you:

• Do you have enough properties in your city to Hunt? Although I’ve seen players be successful hunting in a city with no properties, I have to admit that those players are experienced with probably 1,000 or more hunts experience. Some people will say that you can break-even with 5-6 properties that are spaced out throughout a city.  I fall into the camp that suggest a minimum of about 50 properties in a city to break-even.  And an elite treasure hunting map will have 350-500 or more properties in 1 city.  This is important because you can send your block explorer to your own properties without paying UPX or losing a send.  And the closer that you can get to the Treasure, the less sends and the less UPX you will have to spend per Treasure.
• What’s the competition like in my city? The level of competition varies by city.  For example, Chicago is a very difficult City to win competitive Treasure Hunts.  It is a Tier 1 City for Treasure Hunting, which means the rewards are higher.  But it also means that some of the best Treasure Hunters are there, which makes winning a competitive hunt very difficult.  On the Opposite side of the spectrum, Fresno and Staten Island typically have less people competing, although the rewards are lower, it is more likely that you will snag a competitive Treasure.
• Reward Tier. Tier 1 cities have the highest rewards.  Tier 3 cities are the easiest to win.
• Send Costs. The more that sends cost, the more expensive it is to move around the city
• Availability of Exclusive Hunts. Exclusive Hunts have the best rewards, however Tier 3 cities do not have Exclusive Hunts available.

Summary

Treasure Hunting can be a fun way to pass some time and earn a little bit of Spark for the trouble.  As long as people have reasonable expectations, Treasure Hunting is a decent use of time even if it’s not going to make you rich.  Try it out and expect to lose UPX to learn.  Once you get comfortable, you can break-even or make a small amount of UPX and Spark.  Have Fun.

Get an UPX Bonus for Signing Up!

If you are a new player or haven’t set up your Upland account yet, I highly recommend using a referral link.  The advantage is that you will receive 50% more UPX on your first purchase of UPX.  Here is my referral link that you can use:  Sign Up Here and Get UPX Bonus.

And please see some of my other Upland articles.  See you in the Metaverse.