How It Works
First, a leader or teacher downloads and prints the special codes for this story (see below).
Second, those special codes can be hidden, kind of like a digital scavenger hunt. They will work inside or outside.
Third, have the participants use a mobile device with the ScannerVerse app installed. Once the app is installed, you no longer need an Internet connection. So feel free to hide special codes even where you never get good cell or WiFi!
To start the story, each participant scans the starting code, and then the app will guide them as they hunt for the special codes that will tell the rest of the story!
The Lost Treasure of the West: The Story So Far…
Well, howdy! My name’s Wyatt, and I will be your guide today. And you’re just in time!
Every year, our town brings in people from all around to search for the Lost Treasure of the West.
The legend of the Lost Treasure of the West says that a wealthy woman named Hannah moved to our town shortly before something terrible happened.
A tornado blew through town! People lost almost everything. Thanks to this helpful woman, however, the town was able to get back on its feet. And so the town called her a hero and gave her a nickname: Helpful Hannah!
The legend says that she secured her treasure inside a special vault so the town would have the resources to rebuild if a tornado came through again. Sometime over the years, the town forgot where the vault was hidden. Can you believe that? So now the Lost Treasure of the West is just sitting out there, waiting for someone to discover it.
The Lost Treasure of the West would sure come in handy right about now. Our town has been in a drought for many years, and it’s getting harder and harder to grow food. The river out there has been shrinking mighty fast.
So we started organizing these searches for the treasure, so the town could dig some wells to find more water. We also need to build a water tower to store up for the dry times, and fix some leaky pipes. But all of that costs money. That’s why we need to find the treasure.
Whoever finds the treasure will be a hero to this town, and they get to keep a part of it for themselves, too! The three most likely places for the treasure are…By the river. Near Hannah’s former house here in town. Or somewhere in the mountain behind the town.
You’ll first need to find a shovel to start digging. You also might search around to try to find some clues about where to dig. Legend says Hannah wrote down the location of her treasure in her journal. Maybe you can find a few pages laying around if you search hard enough.
With the right tools and right clues, you might be the one to find the Lost Treasure of the West and become a hero to this town!
The clues, tools, and locations to dig are all on special codes that were hidden by someone in the real world where you are. Just use the scanner in this app to scan the special codes and see the next part of the story.