New treasure hunt will have you playing AR games in Sentosa at night to win $1,000 every hour

Didn’t manage to score that $9.3 million TOTO ticket on Monday (Oct 14)? We feel you. Instead of leaving it to Lady Luck, here’s a way to win thousands of dollars in cash using your wits and a dash of augmented reality.

The minds behind the viral Hunt The Mouse treasure hunt have come up with something new to get folks looting around Sentosa after dark. In a team-up with Sentosa Development Corporation, local gamification startup Sqkii has announced Late-Night #Cashdrop, a first-of-its-kind nighttime cash hunt that promises fame and fortune from Oct 25 to 27. 

And they really are promising $1,000 cash in hand if you manage to find a glow-in-the-dark token hidden at a random location around Fort Siloso, Siloso Beach, Imbiah Area and Palawan Beach. 

You could even score more than that because the tokens would be dropped hourly between 7pm and 11pm each night — which is a pretty smart way to get visitor numbers soaring. Sentosa is literally dropping fat stacks to get people to spend time at the resort island. 

How tech comes into play is that treasure hunters have to visit the Sqkii Land website on their phone’s web browser, switch on location tracking, and augmented reality will help transform the real-world Sentosa environment into a digital hunting ground on-screen. 

There won’t be any need to download additional apps too. Sqkii Land consists of a “magical map” that indicates possible areas where various token are hidden and perks can be acquired through completing tasks and answering questions. Hints will be released in-game every three to five minutes until the token is found. 

“Over the last three years, Hunt the Mouse and Sqkii’s treasure hunting games have brought people and families together, building communities together both online and offline,” enthused Kenny Choy, Sqkii’s co-founder. 

“Many players have shared that the best part of the game, in addition to finding the cash, is the new friendships formed during the hunt and the camaraderie in moving towards a common goal,” he added. 

Look, friendship is great and all, but money makes the world go round. Seeing how Sqkii’s previous treasure hunts have garnered over half a million players scouring the island for cold hard cash, expect Sentosa to get real crowded on Oct 25 to 27. Stay tuned to the Sqkii Facebook page.

ilyas@asiaone.com