Back to the arcade
45-second rounds · 3 min read
Play Treasure MapWhat is Treasure Map?
Read a short compass route and identify its final square on a five-by-five map. A flag marks the starting location. North means toward the top of the map, east means right, south means down, and west means left. The challenge is tracking the entire route mentally rather than selecting each intermediate square.
Rules and controls
- Begin at the flag and follow the listed instructions in order, one grid square per step. Select only the final destination. A correct square earns one objective; a wrong square records a mistake. Both outcomes load a new route after the transition. Every generated route remains within the map boundaries, so you never need to wrap from one edge to another.
- Controls respond only during active play. The countdown and the brief change between boards are pauses, not opportunities to submit the next answer early. Touch controls and native Tab/Enter button activation follow the same replay rules.
Use the controls displayed above the playfield. Touch buttons and keyboard shortcuts are shown before the round begins.
Scoring and rewards
The game scoreboard gives 100 for each correct treasures located objective and subtracts 25 for a recorded mistake, with a minimum displayed score of zero. Only new, accepted objectives count; waiting or repeating completed work does not create achievements.
Reward points use verified performance against this game’s reference pace rather than its raw scoreboard. The reference is: Trace a short compass route in three to five-and-a-half seconds, plus transition. Full reference performance corresponds to 40 base reward points and 60 XP per minute; the account’s level bonus is applied separately.
Points and XP scale with objective performance, precision, and round length. At full reward performance, a 45-second round earns up to 30 base points and 45 XP. Each level gained adds a 0.1% point bonus. Guest practice has no reward balance.
For eligible rewarded rounds, points remain pending until the sponsored claim’s 12 seconds of focused time and fresh hCaptcha are complete. No ad click or purchase is required.
How difficulty changes
Later difficulty adds more instructions to remember and combine. Routes can reverse direction or return to a previously visited square, including the starting square. The map remains five-by-five. The destination is determined by the ordered moves, not by the length of the route or the distance from the flag.
Difficulty increases after every three starts of this game during a UTC day, up to level 10, and resets at 00:00 UTC. Your player level and its point bonus are separate from the game’s daily difficulty.
Strategy
Plan the next move
Track row and column separately. North and south change the row; east and west change the column. Canceling opposite moves mentally can simplify the calculation without changing the final destination.
Check before committing
Use the grid labels and starting marker as fixed references. If you lose your place, restart the route from the flag rather than guessing from an uncertain intermediate position. There is no extra cost simply for rereading.
A worked example
- Start at C3 in the center of the map. Follow north, east, then south.
- North moves to C2, east to D2, and south to D3.
- Select D3 as the final square. The north and south steps cancel vertically, leaving a net move one square east.
Common mistakes
- North is upward on the screen, not toward whichever edge you last used.
- Do not submit the first intermediate square; only the end of the full instruction list is checked.
Questions
Can the treasure end at the flag?
Yes. Opposite moves can cancel completely, making the original starting square the correct destination.
Do routes cross the map boundary?
No. Every instruction is generated from a legal neighboring square, so the route always stays inside the board.
