Buried Treasure

You are a seafaring adventurer, determined to find your fortune somewhere over the horizon.

While at port in a strange city, you hear tales of the Pirate Strangebeard and his legendary buried treasure.

In the city you buy a page of writing, supposed to guide the way to the treasure, but it is written in some kind of code and doesn't make any sense.

You realise that the code is exactly the same as the writing on a map that you found years ago. 

With your map and the writing, you might finally be able to find Pirate Strangebeard's fortune!

You set sail immediately.

Buried Treasure is a single play, relatively simple code cracking game for any number of players and a wide range of ages.

It can be played competitively or cooperatively, as individuals, pairs or groups, and has two difficulty levels. 

The goal is simple, crack the code using the clues on the map and follow the instructions to locate the coordinates of the treasure.

Read below for more info on the different ways of playing.

Cooperative play

If playing on the same team as others, everyone works together to find the treasure and if the treasure is found - everyone wins!

Competitive play

When playing against others, each player/team times how long it takes for them to finish. Each player/team writes down their prediction of the coordinates of the treasure, along with the amount of time they took (using a timer will make this easier). When all players/teams are finished, the answer is revealed. The player/team who has the correct answer and the shortest time is the winner.

Note for parents/teachers:

If you have children playing Buried Treasure, it is recommended that they use the basic worksheet and work in pairs to shorten completion time. It can be frustrating decoding alone.

Keep the answer sheets hidden until everyone has finished. 

There are two versions of the game available - full colour or black & white (with no background to conserve ink.)

Download whichever folder is appropriate.