Treasure Hunters Challenge: Week 5

The fifth challenge provides a new clue from Laird on our phone: The Fulton Paddleboat was a key form of transportation up until the civil war. banks used them to transport gold to hiding places safe from military coffers. as Union forces advanced, soldiers became treasure hunters as they searched for these hidden deposits. you are to take this paddleboat upriver to where one of these American treasures was discovered. The paddleboat also plays a prominent role in some of the writings of Mark Twain, which will come into play later.

This challenge starts on the deck of one of these paddleboats, and as has been the custom, the clue on how to start the challenge is becoming less apparent. Also thankful is the disappearance of the sponsors. That’s not to say that they aren’t there, they just aren’t so prevalent. It makes the challenge more enjoyable. The coupling of a more difficult challenge with less sponsorship is a good change.

On the deck there are two apparent ways to go – up or down – but there is also no obvious indicator of which makes more sense, so at this point, it’s up to you which way to go. Unlike some of the earlier challenges, this one can be done in any order to some degree.

You do have to do certain steps in a certain order, but if you want to go down and then go up, you can, it just might not make as much sense. Just make sure that you don’t end up at the end of the challenge without the pieces you’re supposed to get at the beginning. Otherwise you might have to start all over!

• On the deck, click the lantern on the wall and click again to store in your backpack. You’ll need it later.
• Click the stairs going up.
• Click the piece of paper to the left of the steering wheel and click again to store it in your backpack.
• Click the chest to approach it.
• Click the chest to open it.
• Click the wheel and click again to store it in your backpack.
• Click Go Back.
• Click Return to Deck.
• Click the stairs going down.
• You’ll find yourself in the engine room. Click the pipes to turn the into position. Your objective is to make a complete system where none of the steam can escape. If it does, the steam won’t be able to power the wheel. Click each section of pipe so that it turns into position. There is at least one possible solution. There may be others.
• After your system is complete, click your backpack.
• Click the wheel to select it, then again to use snap it into place and again to turn it.
• Once you’ve started the engine, click your backpack, then click the piece of paper, and click again to put it into place over the steam vent to view a page from Tom Sawyer. This is a big hint.
• Click Continue, then Return to Deck.
• Click the stairs going up.
• Click the wheel.
• Enter your destination. But where should you go?
• You should go to St. Petersburg, Missouri (the setting for Tom Sawyer).
• There is one problem with this, and that is that St. Petersburg, Missouri doesn’t exist on any map (including the one in the game). That isn’t really a problem – you can enter St. Petersburg, Missouri and it will work. But the boat will actually go to Hannibal, Missouri (which also happens to be the birthplace of Mark Twain, the author of Tom Sawyer, and the basis for St. Petersburg). There are reports that this doesn’t always work, but I’ve tried several iterations, with the hidden page and without and never had a problem with it, so I can’t say why this is.
• Click Return to Deck.
• Click the gangplank to get off the boat.
• Click Continue.
• Click the sword above the wall and click again to store it in your backpack.
• Click the opening to enter the cave.
• Use the sword to dig in the dirt to find the clue.
• Look for a disturbed section of ground.
• It’s in the far right, just a bit over the Exit Cave button.
• Click on it when you find it.
• You’re done!

That’s it for this week. Check back for next week’s challenge summary.

Looking for other challenges? Check out the Treasure Hunters Challenge entry. If you want to discuss the overall game theory, discuss it there please, and leave this for challenge-specific information.