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.


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Comments

95 responses to “Treasure Hunters Challenge: Week 5”

  1. Chad Everett Avatar

    You have to have the lantern in the cave. Once you do, just click on the ground to dig.

    The pipes have to be all connected. Look at the picture for an example (click it to view a larger image). Once they are all connected, steam comes out the far end, and you can then put the paper over it to see the secret message, which is a page from Tom Sawyer.

  2. Jack Avatar
    Jack

    In the engine room, I think I clicked all the pipes into place, but when I go to turn the wheel nothing happens. I get a lot of noises and then some steam comes out of the very first pipe. I can’t use the paper. What am I doing wrong?

  3. Carol Avatar
    Carol

    The sword doesn’t do anything. If you click on it, it goes back in the backpack. If you move the mouse over the contents of the cave, there is no indication that you can dig anywhere.

  4. Michael Mironer Avatar
    Michael Mironer

    Thanks for the advice. Actually typing in one of the phrases from the piece of paper does yield “Tom Sawyer” as a search result.

  5. Lori Strait Avatar
    Lori Strait

    Okay so I did not read that I needed the lantern, of course I am still trying to find the right spot, but I will manage that. Thanks!

  6. Lori Strait Avatar
    Lori Strait

    I am going into the cave and when I click on the sword nothing happens. I tried to find the disturbed section and could not find it. Please help!

  7. Chad Everett Avatar

    It’s a bit of a leap of faith (that is, there is no explicit clue that I could find).

    That, or you skip the official search-engine sponsor (that is, ask.com) and try google instead.

    One time when I entered “Fulton Paddleboat”, I was actually prompted for an alternate query on “Fulton Paddle Boat” (with a space) instead.

    When you enter that query back at ask.com, one of the answers (#8, I think it was) has Mark Twain in it (using it at google does not, at least not on the first page).

    Something in that prompted me to add Mark Twain to my search queries, and that gave me Hannibal, Missouri, as his birthplace, which is where we ended up going.

    Easy, huh? If anyone found a simpler way, I’m all ears, because I’d love to have found it. But after three or four times through, I haven’t seen it.

    You could also use the piece of paper over the steam vent to find the hidden page from Tom Sawyer to lead you to Mark Twain, and get there that way. Thanks Phil, for the tip. I’ve added this to the walkthrough.

  8. Snow Avatar
    Snow

    How did you figure out to go to Hannibal, Missouri…we tried forever last night!

  9. Chad Everett Avatar

    That’s all you need to do. Just click on the opening and go into the cave.

  10. Sandy Avatar
    Sandy

    I can’t get the sword to do anything, when I click, it just goes back in to the backpack. Help!