Beginning Friday, June 19, you can earn your first brand new souvenir of the Geocaching Road Trip ‘15. All you have to do is find a geocache with 10+ Favorite Points. Any geocache, anywhere—as long as it has 10 or more Favorite Points. You can learn more about the Geocaching Road Trip ‘15 and the 15 Years of Geocaching celebration here.
You have until September 2 to earn this souvenir, so don’t worry if you don’t find it right away. This also happens to be the perfect time to start awarding all those Favorite Points you’ve been saving up.
Put the Pedal to the Floor: Earn the Fun with Favorites Souvenir!
Your Geocaching Co-Pilot wants you to be the first to see the glory that awaits you. To earn this souvenir, find a geocache with 10+ Favorite Points. That’s it. Any geocache, anywhere—as long as it has 10 or more Favorite Points. Check it out:
Der 2. Mai steht für den 15. Jahrestag, an dem Geocaching begann. Geh raus am 2. oder 3. Mai, und finde irgendeinen Geocache, um das spezielle 15-Jahre-Geocaching-Souvenir zu erhalten. Außerdem finde heraus, was Deine Geocaching-Mission für den Sommer sein wird.
Mit der neuen Suchroutine haben wir drei bisherige Funktionen zusammengefasst, um die Suche nach dem Geocache, den Du finden willst und mit dem Du ein Souvenir erhalten kannst, mit einem Klick zu vereinfachen. Klick einfach die Box, um ein Event in der Nähe zu finden, den ältesten Geocache in Deiner Nähe oder die Geocaches mit den meisten Favoritenpunkte im Umkreis.
I love watching non-geocachers (aka muggles) try to absorb the concept of geocaching. I’m sure you’ve all heard this same reaction before: Wait. You find boxes in the woods? Well that’s just irrational.
It’s true. The things we do as geocachers may seem a little crazy at times. But good news! This Pi Day (March 14, 2015), we’re introducing a dose of rational to the irrational—all thanks to a team of designers here at Geocaching HQ.
Earlier this year, we shared an inside look at how we collect feedback from the community and how that feedback influences the tools that we make. The next step in developing a new geocaching tool is design. A team of User Experience (UX) experts at Geocaching HQ are responsible for taking the community’s feedback and thinking through everything from how the new tool will work to how the design of an emoji will help bring delight to your next geocache find.
Left: UI Designer Abby Right: Mobile UX Designer Michelle
This team was recently tasked with making the experience of finding a Mystery Cache a bit more, well, rational—and all in time for you to earn the 3.14.15 Pi Day souvenir. I sat down with Mobile UX Designer Michelle Li (Username: BlueSpaceMonkey) and UI Designer Abby Deering (Username: Abbydeer) to learn how they took the mystery out of Mystery Caches in the Geocaching Intro app.
What was the biggest challenge in designing Mystery Caches for the free Geocaching app?
Mystery Caches are a complex type of geocache. One of the biggest changes we were faced with was making Mystery Caches easy to use for geocachers and coming up with a design solution that works with all the different types of Mystery Caches.
The new Waypoint Manager in the Geocaching Intro app makes it easier than ever to add and keep track of coordinates to a geocache.
What about the new design are you most excited to share with the community?
We are really excited that we’ve found a design solution that works with all the different types of Mystery Caches (there are so many different versions!). We feel like we were able to eliminate a barrier that previously made it difficult to enter your answer. We’re excited that we removed a challenge in the tool, leaving the challenge where it should be: in solving the Mystery. And we hope this means more geocachers will now give Mystery Caches a try!
How have your designs made finding Mystery Caches easier?
We’ve made the ability to add Solved coordinates and edit waypoints easier and more manageable for all different kinds of Mystery Caches.
Editor’s Note: You’ll see in the app that “Corrected Coordinates” are now referred to as “Solved”. This decision was made by surveying the geocaching community.
How did feedback and insight from the geocaching community enter into the design?
We brought in both potential players and experienced geocachers to our office to look at our Mystery Cache design. We had them walk through a series of tasks and even took them outside to watch them geocache with the new design. We revised our design based on their feedback.
Anything else you want geocachers to know?
We’re so excited that Mystery Caches are now available in the free app and we love making products that make geocaching easier for our community!
Unlock this latest and greatest tool for discovering Mystery Caches with Premium membership in the free Geocaching Intro app for iOS and Android. And don’t miss out on your chance to earn one of two Pi Day souvenirs by logging a “Found It” on a Mystery Cache this Saturday!
Earn one out of two souvenirs on Saturday, March 14 Pi Day by finding a Mystery Cache.
(Earn the other souvenir by attending any Geocaching event on March 14)
Does the thought of having to decode encrypted messages make you break out in hives? If yes, then take a deep breath and find your happy place because we have just the tips to sooth your Mystery Cache anxiety and prepare you for March 14th, 2015.
About to sing an “Ode to the Golgafrinchan Phone Workers”…GC32A0H
Mystery Caches (also known as Puzzle caches or Unknown caches) are a type of geocache for those who enjoy an extra challenge.
They require geocachers to solve complicated puzzles in order to decode the correct cache coordinates or crack secret clues to unlock a cache’s stash. If you haven’t encountered this kind of cache before the prospect may seem daunting, but have no fear! Mystery Caches are fun way to spice up any geocaching adventure while flexing your beefy brain muscles.
Working on the solution for GC2400Z “Truncated Icosahedron,” a puzzle cache by PhilNi
So don your trenchcoat and channel your inner Sherlock.
(‘Cause who wouldn’t want to be Benedict Cumberbatch?). Here are Geocaching HQ’s top tips for Mystery Caches:
Practice Makes Perfect. Start easy by tackling Mystery Caches that have a one or two star difficulty rating. The more caches you conquer over time the more tricks of the trade you’ll pick up and the easier it’ll become.
Check what type of puzzle needs to be solved. There are different kinds of Mystery Caches that call for different strategies, so before you head out check to see what the requirements entail. Some caches are in-the-field, meaning you have to use visual clues from the surrounding location to decipher the coordinates or unlock the cache. Other caches can be solved before you even step out the door! These ask you to solve a particular puzzle off of the geocache’s webpage or lookup information on the internet.
Gather the Mystery Gang. Two heads are better than one! Bring your geocaching pals along, not only is geocaching more fun when you have your buddies but they can help you brainstorm through those extra tricky questions.
It’s all in the name. A hint to the cache’s location may be located in the cache’s or cache owner’s name or give you an idea of where the cache may be or what it may look like.
When in doubt use Google. Search engines may not have the answer to everything, but they have the answer for a lot of things. So if you’re truly stuck, look to the internet to give you a helping hand. Some cache pages may even include answer checkers to see if you guessed the correct coordinates.
Check for invisible ink. Sometimes cache owners will hide clues on a geocache’s webpage in white font. Highlight the page to reveal the secrets that were right in front of your nose the whole time. Bonus points if you caught this one! You’re a Puzzler already!
The source code isn’t just a movie. Cache owners may add comments with hints in the cache’s html source code. To find this open the source code on your browser’s menu selection and search for comments.
Stumped? Don’t hesitate to send a message to the cache owner. There’s no shame in asking for help…and a small hint might just be what you need to get started.
Mystery caches are an excellent way to sharpen the geocaching saw. If you’re looking for a little cache-speration check out our Mystery Cache Pinterest board. Want to take all this info (and more) with you? The Geocaching Shop has just the right book for you: How To Puzzle Cache.
Do you love a good Mystery? Tell us about your puzzling geocaching experiences or share your favorite puzzle tips! Be careful not to reveal any cache spoilers.
