"The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde" was the official global summer souvenir campaign hosted by Geocaching HQ. Running from July 15 to August 13, 2017, this pirate-themed event introduced players to a fictional high-seas captain named Mary Hyde and her ship, The Golden Cache.
Posted on June 13, 2017, to the Official Geocaching.com Blog, the primary objective of this campaign was for geocachers to complete weekly challenges to recover four missing pieces of a treasure map, leading to a final meta-souvenir.
The Mechanics: The Friend
League & Gold Coins
The campaign prominently launched and utilized a new feature on the geocaching platform: The Friend League (now known simply as the Leaderboard).
- Cachers earned virtual "gold coins" (points) for completing daily geocaching tasks.
- Points reset every Monday morning.
- Players were heavily encouraged to "build a crew" by adding friends on Geocaching.com to combine their weekly point totals to reach the goals.
The 4-Week Schedule &
Souvenirs
Participants could earn up to six unique digital souvenirs for their profiles over the course of the campaign:
- Kickoff Weekend (July 15–16) – Weight Anchor!: Earned the Weigh Anchor souvenir simply by hosting or attending a designated kickoff event.
- Week 1 (July 17–23) – Smuggler's Cove: Crews had to work together to accumulate 30 gold coins (with at least 5 contributed individually). Points were awarded for standard finds (5 coins), finding caches with 10+ Favorite points (10 coins), or attending events (10 coins).
- Week 2 (July 24–30) – Cuts and Keys: Individuals had to earn 10 gold coins on their own. This week introduced trackables into the mix, giving 10 coins for dropping a trackable into a cache.
- Week 3 (July 31 – Aug 6) – Batten Down the Hatches: Teams needed to gather 35 gold coins. This week spotlighted Multi-Caches, awarding a boosted 10 gold coins for finding them.
- Week 4 (August 7–13) – The Lost Treasure: For the final week, cachers had to "work alone" without their crew's help to individually earn 25 gold coins. To aid in this, Geocaching HQ temporarily unlocked all Difficulty and Terrain (D&T) ratings for Traditional Caches to basic members in the official app, offering double points for higher D&T ratings.
The Final Reward & Hidden
Surprise
Over 47,400 geocachers worldwide successfully completed all four weekly map challenges. Doing so automatically unlocked the ultimate Treasure Chest meta-souvenir on their profile.
As a final bonus, Geocaching HQ hid a secret word within the artwork of the digital Treasure Chest souvenir. Cachers who successfully spotted the hidden word and submitted it through an official webform by August 20, 2017, were emailed a free, trackable Mary Hyde activation code to use on a real-world trackable item. The hidden code word inside the digital treasure chest souvenir artwork was "BOUNTY".
Community Impact
"The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde" campaign transformed geocaching from a solitary hobby into a social, gamified experience by validating the effectiveness of point-based leaderboards in driving user engagement. The initiative boosted community event attendance, revitalized trackable circulation, tested app accessibility through temporary feature unlocking, and fostered global collaboration to solve a hidden puzzle.
Related Geoaching.com Official Blog
Posts
“The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde” June 13, 2017
“Planning a Pirate Event? Here Lies Some Helpful Ideas!” June 20, 2017
“FAQs: The lost treasure of Mary Hyde” July 10, 2017
“Pirates On the Lookout: Introducing the Friend League” July 11, 2017
“You Have (1) New Message in a Bottle!” July 17, 2017
“The journey’s begun and your ship’s underway!” July 24, 2017
“Geocache of the Week: Twin Pirates Treasure Hunt” July 27, 2017
“Looking for Treasure? Here Lies the Next Clue!” July 31, 2017
“Episode 6: New Dashboard, Project-GC and Mary Hyde” August 1, 2017
“The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde Awaits” August 7, 2017
“The Lost Treasure of Mary Hyde Has Been Found!” August 22, 2017
1. MARY HYDE: AHOY ME HEARTIES!
A Souvenir by: Geocaching HQ
Additional Information: Avast! Congratulations on building your crew! Now finding the lost treasure shall be easier to do. You’ve earned this souvenir by attending an event July 15 or 16, 2017. So get ready to set sail and fare the geocaching seas...
2. MARY HYDE: WEIGH ANCHOR
A Souvenir by: Geocaching HQ
Additional Information: Avast! You built your crew and the journey’s begun, Now the first map piece souvenir you have won! So leave the anchors behind—you’re on your way, Just keep sailing on to find the lost treasure one day… You earned this souvenir by collecting 30 gold coins with your crew on the Friend League.
3. MARY HYDE: SMUGGLER'S COVE
A Souvenir by: Geocaching HQ
Additional Information:Congratulations! You made your way to Smuggler’s Cove. Now you’re one step closer to the treasure trove! For dropping a trackable or choosing one to retrieve, You earned this souvenir and are ready for week three. You earned this souvenir by collecting 10 gold coins on the Friend League.
4. MARY HYDE: CUTS AND KEYS
A Souvenir by: Geocaching HQ
Additional Information: Good work, Captain! Making your way through Multi-caches of the cuts and keys, The third map piece souvenir belongs to thee! Now only one more piece of the map remains unfound, So keep going in the hunt for the treasure abound! You earned this souvenir by collecting 35 gold coins on the Friend League.
5. MARY HYDE: BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES
A Souvenir by: Geocaching HQ
Additional Information: Stormy seas and high D and T’s, This souvenir was not earned with ease! But congratulations! You weathered the storm and made it through, So now the lost treasure could be awaiting you… You earned this souvenir by collecting 25 gold coins on the Friend League.
6. MARY HYDE: THE LOST TREASURE
A Souvenir by: Geocaching HQ
Additional Information: Alas! The entire treasure map has been revealed! The treasure location has been unsealed, four weeks you’ve sailed the seas far and wide, and now you’ve found the lost treasure of Mary Hyde! You earned this souvenir by collecting all four treasure map souvenirs from July 16 to August 13, 2017.
The complete treasure map of Mary
Hyde
