Finders Seekers is a monthly puzzle subscription box for anyone who loves puzzles, escape rooms, Sherlock Holmes, mysteries, or anything requiring a little brainpower. Finders Seekers features a new destination each month, so in addition to the puzzle/escape room experience, you get a mini travel experience, too, exploring a new city and its culture every month.
DEAL: Save $5 on your first box! Use this link and coupon code BRAINQUEST.
FYI – there are SPOILERS in this post!
As a subscriber (limited numbers can join each month), you are invited to join the Society of Seekers, a group of like-minded puzzle fiends who use their heads and a little bit of internet-search know-how to explore a city and solve a mystery each month. We’re off to HAWAII this month!
NOTE: This is an updated version of the Finders Seekers December 2018 Hawaii box.
Everything is packed in a string-tie envelope.
There’s also a sticky note that contains instructions on how to get started with this case.
Everything in the box!
Included in this month’s box is a welcome letter and checklist of every item that should be inside the package, plus all the clues you’ll need to solve the mystery.
The website took us to Hawaii!
Aloha! Welcome to the Hawaiian islands. This paradise state consists of a group of hundreds of islands spread across 1,500 miles in the Pacific Ocean. The islands were originally settled by Polynesian settlers around 300 CE. A thriving island culture developed and remained uninfluenced until the 16th century when Spanish explorers arrived at the islands.
Prior to joining the United States, Hawaii was an island nation led by a monarchy. In 1782, King Kamehameha I unified the Hawaiian islands and formed a single sovereign nation. As ruler, Kamehameha formalized the legal system, imposed vital taxes on European traders and established humanitarian laws.
Upon his death in 1819, Kamehameha’s body was buried in a secret ceremony location by his closest advisor, Chief Ulumaheihei. The king’s body was prepared for the afterlife and the secrecy of his bones’ location ensured that his spirit would make the transition into the world of the aumakua, or gods.
Today, the king’s burial plot remains a well guarded secret. The Society of Seekers has been contacted by the last surviving Hawaiian elder who knows the location. Because of her age and declining health, she needs to find an honorable guardian to ensure the king’s body remains hidden and in a restful state. To prove ourselves worthy, she has left a trail of clues and puzzles that ultimately lead to Hawaii’s great mystery. With each puzzle you solve, you will earn a carved stone. Once all 9 stones are collected, you’ll be able to finish the ‘Find’.
To start you on your way, the Hawaiian elder supplied a cryptic map and peculiar transparency that contain the location of our next puzzle. Unlock the secret of the map and enter the locale of our first stop.
Here’s the beautiful Hawaiian map!
It also has different information about our destination this month!
For this puzzle, we also used this striped plastic transparency. This item is supposed to be used with the map to help solve the puzzle.
After solving the puzzle, we got a stone that we will probably need for the latter part of this mystery.
Here, we got similar carved stone images. For each puzzle, we will keep the one that is similar to what we will get from the website.
Here are more clues they sent to keep us going (along with the website!):
Pu‘ukoholā Heiau Puzzle. We need to reveal the clubs’ secret passphrase, used by the warriors. However, the clue to one of the words was misspelled, which was frustrating because we kept on putting the numbers in until we realized that the matching words needed to be entered on the site. And like for every puzzle we solved, we earn a card with a carved stone.
2 Wristbands. These wristbands are needed to solve the Sacred Pools of O’heo puzzle, where we need to decipher the sign’s password. For this puzzle, we used the red and blue wrist bands and the clues for alignment. The bracelets were also an interesting and fun cipher, plus a little memento of our “trip”.
Waikiki Beach Puzzle. For this puzzle, we needed to “rent a surfboard”, then we played around with numerical patterns and got it.
Molokini Puzzle. We also explored the underwater beauty of the Molokini Crater and got a souvenir underwater portrait with another puzzle.
Iolani Palace Puzzle. For the next puzzle, we are given a commemorative royal plate from Queen Liliʻuokalani’s collection. The plate also contains the key to earning the next tile. Turning the paper upside down revealed our next clue.
Volcanoes National Park Puzzle. On to our next puzzle, we were brought to the amazing Volcanoes National Park. For this one, we need to cut out the pieces on this sheet and arrange them accordingly.
Sunglasses and Pouch. We also got a bright orange pouch, and this item will be used in the Puuwai puzzle. We need to decipher the code using this gift.
It contains a nice pair of sunglasses! It really made us feel the tropical paradise!
Aside from the sunglasses, another item that made us feel like we were truly in Hawaii is this colorful lei!
After collecting all the carved stones, and answering the last puzzle, it leads us to the final challenge:
We answered the final challenge using the collected stones and the slip of paper with numbers from the elder. We supplied this puzzle with the Hawaiian proverb that is contained on the stones.
The answer is:
No cliff is so tall it cannot be climbed.
We did it! We have proven ourselves worthy of guarding the Hawaiian’s ancient secret. But there’s one more thing to do, and that is to get the prize! By clicking “Enter To Win Prizes,” we can get our price by providing information on the form.
It’s Hawaii Mystery version 2.0 and we enjoyed it the second time around! It has almost the same puzzle as the first one, but there are also other inclusions that you cannot find in the first box like the orange pouch with the sunglasses, which is a really nice addition that made us feel that we’re on an island journey. The whole fam is present when we did this puzzle and everyone had a good time exploring the beautiful island and places in Hawaii! It’s challenging and fun! We also love learning about different places, and we can say that solving puzzles and challenges related to these different places is already a wonderful journey for the whole family!
Did you solve the mystery? How long did it take you? Let us know in the comments below!
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