Manassas businessman launches treasure hunt venture with $10,000 prize

Sharpen your treasure-hunting skills.

Someone in Prince William County will win $10,000 in the first of its kind business venture for the area.

Treasure Quest Adventures, a newly founded company in Manassas, will hide the cash in an undisclosed location. Treasure hunters, called “questers,” must solve a series of 15 to 20 clues in order to find the loot.

The first of what the company hopes is multiple treasure hunts, dubbed quests, will be on August 22 in Prince William County. Participants will need to pay the $55 per person registration fee to play the game, and they’ll need to use their smartphone to receive and solve the clues for what will be a largely independent treasure hunt.

The number of clues questers need to solve will depend on the number of people participating in the hunt.

“Things get more difficult as they go,” said Ian Lovejoy, the owner of Treasure Quest Adventures.

The more people who sign up to play the game, the more clues, puzzles, and riddles will need to be solved.

The treasure hunt will be an activity safe to practice during the coronavirus, with participants fanning out across the county on their won in search of the treasure. Unlike in some reality TV shows, due to the virus, there won’t be groups of people rallying for the questers, said Lovejoy.

The game will be played rain or shine, and Lovejoy will be at the end of the game to award the cash prize in person. The number of players will affect whether or not the game is played, so if too few people sign up, the quest may be called off and registrants’ money refunded.

To register to play, visit finishthequest.com.

The company was inspired by Forrest Fenn, an art collector who buried a $2 million treasure in the Rocky Mountains in 2010 and urged people to go find it. The treasure was uncovered in June after hundreds of thousands went looking for it — including multiple people who died seeking the riches.

If the Prince William quest is successful, Treasure Quest Adventures aims to hold similar events in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Arlington counties in Virginia, and Montgomery County, Md.

In addition to launching this new business, Lovejoy also is also seeing election to his third term on the Manassas City Council on November 3.

This is the second business for Lovejoy who also operates Reliant Hiring Services, which pairs job seekers with employers.