Publishing Your Hunt

Make your hunt playable for participants

Hunt Status

Every hunt has one of these statuses:

  • Draft: Only you can see and edit the hunt
  • Published: Players can join and play the hunt
  • Archived: Hunt is no longer active but data is preserved

Before Publishing

Make sure your hunt is ready:

Checklist

  • All clues have been added and tested
  • Answers are set correctly (including alternative spellings)
  • Hints are helpful but not too revealing
  • Location clues have accurate GPS coordinates
  • Theme is selected
  • Hunt name and description are finalized

Tip: Use the "Preview" feature to play through your hunt before publishing!

How to Publish

  1. Open your hunt in the editor
  2. Review all clues one final time
  3. Click the "Publish" button
  4. Confirm you want to publish
  5. Your hunt is now live!

What Happens When You Publish

  • A unique hunt code is generated (e.g., "ABC123")
  • A QR code is created for easy joining
  • A shareable link becomes available
  • Players can now join and play

Editing Published Hunts

You can still edit a published hunt, but be careful:

  • Safe changes: Fixing typos, adjusting hints, adding answer variations
  • Risky changes: Changing clue order, removing clues (may affect active players)
  • Not recommended: Major restructuring while players are active

Caution: If players are currently playing your hunt, avoid making changes that could disrupt their progress.

Unpublishing a Hunt

To take a hunt offline:

  1. Open the hunt settings
  2. Click "Unpublish"
  3. Confirm the action

Unpublished hunts:

  • Return to "Draft" status
  • Cannot be joined by new players
  • Active sessions may be interrupted
  • Can be republished later

Hunt Visibility Options

Control who can find and join your hunt:

  • Private: Only players with the code/link can join
  • Unlisted: Anyone with the link can join, but it won't appear in public listings
  • Public: Hunt appears in public directory (if available)

How Players Join

Once your hunt is published, players can join and start playing:

  1. Players visit /join on TreasureRat
  2. They enter the 6-digit hunt code (shown on your hunt dashboard)
  3. They provide their name
  4. They click "Join Hunt" and begin playing immediately

Sessions are created automatically when the first player joins. Multiple players joining the same hunt code will join the same active session, allowing you to track a specific play-through and use features like sync gates.

Tip: Monitor all active players in real-time using the live dashboard.

Next Steps

Once published: