Award-winning producer and filmmaker Dirk Gibson (Mountain Men, Young Guns) created a game platform with his company Treasure Game$ that seeks to spread wealth to people through real life adventures utilizing technology that allows for never-before-seen experiences in the modern day. And now, the first winners of the initial game, “Wish Lamps,” have been announced, Ron Novak and Michelle Bush of New Mexico.
Ron and Michelle followed the clues to Dallas, Texas where they found the “Wish Lamp,” which is actually a lamp that looks similar to Aladdin’s lamp. However, their magic lamp came with the condition of choosing either $1 million in cash or 3 wishes worth $1.2 million, with the caveat of giving one of their wishes away. And in a heartwarming way, Ron decided to give back to a place which selflessly gave him a helping hand when he was down on his luck.
“In my twenties, I was a disaster, I was on drugs, I was strung out, I was homeless,” Ron shared. “And the last time I was homeless for three years. And when I got my act together, the first door I Walked into was a Hare Krishna cafe aht served free vegetarian food in Seattle. And it was a safe zone for me. I can go, I can eat, I can get nourishment. I felt safe, I was treated with kindness. They didn’t judge me because I was a train wreck and so that was over 20 years ago. So that place has a huge place in my heart and it was really nice to be in such a unique situation and to give something to them because they gave so much to me and they give so much to a lot of people that a lot of people don’t know what they do.”
Dirk was inspired to create what we believed to be a better model when it came to people winning life changing amounts of money.
“Somebody had won 100 million dollars and I said, that’s just not a good way to spend it all. If everyone’s hopeful and giving you your money and then one guy wins after months of people paying you,” Dirk said. “And I said, what if 100 people won a million dollars? That’d be a better model. Just 30 years ago, I was like, I think I should build that one day and then just let it go.”
While 30 years ago was still too soon for him to work on this idea of a better model, he had another idea for Netflix just five years ago that seemed to still be the case due to the challenges in executing such a feat. However, when he realized he could combine these ideas, that was the start for what would become Treasure Game$.
“And then five years ago, I was coming up with a show for Netflix and one of the big ideas I had was what if people could go out and find a magic lamp and get three real wishes?” Dirk pondered. “That was the idea I had five years ago, and so I couldn’t make it a TV show. There were production issues and logistics to figure out. But that idea with my idea to make a better model to spread wealth kind of came together in my brain. And I just decided ‘I’m gonna build this, I’m gonna put my own money into it.’”
At the heart of Treasure Game$ is not an app, but a technology platform that facilitates the necessary interactions between the company and the treasure hunters, such as daily clues, content uploads about the adventures. Anyone age 13 or older can join and play at any time, with a free trial and a full access subscription level available.
“I built the TikTok of treasure hunting, but if TikTok and Pokémon Go had a baby, and it was a treasure hunting platform, it’d be my company,” said Dirk.
Wish Lamps launched earlier this year and sent thousands of participants on the road to search the Wish Lamp for three months. Wish Lamps is only the start for Treasure Game$ as the company plans to offer multiple games with different treasures, with some already developed and ready for roll out. These adventures will go on simultaneously so that people can treasure hunt and win life changing prizes.
For more information, continue following Dorkaholics and visit the Treasure Game$ website.
