Quercus Circus

Coincidences don't exist, buried treasure does...

PRESS REVIEW 23.02.12
"The idea of a real-life treasure hunt is certainly an innovative concept that promises to be a unique experience, and it is certainly like no app I have experienced before."

CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to ‘Quercus Circus’ your first important step towards finding & claiming the £10,000 Golden Acorn, which has been buried somewhere deep in the British countryside waiting for you to find it. A unique ‘real world’ treasure hunt, if your imagination is fired up by the prospect of digging up real buried treasure from the ground, steeped in myth magic and enigma, then take your second step and read on.

DEVICE REQUIREMENTS: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 4th Generation, iOS 3.2 onwards.



THE TALE OF THE FOX AND THE GOLDEN ACORN:

Based around an age-old folk tale and beautifully presented in animated storybook form, Quercus Circus tells the poignant tale of the last tree in the land and it’s final dying wish for five chosen creatures, to carry each of the trees remaining sacred Golden Acorns to the far reaches of the planet and bury them safely under the ground. In doing so, saving our planet from a terrible fate.

This application is the first of five worldwide instalments to Quercus Circus and follows the journey of Rufus the fox deep into the British countryside. Accompanying the animation are four short bewitching films; Monsieur Underhill, Your Glass Onion, A Queen Of Clubs, Rufus Le Renard, each of which contain intricate audio and visual clues that identify the three locations Rufus stops at, for inspiration and advice on where to hide the Golden Acorn. Finally leading to the fourth location where it is actually buried.

Treasure hunts throughout history have always been an important way of story telling in the form of folk-tales, myths or fantasy. King Arthur’s Quest for the Holy Grail and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings are two of the most notable examples. Quercus Circus brings the idea to the real world, allowing children and adults alike to immerse themselves in an enlightening journey to find the hiding place of a beautiful piece of treasure they can go and dig up themselves out of the ground.



ABOUT THE £10,000 BURIED ACORN:

Commissioned exclusively for the Quercus Circus App. the golden acorn was designed and created by leading London based jeweler Regina Aradesian in 2011 at the final cost of £10,000. The acorn is made of one solid piece of 18ct gold and is enclosed in a ornate sterling silver orb which is centrally hinged enabling it to be opened to access the Golden acorn. The top half of the orb features a stylised fox head and the bottom half the fox's tail, as well as the Quercus Circus symbol. Areas of the orb have been delicately decorated with plique-à-jour detailing. The enamel colours have been limited to blues and greens, which were chosen to represent the life giving aspects of mother nature. The silver of the orb represents the moon and the gold of the acorn the sun.



QUERCUS CIRCUS REVIEWS:

"The idea of a real-life treasure hunt is certainly an innovative concept that promises to be a unique experience, and it is certainly like no app I have experienced before."

"I got Quercus Circus expecting it to be a child’s game of leading a fox to a location, but instead got the more adult theme of decrypting clues from rather surreal films."

"The films are well shot with a good mix of scenes and locations, and the bizarre nature of the filming makes it difficult to compare to anything currently on the market, film or app-wise."

"The films certainly do captivate and intrigue, and will pull you back for more – what will be interesting to see is if people buy into the concept of decrypting these clues in an endeavour to find the real-life treasure."