In March, @SplatterDash and @The-Great-One hosted the Newgrounds Treasure Hunt, where participants were invited to dig up gems from last year that hadn’t previously won awards or been featured on the front page.
We hosted a fundraiser for prizes, with the first place Winner in each category (animation, game, art, music) receiving $100 and another $100 awarded to the Treasure Hunter who dug it up.
A panel of judges was assembled to sift through the entries and declare the biggest gems.
Animation: @YendorNG and @LexRodent
Games: @TharosTheDragon and @FutureCopLGF
Art: @Xinxinix and @Template88
Music: @Cyberdevil and @SplatterDash
Winners have now been determined!
Animation
Third Place - NOISELESION - DEAD SEASON (created by @Kol-Belov, found by @Anonymous-Frog)
From @YendorNG - "NOISELESION - DEAD SEASON was a masterful execution of mixed media, animation and live action. It was hard to look away at most scenes and the sound certainly conveyed the terror that Kol-Belov wished to convey to their audience."
Second Place - Spider-Man Learns a Bitter Truth (created by @TerrorGeneric, found by @BlueBrobi35)
From @YendorNG - "Spider Man Learns a Bitter Truth was laughs all the way through. TerrorGeneric worked hard to cram as many innuendos and jokes as he could and did a great job illustrating Times Square in NYC. We all need more pictures of A Simp-Nerd, hopefully in the future."
🏆 Winner - DR ASMR -- Rx: More Sound (created by @hollaartyourboy, found by @OnyxGalaria)
From @YendorNG - "DR ASMR was visually pleasing with a consistent art style and interesting characters with lots of expressions. Sound-wise... it certainly compliments the action and it does seem to remind viewers to never chew with their mouths open. :)"
Game
Third Place - Booliards (created by @Spebby, @Flodotelito & @nomlan, found by @Biscuiti)
From @FutureCopLGF - "Not only does it got the retro vibes down pat, it's got a fascinatingly unique set of game mechanics and is so dang juicy and polished!"
From @TharosTheDragon - "I've seen other billiard-based combat games but they are rare and this is still a great idea."
Second Place - Golf Escape (created by @Davbo37, found by @Yabloko-BlackByrd)
From @FutureCopLGF - "It's the complete package and I am gobsmacked that this wasn't winning prizes immediately right when it was submitted: truly buried treasure we got here!"
From @TharosTheDragon - "The game makes sure it stays interesting the whole way through. As soon as water was introduced, I remembered that water mechanics always improve a game's quality."
🏆 Winner - Dream Punk (created by @bokononyossarian, found by @OnyxGalaria)
From @FutureCopLGF - "It's just such a charming adventure with an addictive sense of progression with each gadget you unlock that wins you over."
From @TharosTheDragon - "I remember when I first got the map I thought the starting area was going to be the whole game, and then my mind was blown when I moved to a new area and realized what a small chunk of the map it was."
Art
Third Place - The Last Wish (created by @DarkerEve, found by @Biscuiti)
Props to @Tomafokio for finding the original third place art, which unfortunately turned out to be an imposter account.
Second Place - Tiger Artisan • Unleash the Beast 🐯 (created by @AirCityStudios, found by @Bleak-Creep)
🏆 Winner - Me, Myself & Us (created by @digitalpops, found by @Madmazel)
Audio
Third Place - guiding star (created by @DatDavi, found by @GasGrass)
From @Cyberdevil - "Initially it felt like an RPG kind of tune, but then it goes and shifts and totally transcends the kind of music I thought it'd be. It both has that VG kind of vibe and something beyond it..."
From @SplatterDash - "It feels like a perfect blend of both old-school Kirby with a Virtual Riot edge, but the way it does it has this unique touch and fresh take all the way though."
Second Place - Rainwalker (created by @Thingerthing ; found by @Doodlecube64)
From @Cyberdevil - "The composition never dulls, and never stalls or stagnates, it stays fluent and vibrant all the way through. Production's on point as well."
From @SplatterDash - "A really fun and energetic joyride. It definitely stands out in the pack, and the technical elements come together to make it a really fun song to listen to!"
🏆 Winner - Shores of Time (created by @LoneConstruct, found by @BASCUTI)
From @Cyberdevil - "That build... it's both like but a wave washing up on a shore, and like a storm brewing, and then the static noises... goosebumps."
From @SplatterDash - "The soundscapes are really interesting, even without the video in the song's description. It's such a fitting name for the track, and it delivers perfectly."
Closing Thoughts
Thank you everyone who participated in Treasure Hunt 2024! There were some technical difficulties with the Google form used this year for nominations, resulting in a more drawn out judging process than intended. Expect that to get smoothened out next year!
I'll be chasing people down for payment info in a bit but you can also pre-emptively fill out the address form.
Thank you @SplatterDash and @The-Great-One for once again hosting the event and thank you @YendorNG, @LexRodent, @TharosTheDragon, @FutureCopLGF, @Xinxinix, @Template88, @Cyberdevil and @SplatterDash for judging the entries.
Thank you everyone who dug up gems!
SplatterDash made regular posts during the event, highlighting entries:
FutureCopLGF also made a post highlighting favorite games.
Huge thanks to our sponsors, who made the prizes possible!
@DrSevenSeizeMD - $107.62🦖
@StrangInk - $60
@Peepers - $50
@Bleak-Creep - $50
@RjainXIV - $30
@GrantTheHierophant - $25
@Aalasteir - $20
@DaMemeManDan - $20
@GataStarry - $10
@tonyfinale - $10
NG - $400
More events below!
