Explore Treasure Mode with Google Maps

Explore Treasure Mode with Google Maps

Google joined in on the April Fools' Day fun a early with their latest feature: Treasure Maps. Following last year's prank, 8-bit Google Maps, the company debuted a pirate-style on Sunday, complete with 2D hand-drawn landmarks and hidden treasure chests.

The map uses a spyglass to zoom in for Street View, with a rounded telescopic frame and old-school filter. To access, visit Google Maps and click on the “Treasure” picture in the right-hand corner. Instructions for the “beta technology” warn, “Your system may not be able to display at higher resolutions than paper print.”

In a Google explains the map belonged to infamous pirate “Captain” Kidd, and was found on a recent expedition in the Indian Ocean while the team was expanding their underwater Street View collection. Users are invited to help crack the code and find the treasure with hidden clues.

Some locations, like Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay and San Jose State University, have mini maps and a letter X marking the spot. There are other icons scattered around with map coordinates, including Bermuda, New York, and Boston. Happy hunting!

What do you think of 's ' Day prank? Did you find any hidden treasure? Let us know in the comments.

Image courtesy of Google, video courtesy of YouTubeGoogle Maps

Archeological analysis has confirmed that our Google Maps Street View team has indeed found one of history's long lost relics: a belonging to the infamous pirate, William “Captain” Kidd.

The map was found on a recent expedition in the , as part of a deep-water dive to expand our underwater Street View collection. Captain Kidd was rumored to have buried his treasure around the world, and tales of a long-lost treasure map have lingered for generations.

When Dr. Marco Meniketti, an independent archaeologist, confirmed that this was Captain Kidd's 315 year-old map, we were very excited. However, as seen in the video, the map contains a variety of encrypted symbols and is not readily decipherable. We need your help to decipher these symbols and find Captain Kidd's treasures; therefore we've decided to digitize the map and make it accessible to everyone.

To access Captain Kidd's treasure map, click here or on the “Treasure” button in the top right corner of . If we all work together, we can solve the mystery.

Be sure to follow the Google Maps G+ page as we work together to decipher the clues to Captain Kidd's buried secrets.

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