The Hunt: First Edition

The Hunt: First Edition, alternately known as The Hunt by several sources and shortened to TH as the codename, was a major worldwide event that was hosted by Kieran Johnson across the United States and other countries. The event lasted from March 15 to 30, 2024. The event was to target an “international global audience” to participate in a group of games to showcase “peace, love and diversity”, leading up to the finale.

The Hunt was the first event that was not hosted by the government of the United States, but instead by an individual, as well as the first to become worldwide. Previous events were solely hosted by the president of the United States. Though the idea of a worldwide event had been conceived since 2019, The Hunt: First Edition began development between April to June 2023. In December, security issues rose in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 terrorist attacks, leading to further developments. The next event, titled as The Hunt: Mega Edition, is expected to begin in March 2025.

Motto and logo

The Hunt, the first scheduled event by the US government in over three years to be hosted by an individual, was ordered to have a "futuristic style" and to introduce a "look that would look perfect for a global audience and make them interested in the event." On March 2, 2024, the US government released a press release highlighting the event's official logo, which was designed by Charlie Read. The logo only has four texts that read the title in a bold font. The motto states, "Into the infinite vault; into a new world."

The motto and logo were both criticized for being "too plain" and "laughable" in comparison to the previous Egg Hunts' "near-perfect" designs. When asked about the design, Charlie Read stated that he only spent two days planning the event's logo. Due to a lack of time, Charlie had asked the government to "deal with the luckster" logo, which he completed in only thirty minutes. Kenneth, the creator of the 2008 edition of the Egg Hunt, hated the design and blamed the “poor work from a lack of effort and soul”.

Background

Official logo of The Hunt: First Edition

Since April 2008, the US government has held an annual event known as the "Egg Hunt," which was previously known as the Egg Drop from 2008 to 2012. The event was first conceived of in 2002. The name of the event was changed to "Egg Hunt." However, due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Egg Hunt was officially cancelled in March of that year, and it was replaced by Metaverse Champions the next year. Champions was poorly received, and the government held no events from 2021 to 2023. All previous events leading up to The Hunt had taken place entirely in the United States.

History

In January 2019, months before the planned 2019 Egg Hunt, Kieran Johnson proposed an idea for a "future egg hunt that would bring the world together into one." Kieran had been working for the Egg Hunt events' development team since 2015. In a draft, Kieran expressed the desire to create opportunities for the US and international community to interact and enjoy each other.

Despite efforts, the US government and then-President David "Builderman" Baszucki had no interest in a global event, though in 2022, David expressed "some form of ideas" for an event that "would reach a global audience." By January 2023, Kieran Johnson had begun early work on a project codenamed "TH," also known as "The Hunt." The title was based on the concept of "hunting for eggs," but Kieran wanted to focus on a topic that had not been covered in previous events. According to several sources, "The Hunt" was described as an event that "was moving away from the traditional eggs and instead heading to the present and the future." Originally, Kieran dismissed these claims, expressing that the mind of having eggs appeared in “some way”, however, within a couple of months, Kieran and the government of the United States confirmed that “TH” would not be an Easter-related event.

Kieran Johnson had originally planned for the events to take place only in the United States, but later chose Bloxico, Bloxanada, Bloxominican Republic, Haitiblox, and Ro Jamaica as the locations. However, sources claimed that the government was "changing its mind" to focus on the event's overall goals and the concept of the "hunt" in general. On December 3, 2023, President David confirmed in a tweet that the goal of "TH" was to spread love and joy throughout the world. By that point, “TH” had been linked for an early 2024 debut. Development on the nationwide events in preparation for “TH” began by October 2023. While most of the countries had agreed to join the event, several dropped out to the effects of ongoing wars; focusing on more severe issues; disagreement with plans and others. By February 2024, the codename was retitled to The Hunt: First Edition.

Preparation and planning

In preparation for The Hunt, the government of the United States began hosting private meetings with members within the Executive Branch, starting on August 29, 2023. The government chose Bloxico as its first pick for the event, and the country agreed to participate. This was their first time attending an event hosted by the United States, after previously declining to attend any events hosted by that country, despite an attempt in 2008. Bloxanada immediately expressed strong interest and later entered as a part of the event. President David "Builderman" Baszucki went on a worldwide tour throughout October 2023 to January 2024, in order to have most of the countries agree to enter the event.

By February of that year, the month that The Hunt was confirmed, government officials reported that “around 85% percent of countries joined”. In the United States, where the main event was being held, New Blockers City increased security as the finale approached. Major streets and buildings were closed for months before the start of the events, causing traffic delays and an increase in crowds on the sidewalks. Planners and workers began formal work on the design of the buildings and streets, where host parties had been planned for at least a year. By February 2024, at least 50 countries had started planning host parties and minigames for the event.

Locations

The locations of the hosts were in the following cities:

United States

New Blockers City
Brookhaven
Livetopia
Bloxburg
Sacramento
Redcliffe City
Bosse City
Da Hood
Cambridge Street
Chattanooga
Bilberry City
New Island City
Marchen City
Balan
Bloxport
Sokun
Hennisley

Bloxico

Bloxico City
Arenas Doradas
Gojira City
San Vallejo
Sangohr
South Dorado
Bloxanada

Bloxanada

Ro-Toronto
Bloxcouver
Ro-Montreal
Bloxuebec City

Vietblox

Hablox