Lockport fantasy scavenger hunt encourages players to explore city, learn local history

Residents and visitors to the city of Lockport have the chance this summer to participate in a unique original scavenger hunt that will take them on a tour of the city’s businesses and historical sites.

Mission: 1895 is a card-collection scavenger hunt coordinated by the Lockport Council of the Arts and created by Mayor Steven Streit and Joe Gentile, the owner of Amazing Fantasy Comics in Lockport.

The concept reportedly started when Streit and Gentile began writing a fictional fantasy story set in historic Lockport “just for fun,” said Wendy Streit, chairperson of the Lockport Council of the Arts and Mayor Streit’s wife.

“They decided to do this, and they created their own fictional characters along with actual historic figures from Lockport,” Wendy Streit said.

After creating the story – which they self-published and can be purchased in book form at Amazing Fantasy Comics on 9th Street – the pair came up with the idea of turning the story into a game.

“We thought it would be a fun way to get people exploring historic Lockport and visiting businesses – and maybe learning some history,” Wendy Streit said. “They worked closely with the Lockport Area Genealogical and Historical Society, too, to make sure that the history of the people was accurate, even with the fantasy elements.”

The story tells of an ancient magical crystal with sinister powers that was unearthed during the excavation of Lockport’s canal. In the game, the objective is to find clues to the newly rediscovered crystal’s location and to destroy it to “save Lockport from a dystopian future.”

People from the story, including the real historic figures, were designed as animated characters, each of whom was made into a unique collectible card.

The goal of the Mission: 1859 game is to collect all 40 cards from locations around the city’s historic district – including restaurants, shops and historic sites such as the Gaylord Building and the Will County Historical Museum – to figure out the location of the crystal.

Although each card contains a different piece of the story, six cards contain QR codes that link to special video clues needed to solve the final puzzle. Once players solve the mystery, they can go to Amazing Fantasy Comics to present their answer and win a prize.

“It took about a year to put it all together, including the writing process,” said Wendy Streit, who worked with the Lockport Council of the Arts to create promotional materials for the game and to get businesses set up to participate. “We needed to find artists to do some of the work, recruit the businesses, and then help distribute the materials to them.”

Art for the cards, a promotional video and the Mission: 1859 website, which includes an interactive map showcasing the location of the different cards, were created by the authors and artists Mike Fyles and Matt Stockmal. Printed versions of the map also are available for pickup, along with a card, from the White Oak Library branch in Lockport.

The game officially launched June 1 and will continue to run through Sept. 1.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Wendy Streit said. “A group of boys for the high school were our first test subjects. They ran up to Steve in the city hall on one of the first days with a stack of cards in hand. They finished it in the first week and said they were having a blast.”

She said the word is spreading on social meida as well.

“Some people are doing it as part of restaurant or bar crawls, some are doing it in small doses with weekly nights out. In general, we’ve heard a lot of positive things, and people seem to be having fun with it,” Wendy Streit said.

Although everyone who completes the game will get a prize, there also will be an additional award for one lucky player. After the game officially ends in September, everyone who completed the mission will have their names entered into a raffle to win a $250 gift card.

The full list of businesses and sites participating in the game can be found at the Mission:1895 website, cityoflockport.net/945/Mission-1895.