"A Great Group of Cachers!"

Want to play a game that involves searching for hidden objects, but that avoids the task of log-writing, worrying about trading up or even, and is virtually maintenance-free? Do you own a smartphone? Then you may be ready to start playing Munzee, a game that could satisfy your inner numbers hound!

What is Munzee?
Munzee is a scavenger-hunt game where items are found in the real world and captured using your smartphone. You then level up and gain rank based on your score. Points are obtained by capturing other people's munzees or when your deployed munzees are captured by someone else. Munzee is based off of the fundamentals of geocaching and adds another layer of fun to the hunt. Badges can be earned by unlocking specific achievements.

What do munzees look like?
Munzees come in any size or shape but all must contain a QR-code style barcode. The barcode combined with your GPS coordinates are the essential gameplay elements of Munzee.

Munzees can be hidden in containers, camouflaged or even in plain view.

What Do I Need to Play?
Munzee is currently supported on some iPhone, iOS and Android platforms.

Scoring System
Currently, players earn points in many different ways.

1.Find and capture (scan) an existing munzee hide = 5 points
2.Hide a munzee (deploy) for others to find = 5 points
3.Have your munzee captured by someone else = 3 points

So, for example - if you hide two munzees and each of those munzees is found by 6 players, your total score would be:

2 * 5 = 10 (deploy)

2 * 6 * 3 = 36 (scans)

Total = 46 points!


Business Munzee: Capture a business munzee = 1 point (can be done once every 24 hours)

Bonus: Munzee GOLD (or pumpkin!) = 50 pts bonus per capture (can be captured regardless of if you have captured it before. Also get standard 5pts for the capture)

Where did the name come from?
When the game was originally being brainstormed in 2008, the first idea included using poker chips with unique serial numbers on them. At the same time they were trying to come up with a clever name that people wouldn't forget. While searching for available domain names they came across the German word for coin which is 'munze'. Adding an extra 'e' to the end left them with a catchy name that also was available as a domain name.

Check it out at www.munzee.com.

Photo by *gln

SLAGA's new Board of Directors was installed at the SLAGA Fall Picnic on September 11, 2011. They are (left to right):

Jim Nelson (Quailman2), Treasurer

Nathan Rover (NateDawgCC), Vice President

Mike Henthorn (mikeinmo), Vice President

Mary Beth Gianoli (SLBC ladies), Secretary

Tom Wolpert (twolpert), President

Thanks to all the SLAGA members who voted! You've chosen a talented Board of Directors, and we're looking forward to a great year ahead!

The National Wildlife Federation and Ranger Rick magazine want to encourage families to spend more time having fun in the great outdoors.

Ranger Rick’s Geocache Trails are a great new way to inspire curiosity and learning about the natural world, while providing the satisfaction of seeking and finding hidden “treasure.” The program is designed to be fun for first-time or experienced geocachers.

Geocache trails allow land managers to provide a well-rounded experience for the geocacher. Hosting a Ranger Rick’s Geocache Trail can help attract new audiences, connect people with nature, offer a new kind of adventure at your facility, and show off your property!

• Ranger Rick’s Geocache Trails contain either 3, 5, or 8 geocaches to be hidden around your property, for geocachers to find.
• Each geocache on your trail will have its own web page on geocaching.com.
• Before setting out for their adventure, kids and parents will download your trail's coordinates to a GPS unit or smartphone from geocaching.com. There they will also download a Ranger Rick’s passport. When geocachers find one of your caches, they will sign Ranger Rick’s log book, found inside. Each geocache also features a Ranger Rick mystery. Cachers are asked to solve the mystery by stamping their passport. Additional “More to Explore” activities are included in each cache, as well as opportunities for trading.
• Geocachers can fill their passports by finding all of the geocaches along your trail.
• At the end of the adventure, kids and parents will log on to geocaching.com, post their finds, and share their experiences. Answers to the mysteries can be found online at RangerRickTrails.com.

Find an existing trail near you...

Standings as of 08/02/2011

1. Belvebob's STL Racer 16185.0
2. Keike"s World Marble Racer 7589.6
3. NAVY LT GETS A PATROL BOAT 6081.6
4. Night Children 5302.7
5. Donald Duck Racer - SLAGA 2011 5232.6
6. Krusty (racer) 4624.0
7. Seasick Travel Duck Racer 4424.9
8. Slappy the Beaver 4402.2
9. Monkey Face 4267.2
10. Route 66 Traveler 4266.0
11. Keike's Yellow Racer 4211.0
12. Racing with Crowesfeat30 3589.0
13. Jack In The Box TB 3569.7
14. Strider's Racing Travel Bug 3563.1
15. Enterprise 2600.0
16. Travel Bug Dog Tag 2500.0
17. THE TORTOISE 1713.3
18. G.S. Bear 1485.9
19. Twin's Aren't so SIMPLE! 1380.0
20. String Guy 1138.9
21. Fitz's Bottle Bug 761.2
22. The Cat's Pal - 'Pisces' 655.8
23. Lampwork Bead 646.8