You've probably noticed that the vibe in Monopoly Go changes the second a major holiday rolls around. Scopely doesn't just sit back; they flood the board with themed events that can either make your week or absolutely drain your dice bank. The Monopoly Go New Years Treasure event is one of those high-stakes moments. It’s a dig-style minigame, which most players affectionately (or frustratingly) call the "pickaxe event."
If you’ve played Galactic Treasures or Jungle Treasures, you know the drill. But the New Year’s edition hits different because it usually lands right when people are trying to finish up their seasonal sticker albums. It's a grind.
Success isn't about luck. Not really. It’s about understanding the grid patterns and knowing exactly when to stop rolling. Most people fail because they get "click-happy" and waste tokens on empty tiles. Honestly, that's exactly what the game wants you to do.
What is the Monopoly Go New Years Treasure Event anyway?
Basically, it's a treasure hunt. You collect a special currency—usually pickaxes or shovels—by completing daily wins, hitting milestones in solo tournaments, and ranking in the leaderboard contests. Once you have enough, you go to a separate screen where a grid of dirt blocks hides various artifacts.
The goal is simple: find the hidden items to clear the level.
There are usually 20 levels. Sometimes 25 if Scopely is feeling particularly spicy. The rewards scale as you go, starting with small batches of dice and cash, eventually leading up to the "Big One." This usually includes thousands of dice, a massive chunk of in-game currency, and the highly coveted Wild Sticker.
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The Wild Sticker is the real prize here. Since the Monopoly Go New Years Treasure usually occurs toward the end of a sticker season, that one Wild Sticker can be the difference between finishing a set for 15,000 dice or staring at a "9/10" screen for the next three weeks.
The Strategy Nobody Talks About: The "Checkerboard" Method
Stop clicking randomly. Just stop.
Every item in the treasure hunt has a specific shape. Some are $1 \times 1$ squares (the worst), some are $2 \times 2$, and others are long $1 \times 4$ strips. When you start a new level, look at the "Items to Find" bar at the top. If you see a large $3 \times 3$ item, there is absolutely no reason to click a tile that doesn't have enough space around it to house that item.
Use a checkerboard pattern. Click every other tile in a diagonal line. This reveals enough of the grid to "bracket" where the larger items must be located. If you find a corner of an item, you can usually deduce its entire orientation without clicking every single surrounding block.
Efficiency is everything.
You’ll need roughly 350 to 450 pickaxes to finish all 20 levels. If you’re starting the event with 50 dice, you’re not going to make it. You have to hoard.
Where to find those extra pickaxes
Don't just rely on the main board.
- The Daily Wins: These are the easiest source. You get about 12-15 tokens just for doing basic tasks like "Bank Heist" or "Upgrade 3 Landmarks." Do not skip these.
- The 8-Hour Gift: Check the shop every eight hours. It’s a small amount, maybe 2 or 3 tokens, but over a four-day event, that adds up to 24+ tokens. That’s two full levels cleared for free.
- Top Bar Events: These are the multi-day events at the top of your screen. The milestones start easy but get progressively harder. Experts usually suggest pushing until the point where the dice required to get the next "pickaxe milestone" exceeds the value of the reward. If you're spending 500 dice to get 10 pickaxes, you're losing the war.
The Wild Sticker vs. The Purple Pack
There's a lot of debate in the Monopoly Go community—especially on Discord and Reddit—about whether these treasure events are "rigged." Some players swear the items move if you haven't spent enough money. While there's no concrete evidence of that, the difficulty spike in the final five levels is very real.
Level 16 through 20 are notorious. They introduce these tiny $1 \times 1$ coins that are hidden in massive $5 \times 5$ grids. It’s pure guesswork.
This is where the Monopoly Go New Years Treasure becomes a test of patience. If you have the Wild Sticker waiting at Level 20, use it wisely. Don't waste it on a 4-star gold sticker. Always, always aim for the 5-star gold stickers that can't be traded during a Golden Blitz.
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Gold stickers are the gatekeepers of this game.
Dealing with the "Dice Drought"
We've all been there. You're on Level 19. You need three more pickaxes. You have zero dice.
The temptation to buy a "New Year’s Deal" for $19.99 is peak. But before you do that, check your friends list. Are there partners you can trade stickers with to finish a smaller set? Can you trade a "Room to Rent" or whatever the current "rare" 4-star is for enough stars to open your vault?
Opening the 800-star vault during the Monopoly Go New Years Treasure is a pro move. It gives you a burst of dice that can propel you through those final, expensive levels.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Over-rolling on the first day: The tournaments on day one are usually filled with "whales" (high spenders). Wait until day two or three to really push the leaderboards when the competition cools down.
- Ignoring the "Side Bar": The 24-hour tournaments often have pickaxes hidden in the early milestones. You can often grab 10-15 tokens with minimal dice expenditure.
- Forgetting the end date: The event usually ends at a weird time, like 1:00 PM EST. If you have 50 tokens left and the event ends, they convert into cash. Cash is useless. If the event ends and you have leftover tokens, they should convert into dice, but only if you have actually finished the event. Check the specific rules for the New Year's version, as Scopely occasionally changes the conversion rate.
Why this event matters for the "Meta"
Monopoly Go isn't just a board game anymore; it's a resource management simulator. The Monopoly Go New Years Treasure acts as a "drain." It's designed to suck the dice out of the economy before the next big album launch.
However, if you play it smart, it’s a springboard. The rewards for completing the New Year's hunt often include a themed token (like a disco ball or a champagne bottle) and a new shield. These aren't just cosmetic; they represent your "E-E-A-T" in the game world. Seeing a player with the New Year's Treasure shield tells potential partners in the next Partner Event that you are a closer. You finish what you start.
The Math of Digging
It's actually possible to calculate your odds. Most $2 \times 2$ items require four hits if you're unlucky, but only one hit to reveal its location. If you are working on a $10 \times 10$ grid, you have 100 tiles. If the items occupy 20 of those tiles, you have a 1 in 5 chance of hitting something on a blind guess.
By using the "bracket" method mentioned earlier, you improve those odds to about 1 in 3. Over 20 levels, that saves you nearly 100 pickaxes. That’s the difference between winning and quitting.
Final Steps for Success
To dominate the Monopoly Go New Years Treasure, you need a checklist that isn't just "play more."
First, stop spending dice 48 hours before the event starts. You want a bankroll of at least 2,000 dice.
Second, synchronize your play with the "Boost" windows. Look for High Roller or Airplane Mode (though the latter is increasingly patched and risky) to maximize your token gain per roll.
Third, monitor the Monopoly Go social media pages. They often drop "Free Dice" links that sometimes include a few event tokens during the final 24 hours of a treasure hunt.
Fourth, prioritize the milestones. If the next milestone in the top event is a "Mega Heist," and you need pickaxes, push for it. The Mega Heist will help you get points for the side tournament, which in turn gives you more pickaxes. It's a feedback loop.
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Finally, keep an eye on the clock. There is nothing worse than having the final item half-uncovered and the event timer hitting zero. Clear your schedule for the final hour of the event to ensure you've squeezed every possible token out of your board.
The New Year's event is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace your dice, study the grid, and don't let the "hidden" items frustrate you into making bad tactical decisions.