Hidden Treasure Ending Guide
How to get the Hidden Treasure ending in Drain the Lake Update 1: alternate route, Jewel Bucket unlock, badge reward, and embedded YouTube walkthroughs.
What Is Hidden Treasure?
Hidden Treasure is Update 1's alternate ending in Drain the Lake. Instead of recovering your phone in the Abyss, you follow treasure clues through deep checkpoints to a secret payout. Rolimon's lists ~19.9% win rate — harder than the standard Phone Ending.
Rewards include the Hidden Treasure badge (140 Gems), the Jewel Bucket Legendary tier, and bragging rights on leaderboards.
Prerequisites
- Complete standard checkpoint progression through Lost City minimum
- Upgrade movement and bucket tier per tools tier list
- Read anglerfish survival — treasure routes cross deep water
- On Hard difficulty, see Hard mode guide first
Route Overview — Step by Step
Hidden Treasure branches from the same bottom area as the Phone Ending. Follow the standard deep route through Shipwreck, Cavern, Mineshaft, Molten, Lost City, and Abyss. After reaching the phone rock with its white particle glow:
- Do not click the phone — interacting triggers the Phone Ending and ends your run
- Walk past the phone to the extra pool beyond it
- Drain the fish pool while dodging the anglerfish (past Checkpoint 8)
- Drop into the hidden area below and interact with the huge door
- Collect treasure to trigger the Hidden Treasure cutscene (~60 Gems first clear, badge worth 140 Gems)
Community solo completion time for Phone Ending averages 20–25 minutes with a maxed Skill Tree; Hidden Treasure takes longer due to the extra pool and anglerfish pressure. Watch the embedded YouTube guide above for visual routing.
Press F (PC) to recover drain positions. Do not AFK in anglerfish zones while hunting treasure nodes.
Jewel Bucket Unlock
After triggering Hidden Treasure ending, verify Jewel Bucket in the lobby bucket selector. See stats on Buckets and Tools. Community reports boosted Gem drops from pours — confirm passives in your inventory UI.
Related Endings Comparison
| Ending | Badge | Key Reward | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone Ending | Find My Phone | Narrative completion | Standard |
| Hidden Treasure | Hidden Treasure | Jewel Bucket | Update 1 — higher community fail rate |
Both endings count toward account completion. Badge hunters need both for Bucket List and max Gem income from 29 badges.
Video Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I start Hidden Treasure?
Progress through late checkpoints after Update 1 and follow alternate treasure markers shown in community guides.
Does Hidden Treasure replace Phone Ending?
No — they are separate endings you can pursue on different runs.
What is Jewel Bucket?
Legendary bucket unlocked via Hidden Treasure ending — see buckets page for passive details.
Is Hidden Treasure on Hard only?
Community guides show it on multiple difficulties; Hard raises enemy risk during the route.