Developer Jagex is diving into its RuneScape archives to bring back “the rarest item in its 20-year history” – a golden party hat.
In a new event that runs from now until January 3, 2022, players will be able to get their hands on a new version of the classic “Partyhat“, an item that was initially only available during a Christmas event way back in 2001. Originally available in red, yellow, green, blue, purple, or white, RuneScape’s “The Golden Party Hat Hunt” quest will allow players to unlock one of the highly-sought cosmetics in a metallic sheen.
As the partyhats were originally only available in limited numbers for a short time and have since been discontinued, any player lucky enough to have one can sell them for billions of in-game coins. Even though the hats are purely decorative and offer no stat bonuses, they are currently the most expensive item on the Grand Exchange, hitting the maximum price of 2.1billion gold in 2015.
To get their hands on – or heads in – a Golden Party Hat, players will have to complete “various objectives” and earn eight golden shards for their efforts. Once all eight have been collected, they can be combined into a Golden Party Hat. However, not only is the event time-limited, but only one golden hat will be able to be crafted per player. Like their 2001 predecessors, Jagex says of the golden hats that “after the cut-off date, they will never be available to earn again!”
Whether the new item interrupts the in-game economy and lowers the value of existing partyhats or becomes a new and even more premium item remains to be seen. Jagex will be marking the occasion all the same, though, transforming the in-game Grand Exchange location into “a Golden Party Hat winter wonderland”.
The golden hat is the crowning addition (sorry) to RuneScape’s year-long 20th-anniversary celebrations. Launching alongside the returning partyhat event is the fourth and final part of the anniversary quest, Once Upon a Time, running all year.
Fittingly titled Finale, the chapter is described as “the conclusion of the adventure that explores RuneScape’s past, present, and future and brings the story arc to a close for Relomia, the quest’s antagonist.”
