SINGAPORE PUZZLE HUNT

Rules (note the new changes below pertaining to SGPH 2023)

Part 1 - Registration

1) The recommended and maximum team size for this hunt is 8 pax. If you are one of the lead teams, we estimate a team of 8 active and experienced SGPH solvers could expect to complete the hunt before or around Sat 28 October 8pm. Teams with less than 8 solvers will be less competitive, and should expect to take longer. We also expect all teams with 8 active SGPH solvers to be able to finish the first round by Sat 28 October, and for most active teams to finish the entire hunt by Sun 29 October 12 midnight before the hunt closes. SGPH 2023 is therefore positioned to last the weekend from 28-29 October, and solvers should block your time for both days to ensure your team can finish the entire hunt. It would not be advisable to register with just the usual 4-pax team from past SGPHs, as you would most likely not be able to complete and experience the whole hunt. If you need more team members, you can refer to the FAQ for some suggestions. For fairness (and perception of fairness), teams are not allowed to have additional unregistered team members participate in the solving or have access to the team's chat and/or working spreadsheet, even if they are not active solvers or just observers.

2) Due to admin constraints, the hunt can only support a limited number of participating teams. Hence registration is limited to/prioritized for Singaporeans/PRs, residents and former residents.

3) Teams can choose to sign up under two solving options - “Full Ranking” or “Partial Ranking”, with the following differences:

Solving Options Rank Order Hints Recommendation
a) Full Ranking Teams will be ranked based on timing of final meta solved, else number of puzzles/metas solved, with tie-breaker based on timing of last puzzle/meta solved You would receive 2 hints on Sat 28 October 8pm, another 2 hints on Sun 29 October 9am, and 2 more hints on Sun 29 October 6pm. Recommended for teams with other online puzzle hunt experience
b) Partial Ranking Teams will be ranked based only on progress in terms of number of metas solved, in no particular team order for those with the same number of metas solved Unlimited access to hints Recommended for teams new to or relatively inexperienced with puzzle hunts

Note SGPH2023 rule update for hints usage - Before a team has finished the hunt, hints can only be used on a particular puzzle after at least 2 teams have solved it. Once a team has finished the hunt, hints can be used on any puzzle. This is to avoid the usage of hints having an impact on the first team which finishes the hunt.

4) The full names and email addresses of each team member must be submitted when registering the team.

5) Registration fees are non-refundable once the team registration has been confirmed. The nominal fees are used to offset the costs of organising the hunt. These include Peatix fees, website and domain name hosting. Please let us know if the fees happen to pose a barrier to you participating in the hunt. The organizers have the discretion to help sponsor or subsidize the fees for any team.

6) By registering for the puzzle hunt, all participants agree to abide by its rules, receive hunt-related communications on their registered email addresses and Discord, and to fully responsible for their own health and safety (including the safety of their belongings) during the puzzle hunt.

7) Registered teams may change their details or team members by emailing to inform the organisers in advance. Again if there are drop-outs and you need more team members, you can refer to the FAQ for some suggestions. As registration slots are limited and interactions are planned, if your team will no longer be participating in the hunt from the kick-off, please have the courtesy to inform the organizers beforehand.

Part 2 - General

1) Puzzles will be released online through the puzzle site from Sat 28 October 12pm. Each team will be given access to the puzzle site with the puzzles to be solved, and more puzzles and rounds may be unlocked after puzzles in the round are solved. You will not need to travel around. You complete the hunt by solving all the round metas. Round metas require the answers from the puzzles in that round in order to solve, but you should be able to solve the metas without all the answers from the puzzles in that round. The actual time needed to complete the hunt will vary depending on your team’s solving speed. Please refer to Part 1.1 above for some solve time estimates.

2) The hunt will remain open until Sun 29 October 12 midnight and no answer submissions will be accepted after that. After hunt closes, solvers will be invited to join a Discord SGPH 2023 discussion channel, where hints if needed could still be crowd-sourced and provided through spoiler-hidden tags. The hunt wrap-up/epilogue and solutions will be posted online thereafter. Teams will subsequently receive a feedback form link and are encouraged to share their experiences and discuss about the hunt and puzzles with other solvers in the Discord channel.

3) Teams may use any resources and references, printed or online, during the hunt.

4) Teams must work independently and not share puzzle information with other teams. Teams can obtain referential help on individual puzzles from others not involved in the hunt, but the external parties must not be active solvers or shadow members of the team.

5) Any team deemed by organisers to be engaging in misconduct, unsporting behaviour or abuse of the competition will be disqualified. This includes, but is not limited to: having additional unregistered team members/observers, cheating, spying on other teams, interfering with another team's progress, soliciting and/or stealing answers and intentionally sabotaging any aspect of the puzzle hunt. Teams should seek clarifications on rules before the hunt if necessary — ignorance or misunderstanding of rules should not be an excuse. If the legitimacy of any answer is in doubt, the organisers reserve the right to ask a team how they approached and solved the puzzle.

6) The decisions of the organisers on all matters regarding eligibility and disqualification are final and no correspondence will be entertained.

If you have any questions, get in touch with us at puzzlesmiths@sgpuzzlehunt.com. Remember to add our address to your contact list so that you can receive our emails!