The Game (treasure hunt)
Encyclopedia
The Game is a non-stop 24–48 hour treasure hunt
, puzzlehunt
or road rally
that has run in the San Francisco Bay
and Seattle areas since 1973. Its teams use van
s rigged with power and Internet
access and drive hundreds of miles from puzzle site to puzzle site, overcoming often outrageous physical and mental challenges along the way, usually with no sleep. Teams in recent games have been required to walk around the roof of the Space Needle
, find a puzzle hidden in a live rat, and circulate a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide
from local ecosystems while dressed in superhero outfits.
Game founder Joe Belfiore has described the Game as "the ultimate test for Renaissance men and women."
in 1973 by a graphic designer named Donald Luskin
and longtime friend, Patrick Carlyle. Teams competed all night long solving puzzles across L.A. for a $100 first prize. The game was a mostly underground affair, but eventually drew the attention of the Los Angeles Times
. and later the Walt Disney Company, who produced a movie, Midnight Madness, based on Luskin's game.
In 1985 Joe Belfiore (at that time a student at Clearwater Central Catholic High School
) and his friends, inspired by Midnight Madness, created a race like the one in the film. They played four more games before Joe moved to Stanford University
to go to school. With Stanford classmates Eli Ben-Shoshan and Andrew Reisner, he created the Bay Area Race Fantastique (BARF) which occurred six times before changing its name to 'The Game'. There are some interesting notes about the initial BARFs and number of teams that actually completed them due to the hyper-competitive aspect of the BARF format. The term "Gentleman's Game" was used to describe the Stanford Game shortly after Joe Belfiore graduated, meaning there was no prize for winning, only bragging rights.
Two more events were held in the Bay Area before Joe Belfiore moved to Seattle to work for Microsoft
, taking the official "The Game" with him, although the San Francisco Bay Area people still consider their games to be "The Game." Structurally, the two Games are identical, but the Seattle Games tend to be more competitive and require more technological gear.
Currently, versions of The Game (both full-blown and abbreviated foot-transportation-only) are organized regularly by Stanford dorm staff members as a bonding activity for their residents.
Usually there is an overall theme to the clues, or even a story that ties all the clues together.
In the Bay Area, the next Game would be run by whatever team felt the ability, chutzpah and desire to do so. Future Game Controls (GCs) in the Bay Area tended to rely on the expertise of previous GCs and the so-called legitimacy of owning the "Captain's List". In the Bay Area there is no "Central System" or "Central Ownership" per se, but rather an autonomous collective of Gamers (a group of teams that communicate with one-another) and a group-moderated site.
In subsequent years, The Game became increasingly more high-tech and more psychological in nature, a result of each Game trying to "outdo" the previous Games. For instance, a team member might find themselves stripped of all clothes and spectacles, be dressed in nothing but a hospital gown, have the next puzzle be written on the back of their neck in reverse lettering, and then be deposited at a strip club. Teams became increasingly competitive and would even break the rules and mislead other teams in order to gain an advantage, much to the fellow participants' and organizers' displeasure. Such teams can become blacklisted by the community at large and no longer find themselves invited to future Games. This nature of self-policing (decentralized control and word-of-mouth) prevents out-of-control teams from destroying the elaborate events.
In the 2002 Game, "Shelby Logan's Run", a participant was severely injured in a mine shaft. There was no Seattle-based Game for three years after the 2002 Game, although the Bay Area Game continued apace. The August 2005 "Mooncurser's Handbook" Game in Seattle, run by a group of twelve veteran Seattle Gamers, renewed the Seattle Game tradition, with a special emphasis on safety.
The Game culture has spawned several spinoffs in the Bay Area, including the Bay Area Treasure Hunt (BATH), Bay Area Night Game (BANG), Park Challenge, Iron Puzzler, and Different Area Same Hunt (DASH). There have been several spinoffs in other parts of North America as well. There are three yearly games in New York City
that are very similar to The Game: Midnight Madness, The Haystack, and The Great All Nighter. There is also a yearly game in Hot Springs
, Arkansas
also called Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness Brevard also puts on events many times a year in Brevard County, Florida
. Midnight Madness Vermont hosts MMVT events several times a year as well.
Treasure hunt
A treasure hunt is one of many different types of games which can have one or more players who try to find hidden articles, locations or places by using a series of clues. This is a fictional activity; treasure hunting can also be a real life activity. Treasure hunt games may be an indoor or...
, puzzlehunt
Puzzlehunt
A puzzlehunt is a puzzle game where teams compete to solve a series of puzzles at a particular site, in multiple sites and/or via the internet. Groups of puzzles in a puzzle hunt are often connected by a metapuzzle, leading to answers which combine into a final set of solutions...
or road rally
Road rally
A road rally is a car rally that takes place on the public road. It is a popular sport in the United Kingdom, especially Wales, and has traditionally been the core of the "grass roots" of club-based amateur motorsport. However it has declined in popularity since the 1980s and now stage rallies are...
that has run in the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
and Seattle areas since 1973. Its teams use van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
s rigged with power and Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access and drive hundreds of miles from puzzle site to puzzle site, overcoming often outrageous physical and mental challenges along the way, usually with no sleep. Teams in recent games have been required to walk around the roof of the Space Needle
Space Needle
The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington and is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over...
, find a puzzle hidden in a live rat, and circulate a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide
Dihydrogen monoxide hoax
In the dihydrogen monoxide hoax, water is called by an unfamiliar name, "dihydrogen monoxide", followed by a listing of real negative effects of this chemical, in an attempt to convince people that it should be carefully regulated, labeled as hazardous, or banned...
from local ecosystems while dressed in superhero outfits.
Game founder Joe Belfiore has described the Game as "the ultimate test for Renaissance men and women."
History
The Game was created in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1973 by a graphic designer named Donald Luskin
Donald Luskin
Donald Luskin is Chief Investment Officer for Trend Macrolytics LLC, a consulting firm providing investment strategy and macroeconomics forecasting and research for institutional investors....
and longtime friend, Patrick Carlyle. Teams competed all night long solving puzzles across L.A. for a $100 first prize. The game was a mostly underground affair, but eventually drew the attention of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. and later the Walt Disney Company, who produced a movie, Midnight Madness, based on Luskin's game.
In 1985 Joe Belfiore (at that time a student at Clearwater Central Catholic High School
Clearwater Central Catholic High School
Clearwater Central Catholic High School is a private college preparatory school for grades 9 through 12 and located in Clearwater, Florida, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1962, the school enrolls approximately 500 students from the Tampa Bay area...
) and his friends, inspired by Midnight Madness, created a race like the one in the film. They played four more games before Joe moved to Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
to go to school. With Stanford classmates Eli Ben-Shoshan and Andrew Reisner, he created the Bay Area Race Fantastique (BARF) which occurred six times before changing its name to 'The Game'. There are some interesting notes about the initial BARFs and number of teams that actually completed them due to the hyper-competitive aspect of the BARF format. The term "Gentleman's Game" was used to describe the Stanford Game shortly after Joe Belfiore graduated, meaning there was no prize for winning, only bragging rights.
Two more events were held in the Bay Area before Joe Belfiore moved to Seattle to work for Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, taking the official "The Game" with him, although the San Francisco Bay Area people still consider their games to be "The Game." Structurally, the two Games are identical, but the Seattle Games tend to be more competitive and require more technological gear.
Currently, versions of The Game (both full-blown and abbreviated foot-transportation-only) are organized regularly by Stanford dorm staff members as a bonding activity for their residents.
Structure
The general structure of The Game is a series of puzzle challenges, often called "Clues". Each challenge solves to the location where the next challenge can be found. During the course of The Game, a team will often travel all around a metropolitan area.Usually there is an overall theme to the clues, or even a story that ties all the clues together.
Game communities
In Seattle, the organization typically fell on the previous winner. However, as time progressed, the Seattle System became unfeasible, and a central organization was created to ensure that Games were not spaced too closely together.In the Bay Area, the next Game would be run by whatever team felt the ability, chutzpah and desire to do so. Future Game Controls (GCs) in the Bay Area tended to rely on the expertise of previous GCs and the so-called legitimacy of owning the "Captain's List". In the Bay Area there is no "Central System" or "Central Ownership" per se, but rather an autonomous collective of Gamers (a group of teams that communicate with one-another) and a group-moderated site.
In subsequent years, The Game became increasingly more high-tech and more psychological in nature, a result of each Game trying to "outdo" the previous Games. For instance, a team member might find themselves stripped of all clothes and spectacles, be dressed in nothing but a hospital gown, have the next puzzle be written on the back of their neck in reverse lettering, and then be deposited at a strip club. Teams became increasingly competitive and would even break the rules and mislead other teams in order to gain an advantage, much to the fellow participants' and organizers' displeasure. Such teams can become blacklisted by the community at large and no longer find themselves invited to future Games. This nature of self-policing (decentralized control and word-of-mouth) prevents out-of-control teams from destroying the elaborate events.
In the 2002 Game, "Shelby Logan's Run", a participant was severely injured in a mine shaft. There was no Seattle-based Game for three years after the 2002 Game, although the Bay Area Game continued apace. The August 2005 "Mooncurser's Handbook" Game in Seattle, run by a group of twelve veteran Seattle Gamers, renewed the Seattle Game tradition, with a special emphasis on safety.
The Game culture has spawned several spinoffs in the Bay Area, including the Bay Area Treasure Hunt (BATH), Bay Area Night Game (BANG), Park Challenge, Iron Puzzler, and Different Area Same Hunt (DASH). There have been several spinoffs in other parts of North America as well. There are three yearly games in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that are very similar to The Game: Midnight Madness, The Haystack, and The Great All Nighter. There is also a yearly game in Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
also called Midnight Madness. Midnight Madness Brevard also puts on events many times a year in Brevard County, Florida
Brevard County, Florida
Brevard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the population is 536,521, making it the 10th most populous county in the state. Influenced by the presence of the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Brevard...
. Midnight Madness Vermont hosts MMVT events several times a year as well.
San Francisco Bay Area games
- Ghost Patrol, 2008
- Pirate's BATH (BATH3), 2007
- No More Secrets, 2007
- Hogwarts and the Draconian Prophecy, 2006
- Paparazzi, 2006
- Griffiths Collection, 2005
- Justice Unlimited, 2004
- The Genome Game, 2004
- The Goonies Game, 2003
- FoBiK, 2002
- Jackpot, Las Vegas, 2002
- Zelda: A Hidden Link, 2001
- Homicide: Life on the Farm, 2001
- The 420 Game, 2001
- MegaHard, 2000
- Wonka, 1999
- Espionage, 1999
- Amnesia, 1999
- Dragonhunt, 1998
- The Green Game, 1997
- Star Wars, 1997
- Indiana Jones, 1996
- Godfather, 1996
- SETI, 1996
- Magic: The Gaming, 1995
- Operation: The Plague, 1995
- The Most Dangerous Game, 1994
- King Arthur, 1994
- HELL, 1994
- R.A.T.R.A.C.E. 1993
- Alice in Wonderland, 1993
- Long Ride Home, 1992
- "Circle K" Game, 1992
- Mission Improbable, 1991
Shorter Bay Area games (less than 24 hours)
- Clue: The Game, 2008
- SFMiniGame (run simultaneously in Seattle), 2008
- Midnight Madness: Back to Basics, 2008
- The Apprentice: Zorg, 2006
- CRANEA, 2005
- BATH2, 2003
- BATH1, 2001
- Overnightmare, 2003
- Magic 8-Ball, 2002
- Beanie Babies Rescue, 1998
- The Quest for Ultimate Power, 1997
Recurring Bay Area events (less than 24 hours)
- Shinteki - 12 hour events from Just Passing Through
- BANG (Bay Area Night Game)
Seattle games
- World Henchmen Organization (WHO), Seattle, 2011
- The Mooncurser's Handbook, Seattle, 2005
- Shelby Logan's Run, Las Vegas, 2002
- Blau Foundation, Seattle, 2001
- VQuest, Seattle, 2000
- The N. I. T., New York, 1999
- ISETV, Los Angeles, 1998
- Thanatos Society, Seattle, 1997
- Hope2Die, Seattle, 1996
- EnGenetics, Seattle, 1995
National games and games outside the US
- Cygnet LLP: Rebooting the UK Game - July 2011, London
- DASH (Different Area Same Hunt) - a day Game run in multiple US cities simultaneously
- Casino Royale: The Game - April 2007, Singapore
External links
- Puzzle Hunt Calendar - schedule of various upcoming and ongoing events
- Team Snout - links to Bay Area games, past and future, and "Game Control HOWTO" information
- Game Control - Official website of The Seattle Game (currently defunct)
- Seattle GC - information source for The Game, focused around Seattle events and people (currently defunct)
- Seattle Puzzling - De-facto home of SNAP, basically the Seattle equivalent of BANG
- THE GAME - A site of the Stanford Game
- Midnight Madness AR - Midnight Madness in Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Midnight Madness Brevard - Midnight Madness in Brevard County, Florida
- Paregoric.org - Midnight Madness 2006 in Hot Springs, Arkansas
- Midnight Madness NYC - Midnight Madness in New York City
- Microsoft Intern Game - The site for the incarnation of The Game run for Microsoft's Summer Interns
- The Game Princeton - A short Game run every September by graduate students at Princeton University
- Encounter - International network of Game-typed urban games