Epilogue video is live!

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13

Hello, CodeHunters!

As predicted, the Minecraft Maze took a long while to solve. It was a massive group effort, with hunters bunching into teams to foray into different halls, trying desperately to map out the correct path.

Maps can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-7PkCoPcaboN8gXMRKAeq4M3OJn4z4ZpIBUPe_7rBnE/edit#gid=0

The maze was scattered with pressure plates. Most of them were kill switches, and many hunters lost their lives while traversing through the maze. However, every once in a while, they’d come across a plate that revealed a single coded word. Put together in order, they spelled: Eudx vl mr vozm?

When decoded, this read: “What is my name?”

Immediately, hunters were reminded of the Folder Hell clue from Day 5, and the path “what is my name” that lead to a password-protected file. However, still without her name, they continued with the maze at hand.

Eventually, our intrepid hunters made their way to the end of the maze, discovering a switch on the wall that opened a hidden door. The door lead into a study room, theoretically belonging to the mysterious scientist that wrote the journals found earlier in the hunt. Inside the study, hunters found another one of her journals, this one primarily about dreams, with a coded message at the end seemingly from Bill.

Try talking to me, huh kid? Well, let me tell you something. That was no ordinary dream you were having. I’m impressed! You seem like a real smart… anyway, that doesn’t matter! Point is, I like you, kid. I think we can really help each other out, I’m very interested in hearing some of the stuff you know. We’re going to make a great team!

You can read the full journal here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fmt_TiEJ60du5ETovLPXGD0oidCoDJ5G?usp=sharing

Inside the study, hunters found one more important clue, hinting at them to look by the lava. Upon investigating, they found a few more loose journal pages!

You can read these pages here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RfauFv-aJBybPnEsFOsHjO5S9gT_ZTA_?usp=sharing

These journal pages also revealed the long-sought-after name of our mysterious scientist: Sigrel

Immediately, hunters raced back to Folder Hell to find that password-protected file. Upon inputting “Sigrel” as their password, hunters were greeted with a set of coordinates:

-83.016627, -59.069674 14’

Antarctica!

Without anyone in the area, hunters were forced to send Fait in their stead. When Fait arrived at the coordinates in question, they discovered a scroll, filled with ancient ciphers. They delivered the scroll safely to Ford, then returned home. Due to the nature of the warnings left by the scientist, Ford decided not to share the contents of the scroll until he knew for sure what it was.

And with that, our hunt has drawn to a close! The epilogue video will be posted tomorrow night at 7:07pm PST. Until then, there’s still plenty of time to chat with and have fun with the refugees.

We hope everyone had lots of fun this year, and hope you have a great summer!

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12

Hello, CodeHunters!

Welcome to the final stretch!

After a long drive, Discord user trancycrotchrus was able to head out to the Oregon Vortex to find the next clue! Due to a lack of cell service and some pesky rules regarding video recording, there’s no footage of their hunt. However, they were able to locate the rusted magnetic screw they needed, towards the top of a metal pole.

WKH TXHVWLRQ LV KLGGHQ LQ WKH GLPHQVLRQ RI EORFNV

“THE QUESTION IS HIDDEN IN THE DIMENSION OF BLOCKS”

Hunters were quickly able to deduce that “the dimension of blocks” referred to minecraft. After obtaining a blacklight, trancy was able to find the IP for the minecraft server they needed to join.

198.55.108.133:57257

And thus began this year’s finale: Maze Hell 2: Electric Boogaloo!

Upon joining the server, hunters found themselves in a physical maze that spans multiple levels, containing various teleports and death traps and bears.

As it stands, our intrepid hunters are hard at work mapping out this massive maze and figuring out the correct path through to the end. We expect this clue is gonna take a while, but let’s not give up hope when we’re this close to the end!

Good luck, everyone!

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11

Hello, CodeHunters!

Discord user Lizardson came to the rescue this morning, heading over to the North Carolina Museum of Art to search for our clue!

Lizardson’s periscope streams:
https://www.periscope.tv/lizzardson/1OyKAQkjVLOKb
https://www.periscope.tv/lizzardson/1DXxyYMmgDYxM

Under the pig playground, they found a bag containing a notecard, with “The pig stares at the weeping mother” written on it. This in turn lead to another bag at the same location, this one with the full clue!

It reads, using columnar transposition with keyword “death”:

What is a ghosts favorite ice cream flavor?

The answer to this, as everyone knows, is Booberry!

This, combined with the gravestone aesthetic and the years 1992-1993, lead hunters to believe that the next clue was located at the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Flavour Graveyard in Vermont, by the grave for Wild Maine Blueberry!

Once again, no hunters were able to reach the clue, so Fait set out on their own to find it for us!

Upon investigating the Blueberry headstone, they found a false rock containing a rolled up piece of paper!

The A1Z26 at the bottom translate to: “the negative space holds the clue”

The 21=>23 in the top right led hunters to believe that they must solve this puzzle using the numbers like grid coordinates (across 2 and down 1, leading to the square marked 23). However, by doing that, the resulting A1Z26 code is: “WHOOPSTRYONCEMORELOL”

When checking for blacklight, Fait discovered that the column of numbers were also written in reverse (12 for 21, etc).

When doing the puzzle this way, hunters instead got: “TRYONEMORETIMENEERDS”

After that, our intrepid CodeHunters thought to do both patterns and mark out their respective boxes, and then translate the A1Z26 using only the boxes left over.

By doing so, hunters were left with:

“John Lister studied gravity vortex. Locals thought he had a few screws loose.”

Upon googling “John Lister,” hunters were presented with an article on the Oregon Vortex, a so-called gravity anomaly that Physicist John Lister spent forty years studying. This has lead our hunters to believe that the next clue is located at the Oregon Vortex, potentially in a screw capsule like the one at the Mystery Spot.

Until tomorrow!

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10

Hello, CodeHunters!

In a cruel twist of fate, there were no hunters available to go to the Mystery Spot today to retrieve the clue. But not to be deterred, Fait went on alone in their stead!

There was no stream, but Fait relayed to their surroundings to the chat, sending pictures and letting the hunters aid them in their quest.

Along some trails by the Mystery Spot, Fait found an informational sign about salmonberries. On the back of the sign was a magnetic screw, which opened up to reveal a small hidden cache. Inside the screw was a note:

ethay imsicalwhay igeay aresstay intoway ethay yregay andway ovinglylay ancesglay atway ethay irstfay ollapsecay ofway anmay. ishay oungyay ageway, andway ishay ompanionscay, eepkay imhay afesay omfray ethay 5,000 earsay ofway eautybay. agedcay insideway andway awayway omfray ethay estray ofway ethay iovivotay.

This was quickly recognized as being Pig Latin, and translated into:

the whimsical pig stares into the gyre and lovingly glances at the first collapse of man. his young age, and his companions, keep him safe from the 5000 years of beauty. caged inside and away from the rest of the tiovivo

Hunters were initially puzzled by this, searching desperately to find the location that would correspond with this message. In the end, they determined that it must lead to a pig-shaped play piece at the North Carolina Museum of Art!

As it stands, we’re waiting until hunters can scope out the location tomorrow.

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9

Hello, CodeHunters!

Discord user Dave Hamato went out hunting this morning to the Culcheth Library in Warrington, UK! Unfortunately, the library is closed on Sundays, but thankfully the clue was located outside the building. However, despite his best efforts, Dave ended the hunt empty handed. It seemed as though Bill’s Henchmaniacs go to the clue before us, as Dave couldn’t find it anywhere in the area.

Periscope: https://www.pscp.tv/Davekara/1MnxnZWXWwVxO

Hunt organizers intervened and released the clue themselves digitally:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cVN23hux167gIGiyFGZwHcZdP7A-A3SK-CGZARdh3NY/edit?usp=sharing

The doc contained a paragraph that had been encrypted in layers of code, from binary to NATO to vigenere (with key “goat”). In the end, it decoded to:

“Gompers has been found roaming in a park near an elementary school in southern California. Chase has ensued, but it’s not going anywhere. The Pines, meanwhile, are enjoying some baseball. Back to you, Phil.”

After some careful deduction, hunters discovered that the next clue was at to the baseball field by Gompers Elementary School in Lakewood, CA. Discord user Tina_Chu (with Brigit along to stream it) headed to the location to continue our hunt.

Periscope stream:  https://www.periscope.tv/w/1yNGaXlmVlnKj

The next clue turned out to be a “Have you seen this cat?” flyer:

The border of the poster was written in disguised morse, as well as having some hidden coordinates.

37°01‘02.5”N 122°00‘09.7“W (Probe: 31.01015, -122.00097)

This in turn lead to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA.

The Morse border decoded to “RUBUSSPECTABILIS.” Upon further inspection, rubus spectabilis is the scientific name for the plant salmonberry.

As of right now, we are waiting for hunters to get to there tomorrow.

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8

Hello, CodeHunters!

The hunt started back up today with Discord user Marciblook meeting up with Fait at Grand Park in Los Angeles! After crossing the park from one end to the other, they eventually found the clue in a plastic egg tucked inside in a water pipe. The clue was a piece of paper with some pictures of bears and a coded link.

Periscope streams:

https://www.periscope.tv/Bloobloods/1MYGNqDQYqPKw

https://www.periscope.tv/Bloobloods/1gqGvXDWqblxB

ixtgk://xaw.pgvxusw.dsm/gdbclzku?pijl=QPy0TBuAaBiObnq1plypILkDu4Ofp4_OhG

The link was decoded from vigenere using the key “Bears” and led to a youtube playlist:

Hunters then found that they had to take the first letter from the title of each video  (except in cases when the titles were “dot” or “colon” or “backslash” or “equal” since those ones corresponded to symbols instead).

Eventually, our intrepid hunters spelled out a new link: tnlxu://iqo.ltajtwz.oie/a/yx8eb2g7a1w81p7/JmeapwzgpXsbc.bhy?ln=0

They decoded this from vigenere using the key “Music” and discovered that it lead to a dropbox file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wl8kj2y7y1k81v7/RecoveredData.png?dl=0

The file inside appeared to be a corrupted image:

User DizzyDwarf discovered that the image was actually a disguised .rar file that had been hidden inside a. png image. After unzipping the file, they discovered that it contained two files: flskhuvduhixq.zip and iloohuqdph.txt (these titles were decoded to ciphersarefun.zip and fillername.txt).

The .zip was password protected, and the .txt file contained the hint to finding the password: “a picture is worth a thousand words but sometimes you only need to find one.”

After a lot of trial and error, hunters eventually discovered the word “peekaboo” hidden in the image, just a shade different than the rest of the surrounding color.

Using the password “Peekaboo” hunters were able to open the other file, finding a stream of numbers:

“123151170040155151154145163040146162157155040164150145040150157155145040157146040164150145040127151162145012116145170164040164157040164150145040147165151144151156147040154151147150164040157146040153156157167154145144147145012111156040164150145040164157167156040167150145162145040164150145040143162157167156040152145167145154163047040164150151145146040157156143145040154151166145144012131157165040155151147150164040167141156156141040164141153145040141040163145141164040146157162040164150151163040157156145”

The code ended up being Octal and said:

Six miles from the home of the Wire
Next to the guiding light of knowledge
In the town where the crown jewels’ thief once lived
You might wanna take a seat for this one

After much debate and scanning, hunters eventually deduced that the next clue was at Culcheth Library, located in Warrington in the UK! Due to the annoying presence of time slices, our hunt is once again on hold until that part of the world wakes up.

In the meantime, make sure you all get some well-deserved rest!

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7

Hello, CodeHunters!

After a well-deserved break, we are back on track with Tinkertown! Discord user Kabber Seifert headed over to pick up the clue today. Due to some trouble streaming and a battle against bad reception, their streams were cut short, but nevertheless they managed to locate our next clue!

https://www.periscope.tv/KabberSeifert/1gqxvXWrdoaGB

https://www.periscope.tv/KabberSeifert/1MYGNqQlOXXKw

https://www.periscope.tv/KabberSeifert/1PlJQrqOEgDxE

Seifert followed the riddle from the audio binary, locating the corral and searching through the signs there. As the riddle foretold, there was a sign for Route 66, and a sign beneath it proclaiming that Knott’s Berry Farm was 861 miles away. After that, they headed inside the museum to the Boot Hill exhibit, and found a framed letter on the wall from Knott’s.

The date on the letter, January 10th 1951, turned out to be the passphrase needed to get the next clue from the Tinkertown staff!

After that, they headed back home to stream the actual clue reveal

https://www.periscope.tv/KabberSeifert/1OdKrpQEaVlJX

The clue was inside a glass jar, weighed down by some plastic beads. One one side of the paper was the next riddle:

In the City of Angels
This place is quite Grand
In a bottle concealed
By the fountain, I stand
It’s so wet
This was a bad idea

The word “grand” was circled in blacklight, and “city of angels” was underlined.

The other side of the paper had what appears to be a map!

Hunters deduced that the next location must be Grand Park in Los Angeles, using the wording of the clue as well s by matching the map up with a map of downtown LA.

At this point, Fait popped into the chat, mentioning that they could meet hunters at the location sometime tomorrow.

Until then!

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6

Hello, CodeHunters!

Late last night, around 1am PST, a group of 3 hunters (Discord users DizzyDwarf, lizardson, and SignificantFoliage) managed to finish transcribing the audio binary clue!

The binary transcription was quickly converted into text, and then decoded from vigenere using the key “mindscape,” to reveal a riddle leading to the next clue:

The corral features ads for the hometown of our heroes
And also lots of other signs below in the shadows
I always love a road trip
Beneath route 66, 861 miles away, beside Boot Hill
An unassuming frame on the wall
Save the date

Speak with my associates at the front desk
Say the passphrase to continue in your task

In addition to the coded riddle, hunters received a photograph:

Using the riddle and the image, our intrepid CodeHunters were quickly able to deduce the location of the next clue: Tinkertown Museum, located near Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Unfortunately, while there are a few hunters in the area, none of them were able to head to the location today. Hopefully they’ll be able to head out tomorrow to pick up our next clue!

In the meantime, user Phantomspirit from the first clue in Orlando has finally completed the physical copy of the QR code puzzle!

Congratulations, Phantomspirit! You should be very proud of your accomplishment.

Until tomorrow, CodeHunters!

Happy Hunting! x

DAYS 1-2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6

Hello, CodeHunters!

Today was another fun-filled day of clue hunting! The day started off bright and early at Sri-Valley Public Library in Hegins, Pennsylvania, where three hunters (Nai, Rose, and Fando) had met up to find the clue.

Using the call number 366CM, hunters located the book they needed to find, discovering that it was in fact hollow and contained the pieces of a 3D puzzle as well as a few bound journal pages, encoded in dice cipher.

Page 1 – “In 44 pieces is the puzzle you seek, give it to the librarian whose day looks quite bleak. The puzzle when completed should not be consumed. No seriously, please don’t. It’s a choking hazard”

Page 2 – “I heard that when someone is given a gift, they will show kindness back. I wonder, perhaps that also applies to bookkeepers.”

Page 6 – “Secret societies” (upside down)

Page 8 – “Dear diary, today as I was doing my typical rout-/Ack- wrong book again!”

Page 11 – “Hello darkness my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again.” The bottom of the page is just more lyrics to the song.

Page 12 – “Listen, do NOT leave near any flammable. Warning! Warning! Warning!”

The completed 3D puzzle—a rose—was then given to a librarian, and in exchange, hunters were gifted a puzzle box that they had to solve by moving a ball through a maze and into the hole.

Nai’s stream: https://www.pscp.tv/_PLP_/1rmxPNVbWWdGN

Fando’s stream: https://www.pscp.tv/w/1nAKEQoDoBXKL

Rose’s streams: https://www.pscp.tv/McRareCharge/1djGXnyYmRvxZ
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1lDGLXwNODyGm

Inside the puzzle box were more coded pages, this time written in pigpen cipher:

“With the last piece from this library, you’ll find your stay no longer mandatory. Crack the code and continue the chase. Why is my handwriting always such a pigsty?”

“Sometimes things are more than they first appear to be. Some words paint a BIG picture, others make up the little details. Maybe that is what makes it easier to find the missing link?”

As well as a link to a google drive folder:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bRC3w7x0YAY5mTStb5RoG2HonMvLenFq

The drive was titled “Mystery???” and contained a .wav sound file with the name “tinyurl url goes here”)

Hunters were quickly able to piece together the tinyurl link: http://tinyurl.com/urlgoeshere

This link led to an imgur link with a picture of a map and a green line

After that, they set about tackling the audio file.

With some trial and error along the way, they were able to figure out that the music in the file used 26 notes: one for each letter of the alphabet. They transcribed the notes and obtained a riddle poem to lead them to the next clue (shoutout to user Macmania22 who listened to and decoded the whole thing)!

Your journey begins at the end
Apparently, rocks are a fisherman’s friend
Beneath the large rock is something that’s not
Why aren’t there any fish here
Nriznrxsr

“Nriznrxsr” decoded to “Miramichi” using Atbash.

Comparing this to the map, hunters determined that the next clue was in Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada, along a hiking trail called the Fish Quarry!

Once the location was confirmed, Fait once again popped into the chat, offering to meet the local hunter, Bun, there.

Periscope stream: https://www.pscp.tv/Yroo_Xrksvi/1BdxYobPDaDGX

The clue was found under some big rocks along the hiking trail: a crumbled note with a link to a video—a very cute video of polar bears! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbdopIzESCg

Upon further inspection, they discovered another clue written on the back in black light: whepj://evimt.uzoxmi.cfb/rcimf/y/0/ffarprj/1_Up43W9Lbb3jPBx1mBPYvfcRpHroQ

They decoded the vigenere cipher using the key “polar bear” (in reference to the video that the first link led to) and found……….another google drive!

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1_Tl43W9Umn3yPKw1iBYJhucAoDrxBjaC

This marked the beginning of what was dubbed ‘Folder Hell’!

The drive was full of countless folders upon folders upon folders, and hunters realized that they would have to find the correct path through the folders in order to find the clue at the end.

When hunters started going through the folders, they quickly realized that the folders’ titles were the opening lines of the Bee Movie script. After that, things started to get confusing.

The first page contains 26 folders, which decipher into part of the Bee Movie script using varying shifts of the Caesar cipher. The number of the shift correlates to the folder which must be opened next. In order, the numbers of the folders spell out “open the folder at the end of the title”.

When they reach the end of that folder chain, they then find an audio file, which has numbers being spoken over some background music. The numbers are reversed ASCII and turned out to be a red herring.

Following the folders that spell out “the title,” they came across another audio file, titled “clean,” which seemed to be the music that was played under the numbers in the previous audio file, as well as a message which gives a vigenere key. The audio is in binary, with one note marking a 0 and a second note marking a 1. Much to the dismay of our hunters, this audio binary cannot be transcribed using programs and must be done by hand.

Though they’ve been at it for hours, our intrepid hunters are not deterred, slowly but surely making progress in decoding the binary!

In addition to this, a password locked PDF was found by following the folders that spell out “what is my name?” However, hunt organizers informed everyone that this particular path couldn’t be completed as of yet, and would have to be returned to later in the hunt.

As it stands, hunters are still sorting through the maze that is Folder Hell.

Hunters, please remember to not work too hard, and get plenty of food, water, and rest! You can’t properly hunt if you don’t take care of you!

Happy Hunting! x