You're hot and thirsty, and Game Control has arrayed dozens of beer bottles. But you're not drinking. Instead, you want the Braille letters made from the arrangement of the bottles in their six-packs. That bit of cognitive dissonance is a good sign that you might be playing a DASH (Different Area, Same Hunt). On April 30, a couple hundred puzzle teams in twelve cities across America will participate simultaneously in DASH 3, a unique, coast-to-coast puzzlehunt. I talked with founder and spokesperson Deb Goldstein about her event.
Wired.com: Let's start simple: What is DASH?
Goldstein: DASH is a one-day, walking puzzle hunt which takes place in multiple cities across the country on the same day. It's a fun, interactive event in which teams of players race to find and solve creative clues hidden in different locations. The solution of one clue will reveal the location of the next hidden clue. There is a short five-to-ten-minute walk between clues.
Wired.com: How did the idea for DASH come to be?
Goldstein: Before I moved to the Bay Area and discovered puzzle nirvana, I had always wanted to participate in a puzzle hunt but knew of none. After participating in a simulcast of a SNAP/BANG [Seattle and Nearby Adventures in Puzzling/Bay Area Night Game], I saw no reason why we couldn't expand a similar simulcast to multiple cities. After meeting Jesse Morris, who had a similar vision and connections with puzzlers across the country, we contacted these leads and started a Facebook page, and the rest we like to say, is history.
Wired.com: With the great distances between teams, are you using online social media to improve the DASH experience?
Goldstein: We have a Facebook fan page mostly to generate interest and inform people of our status (for example, that sign-ups are live). We also have a Twitter account. In DASH 2, we introduced a Twitter puzzle that required teams to tweet information at a specified time to other teams and gather the collective information to solve it. This gives the game that dash of excitement of knowing you are participating in a widespread, communal puzzling experience.
Wired.com: You mentioned SNAPs and BANGs and that family of games. What sets DASH apart from the rest?
Goldstein: You can compete with other teams both locally and nationally; we have an opt-in leaderboard on which you can view your ranking within your city or nationwide. Unlike many hunts, travel time is thrown out, so you can stop for coffee or food without affecting your placement. In addition, while our puzzles may be challenging, we want them to be fun. Thus, the penalty for taking hints is significantly smaller than in most hunts. Finally, orphan puzzlers have a way to find or form teams; just visit the forum we have set up.
Wired.com: Any fond memories from the previous two DASHes?
Goldstein: Neil Patrick Harris was spotted near one of the clue sites in New York City after the How I Met Your Mother clue. Turns out he loves puzzle hunts. (NPH, I hope you are reading this and will consider this a formal invitation to play in a city of your choice!) And in that HIMYM-based puzzle, a few cities used actual empty beer bottles. There was a lot of beer and root beer consumption the night before to make that happen! For graveyard-themed puzzles in the first DASH, three cities constructed their own graveyards, and one city included someone dressed as the Grim Reaper. Also in the first DASH, Game Control (GC) in Washington DC executed several costume changes to deliver puzzles.
Wired.com: What have been the most rewarding aspects of running DASH?
Goldstein: We see puzzlers from all over the country connect virtually and in person. Puzzle communities have started in cities that did not have them. We are told that BAPHL, a local Boston hunt, was inspired by DASH 1. We hope that DASH will inspire other cities to host similar hunts. We have also been told by a few people that DASH helped them share their hobby with family members for the first time.
Thanks, Deb! If you're interested in playing in DASH 3, it runs April 30 in Austin; Boston; Chicago; Davis, Calif.; Los Angeles; New York City; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; San Mateo, Calif.; Santa Rosa, Calif.; Seattle; and Washington, D.C. You can learn more about the event at playdash.org, which also houses all the puzzles from the last two editions in 2009 and 2010.
