Eric's Puzzle Party
| Eric's Puzzle Party | |
|---|---|
| Running Team | Eric Harshbarger |
| First hunt | 2004 |
| Most recent hunt | 2017 |
| Number of hunts | 17 |
| Location | Auburn, AL |
| Links | |
| Link | Link |
Eric's Puzzle Party, or EPP for short, was a roughly yearly puzzle gathering organized by Eric Harshbarger and run in the locale of Auburn, Alabama. It was first run in 2004 and was last run in 2017. Eric states that he does not plan on hosting additional parties in the future.[1] The gatherings took on several different forms, ranging from a standard puzzle hunt to a puzzle creation challenge to a packet of optimization puzzles. These events have also inspired other puzzle parties in the area, such as Puzzle Potluck[2] and the Auburn Puzzle Party.[3]
Format[edit | edit source]
Rather unusually, there is no explicit team size limit. However, each person has a certain point value, depending on past participations and victories. Additionally, remote and out-of-town players get discounted point values as well. Teams have a point limit instead, which serves as a way to balance out the skill levels of the teams.
Usually, teams receive a packet of puzzles to start, although there may be additional puzzles that can be unlocked later. Different parties have different means of scoring points - sometimes, there is a point bonus for solving puzzles quickly, and in other parties puzzles are more open-ended optimization challenges where the goal is to maximize a score according to some function.
List of past parties[edit | edit source]
| Party | Date | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| EPP 17: The Joke's On You | April 1, 2017 | EMBU |
| EPP 16: DeCAThlon III | March 26, 2016 | Bill the Cat |
| EPP 15: Eric's Circle of Friends | March 14, 2015 | Team Moon Pie |
| EPP 14: Hatching a Devious Plan | April 12, 2014 | Team Ecru |
| EPP 13: Your Lucky Day? | April 13, 2013 | Ivory Team |
| EPP 12: Back to Basics | March 24, 2012 | Green Team |
| EPP 11: Puzzle Potluck I | October 8, 2011 | Charles Pilman and Erin McMullin |
| EPP 10: The Abecedary | March 26-27, 2011 | Green Team |
| EPP 9: Puzzle Marathon II | April 10-11, 2010 | Red Team |
| EPP 8: Puzzle Marathon I | April 4-5, 2009 | White Team |
| EPP 7: A Most Egg-cellent Puzzlehunt | April 5, 2008 | Red Team |
| EPP 6: DECATHLON II | April 7 & 8, 2007 | Bob Gillis and Danny Belu |
| EPP 5: Auburn PuzzleHunt | September 30, 2006 | Blue Team |
| EPP 4: DECATHLON | April 15, 2006 | Mike and Kelly Hollingsworth |
| EPP 3: PUZZLES FROM WONDERLAND | October 15, 2005 | Green Team |
| EPP 2 | April 16, 2005 | Yellow Team |
| EPP 1 | October 2, 2004 | Red Team |
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Eric C. Harshbarger
- ↑ Note: this is distinct from the online puzzle hunt Puzzle Potluck.
- ↑ [1]
