List of MIT Mystery Hunts

The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzle hunt centered on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has been occurring since 1981. Average team size varies, but has grown along with the size and complexity of the hunt's content over time. The reward for a team completing the hunt first was originally a choice of several prizes presented by the organizer, but has since become a commemorative version of the final Coin, along with the job of organizing and writing the hunt for the next year. As such, winning teams are usually identical to the writing teams for the following year, although sometimes name and roster changes occur between winning and writing.

Hunts

Year	Theme	Plot Summary	Writing Team/Individual	Winning Team
1981			Brad Schaefer	Unknown
1982			Brad Schaefer	Unknown
1983			Brad Schaefer	Holman Reactionary Army
1984			Jean-Joseph Coté	Unknown
1985			JIM and DKS	Unknown
1986			Unknown	Unknown
1987			Unknown	Unknown
1988			Eric Albert	The Black Seven
1989			The Black Seven	Unknown
1990			Unknown	[Stephen Rinehart?]
1991			Jan Maessen and Stephen Rinehart	[Stephen Rinehart?]
1992	Treasure Hunt	Teams were tasked with the recovery of the treasure once belonging to Captain Red Herring, hidden somewhere on Mystery Island.	[Stephen Rinehart?]	Unknown
1993	A Quest for the Holy Grail		Unknown	Unknown Team Led By Eric Albert
1994	Cyberpunk (Genre)	A mysterious secret society known as IHTFP (Internet Haven For Tender Preservation) exists in the futuristic setting of the 21st century, when cash is illegal. Due to a run-in with the cyber-cops, a member of the society known as H. Acker had to hide a piece of illegal currency on the MIT campus, leaving the teams to find it through a series of puzzles and encrypted messages.	Eric Albert (and others)	Unknown Team Led By Mark Gottlieb
1995	Clue/Cluedo	Mr. Boddy, having come into the possession of the "Unlucky Coin of Eye Aitch Tee-Ef Pea, learns of his impending death at the hands of one of his friends. Teams are invited to his mansion along with these friends, and upon Mr. Boddy's death during this visit, it is revealed that (as heirs to the coin), the teams will have to both solve the murder, and the numerous clues to the coin's whereabouts Boddy has hidden throughout the mansion.	Mark Gottlieb	The Spanish Inquisition
1996	Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid	After lightning strikes the Crab's Subjunc-TV unit, causing his extremely valuable "I Haven't Tolerance For Prices" coin to vanish, he calls for the teams to aid in the recovery effort. As Achilles and the Tortoise explore the now much more puzzling Subjunc-TV repair manual, teams use both it and the Subjunc-VCR tape to discover where the IHTFP coin has disappeared to.	Richard Garfield, Skaff Elias, et al	Chaos
1997	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Fakeout), Elvis Presley	Initially, teams were tasked with helping Beavis & Butthead (who had stolen Bill & Ted's phone booth time machine) locate some IHFTP (Industrial High-Fidelity Toilet Paper). However, it quickly became clear that almost all of the puzzles given to them were impossible. Separately, teams discovered the rest of the hunt was themed but had little in terms of actual plot relating to Elvis Presley.	Mark Gottlieb	PalindromeAinamania
1998	Coursework (Enigmatology Degree)	Unknown	PalindromeAinamania	ACME
1999	(Where In The World Is) Carmen Sandiego	Example	ACME	Setec Astronomy
2000	The Wizard of Oz	Example	Setec Astronomy	PalindromePAINTTTNIAP
2001	Horror (Genre)	Example	PalindromePAINTTTNIAP	Setec Astronomy
2002	Monopoly (Board Game)	Example	Setec Astronomy	ACME
2003	Murder Mystery (Fakeout), The Matrix	Example	ACME	Kappa Sig
2004	Time Bandits	Example	The French ArmadaFormerly Kappa Sig	Setec Astronomy
2005	Superheroes	Example	Setec Astronomy	Physical Plant
2006	Espionage (Genre)	Example	Physical Plant	The Evil Midnight Bombers What Bomb At Midnight
2007	Hell and The Seven Deadly Sins	Example	The Evil Midnight Bombers What Bomb At Midnight	PalindromeDr. Awkward
2008	Murder Mystery	Example	PalindromeDr. Awkward	The Evil Midnight Bombers What Bomb At Midnight
2009	Escape From Zyzzlvaria (Board Game)	Example	The Evil Midnight Bombers What Bomb At Midnight	Beginner's Luck
2010	MITMH History and Alternative History	Example	Beginner's Luck	Metaphysical Plant
2011	Video Games	Example	Metaphysical Plant	Codex
2012	The Producers	Example	Codex	Manic Sages
2013	Bank Heist	Example	Manic Sages	The entire text of Atlas Shrugged
2014	Alice in Wonderland	Example	Alice ShruggedFormerly the entire text of Atlas Shrugged	One Fish Two Fish Random Fish Blue Fish
2015	Deep Sea Exploration	Example	One Fish Two Fish Random Fish Blue Fish	Luck, I Am Your Father
2016	Inception	Example	Luck, I Am Your Father	Setec Astronomy
2017	Health & Safety (Story, External), Inside Out	Example	Setec Astronomy	Death & Mayhem
2018	Holidays	Example	Life & OrderFormerly Death & Mayhem	Setec Astronomy
2019	Example	Example	Setec Astronomy	Left Out
2020	Theme Park	After it's announced that Penny Park is going to be shut down due to low turnout and sales, teams are brought on to help generate Buzz by way of solving puzzles. Over the course of the hunt, teams discovered how the park was founded, and how Penny Miller came to be the owner. Eventually, after generating enough buzz, teams discover a secret area underneath the park, where a device could be found to ???	Left Out	✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈
2021	Parallel Universe	Example	✈✈✈ Galactic Trendsetters ✈✈✈	PalindromeNot So Boston