Singapore Puzzle Hunt

Singapore Puzzle Hunt
Logo of SGPH
Running TeamPuzzlesmiths
First hunt2015
Most recent hunt2024
Number of hunts10
LocationOnline since 2020, formerly onsite in Singapore
Links
LinkLink

The Singapore Puzzle Hunt (abbreviated as SGPH) is an annual puzzle hunt organized for the local puzzle hunt community in Singapore. It has been organized by the Puzzlesmiths annually since 2015. The hunt traditionally kicks off on a Saturday in July, and in recent years since the hunt moved online, been kept open until the following weekend.

Each hunt typically references a pop culture literary work for its theme, with thematic physical souvenirs being given to teams as part of the interactive and immersive story. The first team to complete the runaround also sometimes finds/receives a thematic book.

History[edit | edit source]

The first Singapore Puzzle Hunt was organized in 2015 by Kah Kien Ong and the Puzzlesmiths. Participation is restricted to residents (and former residents) of Singapore, and the total number of participants annually remained constant around 100, only increasing beyond that after the team sizes were increased from 4 to 8. Puzzles are archived on the website after each hunt, and available for public solving.

The hunt is modeled after the MIT Mystery Hunt, and includes live kick-off and interactions, event puzzles, runaround, and dressing up to the hunt theme. Given the small hunt size and writing team, many of its puzzles are written thematically to the answers, with the puzzle themes also related to the hunt theme. The hunt theme typically references a pop culture literary work, and the first team to complete the runaround in the initial years also received a thematic book, in addition to that year's thematic souvenirs.

Since 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hunt has been held remotely. This also allowed for the hunt to be extended to last the whole weekend.

Previous Hunts[edit | edit source]

Year Theme Plot Summary
2024 Puzzle Fantasy X Teams are playing a fantasy RPG game, and will oversee their party of heroes on a quest to stop the Awakening, and help them solve puzzle encounters as they journey across the world of Square Grid.
2023 Puzzle Rich Asians Teams play the role of a group of puzzle-solving friends who had to help their ex-schoolmate with earning the approval of her boyfriend's puzzle rich Asian family.
2022 Stranger Puzzles Teams are elite puzzle-solving operatives Mobile Task Force Epsilon-22 from the SGPH Foundation sent to investigate a strange anomaly discovered at the small rural town of Montauk.
2021 Around the World in 18 Puzzles Teams had to race around the world and solve puzzles to be the first team to complete the journey.
2020 The Infinity Puzzle Teams had to solve puzzles to assemble the local Averagers to defeat Approximate Knight.
2019 The Puzzleville Redemption Solvers were sentenced and incarcerated in the Puzzleville State Penitentiary, and had to solve puzzles set by fellow inmates to escape and earn their redemption.
2018 Ready Puzzler One Clans of gunters were invited to take part in an Easter Egg Hunt in the OASIS, to prevent the Sixers from gaining control.
2017 The Final Puzzle Teams were invited by Dr Watson to help solve a murder mystery and the disappearance of Sherlock Holmes.
2016 Order of the Puzzles Teams were invited by Harry Potter to help defeat the Dark Lord, who has returned in disguise while regaining his power.
2015 Alice's Adventures in Singapore Teams were invited by the White Rabbit to help him find Alice, who has inadvertently ended up in Singapore instead of Wonderland.

References[edit | edit source]