Singapore Puzzle Hunt

Singapore Puzzle Hunt
Logo of SGPH
Running Team	Puzzlesmiths
First hunt	2015
Most recent hunt	2023
Number of hunts	9
Location	Online since 2020, formerly onsite in Singapore
Links
Link	Link

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

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 to 160 in 2022 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 modelled 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 usually also receives a thematic book, in addition to that year's thematic souvenirs.

Since 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hunt was held remotely. As of 2024, the hunt has continued to be remote-only, with live interactions over Discord instead.

Previous Hunts

Year	Theme	Plot Summary
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.