Microsoft Puzzle Safari
The Microsoft Puzzle Safari is a one-day team letterboxing event held annually on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington.
There are a maximum of four participants per team. The event takes place over the course of two rounds. Each round, the teams receive a batch of puzzles and a logbook, each of which may be solved to a location on the Microsoft campus. By taking the logbook to that location, the team can find a unique rubber stamp with which they may stamp their logbook. The logbook is turned in and scored at the end of each round.
Puzzles may be anything from traditional puzzles like crosswords, word searches, cryptograms, jigsaw puzzles, word play and logic problems to wandering around campus to find landmarks or puzzles that have to be solved on location.
When arriving at a stamp location, the team may find information about a challenge event. Each year the distribution method for these challenge events change slightly. One common distribution method is a ticket at the stamp location which explains how to find the challenge event at another location. By taking a ticket from this location to the specified challenge event, the team may participate in the event for an opportunity to earn additional points.
Some stamp locations also have additional information, either on what the stamp depicts or in a part of a puzzle at the stamp location. Collecting each part of a puzzle will allow the team to solve a meta-puzzle worth additional points.
Each correctly solved and stamped puzzle from the current round is worth 10 points. First round puzzles solved in the second round are worth 5 points. Secret challenges are worth 20 points each, and meta-puzzles are worth 40 points each. In 2006, the value of meta-puzzles was reduced to 30 points each. In 2007, the value of meta-puzzles was further reduced to 25 points and the value of challenges was increased to 25 points. In 2008, the value of meta-puzzles was reduced to 20 points and challenges were returned to 20 points.
Microsoft has a rich tradition of puzzle events, including Microsoft Puzzle Hunt and Microsoft Intern Puzzle Day, but Microsoft Puzzle Safari provides puzzle solvers with an opportunity to exercise both their mind and their body.
Puzzle Safari
Theme: Jungle and savanna sights and settings, traditional of Africa.
Held: July 21, 2001
Won By: Little Killer Bees
Puzzle Safari 2: Urban Jungle
Theme: Concrete, street signs, and all things urban.
Held: July 13, 2002
Won By: Mini-Suspects
Puzzle Safari 3: Surfin' Safari
Theme: Summer, sand, and the Beach Boys.
Held: July 19, 2003
Won By: The Brute Squad
Puzzle Safari 4: Legend of the Lost Stamp
Theme: Pulp adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones and Allan Quatermain.
Held: July 24, 2004
Won By: Recreation Doormat
Puzzle Safari 5: Around the World in 80 Puzzles
Theme: All things from the works of Jules Verne.
Held: July 16, 2005
Won By: Recreation Doormat
Puzzle Safari 6: 221B Puzzle Street
Theme: Sherlock Holmes
Held: July 8, 2006
Won By: The Brute Squad
Puzzle Safari 007: License to Stamp
Theme: James Bond
Held: July 7, 2007
Won By: The Brute Squad
Puzzle Safari 8: Puzzles in Toyland
Theme: Toys and Board Games
Held: August 2, 2008
Won By: The Brute Squad
Puzzle Safari 9: The Search For Stamps
Theme: Star Trek
Held: August 1, 2009
Won By: The Brute Squad
Puzzle Safari X: Survivor: Puzzle Island
Theme: Survivor and other reality television
Held: July 31, 2010
Won By: S-Words
Puzzle Safari 11: Rock Safari
Theme: Rock Music
Held: July 30, 2011
Won By: Less Than Zero
Puzzle Safari 12: Puzzled In Time
Theme: Time travel
Held: July 14, 2012
Won By: The Brute Squad
Safari the 13th: I Know What You Solved Last Summer
Theme: Horror/Halloween
Held: July 20, 2013
Won By: The Brute Squad
The Safari Job: Puzzle Safari 14
Theme: Heist
Held: August 2, 2014
Won By: The Brute Squad
Puzzle Safari 15: Safari Arcade
Theme: Retro Video Games
Held: August 1, 2015
Won By: Invaders So Meta Even This Acronym
References
- Internal Microsoft website