Puzzle Safari is a one-day puzzle solving event that combines physical and intellectual challenge. Teams
of four players solve puzzles that lead to locations on campus pictures of items or tasks.
At each location is a hidden stamp that
players use to stamp their logbooks. Teams must find as many stamps as they can within the allotted time
for each round of puzzles.
Teams must submit as many pictures as the can within the allotted time. Teams can earn extra points by participating in challenges spread throughout
the event. The team who finds the most stampssubmits the most pictures--and earns the most points--wins the game!
Safari is for anyone at Microsoft interested in solving puzzles. It's a team competition so people of all
different skill and interest levels can enjoy it, but it does require physical activity of running or
walking around the Microsoft campus in the sun. Teams can include non-Microsoft employees, so spouses and
friends are welcome, but two team members must be full-time Microsoft employees.
Safari puzzles are easier than those found in Puzzlehunt or Puzzleday, and there are often more puzzles, with 70 or 80 puzzles to solve throughout the day. If you like fun, quick, clever puzzles, this might be the event for you!
So many changes! Please check out Puzzle Safari Changes for COVID-19.
After the opening ceremonies, you and your team members will travel back to your headquarters and begin
solving puzzles. You'll have 35-40 puzzles to solve, some easier than others, but you should be able
to solve the easiest puzzles quickly. Keep an eye on the clock because you have 3 hours to solve as many
puzzles and find as many stamps pictures as possible in Round 1, and 3.5 hours in Round 2.
To find a stamp, you've got to solve the puzzle correctly, submit the correct answer to this website, and then go to the location the site tells you. At that location you'll find a stamp within a box that is clearly identified as a Puzzle Safari box. Use the stamp to stamp your logbook. Put the stamp back in the box and proceed to the next location.
Not every team member has to look for stamps. You should leave some members behind to solve puzzles and communicate solutions by phone or direct message tweet. The folks out looking for stamps (known as runners) must do so on foot or by wheelchair. Runners must bring the logbook to the stamp, not the other way around.
The logbook will indicate what time you need to return to Puzzle Safari kickoff location and turn in your logbook. Don't be late! You lose two points per minute if you're late. If you're more than ten minutes late, you score zero points for that round. You will be sad. When you turn in your Round 1 logbook we break for lunch for 1/2 hour. After that we'll give you a new Round 2 logbook and a new packet of about 35 more puzzles.
To score points, you've got to solve the puzzle correctly, submit the correct answer to this website, and then take a picture of the object or task the site tells you.
The schedule will indicate what time solving and picture taking ends for each round. When Round 1 ends we break for lunch for 1/2 hour. After that we'll give you about 35 more puzzles.
Scoring is as follows:
During Round 1:
During Round 2:
Yes, that's right, you can still solve Round 1 puzzles during Round 2, but the stamps pictures are worth half as much.
Your team will have to decide if it's worth the effort to gather Round 1 stamps pictures or if you want to go for
the full 10 points for the Round 2 stamps pictures. For some hints about strategy, see our Strategy Guide below.
Safari takes place on the Microsoft West Campus (the one with The Commons) east of 148th Avenue, south of 40th Street, and northwest of SR520. The outdoors of campus is all part of the game, but many stamps are hidden inside the Microsoft buildings, so only employees with a badge can effectively collect stamps. A number of buildings, and all construction areas, are restricted by Microsoft Security for safety and for Microsoft business reasons. Players are not allowed to enter construction areas or the restricted buildings, even though they may not be explicitly marked--it is the players' responsibility to avoid them. At press time, the restricted buildings include Studios A, B, C, and buildings 111 and 114. Also, don't go in the Honeywell buildings or parking areas, or any other non-Microsoft buildings. See your logbook and listen at the opening ceremony for the current list of restricted buildings.
Puzzle Safari differs in a number of ways:
We play rain or shine. If it looks like rain, bring your raincoat and waterproof shoes.
Rain is uncommon at this time of year, but hot sun is quite common. If you plan to play outside and
search for stamps take pictures, please prepare by bringing hats and sunscreen. On a couple of years the temperature has
exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Puzzle Safari is played straight through. Be sure to pack some snacks or a lunch, because you won't want to miss out on the action. We will have a 30-minute break between rounds to give everyone a chance to eat and relax.
Yes, but they need to be accompanied by a full-time employee with a blue badge at all times and be part of the 4 people on your team. This means
you'll need at least two one FTEs (employees or interns) on your team. Employees must provide guest names
and their vehicle make/model/license when registering their teams.
We've got about 70+ puzzles each year and will often have slightly more puzzles in Round 1 than Round 2. Exact figures will not be available until event day.
No, we don’t. We try to provide more puzzles than any team can solve, even the best. This ensures that every team can focus on puzzles they enjoy, and that no error with a specific puzzle spoils the event for one team. Our data shows the very best teams solve all or nearly all the ~70 puzzles and 6 challenges, and the average team solves over half of them.
We rarely need to post corrections because of our testing and we do not post hints--just try a different puzzle! If there is a problem, we will post a notice to this website and notify teams by the email listed in your team registration. We'll also have a hotline to report safety issues, accidents, missing stamps, or other problems.
If you can't find (or make) the items required, one of your team members can instead do a 1/2 mile run that substitutes for the picture. Just click the "Run for it" button.
Only one team member can be doing a 1/2 mile run at a time.
The run is measured by straight line distance from where you start. Running around your house many times won't work. If you have bending streets nears your house, you might have to run a little further than half a mile. You don't have to start at your house, but you can't bike or drive to your start location. Plan ahead!
Tough luck. Runs must be completed before the end of the round. You cannot run during the lunch break. Plan ahead!
Creativity, effort, and good faith will be rewarded. Shallow, slapdash attempts will probably not. We know you are working under time pressure. Have fun and show us what you can do in a few minutes!
Absolutely not! Only original photos taken on event day can be submitted. (Remember, the scorers have access to reverse image search.)
No photo editing or manipulation is allowed. Period.
If you can walk/run to your neighbors house/apartment, or walk/run to the store, then yes. You cannot have anyone not on your team bring or deliver something to you.
Only team members can take the photo. Most phones and camera have timed shutters: use them.
Look up, look down, look under…keep looking! The stamps aren't always conspicuous. If you can't find the stamp--move on! Whatever you do, please don't cause any property damage!! We will not hide the stamps where you have to tear things apart to find them.
Some past Puzzle Safari participants told us that they sent scouts out to find stamps, only to find that when they returned with the logbook, the stamp was gone. Despite these complaints, we rarely lose any stamps, and almost all missing stamp reports turn out to be wrong. This means that the boxes didn't vanish--they simply moved or you didn't look hard enough. We hear rumors that tables have undersides. Remember that stamps are attached to velcro pads.
Most stamps are velcroed in position, but we can't promise to attach them all down.
No. Stamps have to be in the right place in the logbook to score points. So you can only stamp if you know the puzzle that the stamp corresponds to. You have to put the stamp in the logbook next to the puzzle title. We'll check to make sure that the logbooks have the correct stamp for each puzzle.
We know exactly which stamp is at each location, and we will check the logbooks to make sure that the appropriate stamp appears for each puzzle. This will prevent teams from using their own stamps to stamp their logbooks. We also send staff out to investigate reports of problems.
Ultimately, this game depends on players being honest, and we have found that players behave this way.
An amazing experience, the admiration of fellow puzzlers, and fabulous prizes, of course!
Unlike some Puzzlehunts, the winner does not win the right to host the next Puzzle Safari. There is an organizing team that hosts all Puzzle Safaris. If you'd like to join us, e-mail us at psafari@microsoft.com. We always need new staff.
Check the other pages of this Web site--you should find all the information you need to sign up and be ready to play. If you've got a question we haven't answered, e-mail us at psafari@microsoft.com.
Here are a few hints to get you started in Puzzle Safari.
Book your conference room as soon as you register, if not sooner. Conference rooms in central locations tend to fill up fast.
Make sure your computer and phone are ready and charged. Make your printer works. Make sure Microsoft Teams works. Make sure you know how your camera works, including delayed shutter.
Decide a strategy for playing the game. Do you want to solve a lot of puzzles for two hours and then spend an hour
looking for stamps
submitting pictures, or do you want to send people scouting for stamps to do pictures early while a few people stay behind and solve puzzles? You'll have
to decide the winning strategy
, but take it from us: the more time you spend on campus looking for stamps the better. One hour
is not enough time to cross campus more than once. If you're serious about winning, you'll have one player set out for stamps
as quickly as possible, and keep in touch with mobile phones
.
If you're new to Microsoft, ask an old-timer to give you a tour of all the Microsoft tourist spots. Some locations might assume you're familiar with these places and their names, so you might want to take a walk around campus and check out all the fountains, landmarks, and other points of interest before the event. Aerial maps from Bing can help you scout campus too. A map of campus with restricted buildings crossed out is included in your logbook.
Seriously consider at the end of each round setting up a relay race among your team for the final stamp collection run. Organize the stamp locations by proximity and establish a route to visit them all plus return your logbook. Have each of your team members who have a badge run one portion of that route. You'll find you can run faster because you don't have to conserve energy for the full run.
In many puzzles, the titles are hints. Use them, but don't take them too literally.
Don't make puzzles harder than they have to be by overworking them. If you get stuck, have a teammate look then move on!
Do not be afraid to use Bing to search if you are stuck. Puzzles may require the use of common internet resources (e.g. Wikipedia, IMDB). Additionally, if you have solved part of a puzzle, the internet may reveal what your answers have in common and help you understand the next step.
Many puzzles have a little text at the top that gives basic instructions or hints at what you should do. Read this text carefully. It probably contains multiple hints for things to do or try.
When you are part-way through a puzzle, you may find that you have several letters of the final answer. At this point it’s normally worthwhile to fill in the partially completed answer and see if you can make the final step by guessing. For example, if you have SM_ _ L you might guess SMALL. Also use tools like Lexpert or TEA (see Tools page).
When you are part-way through a puzzle, you may find you have an entire data set, such as "USE THE FIRST LETTER OF EACH WORD". It may be worth entering this phrase into the answer system to see if you get a hint or word of encouragement to confirm that you're on the right track.
No puzzle should ever require you to anagram a word without saying so (mix/anagram). Try to use one of the orders that is explicitly part of the puzzle, or a logical order (such as alphabetization).
If a puzzle has a space for a final answer, you don't need to take any more steps after that.
If you have a set of numbers, all of which are in the range 1-26, try converting them to letters. If you have a set of words, look at their initial letters. If you have a set of small integers, try using them as indexes into words, wrapping if needed.
When looking for boxes (that contain the stamps), don't expect them to be out in the open. The boxes are usually discreetly hidden but not impossible to find. You need a careful eye to spot the boxes, and you might get your hands or knees dirty in the process. However, you will not need to disassemble or destroy Microsoft property to find stamps!
Stamps will never be hidden in a private office or shared office open area! Do not enter these.
Optimize runner routes as efficiently as possible to eliminate backtracking to distant locations. Also, think hard about going to a distant building when you only have one stamp to find.
Puzzle Safari staff will not publish standings after the first round. This means that the winning team might be a surprise, unless it isn't. If you think your team has done poorly during a round, you might be wrong. Perhaps you did really well compared to other teams, so don't jeopardize your chances of winning by turning in your logbook late and losing two points per minute.