essentialsaltes | Road Rally conceptualizationizing

Entry tags:

game,
la

Road Rally conceptualizationizing

I spent the better part of yesterday and today scouting locations for "Save Our City". I was demoralized to learn that a couple locations that I scouted not that long ago... just aren't there anymore. Including one that I already had a puzzle built around. Unbelievable. I want to plan the game well in advance, but by the time December rolls around, probably half of my clues will be demolished and replaced by Starbucks. Ah well, that will just add difficulty to the game.

Now since a fair fraction of my players are probably reading this, I'm not going to go into any detail about locations and such, but I'm going to throw open some conversation here about what a road-rally/scavenger hunt/get-to-know-your-city/fun event/experience should be. Some of you have taken part in some of the other events run by outside strangers (fear them!) and have some experience - help me benefit from your triumphs and frustrations. What worked? What didn't?
I've seen a few webpages recounting pretty hardcore events where it appears to be taken for granted that you will know semaphore and be able to decode a two-dimensional array composed of two separate messages, one rotated 90 degrees from the other and laid on top each other. Despite my reputation for deviosity, I don't plan anything remotely that ridiculous.

Something I want some particular feedback on is resources available to the players. I'm of two minds. One hemisphere says "Players should have nothing but a car, a Thomas Guide and their own wits." But the other hemisphere worries that people will 'cheat', making use of WiFi, navigational systems, books, and NSA cryptography servers.
That hemisphere wants to allow people to use whatever resources they may have. But then the first hemisphere says that the playing field won't be level. In ChronoAgents, my team stopped at the library to Google up some information, but what if people are Googling on their mobile gizmos as they cruise the streets? Will victory go to the team with the most toys?
Currently, my two hemispheres have a delicate entente, under which all tools will be allowed to the players, but both of my hemispheres will be taxed to come up with puzzles that can't be cheaply solved with Google.

notjenschiz will probably scoff at the idea of Google being rendered impotent, but I am sanguine that my deviosity extends at least that far.

Anyway, let loose your opinions! About that matter, or anything else relating to "Save Our City".

Ok, quick mini game. Click the link to see a picture - look at for five seconds and click back, and then answer: where (and when) was it taken?
Photo

Oh, sure, none of you will be taken in by my feeble ruse. But I still think it's amusing. +712,351,462 points to anyone who can actually locate the position from which that picture was taken.

ETA: Best. (Cat-)Toy. Ever.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Scoff.
Now that that's over...
Sadly, your road rally isn't my type of game. That's not any sort of suggestion or complaint even, just a lament that there will be a game of yours I won't be in.
I'll volunteer my help for running/planning/idea bouncing.

I'll volunteer my help for running/planning/idea bouncing.

I'll certainly hold you to that! If you happen to think of puzzly ways to get people to a given location, jot them down & let me know. Later, when I have a complete(r) set of locations, we can put our heads together and prepare something for each.

Some of you have taken part in some of the other events run by outside strangers (fear them!) and have some experience - help me benefit from your triumphs and frustrations. What worked? What didn't?

Are you talking about, say, http://www.thegogame.com/? Because we participated in the most recent public game, held in Los Feliz. I liked it very, very much, though there were a few caveats. However, these mostly had to do with bad instructions, and the fact that we got boned by not just one but by several of the actors they'd hired. Admittedly we were also slowed down by the fact that one of our team members bailed at the last second, so we ended up taking our kid AND his babysitter (who luckily was a friend anyway). Despite all of that, we had a good time, and I really enjoyed the creative part of the game, what with taking photos and making videos and such. And also, our videos and pictures totally kicked ass over everybody else's. Anyway.

Er... so... we could discuss this more at length but I'm tired of typing now.

Yeah, some of my other friends did thegogame in Venice recently. That's sorta kinda the kind of thing I have in mind. Since I haven't done it, I certainly can't replicate it, but I have my own ideas of a good way to waste people's time all over the city.

Oh, and the photo - clearly San Francisco, taken possibly on Powell Street opposite the St. Francis hotel, and the year... um... 1968? That truck is pretty old, but the cars have the look of the late 60's about them. I'm totally guessing about where it's taken, though. On second look (sorry) I don't think that's the entrance to the St. Francis. Oh well.

Thank you for playing! You were within 1000 miles and one century of the correct answer, but as you were the only player in this game, you get tonight's star prize... this jpg of a lounge suite!

The picture was taken yesterday in downtown LA. There was a film shoot going on.

Somehow that seems like cheating, but hey, at least I still won your RIGGED GAME! ;)

I'm sure I'll come up with some other ideas, but here's what comes to mind:

1) Choose some clues where the first results from the obvious Google searches are incorrect or misleading (googlebomb some bad answers yourself if you want). If you get obscure and local enough, there might be no directly applicable results.
2) Similarly, choose sets of locations where Google/Yahoo/Mapquest will give routes that people who really know the city can do significantly better than. Having mobile google/GPS/etc.. will still be useful, but not negate city knowledge.
3) Photo clues - Hard to google for something you only have a picture of.
4) Drop lots of movie/literary reference in. If you never refer to the Bradbury Building by name, but only by Blade Runner references, harder to google, but those who know the movie and the city will know just where you're talking about.
5) Task based challenges that aren't about speed. I still remember Greg screwing over the other teams in the first Enigma Car Rally at the Hard Rock by promising to get them all napkins (and not doing so) when the staff would only let one person in...
6) Engimalore (of course, since you're going to have this open to non-enigmans, this is not really fair). I think there should be bonus points for recreating the Aaron gets punched scene from the first car rally. Double bonus if you can actually get Aaron punched doing it.

Thanks for the input. I will cagily refrain from further comment, but I want to hear the Aaron getting punched story... I didn't do that rally thingy.

I thought the best way to do a road rally was what I did for ChronoAgents. There were mistakes, but I think the system was sound. Here's how I came to it:

1. I figured that people would use computers, either stopping off somewhere, or on the way. I suspected a team might drop off one member at home, to stay on Google, and then use phones to direct the team. No one did (to my knowledge), but that's why I demanded that all team members be present here at HQ.

2. The pictures were the big point-getters, and you had to be there, and would get points if the team was in the picture, which most people did. That way, I knew you would have to get to the location, take a picture, and get back. You couldn't sit at a computer terminal and figure out all the answers. Even if someone used Google to get all the trivia questions correct, and then turned in all their "Chronodollars" for points, they would get the equivalent of half the photos (I think that's how it turned out). Also, I awarded bonus points for good pictures (funny, creative). It was random things like that which will balance a team trying to Powergame (I thought).

3. The difference in the winners and placers/showers turned out to be the bonus pictures, of which we would only take ONE (the best). Scott's team got stuff no one else did (like a picture of Scott bargaining with a guy selling fruit in the street).

4. Time didn't really affect the scores much for me, but you can do more of that. Say, there are more points for the first team to arrive, second team, etc. Or there are more checkpoints, each of which has more points for scoring. I only had two (one for the break/dinner, one for the end).

I based a lot of what I did from the first road rally I was in, Dave-Y's. I thought it was fun, however, the game was mostly about answering questions related to specific items, like: "Who signed the red guitar in the lobby of the Hard Rock Cafe?"

In that instance, we knew where to go, but some people had trouble getting in at night (doorman). I fast-talked my way in, even in my Ren Faire garb. I might wear an aviator hat/goggles and gloves for this, but I will not speed in LA in a toga.

The benefit in that instance was that you had to go to each location. Up to you if the players have to determine the location, or just get there and find something (or get some kind of artifact, a la, a cocktail napkin with the logo printed; as I asked people to bring back stuff as well).

Overall, I am just happy you are doing this. I am considering teammates and vehicles already Because I'm renting a car for this. Oh yes. And it won't be a minivan. Oh no.

Because I'm renting a car for this. Oh yes. And it won't be a minivan. Oh no.

Merciful heavens.

Thanks for the comments.

I loved both Yarden's rally and Aaron's.
Aaron's because it had plenty of creative opportunities.
Yarden's for it's tricky "go here and then while there look for a _____", or even better, things like "go here and on your way write down how many _____ you see".

Aaron also had plenty of tricky stuff... like the stupid Space Ivaders alien in the street median!!!!! Basically, I would love a rally that was deviously tricky, but consistently gave you forgiving shortcuts to get you back on track (though you lose the points you would have gained).

A half-way point for the game is a MUST! With a mini party. And it's gotta be someplace OTHER than the starting or ending place.

Taking photos is cool, but it makes the endgame judging process SO tedious and time consuming.

Finally, I LOVE LOVE LOVE driving. And I love going places that invlove tricky drop offs and parking ( or rather avoidance of parking). In Aaron's game, I loved driving downtown cause it's crazy and you can never park without a fee, so you get inventive. And you do a lot of Chinese fire drills. Love those....

A half-way point for the game is a MUST! With a mini party. And it's gotta be someplace OTHER than the starting or ending place.

Would you care to elaborate? Why is it necessary? What purpose does it serve? What sort of place should it be... (in December)?

Why? It gives people a goal halfway through the game. These rallies can be taxing... you never know who will come up short and be flailing about by the halfway point. A rendezvous gives them a light at the end of the table. Also, it let's you see your players. And lets them see you. ANd they can ask questions. And if there is a true disparity between teams, then all is (more or less) equalized as they start on the second half.

Where? A place that is big enough, and public enough. Big so that everyone fits. Public cause unless you book a banquet room, you want to be able to allow players to arrive unhindered. A large cafetieria-style restaurant like Philippe's french dip downtown. Or a open air order at the window place like Pinks on La Brea or Eat-A-Pita on Fairfax.

Ian here (the wife told me to come offer my opinions.)

I suppose my first suggestion would be to figure out exactly what sort of challenges you intend to present the players with. Is it about solving puzzles? Knowing Los Angeles trivia? Speeding from location to location as quickly as possible? A balance of all three with the emphasis on the third? Then make sure your players know the answer too.

At the most recent The Go Game (sorry, dogofthefuture, whoever you are, but their most recent event was a week ago at Venice Beach), our team came in dead last. That's primarily because we're uncreative and stupid. But it was also because we had no idea how the game was scored and we wasted twenty or thirty minutes at a stretch trying to make the best video we could (for example) instead of doing three or four mundane challenges for vastly more points. (We did this twice, in fact.) We also came in anticipating puzzles and really didn't run into any.

We still had a good time, but I think we would have been happier if we had actually known what the game was going to be like and how to prioritize our time. Right now, I don't know what "Save Our City" is going to be like, so whatever you do with it, make sure you get that information out there. Personally, I prefer puzzles to trivia or reckless driving, but that's just my own two cents.

As for the resources: either permit it and design challenges around it - heck, encourage teams to have an off-site member whose job it is to Google - or go the other way and declare that the use of any technology beyond wristwatches and car radios is off limits.

As for Google being rendered impotent: I (along with some other Enigmans) was in a rally called "Subway Hunt" a year or so back. There were problems with the game, but the clues were generally designed so that it was pretty obvious where you needed to go, but after that point they were devious and metaphorical, so you really wouldn't know what you were looking for until you got there. Not that we tried, but I think it would have effectively prevented us from Googling answers. There was a nice balance between travel time and time spent trying to figure out what the clue signified. (On at least one of those challenges, we were given a photo taken from the spot where the answer was, so we first had to take the subway to the correct stop, then figure out where the photo was taken from, then scout around for the answer to our clue. If I recall correctly, on that challenge we had to find the end of a particular sentence, which turned out to be inscribed on a plaque nearby.)

I look forward to the game -

reckless driving

Aw, you haven't been a passenger in MY car yet!

Then make sure your players know the answer too.

Agreed.

Thanks for all the input.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Road Rally conceptualizationizing

google rendered useless?

Re: google rendered useless?

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Game the system...

Re: Game the system...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

You may or may not see this...