London PCAG event: Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
Edgemaster (talk | contribs) m (cat) |
||
(39 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Please add links to your photo galleries below! If you need a login, ask in #syzygy and someone will create one for you. Also...we ''will'' be co-opting | {{Season1}} | ||
[[Image:Londontitle.jpg|thumb|left]] | |||
[[Image:Alert_liveevent_frontpage.gif]] [[Image:Londonevent.jpg]] | |||
'''Please add links to your photo galleries below! If you need a login, ask in #syzygy and someone will create one for you. Also...we ''will'' be co-opting players' images for this page, so keep an eye out for your photos!''' | |||
==General== | ==General== | ||
*On Saturday, Feb. 25, players gathered in London for the much-anticipated [[PCAG]] competition, the follow-up to the [[New York PCAG event]] | *On Saturday, Feb. 25, players gathered in London for the much-anticipated [[PCAG]] competition, the follow-up to the [[New York PCAG event]] | ||
*25-35 people turned up for "Brunchfast", a pre-event social at [http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/pubfinder/details.php?OutletNumber=333 JD Weatherspoon's pub] (though no one brought a pink balloon, the pre-determined identification symbol) | *Starting at 10 AM, 25-35 people turned up for "Brunchfast", a pre-event social at [http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/pubfinder/details.php?OutletNumber=333 JD Weatherspoon's pub] (though no one brought a pink balloon, the pre-determined identification symbol) | ||
*Meanwhile, nine players and representatives crammed themselves into a phone booth at Trafalgar Square for publicity shots with a professional photographer (by the way, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3162715.stm the world record is 14]) | *Meanwhile, nine players and representatives crammed themselves into a phone booth at Trafalgar Square for publicity shots with a professional photographer (by the way, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3162715.stm the world record is 14]) | ||
*Doors opened at 12 PM for signing in 200 individuals, broken into groups of six (38 teams total) | *Doors opened at 12 PM for signing in 200 individuals, broken into groups of six (38 teams total) | ||
Line 10: | Line 18: | ||
*Goods including t-shirts, starter packs, mugs and posters were available for sale | *Goods including t-shirts, starter packs, mugs and posters were available for sale | ||
*Each team received one special, light blue PCAG bag, and every participant received a PCAG [[Leitmark]] | *Each team received one special, light blue PCAG bag, and every participant received a PCAG [[Leitmark]] | ||
*Throughout the day, people at base camp chatted and traded puzzle cards | |||
*The members of the winning team received clear cubes as prizes | *The members of the winning team received clear cubes as prizes | ||
*After the games concluded, the top 8 teams were taken to the London Eye, where they intercepted a conversation in morse code, flashed with torches on either side of the river | *After the games concluded, the top 8 teams were taken to the London Eye, where they intercepted a conversation (?) in morse code, flashed with torches on either side of the river; this has not yet been translated | ||
*Later, everyone retired to the Horse and Groom pub on Great Portland Street for social interaction lubricated by alcohol | *Later, everyone retired to the Horse and Groom pub on Great Portland Street for social interaction lubricated by alcohol | ||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Phonebooth.jpg|9 people in a booth | |||
Image:Camerainterview.jpg|Cameras interview players at base camp | |||
Image:Merchandise.jpg|Merchandise for sale | |||
Image:Crew.jpg|Volunteers signed in participants and gave out nametags | |||
Image:Point.jpg|Volunteers | |||
Image:Crowd.jpg|Just as the event starts | |||
Image:Sockpuppet.jpg|Sock puppets | |||
Image:Endscreen.jpg|End screen | |||
Image:Puzzlemonkeyswin.jpg|Puzzle Monkeys take first place! | |||
Image:Pub.jpg|Hanging out at the pub | |||
Image:Cardsbeer.jpg|Beer and PXC puzzle cards | |||
Image:Horseandgroom.jpg|Card trading at the pub | |||
Image:Blurrypub.jpg|Group shot at the end of the night | |||
</gallery> | |||
==The Games== | ==The Games== | ||
* | *Players received on Perplex City bag per team, containing a folder with challenge and information sheets | ||
**16 questions requiring observation from walking round an area of central London (a triangle between Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus) that we had to text back to HQ for varying amounts of points (10-40). With hindsight the questions were in a good walking order, although those that did it backwards didn't get waylaid by the anti terrorism march and demonstration. (340 points) | *Teams had until 4:00 PM to complete as many challenges on the sheet as possible. This included: | ||
**A special National Gallery section that gave cryptic clues for a trail through the gallery with a bumper 250-point question at the end to tempt us. Also to be texted. (370 points) | **Taking phone camera pictures of the task as evidence and sending them in via MMS | ||
**Having helpers visually verify tasks | |||
**And texting base camp if the challenge could be answered in words | |||
*Teams would also receive trivia texts throughout the day, with points for each correct answer | |||
*Other texts would be sent out if a new challenge was happening close by | |||
**The final task was to purchase the largest object possible for £1, with receipt | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Page1.jpg|The instruction sheet | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Challenge sheets=== | |||
*16 questions requiring observation from walking round an area of central London (a triangle between Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus) that we had to text back to HQ for varying amounts of points (10-40). With hindsight the questions were in a good walking order, although those that did it backwards didn't get waylaid by the anti terrorism march and demonstration. (340 points) | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Page2.jpg|Pages of questions | |||
Image:Page3.jpg|Pages of questions | |||
Image:Chavhome.JPG|Home of chavs | |||
Image:Chinatown.jpg|Chinatown | |||
Image:Cubesswitzerland.jpg|Cubes on top of Switzerland | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Photo evidence=== | |||
*Six photo questions that required you to MMS photos of your team in various locations (260 plus open-ended 5 points per letter photo) | |||
*These consisted of: | |||
**1) Photos of the whole team at the following Tube stations: | |||
***Chancery Lane | |||
***Picadilly Circus | |||
***Charing Cross | |||
***Leicester Square | |||
***Each of these was worth 20 points with an extra bonus 20 if you got them all. | |||
**2) Fit up to 6 people in a phone box. (5 Points per person) | |||
**3) Sit up to 6 people on a Trafalgar Square Lion. (5 Points per person) | |||
**4) Form a human chain between two diagonal Trafalgar Square Lions, with each end touching the Lion. (40 Points) | |||
**5) Form a human chain on the ground around Nelson's Column. (60 Points) | |||
**6) Spell out a real word using people, either standing up or lying down. (5 Points per letter) | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Liontrafalgar.jpg|Sitting on Lions at Trafalgar Square | |||
Image:Liontrafalgar2.jpg|Lions | |||
Image:Lionsconnect.jpg|Connecting two lions | |||
Image:Chain1.jpg|A chain that stretched all the way around Nelson's Column | |||
Image:Chain2.jpg|More chain | |||
Image:Leicester.jpg|Leicester Square | |||
Image:Chancerylane2.jpg|Team Viridian | |||
Image:Chancerylane.jpg|Teams at Chancery Lane | |||
Image:Jazzhandscharingcross.jpg|Teams at Charing Cross | |||
Image:Perlexity.jpg|"PERPLEXITY" | |||
Image:Sixbooth.jpg|Six people in a phone booth | |||
</gallery> | |||
===SMS trivia questions=== | |||
*Eight trivia questions texted through the day (7x20 + 1x10 = 150) | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
13:22:11, "Trivia - What year is it in Perplex City? Code: 601 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: 269 AC | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
14:53:47, "Trivia - What surname is shared by Sente, Violet and Scarlett? Code: 602 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: Kiteway | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
14:54:14, "Trivia - What's the tallest building in Perplex City? Code: 603 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: Ascendancy Point | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
14:54:31, "Trivia - Which river runs through Perplex City? Code: 604 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: The Mazy River | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
15:06:15, "Trivia - What is the leading newspaper in Perplex City called? Code: 605 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: The Perplex City Sentinel | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
15:17:20, "Trivia - What is Scarlett's blog called? Code: 606 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: The Scarlett Kite | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
15:28:25, "Trivia - Which Perplex City artist released an album on Earth? Code: 607 Points: 20" | |||
Answer: Viard | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
15:43:38, "Trivia .-- .... .- - / .. ... / .--. . .-. .--. .-.. . -..- / -.-. .. - -.-- ... / -.-. ..- .-. .-. . -. -.-. -.-- Code: 608 Points: 10" | |||
Answer: ''"What is Perplex City's currency?"'' Lecks | |||
|} | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Enteringcodes.jpg|Entering codes | |||
</gallery> | |||
===National Gallery trail=== | |||
*A special National Gallery section that gave cryptic clues for a trail through the gallery with a bumper 250-point question at the end to tempt us. Also to be texted. (370 points) | |||
===Ranger verification=== | |||
*Two questions requiring you to be witnessed either singing as part of a 6 team choir for 90 seconds in Leicester Square or playing various video games against other teams at the Trocadero Arcade. For free, too! (100 Points per team for the choir, 80/50/30 Points at the arcade, depending on how well you did) | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Happybirthday.jpg|Choir singing "Happy Birthday" | |||
Image:Hokeypokey.jpg|Doing the Hokey Pokey in Leicester Square | |||
Image:Trocadero.jpg|DDR at the Trocadero | |||
Image:Guitar.jpg|Guitar Hero competition | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Base camp=== | |||
*Two questions that required you to compete against other teams building a biscuit tower or spelling backwords (60 plus open-ended 10 points per letter spelling). | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Biscuitstack.jpg|Stacking custard creams | |||
Image:Biscuitsmeasure.jpg|Measuring biscuit stacks | |||
Image:Biscuitstackwin.jpg|Kaleximoto's winning tower | |||
Image:Spellingbee.jpg|Spelling bee | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Spot challenges=== | |||
*Three or four other tasks texted through the day: | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
A race is to take place starting from the steps of the National Gallery at 2.15pm and 3pm. It's worth 150 points. | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
Get down and Conga! Form the longest conga line in Trafalgar Square at 2.50pm. The longer it is the more points you get! | |||
|} | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
What is the largest item you can buy and bring back to base at the end of the games for a single pound? You must have the receipt! | |||
|} | |||
*The National Gallery: Players gathered in front of the National Gallery, only to be told that they needed to race over to Leicester Square, where they received a riddle instructing them to buy a piece of fruit. Then they had to run back to Trafalgar Square with the ''correct'' fruit (many people tried to substitute kiwis for peaches, and strawberries for apples). Then, as teams, they had to eat each piece in its entirety. | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
2:15 - Go find and eat three fruit for us: | |||
The first has skin with gentle fuzz; | |||
The second, pomme d'amour is branded; | |||
The third the shape of things cack-handed. | |||
''Answers: Peach, tomato, pear'' | |||
3:00 - You must find fruit to beat your fellows: | |||
The first made Eric Wimp so yellow; | |||
The second says the future's bright; | |||
The third picked up the Beatles' might. | |||
''Answers: Banana, orange, apple'' | |||
|} | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Banana.jpg|Eating bananas | |||
Image:Fruiteat.jpg|Teams cooperating | |||
Image:Fruiteat2.jpg|Some individuals arrived well before the rest of their teams, and had to eat fruit all by themselvess | |||
Image:Trafalgarfruit.jpg|Buying fruit | |||
</gallery> | |||
===Final challenge=== | |||
*The final task was to purchase the largest object possible for £1, with receipt | |||
**The undisputed* winner of the biggest item for £1 was the [[media:Toilet-Paper-=-ftw!.gif|toilet roll]] bought by the CRT (Cube ReCoventry Team). With two 2-ply rolls for the bargain price of £0.95, and weighing in at an amazing 119.04 metres long, or 13.09 square metres in area, it truly was value for money! Toilet roll runs from left to right through the far doors in the photo and then some way up the stairs. | |||
***(*may not have actually won!) | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Newspaper.jpg|Spreading the newspaper on the floor | |||
Image:Tpline.jpg|Line of a loo roll | |||
Image:Tpline2.jpg|Out the door | |||
</gallery> | |||
Line 35: | Line 272: | ||
| '''Team name''' | | '''Team name''' | ||
| '''Points scored''' | | '''Points scored''' | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 1 | | 1 | ||
| The Puzzle Monkeys | | The Puzzle Monkeys | ||
| 1200 | | 1200 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 2 | | 2 | ||
| Perplex Monkeys | | Perplex Monkeys | ||
| | | 1072 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 3 | | 3 | ||
| Logic, Intelligence and excellance | | Logic, Intelligence and excellance | ||
| | | 1062 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 4 | | 4 | ||
| The Cube ReCoventry Team | | The Cube ReCoventry Team | ||
| | | 1017 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 5 | | 5 | ||
| Team | | Team Jazz Hands | ||
| 1002 | |||
| | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 6 | | 6 | ||
| Serpentine Road | | Serpentine Road | ||
| | | 962 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 7 | | 7 | ||
| Good Guys, Bad | | Good Guys, Bad guys 'n' explosions | ||
| 957 | |||
| | |||
|- | |- | ||
| 8 | | 8 | ||
| Reservoir Frogs | | Reservoir Frogs | ||
| | | 937 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 9 | | 9 | ||
| Chic Geeks | | Chic Geeks | ||
| | | 892 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 10 | | 10 | ||
| Random Genius | | Random Genius | ||
| | | 880 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 11 | | 11 | ||
| Anglo Irish Contingent | | Anglo Irish Contingent | ||
| | | 827 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 12 | | 12 | ||
| | | Simba's Waffles | ||
| | | 772 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 13 | | 13 | ||
| NorfolkFour | | NorfolkFour | ||
| | | 762 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 14 | | 14 | ||
| The Klatchian Foreign Legion | | The Klatchian Foreign Legion | ||
| | | 752 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 15 | | 15 | ||
| The Red | | The Red Folks | ||
| | | 752 | ||
|- | |- | ||
| 16 | | 16 | ||
| The | | The Argonauts | ||
| | | 745 | ||
| | |- | ||
| 17 | |||
| Muddled to the power of 5 | |||
| 727 | |||
|- | |||
| 18 | |||
| The Sharkheads | |||
| 720 | |||
|- | |||
| 19 | |||
| The Minkies | |||
| 707 | |||
|- | |||
| 20 | |||
| The Wildcards | |||
| 702 | |||
|- | |||
| 21 | |||
| The Roofers | |||
| 672 | |||
|- | |||
| 22 | |||
| Viridian | |||
| 665 | |||
|- | |||
| 23 | |||
| Team Cambridge | |||
| 637 | |||
|- | |||
| 24 | |||
| Exit, pursued by a bear | |||
| 617 | |||
|- | |||
| 25 | |||
| thekipsclubb | |||
| 615 | |||
|- | |||
| 26 | |||
| The Goodies | |||
| 612 | |||
|- | |||
| 27 | |||
| lippy yank | |||
| 590 | |||
|- | |||
| 28 | |||
| kalimotxo | |||
| 527 | |||
|- | |||
| 29 | |||
| Smarties | |||
| 492 | |||
|- | |||
| 30 | |||
| The IT Crowd | |||
| 465 | |||
|- | |||
| 31 | |||
| Hunters with attitude | |||
| 455 | |||
|- | |||
| 32 | |||
| Sigma Chi | |||
| 450 | |||
|- | |||
| 33 | |||
| Noumenon9 | |||
| 435 | |||
|- | |||
| 34 | |||
| Violet-Harlow | |||
| 425 | |||
|- | |||
| 35 | |||
| Lill Baz | |||
| 390 | |||
|- | |||
| 36 | |||
| The Bells | |||
| 305 | |||
|- | |||
| 37 | |||
| The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad | |||
| 300 | |||
|- | |||
| 38 | |||
| And so it begins | |||
| 290 | |||
|- | |||
|} | |} | ||
==Facts== | ==Facts== | ||
*Biggest event of its kind | |||
*127 people in the conga line | *127 people in the conga line | ||
* | *3830 texts sent out | ||
* | *1153 texts recieved | ||
*27276 points earned | |||
*2 things going completely wrong | *2 things going completely wrong | ||
**The first was that culture wardens in Trafalgar Square wouldn't allow any "professional" filming of the events around Nelson's Column | **The first was that culture wardens in Trafalgar Square wouldn't allow any "professional" filming of the events around Nelson's Column, and objected to large groups that drew lots of attention for the purpose of promoting something | ||
**The second was the huge angry protest march which gathered in Trafalgar Square, *on* Nelson's Column...about 30 seconds before the Conga Challenge started right in front of them | **The second was the huge angry protest march which gathered in Trafalgar Square, *on* Nelson's Column...about 30 seconds before the Conga Challenge started right in front of them | ||
*0 arrests | *0 arrests | ||
*£1 challenge: | *£1 challenge: | ||
Line 132: | Line 443: | ||
**3 newspapers | **3 newspapers | ||
**1 toilet paper roll | **1 toilet paper roll | ||
*''pcaglondon'' and ''perplexcity'' were listed as hot tags on Flickr for several days | |||
[[Image:Hottags.jpg]] | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Wardens.jpg|Culture wardens | |||
Image:Protest.jpg|The protest begins | |||
Image:Muslimprotest.jpg|Protest in Trafalgar Square | |||
</gallery> | |||
==The London Eye and Morse Code== | |||
*A "mysterious benefactor" arranged a trip to the London Eye for the top 8 teams | |||
*While at the top, teams witnessed two messages being flashed in morse code | |||
*The messages are turning out to be very difficult to translate, and thus the solve has not yet emerged | |||
*Videos can be seen [http://pxc.alchemystudios.co.uk/torrents.html here] (slightly truncated) | |||
*One message has been translated as: | |||
{| border="0" cellpadding="10" width="70%" style="border: 2px solid #ddddff; background: #f3f3ff" | |||
| | |||
-. / --- / - / ... / .- / ..-. / . / .-.-.- / .-- / . / | |||
N o t s a f e . w e | |||
-- / .-- / ... / - -- / --- / ...- / . / - / --- / /.- / | |||
m u s t m o v e t o a | |||
... / .- / ..-. / . / -.. / .. / --- / - / .- / -. / -.-. / . / ,-,-,- / | |||
s a f e d i s t a n c e . | |||
|} | |||
<gallery> | |||
Image:Londoneye.jpg | |||
</gallery> | |||
==Photographs== | ==Photographs== | ||
'''Please add a link to your photo galleries here. When adding images on flickr, be sure to tag them ''pcaglondon'' ''' | '''Please add a link to your photo galleries here. When adding images on flickr, be sure to tag them ''pcaglondon'' ''' | ||
*'''[http://flickr.com/photos/tags/pcaglondon/ All flickr photos tagged pcaglondon]''' | |||
*[http://flickr.com/photos/lhall/sets/72057594071168772/ LHall's flickr photoset] | *[http://flickr.com/photos/lhall/sets/72057594071168772/ LHall's flickr photoset] | ||
*[http://flickr.com/photos/15909250@N00/sets/72057594070753420/ Mikey_J's flickr photoset] | *[http://flickr.com/photos/15909250@N00/sets/72057594070753420/ Mikey_J's flickr photoset] | ||
Line 149: | Line 503: | ||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaltips/ Crys's flickr photostream] | *[http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystaltips/ Crys's flickr photostream] | ||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlgeek/ sherpa's flickr photostream] | *[http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlgeek/ sherpa's flickr photostream] | ||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/sledgecallier/sets/72057594071486227/ SledgeCallier's flickr photostream] | |||
*[http://www.jocarter.co.uk/gallery/PerplexCity/ Angelsk's photo gallery] | |||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/60912246@N00/sets/72057594071488099/ kksweety's flickr photoset] | |||
*[http://flickr.com/photos/sequoya/sets/72057594071651095/ Sequoya's flickr photoset] | |||
*[http://flickr.com/photos/83851439@N00/ BigMadDrongo's flickr photoset (Cube Recoventry)] | |||
*[http://flickr.com/photos/64674224@N00/ crucio_curse's flickr photoset (Team Kalimotxo)] | |||
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/74636791@N00/sets/72057594074084812/ Yembles' flickr photoset ] | |||
==Video== | |||
*[http://www.putfile.com/sledgecallier/ SledgeCallier's video of the event] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
*[http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/26/gamers-flash-mobs-and-london-the-perplex-city-academy-games/ Joystiq.com - "Gamers, flash mobs, and London -- the Perplex City Academy Games"] | *[http://www.joystiq.com/2006/02/26/gamers-flash-mobs-and-london-the-perplex-city-academy-games/ Joystiq.com - "Gamers, flash mobs, and London -- the Perplex City Academy Games"] | ||
*[http://yemblespcag.livejournal.com/ Yembles' blog walkthrough of the PCAG for the team 'The Sharkheads'] | |||
*[http://www.argn.com/archive/000386pcag_london.php "ARGN article, "PCAG: London - by Guy Parsons"] | |||
*[http:// | *'''The Perplex City Sentinel''' | ||
**article, 27-FEB-06, "[[Blafard]] in NY Crowned [[New York PCAG event|First Earth PCAG Winner]]" {{WaybackS1|www.perplexcitysentinel.com/archives/2006/02/blafard_in_ny_c.html}} | |||
**article, 03-MAR-06 "Puzzle Monkeys Victors in [[London PCAG event|PCAG London Event]]" {{WaybackS1|www.perplexcitysentinel.com/archives/2006/03/puzzle_monkeys.html}} | |||
**article, 23-MAR-06, "[[Tally]] Climbs to Top Place on [[Leaderboard]]" {{WaybackS1|www.perplexcitysentinel.com/archives/2006/03/tally_climbs_to.html}}b | |||
*[http://www.perplexcity.com/events/london/liveevent.html Perplex City's Academy Games Live Events summary page] | |||
[[Category:Live Events]] |
Latest revision as of 14:17, 27 May 2007
PERPLEX CITY, SEASON ONE |
Please add links to your photo galleries below! If you need a login, ask in #syzygy and someone will create one for you. Also...we will be co-opting players' images for this page, so keep an eye out for your photos!
General
- On Saturday, Feb. 25, players gathered in London for the much-anticipated PCAG competition, the follow-up to the New York PCAG event
- Starting at 10 AM, 25-35 people turned up for "Brunchfast", a pre-event social at JD Weatherspoon's pub (though no one brought a pink balloon, the pre-determined identification symbol)
- Meanwhile, nine players and representatives crammed themselves into a phone booth at Trafalgar Square for publicity shots with a professional photographer (by the way, the world record is 14)
- Doors opened at 12 PM for signing in 200 individuals, broken into groups of six (38 teams total)
- After an introduction by Adrian, the games began at 1 PM
- Goods including t-shirts, starter packs, mugs and posters were available for sale
- Each team received one special, light blue PCAG bag, and every participant received a PCAG Leitmark
- Throughout the day, people at base camp chatted and traded puzzle cards
- The members of the winning team received clear cubes as prizes
- After the games concluded, the top 8 teams were taken to the London Eye, where they intercepted a conversation (?) in morse code, flashed with torches on either side of the river; this has not yet been translated
- Later, everyone retired to the Horse and Groom pub on Great Portland Street for social interaction lubricated by alcohol
The Games
- Players received on Perplex City bag per team, containing a folder with challenge and information sheets
- Teams had until 4:00 PM to complete as many challenges on the sheet as possible. This included:
- Taking phone camera pictures of the task as evidence and sending them in via MMS
- Having helpers visually verify tasks
- And texting base camp if the challenge could be answered in words
- Teams would also receive trivia texts throughout the day, with points for each correct answer
- Other texts would be sent out if a new challenge was happening close by
Challenge sheets
- 16 questions requiring observation from walking round an area of central London (a triangle between Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus) that we had to text back to HQ for varying amounts of points (10-40). With hindsight the questions were in a good walking order, although those that did it backwards didn't get waylaid by the anti terrorism march and demonstration. (340 points)
Photo evidence
- Six photo questions that required you to MMS photos of your team in various locations (260 plus open-ended 5 points per letter photo)
- These consisted of:
- 1) Photos of the whole team at the following Tube stations:
- Chancery Lane
- Picadilly Circus
- Charing Cross
- Leicester Square
- Each of these was worth 20 points with an extra bonus 20 if you got them all.
- 2) Fit up to 6 people in a phone box. (5 Points per person)
- 3) Sit up to 6 people on a Trafalgar Square Lion. (5 Points per person)
- 4) Form a human chain between two diagonal Trafalgar Square Lions, with each end touching the Lion. (40 Points)
- 5) Form a human chain on the ground around Nelson's Column. (60 Points)
- 6) Spell out a real word using people, either standing up or lying down. (5 Points per letter)
- 1) Photos of the whole team at the following Tube stations:
SMS trivia questions
- Eight trivia questions texted through the day (7x20 + 1x10 = 150)
13:22:11, "Trivia - What year is it in Perplex City? Code: 601 Points: 20" Answer: 269 AC |
14:53:47, "Trivia - What surname is shared by Sente, Violet and Scarlett? Code: 602 Points: 20" Answer: Kiteway |
14:54:14, "Trivia - What's the tallest building in Perplex City? Code: 603 Points: 20" Answer: Ascendancy Point |
14:54:31, "Trivia - Which river runs through Perplex City? Code: 604 Points: 20" Answer: The Mazy River |
15:06:15, "Trivia - What is the leading newspaper in Perplex City called? Code: 605 Points: 20" Answer: The Perplex City Sentinel |
15:17:20, "Trivia - What is Scarlett's blog called? Code: 606 Points: 20" Answer: The Scarlett Kite |
15:28:25, "Trivia - Which Perplex City artist released an album on Earth? Code: 607 Points: 20" Answer: Viard |
15:43:38, "Trivia .-- .... .- - / .. ... / .--. . .-. .--. .-.. . -..- / -.-. .. - -.-- ... / -.-. ..- .-. .-. . -. -.-. -.-- Code: 608 Points: 10" Answer: "What is Perplex City's currency?" Lecks |
National Gallery trail
- A special National Gallery section that gave cryptic clues for a trail through the gallery with a bumper 250-point question at the end to tempt us. Also to be texted. (370 points)
Ranger verification
- Two questions requiring you to be witnessed either singing as part of a 6 team choir for 90 seconds in Leicester Square or playing various video games against other teams at the Trocadero Arcade. For free, too! (100 Points per team for the choir, 80/50/30 Points at the arcade, depending on how well you did)
Base camp
- Two questions that required you to compete against other teams building a biscuit tower or spelling backwords (60 plus open-ended 10 points per letter spelling).
Spot challenges
- Three or four other tasks texted through the day:
A race is to take place starting from the steps of the National Gallery at 2.15pm and 3pm. It's worth 150 points. |
Get down and Conga! Form the longest conga line in Trafalgar Square at 2.50pm. The longer it is the more points you get! |
What is the largest item you can buy and bring back to base at the end of the games for a single pound? You must have the receipt! |
- The National Gallery: Players gathered in front of the National Gallery, only to be told that they needed to race over to Leicester Square, where they received a riddle instructing them to buy a piece of fruit. Then they had to run back to Trafalgar Square with the correct fruit (many people tried to substitute kiwis for peaches, and strawberries for apples). Then, as teams, they had to eat each piece in its entirety.
2:15 - Go find and eat three fruit for us: The first has skin with gentle fuzz; The second, pomme d'amour is branded; The third the shape of things cack-handed. Answers: Peach, tomato, pear
Answers: Banana, orange, apple |
Final challenge
- The final task was to purchase the largest object possible for £1, with receipt
- The undisputed* winner of the biggest item for £1 was the toilet roll bought by the CRT (Cube ReCoventry Team). With two 2-ply rolls for the bargain price of £0.95, and weighing in at an amazing 119.04 metres long, or 13.09 square metres in area, it truly was value for money! Toilet roll runs from left to right through the far doors in the photo and then some way up the stairs.
- (*may not have actually won!)
- The undisputed* winner of the biggest item for £1 was the toilet roll bought by the CRT (Cube ReCoventry Team). With two 2-ply rolls for the bargain price of £0.95, and weighing in at an amazing 119.04 metres long, or 13.09 square metres in area, it truly was value for money! Toilet roll runs from left to right through the far doors in the photo and then some way up the stairs.
Results
Rank | Team name | Points scored |
1 | The Puzzle Monkeys | 1200 |
2 | Perplex Monkeys | 1072 |
3 | Logic, Intelligence and excellance | 1062 |
4 | The Cube ReCoventry Team | 1017 |
5 | Team Jazz Hands | 1002 |
6 | Serpentine Road | 962 |
7 | Good Guys, Bad guys 'n' explosions | 957 |
8 | Reservoir Frogs | 937 |
9 | Chic Geeks | 892 |
10 | Random Genius | 880 |
11 | Anglo Irish Contingent | 827 |
12 | Simba's Waffles | 772 |
13 | NorfolkFour | 762 |
14 | The Klatchian Foreign Legion | 752 |
15 | The Red Folks | 752 |
16 | The Argonauts | 745 |
17 | Muddled to the power of 5 | 727 |
18 | The Sharkheads | 720 |
19 | The Minkies | 707 |
20 | The Wildcards | 702 |
21 | The Roofers | 672 |
22 | Viridian | 665 |
23 | Team Cambridge | 637 |
24 | Exit, pursued by a bear | 617 |
25 | thekipsclubb | 615 |
26 | The Goodies | 612 |
27 | lippy yank | 590 |
28 | kalimotxo | 527 |
29 | Smarties | 492 |
30 | The IT Crowd | 465 |
31 | Hunters with attitude | 455 |
32 | Sigma Chi | 450 |
33 | Noumenon9 | 435 |
34 | Violet-Harlow | 425 |
35 | Lill Baz | 390 |
36 | The Bells | 305 |
37 | The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad | 300 |
38 | And so it begins | 290 |
Facts
- Biggest event of its kind
- 127 people in the conga line
- 3830 texts sent out
- 1153 texts recieved
- 27276 points earned
- 2 things going completely wrong
- The first was that culture wardens in Trafalgar Square wouldn't allow any "professional" filming of the events around Nelson's Column, and objected to large groups that drew lots of attention for the purpose of promoting something
- The second was the huge angry protest march which gathered in Trafalgar Square, *on* Nelson's Column...about 30 seconds before the Conga Challenge started right in front of them
- 0 arrests
- £1 challenge:
- 5 people sold for £1
- 3 countries
- 3 newspapers
- 1 toilet paper roll
- pcaglondon and perplexcity were listed as hot tags on Flickr for several days
The London Eye and Morse Code
- A "mysterious benefactor" arranged a trip to the London Eye for the top 8 teams
- While at the top, teams witnessed two messages being flashed in morse code
- The messages are turning out to be very difficult to translate, and thus the solve has not yet emerged
- Videos can be seen here (slightly truncated)
- One message has been translated as:
-. / --- / - / ... / .- / ..-. / . / .-.-.- / .-- / . / N o t s a f e . w e
m u s t m o v e t o a
s a f e d i s t a n c e . |
Photographs
Please add a link to your photo galleries here. When adding images on flickr, be sure to tag them pcaglondon
- All flickr photos tagged pcaglondon
- LHall's flickr photoset
- Mikey_J's flickr photoset
- number9dream's flickr photoset
- Daemon Kirjava's flickr photoset part one and part two
- guy_p's flickr photoset
- sotonrich's flickr photostream
- skenmy's flickr photoset
- buzman's flickr photoset
- amliag's flickr photoset
- brat-sampson's flickr photostream
- Gibbet's flickr photoset (No kloos here!)
- Crys's flickr photostream
- sherpa's flickr photostream
- SledgeCallier's flickr photostream
- Angelsk's photo gallery
- kksweety's flickr photoset
- Sequoya's flickr photoset
- BigMadDrongo's flickr photoset (Cube Recoventry)
- crucio_curse's flickr photoset (Team Kalimotxo)
- Yembles' flickr photoset
Video
References
- Joystiq.com - "Gamers, flash mobs, and London -- the Perplex City Academy Games"
- Yembles' blog walkthrough of the PCAG for the team 'The Sharkheads'
- "ARGN article, "PCAG: London - by Guy Parsons"
- The Perplex City Sentinel
- article, 27-FEB-06, "Blafard in NY Crowned First Earth PCAG Winner" link
- article, 03-MAR-06 "Puzzle Monkeys Victors in PCAG London Event" link
- article, 23-MAR-06, "Tally Climbs to Top Place on Leaderboard" linkb