The playa task was more than just a task, it was an event. Set in the desert-turned-playground world of Black Rock City (Burning Man), the playa task was a treasure hunt, a puzzle, a social experiment, and an adventure.


The playa task event popped into my head as an excuse for a bunch of us normally geographically divided sf0ers to get together and have some fun. To this end, I created an elaborate puzzle based on the geography and landmarks at Burning Man. The puzzle required players to travel around together to find clues and then meet up to put the clues together and ultimately find the treasure. While there were goodies at the end, the real prize, at least as far as my intent, was adventuring with other sf0 players and experiencing all the craziness of Burning Man along the way. In the words of Dan Eldon, “the Journey is the Destination”.



The playa task began with a group of about 20 players. Four envelopes were handed out which contained the clues to the puzzles. Players split themselves into four teams and headed out to solve their puzzles and find the clues that were planted around the city. Each of the 15+ clues was tagged with an SF0 label which I thought was a clever way to spread SF0 at Burning Man


Some of the puzzles were harder than others, but everyone chipped in to get them all solved. Then came the real work. Assembling the clues took some effort, wit, and the ability to follow directions. It took some time, (which led to many of us having even more fun in Center Camp Café), but the destination was finally deciphered and the whole group, or at least the dedicated ones, headed toward the treasure.



The prize was located at the Black Rock City Airport, a part of the city that many people don’t take the time to visit. At the airport there was a box labeled sf0. In the box was several energy bars, a flask of 30 year old scotch, and a disposible camera with which the winners were asked to take their photos as proof of completion.

Over all, I was pretty happy with the playa task and the event. The puzzle creation was tedious. Trying to create a geographically dependant puzzle in a city that didn’t exist yet was challenging, to say the least. It was impossible to play test and as a result, I had some anxiety about whether the puzzles and clues were too easy, too hard, or solvable at all. On top of that, not knowing who or how many people would be participating made it difficult to construct the riddles (i.e. not knowing your audience). Planting the clues was exhausting in itself. The clues were spread over a five mile area via a bicycle in 90+ degree heat. They were taped, rubber banded, and scribbled in curious and odd locations… on street signs, taped to porta-poties, under benches, etc. Despite all of that, it was totally worth it. Hanging out with old friends, making new friends, seeing people interact, and bringing some of the virtual relationships into the real world was more that I could ask for.






For those who want to play along at home (here were what the clues revealed):

WIND yields this:

(Esplanade @ 9, Anxious @ 8, Destiny @ 8, Fate @10)
max fabulousness

FIRE yields this:

(8 spires closest to the man)
requiem boom if quiz queued

DUST yields this:

(4 o’clock port-a-poties)
14,19
1,6
17
11
2,20
3
10,12,23
22
4
9,21,24
5
15,16,25
8,18
13
7

WATER yields this:

(under the eye at 6 o’clock and Guess - back under a bench at the cafe)
Scribe the alphabet, vowels first (treat y as a consonant)
Below it, scribe the unmolested alphabet