For the past few years our church has taken students to camp in Glorieta, NM—a trek that is quite long and monotonous. Making matters more grueling for the students, I take up their phones so they are forced to interact with each other. To better unite the group and bolster their anticipation for camp, my team and I create a large-scale, multi-media, cryptogram for them to solve. Below is a broad stroke showing the 2022 debut of our pursuit: I See You.
Abstract:
Coffee, innovation, and murder all linger in the air of The District’s newest coffeeshop. We hate to say it, but Yu has been murdered. I See You will carry you along to help Wren Redman solve the case of an unbelievable murder, sifting through clue after clue, line after line, suspect after suspect to try and bring to light whoever would kill with a coffee in hand.
Local aging millionaire, upcoming rap artist, struggling Italian barista, lethargic shop manager, reformed con artist…it’s anybody’s guess as to who had the motive to kill Yu. But you have the greatest motive to find out. May your heart be merry, your mind amused, and your unrest satiated as I See You brings you gold, frankincense, and murrrr…murder.
Notes:
Because this cryptogram is double sided, it complicates how we work through the information here. As we had it set up for our students, there is the general puzzle for each van to work through as a team, and there is an individual puzzle called the Golden Cactus. Each is imbedded in the clues provided, so the approach to this game is solved in a wholistic nature—looking at all the clues in tangent with one another.
The podcasts feature this year’s graduates as the main characters of the story. Our writing style was curated to their individual personalities.
Gameplay & Flow:
I See You begins with a letter sent to each student in the mail instructing them about the nature of the game—how one part of it is a group cryptogram and the other is a personal puzzle. In the letter they received a visual cryptogram; this image—if deciphered correctly—would set the stage for the title of the game (EYE, SEA, EWE) and would set in motion the available clues for the Golden Cactus award (individual project).
The game begins at a set upon time and the students receive the first of four podcasts. Each podcast is introduced with an ad, referring to each of the remaining Golden Cactus clues—Desert Dune Detours, Fiona’s Flowers, Nelly Nettle’s Sewing, and Humphrey’s Hearty App.
This podcast is relatively straight forward, listen to the podcast, get a clue, solve the clue, repeat. Below you’ll find some of the clues and podcasts.
The Team:
Trent Kelley // Podcast script, podcast recording, podcast production, character development, storyline creation, graphic design and puzzle work, cryptogram creation, vocal performer
Haley Roark // Podcast script, newspaper assembly, character development, storyline creation, clue developer, vocal performer
Vocal Performers // Will Collier, Michael McLelland, Destiny Owens, Trent Lowe
