About

What are the rules?

  • The puzzlehunt starts on and ends on . However, we will leave the website running until so teams can still submit answers and go through the hunt at their own pace.
  • Teams have a maximum size of 6. If you would like to include additional inexperienced puzzlers on your team, please email us and we’ll consider your request.
  • We reserve the right to disqualify any team for unsportsmanlike conduct.
  • If you have any questions about the hunt, or if you want to contact us for any reason, email contact@galacticpuzzlehunt.com. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
  • The answer to at least one puzzle in the hunt is FAIR PLAY.

What is a puzzlehunt?

In a puzzlehunt, each puzzle has an underlying pattern or insight, which you need to figure out (somewhat like the theme of a crossword puzzle). Puzzles can come in many different forms; the only real commonality is that you usually receive no direct instructions, so it’s up to you to figure out how to make sense of the information you’re given. You can read a longer introduction to puzzlehunts here.

If you are new to puzzles and are interested in seeing some examples, or if you’re looking for some practice, we recommend looking at previous Galactic Puzzle Hunts or puzzles from other online hunts such as Teammate Hunt, Puzzle Potluck, or REDDOThunt.

What is and isn’t allowed?

  • You may not view source code, dump network packets, hack, or otherwise interact with the website in any unintended way. If you're not sure whether something is intended, email contact@galacticpuzzlehunt.com.
  • You may use any external sources for help, including other people, as long as they aren’t helping other teams and aren’t actively participating in the hunt.
  • You may not stream or post spoilers for the hunt in a place where other teams might see them.
  • You may not create multiple accounts or be on multiple teams.

What is the format of this hunt?

Like in previous GPHs, solving puzzles helps you unlock more puzzles as you progress through the hunt. Starting on the first day and continuing throughout the hunt, teams will receive hints that they can use on puzzles. These may be something like a nudge in the right direction (e.g. “use Morse code”) or an answer to your question (e.g. “which answers to these clues are wrong?”).

Generally, you will have 20 total guesses for each puzzle. If you legitimately run out of guesses and need more, feel free to contact us, though we won’t grant your request if we see that you were, for example, guessing random thematic answers, or brute-forcing all 10-letter words thematic to the puzzle title.

Is this hunt going to include a card game?

No, this hunt will be much closer to prior GPHs and other traditional puzzle hunts than it will be to GPH 2023, and it will have more classic varieties of puzzles. But, we expect it will be unusual nonetheless.

What happens when the hunt ends?

When the hunt ends on , the scoreboard will be frozen, and a wrap-up will be available several days later. However, if you have not finished and still want to experience the whole hunt, you’ll still be able to register new teams, solve puzzles on the website, and progress through the hunt until . The only difference is that you won’t be able to use hints after the hunt ends.

After , you'll still be able to do the puzzles and check your answers spoiler-free.

Is there a tip jar?

If you’d like to support the Galactic Puzzle Hunt, you can donate here.