More than 500 students recently gathered for the Stanford Association for Computing Machinery’s annual Puzzle Hunt. A growing tradition, the event involves student teams solving creative puzzles and racing around campus in an escape room format.

Since the ACM took over the planning and hosting of the event from the Stanford University Mathematical Organization in 2022, the number of teams and participants have steadily increased, with students participating from all different academic disciplines. 

“With our team, we have a wide range of majors and grades and people who are working on writing these puzzles,” Kristie Park, Puzzle Hunt co-director said. “There is a lot of things that go into writing these puzzles.” 

This year’s theme was “classic video games” and members of the club performed a skit while other participants, many fueled by complimentary boba, came dressed as their favorite video game characters. 

Through corporate sponsorships, ACM was able to provide winners with their choice of prizes including Nintendo Switches, Piranha Plant Lego sets, Patagonia backpacks, custom Puzzle Hunt swag, and more.

Park and her co-director Daniel Sun had their own puzzle to solve in planning the event and leaned on resources provided by the Office of Student Engagement to support the event’s space needs, the large attendance, and the need for off-campus fundraising.

“Every year is more and more people, so it is exciting to see the growth,” Park said. “But it also means we need to find spaces that can accommodate them.” 

The Puzzle Hunt culminated at the SAPP Center where a meta puzzle incorporating clues from all of the previous puzzles, awaited participants. In the end, the team 7,202xAnts came out on top. 

It may be game over for this year’s Puzzle Hunt but to attend next year’s event or join their planning committee, visit the club’s website for more information.