DASH is happening, for the fifth year in a row.
DASH (Different Area—Same Hunt) is a puzzle hunt event that happens simultaneously across multiple cities across the United States. The inaugural DASH in September 2009 spanned 8 cities. DASH 5 is currently being planned in 15 participating cities.
Those cities are: Albuquerque; Austin; Boston; Chicago; Davis, CA; Half Moon Bay, CA; London; Los Angeles; Minneapolis; New York; Portland, OR; San Francisco; Seattle; St. Louis; and Washington, DC. If you live in one of those, gather up a few friends and join. I’ve done it for the last two years and had an absolute blast. Damn right I’ll be doing it again this year.
Team Sheldrake, i.e. Luke, Joe, maxistentialist and myself, kicked ass at DASH 4 this weekend. Hats off to James and Wil and the other organizers across the country who did an incredible job. Every one of the puzzles was its own little masterpiece. The whole event, which is entirely volunteer-run, takes eight months to organize, and it shows.
If this kind of thing appeals to you, I suggest you sign up for their mailing list to find out about future hunts, in Chicago and across the country.
DASH4 is Saturday April 28
On Saturday April 28, DASH returns. DASH is an outdoor, hours-long puzzle hunt. It stands for “Different Area, Same Hunt”, which means participants in 14 different cities are solving the same puzzles at the same time, and competing against each other for first place. From the site:
Creating the hunt is a collaborative effort of puzzle enthusiast volunteers across the country. Some cities contribute a puzzle to the event, and each event uses all the puzzles from the contributing cities.
One year ago, four friends and I participated in DASH3. We had an incredible time, and came in third, so obviously we’re planning on making a return and hoping to do better. Wanna compete against us? Sign up at playdash.org.
DASH3: Nationwide puzzle hunt on April 30
The third annual DASH (Different Area — Same Hunt) is taking place the last day of April. It is:
a walking puzzle hunt that takes place in multiple cities across in the US on the same day. Think a more relaxed The Amazing Race, but with a puzzle at every clue stop.
It’s in twelve cities this year, including Austin, Portland, Seattle, Boston, and most importantly, Chicago. It costs money to play, but reserving a spot is free. I’ve already done it, and you should too.
You can read more about it on their site, including a list of puzzles and solutions from last year. If this year’s are anything like those, it should be a great challenge.
