April 28th, 2012 § § permalink
Here is your challenge should you choose to accept it: Waxwing is crowd-sourcing an ultimate word find called Master Code (template below). The task before you is to turn this template into a code-dense “cipher cluster.”
Use your creativity to come up with ciphers to bury in this word find. For example, perhaps your idea is to hide an anagram in colored letters scattered throughout the word find. Perhaps late at night you are struck with an epiphany in a dream: turn a string of letters backwards and upside-down and spell a sentence in them.
Here are the rules: the final copy of Master Code will be designed to be printed out and cut along the dotted lives to create 9 sections. Within those boundaries, let your creativity roam free! You don’t need to build the code into the template, we’ll take care of that—just create the idea.
Email your ideas to info@waxwingpuzzleco.com. We’ll collect the best ideas and build them into Master Code. Let the code making begin!
April 25th, 2012 § § permalink
Waxwing had the pleasure to design a unique, spy-themed birthday part for a lucky group of (10-year-old) future spies last week. Not to give away too many trade secrets from the Waxwing game workshop, but the afternoon started with a trip to the Money Museum in the Loop where they received a bag of shredded cash. When the shredded cash was stolen by an evil terrorist organization during lunch, the story began. The group found themselves caught up in a spy-training program which culminated in their stopping the terrorist organization from wreaking havoc in Chicago.
They divided into teams and had covert meetings with contacts in Macy’s, received squirt guns and made a “hit” on a terrorist operative in Millennium Park, followed a suspect through the Pedway while they practiced their spy skills, and intercepted vital intelligence—all leading up to a water taxi ride to Willis Tower where they got the observation deck to themselves (thanks to a closing to non-CIA visitors due to high winds) for the final attack on the terrorists.
All in all, they made some great memories, learned to spy, and single-handedly saved Chicago from certain doom—not to shabby for a Monday afternoon.
Here are some pics of these very cute/dangerous CIA agents in full regalia:
April 10th, 2012 § § permalink
Attention all Northwestern students: Assassins is coming on May 5th!
Late last night Waxwing took part in a time-honored tradition at Northwestern University as we painted the
Northwestern rock. For those not versed in Northwestern folklore, the rock has been getting fresh coats of paint since the 1940′s. Rumor has it someone once tried to find out exactly how much paint is on the rock so they drilled into it—the drill hit rock after it passed through
8 inches of paint! Well now one of those layers of paint belongs to Waxwing.
Not just anyone can paint the rock, however. You have to claim your territory by camping out for 24 hours before you start painting. Stevie Bailey, Waxwing’s Northwestern Campus Rep blurrily pictured above, staked out the rock two nights ago and last night we started painting. The enigmatic message on the bench refers to the game Assassins, coming to Northwestern on May 5th.
Assassins is a bit like The Running Man meets The Hunger Games. When the game begins players will be given a squirt gun and a picture of another player, their “mark”. Each player has to find their mark and squirt them before the person with their picture does the same to them. When you find your mark and successfully “assassinate” them, you take the picture of the person they were looking for and the game continues… until there is only one left. It is a game of hunt and be hunted. This time around we’ve taken a page from The Hunger Games—there will be bonuses doled out to crafty players as well as game-changing announcements that give all the players a task to accomplish as they fight for survival.
To sign up, visit the registration page. If you want to learn more or keep up-to-date on the progress of the game follow @AssassinsatNU on Twitter, join the Facebook event page, or follow the Assassins blog.
March 13th, 2012 § § permalink
Waxwing is proud to announce our newest game: Speakeasy!
Speakeasy is a Prohibition-era murder-mystery style game in which players are transported back to Al Capone’s Chicago and drafted into the ranks of either the Mob or the Feds. Each player is given a secret role (Bootlegger, Hitman, Cop, Muckraker, Untouchable, etc.) each with its own objectives and powers. Be ready to immerse yourself in your character as you swap passwords, arrange police protection, dodge hitmen, snap covert photos of mobsters, run Capone’s rackets, or try to put the Mob boss behind bars.
Check the calendar for upcoming dates and visit the registration page to sign up. See you soon!
February 3rd, 2012 § § permalink
Curious about what Waxwing’s treasure hunts look like? Take a look at these snapshots from our last game.
All photo credits to Kristi Hadadd of Markit Photography
November 29th, 2011 § § permalink
Labyrinth is a treasure hunt in the Chicago Pedway, a system of underground tunnels beneath the heart of downtown Chicago. Teams compete against each other to solve clues, find hidden places, and to be the first to identify four “marks.” The first team to successfully identify all four marks is the winner.
(Hint: Make sure you do your homework; there are clues strewn around the rest of the site, as well as advantages that can only be gained by completing Level 1 and 2 games.)
If you are a college student and A) wish adults were still allowed to play tag B) have seen “
