FAQ
1. Was this for real and why did you create this?
Yes. We have already awarded our grand prize winner and are in the process of awarding all winners for the 2nd Chance Prize.
We started Cicada Detroit because we love puzzles and wanted to bring the joy of decoding ciphers, cryptography and hidden messages to Metro Detroit.
2. I think I solved a puzzle, but the answer I came up with doesn’t seem to work/the link is broke. What should I do?
We get this a lot and 99.9% of the time, you made an error decoding the puzzle or are inputting the URL incorrectly.
If you are extremely confident that something is broken, please send a detailed description of what is going on and a screenshot to [email protected]
3. I decoded a message but i’m not sure where to enter the solution?
If the decoded message isn’t already a URL, chances are likely it’s supposed to go after www.cicadadetroit.com/
For example, if the puzzle was “What is a baby cicada called?” the next puzzle would be found at https://www.cicadadetroit.com/nymph
4. How will I know if someone else has already solved all 42 puzzles?
Someone has and the competition is over for the original 42 puzzles. We are in the process of creating a 2nd season which will be located at www.cicadachallenge.com
5. What’s up with the hints?
We introduced hints to help users who were stumped on a specific puzzle and to help cover some of the server costs.
Early hints were free but the cost of hints increased as players got further into the game. Not all puzzles had hints for sale.
6. Will using these hints disqualify me from winning a prize?
The competition is over now but no, using hints did not disqualify players from winning prizes. It’s ok to need a little help now and then and those that choose to use the provided hints were still eligible to win.
7. Can I work with others to solve puzzles/share answers online/ask for help from other players?
The game was designed as a single-player experience. Sharing answers with others for the first 37 puzzles was against the contest rules and would result in disqualification while the competition was ongoing. Now that the competition has concluded, all restrictions on sharing answers have been lifted going forward.
8. When did the puzzles start taking place offline?
Offline or “in person” clues were reserved for the last 5 puzzles of the game. This allowed players that needed to participate locally to play up until the near end game and also allowed the maintenance of offline clues to be kept up for the players that make it far enough. We have attempted to recreate the final puzzles online for those that still wish to play the game after it has concluded.
9. Can I play if I am not from the Detroit area?
As mentioned, the last 5 puzzles included offline puzzles for the original competition. We have attempted to recreate the offline puzzles so that anyone can play now that the competition has concluded.
10. What should I do if I find a damaged or missing physical clue?
The competition is over so any in-person puzzles will not be maintained.
11. Can I play the game on mobile?
Many of the puzzles can be solved on mobile but as the game progressed, access to a computer was recommended. There are tools that exist on Mac, Windows and/or Linux that make solving some of the puzzles significantly easier.
12. I have a question that wasn’t covered here. Where do I ask?
Please e-mail us with any issues, questions, comments, concerns, love letters, etc at [email protected]