By participating in this contest, you agree to follow all rules and terms of service below: 

Cicada Detroit was dedicated to fairness, integrity and the principle of solving challenges through individual effort. Our game was designed as a single player experience and while our competition was ongoing, sharing answers online was against our code of conduct. Players found sharing or using shared answers would be disqualified and ineligible for all prizes. Now that the competition is complete, you are free to share any answers, hints, walkthrough videos, etc that you would like. We will keep the rules as originally written below to document how the contest was ran while ongoing. 

• Rule Changes and Updates:
  • The contest organizer reserves the right to change or update these rules at any time, without notice.
• Eligibility:
  • The contest is open to legal residents of the United States who are 18 years or older.
  • Employees, contractors, and immediate family members of the contest organizer are not eligible to participate
• Prize:
  • Prize winner(s) will be solely responsible for any taxes related to the prize.
  • Prize winner(s) must supply all necessary tax information and will receive a Form 1099 which requires them to declare the amount of their winnings to IRS.
  • Puzzles must be solved in their correct order and by the player to be eligible to win the prize.
  • Prize winner(s) must be able to demonstrate how they solved each puzzle by providing detailed explanations or proof of work to be eligible for the prize.
• Selection of Winner(s):
  • The First Place Prize of $21,347 will be awarded to the first player to complete all 42 puzzles successfully, assuming this player meets all Eligibility requirements and has followed all contest Rules/Terms of Service.
  • The Secondary Prize (or Second Chance Prize) of $11,239 will be divided equally among all players who complete all 42 puzzles successfully by December 31st, 2025 at 11:59PM, assuming individuals meet all Eligibility requirements and have followed all contest Rules/Terms of Service.
  • Any additional prizes, challenges, or “side missions” will follow all prize rules stated here.
• Puzzles:
  • Puzzles may change at any time without notice.
  • Some puzzles will contain multiple parts that require solving to move on.
  • For many puzzles, the solution to the puzzle will be appended to the www.cicadadetroit.com URL
    • For example, if the puzzle was “What is a baby cicada called?” the next puzzle would be found at https://www.cicadadetroit.com/nymph
  • Puzzles 38 to 42 are limited by geographic location and contain physical clues.
  • Some puzzles may require access to a computer and/or free software that is limited to Windows, Linux and/or Apple operating systems.
  • The contest organizer makes no claims to maintain those physical clues in the instance of damage or vandalism. 
• Purchases:
  • No Refunds and No Returns. All Sales are Final.
• No Purchase Necessary
  • There is no purchase necessary to enter or win. 
  • One entry per person.
• Liability and Release:
  • By participating, contestants agree to release the contest organizer from any liability related to the contest.
  • The contest organizer is not responsible for technical issues, lost user info, or any other problems that may arise during the contest.
• Publicity:
  • Prize winner(s) may be required to provide a photo and a brief statement for promotional purposes.
  • The contest organizer reserves the right to use winners’ names and likenesses in marketing materials.
• Disqualification:
  • Contestants who are unable to solve rounds of the puzzle can be eliminated from the contest.
  • Players found sharing answers online and/or using shared answers for the first 37 puzzles will be disqualified and ineligible for the prize.
    • From puzzle 38 to 42, users are allowed to collaborate as long as said collaboration is not publicly available to be seen online.
    • Collaboration is also allowed all other challenges or “side missions” such as the Halloween or XIXMAS challenges.
  • If requested, failure to provide satisfactory proof of solving the puzzles may result in disqualification and ineligibility for the prize.
  • Pentesting (Penetration Testing) the site’s server, brute-forcing URLs, DDOS attacks or any action that could break the game is strictly prohibited and will result in disqualification.
  • Any violation of the contest rules may result in disqualification.
  • The contest organizer reserves the right to disqualify any participant for any reason.
• Governing Law:
  • The contest is governed by the laws of the state of Michigan.