Showdown Meta Solution
How It Works
There were 5 initiates who each asked a question for the teams, mirroring the experience at the end of the Leavenworth Warehouse. The questions were designed so that the teams did not know the answers, and when they failed the first question, Tom and Randall suggested teams go on "The Walk Of Unity," a path around and under Building 86. Teams were given a envelope of pictures, indicating where to take turns on the pre-defined route. Along the way, there were 5 different encoded phrases using the encrypted language that teams had been exposed to throughout the event. The messages were presented as:
- Sidewalk graffiti near the 86 loading docks
- Propoganda-style posters posted throughout a hallway under 86
- A large rasterbation in the 86 lobby
- An image on a TV near the 86 stairwell
- A take-one poster near other Microsoft posters
The path ended back where teams stared in the cafeteria, and the 5 signs encoded the correct responses to the initiates' questions.
The questions and answers were:
- Who have you become? Devoted and able members.
- What do you seek? Unity for all.
- Where are you needed? Anywhere there is chaos.
- When will you fight? Until harmony is reached.
- Why have you joined our order? Because we believe.
Once teams answered all five questions successfully Tom and Randall each made their cases for freeing or taking control over the initiates.
The key for the encrypted language can be found here.
Solution
SAVIOR or SOVEREIGN, depending on the team's choice.
Design Notes
The meta went over several revisions over the course of our planning. Initially the idea was to have teams battle Tom to win over the initiates with a set of phrases that worked out as a complex version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. This proved too easy though, as teams would quickly guess which responses beat others.
After the RC, Ben and Shane started brainstorming ways to make the meta more significant, and they thought it'd be cool to do a fake langauge a la the game Fez. Once we got that idea, the meta basically fell into the form it ended up in: Shane did a first stab at the language, Ben refined it, and Kim came up with the base phrases and created most of the media we used for the meta after a brainstorming session a few days before the live event. Andy put together the script and we ran with what we had.