Looks like you hit the Jackpot!
Ace Security (code named Virgo) was the 21st incarnation of the Microsoft Intern Game.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Allure Bay (AKA Ace Security) was run entirely virtually much like Westward the previous year. However, since the event was planned as a virtual from the it's inception we were able to take advantage of it a bit more and design all the puzzles for a fully remote solving experience.
Act 1 of Allure Bay had teams working for the fictional Ace Security agency. It consisted of a series of online puzzles that was published over the course of the summer! Act 1 was built to help train puzzle skills and introduce new concepts to help with participants be more successful in the second act. It is available online (https://aka.ms/acesecurity) (requires Microsoft credentials). It can be solved independently or with friends.
Act 2 of Allure Bay saw interns working to pull off a daring Casino heist over two weekends, July 24th and July 31st, 2020. Over the course of the two days 20 different teams worked tirelessly...
- to solve 20 unique puzzles...
- and complete 50 engaging schemes...
- while exploring Allure Bay, the fully virtual, interactive Casino experience like no other...
- all while trying to execute the perfect heist.
Giving Campaign Recast
We were able to re-run the event a second time for Microsoft employees and their friends due to the virtual nature of the event. As with 2020, the event coincided with the Microsoft Giving Campaign with all participants donating their entry costs to a selected group of charites: International Rescue Committee, American Civil Liberties Union, Northwest Harvest, and The Red Cross.
The event ran on November 6th, 2021 as a single longer day than the intern event with a total of 15 different teams participating. The majority of the puzzles from both days of Act 2 were re-run except for those with restrictive staffing or physical construction requirements.
Credits
- 🧩 Puzzle Owners: Andy Rich, Alex Marcellus, Allison Inman, Bridgette Kuehn, Brian "Butters" Beck, Carolyn Beranek, Cat Yao, Emma Roudabush, Alex "Glasson" Glasson, Greg Filpus, Andrew "Hopper" Hopper, Jamie Eckman, Maggie Schmit, Marcus Lemmon, Mary Gibeau, Morgan Grobin, Patrick Fenelon, Rachel Kaufman-Levine, Ben "Randall" Randall, Reid Jones, Ryan Michalec, Sameehita "Samee" Mohan, Sarah Turk, Sean Fitzgerald, Nick "Tim" Doyle, Tre Mansdorfer, Will Hart, Emily "Wisp" Dingwell
- 🦮 PreGame: Allison, Andy, Emma, Evelyn, (Application) Jamie, (Tech) Jon, Marcus, (Lead) Wisp
- 📖 Plot: Carolyn, (Lead) Emma, Marcus, Morgan, Sean
- 🎥 Video Production + Acting: (Production) Adam, Andre, Butters, (Lead) Emma, Jamie, Jeanie, Josh, Patrick, Ross
- ☑️ Schemes: (Lead) Marcus, Emma
- 🕷️🐕 Spiderdog: (Lead, Services) Shane, (Front-end) Ben
- 🗺️ Routing/Logistics: Andy, Emma, Sarah, Josh, (Lead) Wisp
- 🎰 Casino Tech: Alex, (Lead) Andy, Bridgette, Chase, (Lead) Chris, Evelyn, Geoff, Greg, Glasson, Jamie, Mary, Randall, Tim, Patrick, Rachel, Wisp
- 🖼️🎨 Art: Bridgette, Carlos, Chris, Emma, Evelyn, Geoff, Jillyn, Katrina, Louise, Morgan, Randall, Thomas, Yena
- 😱 Staff Playtesters: Alex, Allison, Andy, Bridgette, Butters, Carlos, Carolyn, Chris, Darren, Emma, Evelyn, Glasson, Greg, Hopper, Ilia, Isaac, Jamie, Josh, Maggie, Marcus, Mary, MDB, Michelle, Morgan, Nathan, Patrick, Randall, Reid, Ryan, Saad, Sarah, Sean, Steven, Taylor, Tim, Tre, Varda, Will, Wisp
- 🧪 Beta Testers: Aaron Mohrman, Aaron Stout, Abraham Shultz, Abram Sanderson, Adam Pickersgill, Adam Smith, Alan Stephenson, Alex Eng, Alexandra Kemper, Alexandre Benoit, Allison Candell, Allison Light, Andre Sayre, Andrew Wang, Angela (Angie) DeMarco, Ann Pogrebitskiy, Ashley Beck, Asutosh Palai, Austin Schwartz, Brian Hays, Carol Carveth, Catherine Krueger, Chase Kragenbrink, Chelsie Eiden, Christopher Lazarus, Cindy Liauw, Connor McMillin, Conrad Nied, Courtney Oka, Danee Fitzgerald, Dante Gagne, David Thames , Denis Komissarov, Drew Cross, Dustin Douglas, Emma Meersman, Eric Bond, Eric Zhuang, Erin Griffiths, Erin Kiselica, Geoff Landskov, Glenn Hollingsworth, Greg Hermann, Hao Tran, Heléne Andersson, Hollis Lehv, Howard Lopez, Ishita Rustagi, James Dolan, James Reilly, Jasmine Sears, Jason Sproul, Jay McCleery (QQ), Jeannie Tran, Jeff Wallace, Jessica Hoang, Jessica Smith, Jillyn Johnson, Jordan Hays, Josh Oratz, Josh Santana, Juliann Makey , Julie Stevenson, Kacey Coley, Katie Kragenbrink, Katrina Cruz, Keerthana Kumar, Ketan Reddy, Kevin Blakeslee, Lisa Minas , Louise Feng, Louise Gagne, Marc Frenette, Matthew Koontz, Matthew Riley, Melitta Riley, Mindy Ha, Mitch Jewell, Nathan Fung, Nic Freda, Nicolas Six, Nima Dani, Nina Navazio, Philip Z Loh, Priscilla The Khuu, Ranek Kiil, Robert DeLoura, Ross Snider, Sarah Leadbeater, Sera Acacia, Shawn Wu, Simona Patange, Sophia Lee, Stacy Chen, Taylor Feddersen, Thiago Goulart, Thomas, Travis Angevine, Troy Nguyen, Tyler Krupicka, Vipul Kakkad, William Kim, Yena Kim
- 🛎️ Day-Of Staff: Will Hart, Adam Pickersgill, Alan Stephenson, Alex Marcellus, Alexander Glasson, Allison Inman, Allison Light, Andrew Wang, Andy Rich, Brian Beck ("Butters"), Bridgette Kuehn, Carolyn Beranek, Chris Heuser, Chris Lazarus, Emily Dingwell (Wisp), Emma Roudabush, Gage Ames, Geoff Landskov, Greg Filpus, Gregory (Hawthorne) Lumen, Hopper Andrew Hopper, James Reilly, Jamie Eckman, Josh May, Keerthana Kumar, Maggie Schmit, Marcus Lemmon, Mary Gibeau, Mitch Jewell, Morgan Grobin, Nicholas Fang, Nina Navazio, Patrick Fenelon, Rachel Kaufman-Levine, Randall (Ben Randall), Ranek Kiil, Reid Jones, Robert DeLoura, Ryan Michalec, Sameehita Mohan (Samee), Sarah Turk, Sean Fitzgerald, Stacy Chen, Steven Fuqua
- 🏆 Event Leads: (PreGame Content 📋, Staff 🏫, Logistics 📫) Wisp, (PreGame Tech💻) Jon, (Plot📖) Emma, (Spiderdog🕷️🐕) Shane, (Puzzles🧩) Greg
- 👑 Event Directors: Andy, Nick