My 2023 Xmas Puzzle Hunt: Mission Improbable

This year I wanted to add a storyline to my annual puzzle treasure hunt. The players would take on in-game identities and would have an element of role-play in the hunt. I had a wide range of ages playing, from 13 to 23 so I would need some elements that were challenging for the older experienced puzzle solvers and some elements that were fun for the 13 year olds. I like physical puzzles because online components would be unfavorably compared to high end video-games, so I use online components sparingly and only where they fit into the story. Finally I also wanted to include a cooperative puzzle or game that they had to work on together.

This write-up will present each clue in the order the players found them with the answers hidden as much as possible. I challenge you to play along and solve the puzzles yourself. One tip is many of the answers will be simple names of locations or things in my house that my family would know, for example: “fireplace” or “broccoli box” would direct them to those locations in the house. So be prepared to solve for simple words that are only meaningful in directing you to a location in a house.

At the end I will also go into more detail in how I created some of the puzzles to help you if you want to use these ideas in your own puzzle treasure hunt.

THE HUNT

The family gathered under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning and opened presents. One by one gifts were opened until a strange plain wrapped gift was found addressed “From: Agent Gigachad of C.H.A.O.S. with love to: Dear Comrades of Mission Improbable Team”. My kids tore the gift wrapper off to reveal a clear plexi-glass case with a bomb inside. The bomb consisted of three sticks of dynamite, some attached electronics, and a countdown timer showing only three hours until it went off. The case was locked by a latch with a three number combination lock.

The players also had noticed strange colorful signs placed on all the internal doors in the house. They didn’t know what to do with them yet.

After a few moments examining the bomb case, they were interrupted by a group text message sent to all of them from an unknown number “Your FEDEX package has been delivered.” with a photo of a FEDEX package leaning on the front door.

This is how the puzzle treasure hunt started. You can try to solve the puzzles yourself, or you can read all the solutions. Keep in mind my players are very experienced and have been solving my puzzles for years. It may take you a lot longer than three hours to solve it.


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