Results

Thanks to everyone who came out to play in the first Pawshank Redemption challenge! All players had a blast and pretty much no one got hurt. Congratulations to the overall placement winners and Pawshank award winners! I hope to run another event in the Spring.

HOW IT WORKS

Each team is given a total max time to search 5 consecutive “locked” rooms.The first 4 rooms each have an unknown number of hides and the last room has a single hide — a key that will let you out. The goal is to correctly complete all 5 searches within the allotted time frame. A virtual walkthrough of the rooms will be available the night before the event. There will also be an optional BONUS exterior search worth 5-15 extra points.

Each team searches all 5 escape rooms back-to-back. Teams will be put into two groups of 12 and assigned to morning or afternoon session. The PM group will arrive slightly before lunch to complete the bonus search while the AM group is running the escape challenge. The AM group will run the bonus search area just after lunch, as soon as the PM group starts the escape challenge. Competitors are encouraged to stay for the day and socialize in the hospitality area.

RULES:

• The first 4 rooms will each have an unknown number of hides. Teams must find the correct number of hides in each room and call “ESCAPE!” before moving on to the next room. If their guess is incorrect, they must continue searching to find the remaining hide(s) before moving on.
• In the 5th room, teams must find a single “hot key” that will let them outside. Then the team must exit through the final escape door to stop the clock.
• Right before getting locked in, you will be told the TOTAL number of hides, including the hot key at the end. But you will have to figure out how many are in each room, and keep track of how many hides you are finding along the way.
• The search areas will be contiguous. Time does not stop in between areas.
• Each room’s escape door will be marked with a sign labeled “ESCAPE DOOR.”
• Handlers must call “alert” when finding a hide, as well as the final hot key.
• Handlers must call “escape” (i.e., finish) when they think they have found all the hides and want to move to the next room. If the escape call is incorrect, the judge will say “sorry, you are still locked in this room” and the team must find the additional hide(s) before calling escape again.
• Time starts when the dog’s nose crosses the first room threshold, and stops when the team finds the hot key in the last search AND exits through the final escape door (when dog’s nose crosses the thin blue line). There is no final finish call — time stops when the dog’s nose crosses the threshold of the final escape door.
• Dogs can work on or off leash in each area.
• Hides can be accessible or inaccessible, and no more than 6 feet high.
• POINTS: The point value for each hide will be 100 divided by the total number of hides. The hot key and the final escape across the finish line are each worth half a hide, so if a team finds the hot key but doesn’t make it across the finish line before the time limit, they will lose half a hide’s worth of points.
• For each false alert, a team will lose 2 points. Teams are allowed an unlimited number of false alerts.
• For each incorrect escape call, a team will lose 1 point. Teams are allowed an unlimited number of escape calls.
• If a team gets stuck in a room and wants to get out, handlers can ask for help from the judge, but they will earn 0 points for any remaining hides, plus a 5-point penalty off their total score.
• If time elapses before a team has completed the final escape room, they must stop searching and return to the parking lot. They will keep their points for any hides found.
• Teams will receive a 5-minute warning, a 2-minute warning, and a 30-second warning.

• Teams that escape within the allotted time frame and earn 100 points (not including any bonus points) will be awarded the PERFECT PAWSHANK title!
• Teams that escape within the time frame and earn at least 97 points (not including any bonus points) will be awarded the PAWSHANK GOLD title!
• Prizes will be awarded to the top four teams. Teams are ranked on highest total points earned and highest total remaining time left.

BONUS SEARCH

The bonus exterior search is optional and is called “Choose your Poison.” Handlers can choose one of 3 options:

• Known number of hides: worth 5 points if completed correctly.
• A range of hides: worth 10 points if completed correctly.
• Unknown number of hides: worth 15 points if completed correctly.

Teams that find all the hides and call “finish” correctly will have the bonus points added to their overall score, and their bonus search time will be added to their escape search time. If the team does not complete the chosen option correctly, they will earn 0 points and the full time of the bonus search will be added to their escape search time.

One false alert allowed in the bonus search; if handlers call a second false alert they must stop the search and collect no bonus points. A single false alert will reduce the team’s bonus score by 2 points. If a dog eliminates in the search, the team must stop working and return to their vehicle, with 0 bonus points awarded.

EXTRA FUN

We will have a competitor hospitality area downstairs that will include snacks, drinks, games, pizza, music and socalization for the humans! Hospitality opens at 10:00 am.