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Seventy-five minutes, eight teams, one very well-hidden bandit, and 1,810kg of gold shifted between you. Let's get into the deets.

Straight to mounting the horses then — Back door bandits had Horse 3 lassoed at 1m57s and by four minutes there were four teams out there rounding up livestock. There were nine horses in the park and only eight worth having, since one of them belonged to the bandit and there's no way to know which until you've already got hold of it. Three teams found all eight: Back door bandits, The Duttons and You Up?, which is a clean sweep in anyone's book.

The bandit got three of the teams. The Duttons walked straight into her at 7m58s, which is desperately early to lose your gold; TheGoldDiggers went the same way at 29m18s; and You Up? found her at 55m36s. The only team to avoid her completely? The Back door bandits, who presumably know her socially.

All those horses meant serious carrying capacity at the mine, and The Duttons put it to work better than anyone: Erlend hauled a maxed-out 26kg out of the ground at 49m34s and did exactly the same again at 64m04s, which is as much as it is physically possible for one cowboy to carry - what a guy! 

Now, the train. Back door bandits took an engine upgrade, then a carriage, then another carriage — and the app, in a moment of weakness (our oopsie!), let them buy a third. Nobody has ever done that before. They finished with a 26kg-a-trip train and an engine at Level 3, and they rode it for 124kg, comfortably the best haul of the day. The golden unicorn spotted the same trick and got 90kg out of theirs. Everyone else was moving 10kg a go and watching those two thunder past.

But the drones were the real story: 897kg of gold flown to the bank, virtually half of everything scored all day. Five teams had the full network of seven charge points lit inside 25 minutes, with Back door bandits first at 13m05s and The golden unicorn only fourteen seconds behind. Six teams then went back round to upgrade the whole thing. And Drone 7 was everybody's least favourite puzzle. Four teams got six points up to Level 3 and left D7 sitting at Level 2, which quietly capped half their routes. It isn't even hard — nobody got a single question wrong there all day. It's just out there, and most of you didn't fancy hitting that corner of the park twice.

Which makes Golden Nuggets' afternoon all the more remarkable. They ignored practically everything else and became the only team all day — and the only team we've ever had — to finish the network completely: all seven points at maximum, D7 included, the last of them at 71m31s. It's a magnificent piece of work and it earned them 135kg of drone gold. Yeehaw!

Fifteen of you made it back to the finish, several of them at a full sprint. Jaimie deposited 20kg at 73m59s and then tapped in at 74m56s — four seconds to spare, and the last of the day. Irodotos banked 14kg at 72m28s and got home with 52 seconds left. That's the kind of nerve that wins games.

And it did. Among the threes, Back door bandits took it with 403kg — the only team to break 300. The Duttons finished on 230kg, UniconDoms on 210kg and Pear tree poofs on 204kg, with only 26kg covering those three. Golden Nuggets took 147kg with their beautiful drone network.

Among the pairs, The golden unicorn won with 271kg, a score that would have placed them second overall and one built on 142kg of drone gold and a very well-driven train. You Up? finished on 197kg and TheGoldDiggers on 148kg, one single kilogram ahead of Golden Nuggets in a photo finish neither of them knew they were in.

Finally, the names, and one statistic I cannot let go. The two teams named after digging for gold dug the least of anybody: Golden Nuggets came away with 2kg from the mine and TheGoldDiggers with 9kg, while everyone else was hauling out between 31kg and 117kg. Both of them made their money in the air instead. Overall, marvellous work, marvellous team names, the lot of you.

Winter was coming, ten hungry polar bears needed a stockpile, and the ice had exactly sixty minutes left in it. Between you, you hauled 188 fish up through the holes — 85 rays, 64 cod and 39 eels — for 1,016kg of fish landed. That is a great many breakfasts.

The seals were the first big decision. Pair of Pollocks had Seal 2 signed up at 2m07s, with Perfect Polars, Samurai Swordfish and Sittingbourne Seals all shaking a flipper inside the opening three minutes. From there each seal fished away at a steady 500g a minute, entirely unsupervised — which meant the bears who left them to get on with it and came back at the very end did best of all. Samurai Swordfish collected 27kg in one glorious armful at 57m54s, Pair of Pollocks 26.5kg at 55m56s, and Beale Bears 26kg at 57m20s. Four teams recruited the full trio — Beale Bears, Pair of Pollocks, Perfect Polars and Samurai Swordfish — and Pair of Pollocks turned theirs into 55.5kg, the best seal haul of the day. All told, 312.5kg of your fish was caught by seals rather than bears, which is either brilliant management or a very good deal for the seals.

Then there was the wise walrus, who accepted 210kg of fish across eleven lessons and gave out some genuinely excellent advice. A fishing lesson doesn't just make you a better bear — it sends every fish back to its fishing spot and makes the whole lot worth more. A ray jumps from 5kg to 10kg to 12kg, a cod from 2kg to 4kg to 8kg. So the water you have already emptied fills right back up, and everything in it has doubled in size. Three teams found the second lesson and it shows: Under The Battersea's dives go 8kg, 15kg, then a lesson, then 52kg, then another lesson, then 68kg — the single biggest armful of the day, at 38m37s. Pair of Pollocks got to 52kg at 49m18s and Captain Rolo and crew to 40kg at 50m34s, which for a bear who had just handed 45kg of dinner to a walrus took real nerve.

Under The Battersea won it with a 218kg stockpile, and the way they did it is the best story in the log. Seven dives. One seal — recruited at 3m15s and then left completely in peace for fifty minutes, at which point it handed over precisely 25kg. Excellent strategy, well done!

Behind them it was desperately close. Samurai Swordfish took second with 165.5kg, exactly one kilogram ahead of Pair of Pollocks on 164.5kg. Beale Bears finished on 157kg and Perfect Polars on 156.5kg — half a kilo between them, which is about one small eel — with Magnes Fishers on 151.5kg right on their tails. 

Eight of the ten made it home to the igloo before winter arrived. Magnes Fishers were the sensible ones, back at 55m18s; Samurai Swordfish came skidding in at 59m46s with fourteen seconds to spare — and a kilo and a half of daylight between them and third place. Cutting it fine, but they would absolutely take it.

A word too for Battersea Bears, who had Seal 2 recruited inside four and a half minutes, second-fastest of anyone. Come and find me before the next one and we will go through the diving properly — there is a knack to holding your breath and it is not remotely obvious the first time you try it.

Nine snakes were loose in the park, and 114 of them were sent back to the zoo between all players, along with 139 apples collected and 76 ladders climbed. Not a bad night's work for you proxy zoo keepers.

PJs were first to a snake, at 10m11s on square 14, and for the first quarter of an hour it was a proper stampede — Endurancelife, Ry, Addersea Park, Campbell and Eleanor all bagging one snake inside fourteen minutes while they were still worth 55 points. The early birds were right to hurry, but the cleverest points of the night came much later: PJs again, at 47m37s, taking a snake worth a full 60 — the only one all evening — because Level 2's multiplier more than covered what the clock had taken off. That's the game in one move.

The snakes on squares 37 and 39 were the busiest, collared fifteen times each, while the one on 92 was the hardest to reach and was only tracked down eight times. If you got that one, you'd earned it.

And then there's Pandy, who caught all nine. Every snake on the board, PeterF and Andy Walter working the top half of the course between them, and finishing on square 92 at 72m42s. Nobody else managed more than eight snakes. However, they then missed the finish by 28 seconds which just shows how much of a sting in a tail there can be in a MindGames event!

The apples performances were a compelling element of the game review. Apple 2 sailed through — nineteen solves, not a single wrong answer between you. Apple 9 did not. It attracted 179 wrong answers on its own, guesses piling up in a tight little cluster between 16 and 26, and only twelve teams ever cracked it. Campbell got there first at 11m01s and made it look routine; Spike didn't get it until 61m01s. Nobody should feel silly about that one — it beat more of us than it didn't.

Apple 1 was the other sticking point, and for the avoidance of doubt: cox, fuji, gala and braeburn are all apples, which leaves jaffa as the odd one out, and reversed that gives affaj. Plenty of you got as far as spotting the orange and reversing the wrong word!

Special mention to Addersea Park, who went round the entire course without a single wrong answer, and to Endurancelife, who managed seven snakes on just three. Incredible work, both of you.

Nine teams found the top of the board and reset into Level 2, with PJs first at 27m19s and Douglassss two minutes later. Nobody quite got to Level 3 — that's still out there for someone. The Novices climbed nine ladders, more than anyone, which is exactly how you'd hope a first game goes.

Fifteen of you made it back in time for the finish bonus, several with the clock breathing down your neck: Ry at 74m37s and Bae Gworlz' Rachel at 74m39s, with 21 seconds between them and the whistle.

To the scoreboard. Among the solos, Ry took the win on 433 points, with Spike on 426.5 and Campbell on 419 — always tight at the top with these incredible players. Eleanor followed on 381 and Endurancelife on 361, then PJs 309.5, Addersea Park 294.5, Wintermute 273, Rhiannon 237.5 and Douglassss 236.5.

In the pairs, Pandy's nine snakes carried them to 371, ahead of The TA on 331 and LWC on 280, then Gelly 242, Duolingo Birds 223.5, The Novices 208, Bae Gworlz 163, Catch em all 131.5, JRJ 92 and Skoreans 59. Special congratulations to our junior MindGamer Harry from the Birds for taking on our usual adult only field and fitting in incredibly well!

A genuine welcome to everyone playing their first MindGames — there's a lot to hold in your head at once with this one, and from what we saw on the course you were all straight into it.

Finally, the names. Addersea Park is exactly the sort of thing we're here for, Ssssskelton and Snaladders, Douglassss all committed appropriately to the theme, earning you extra kudos and a big grin from Kit.

Below are the final points leaderboards for pairs, then solos: 

Epsom, Sunday 26th July, 45 minutes on the clock, eighteen teams, and 1,588kg of gold in the banks by the end of it. Here's how it went:

Nobody hung about. Beth Taylor-Lowen had a horse lassoed after nineteen seconds and Whayward had the same one by 44 seconds, while Sophia was at Drone 7 inside the first minute with Ben close behind, and Cara had the train away by 1m 22s. The perfect example of how teams can make a different judgement call on priorities at the start of a game!

Eight horses were the most anyone could keep, and two teams found the lot: Belmont Baddies and Jelly Beans. Horses 8 and 9 were everybody's favourites; Horse 7 was tracked down by only three teams all day, so if you found it, well done. As for the bandit — she robbed eleven of the eighteen of us, starting with Beth at 7m 24s and finishing with Freddy, who dodged her until 31m 51s.

Jelly Beans then squeezed everything out of those eight horses. Both of their mine runs came out at exactly 26kg — a maxed-out load, twice, the second banked with eighteen seconds left. North London 4eva deployed another good strategy, splitting their tame horses between the two of them and running loaded trips in parallel for 40kg. And a small salute to Freddy, who picked up 2kg with 27 minutes to go and was still carrying it when the whistle went.

The train quietly brought in 490kg. The Squirrels backed it hardest —  upgrading their capacity at 14m 26s, engine at 29m 01s — and got three 18kg deliveries and a day's best 64kg out of it, with Duolingo Birds close behind on 56kg. Nobody in the entire field ever ran a second carriage, so the 26kg train is still out there waiting for someone. Gold Kittens gave it a go at 43m 06s, buying a carriage and then an engine upgrade seventeen seconds later — 20kg on a train that was never coming back, and honestly the confidence is magnificent. Cara upgraded the engine at 14m 59s and discovered four seconds later that she couldn't afford to do it again. Doh.

The drones did the heavy lifting: 591kg, ninety of them launched, sixteen teams with all seven charge points lit. Alice Hogg was first to the full set at 7m 26s, natalie lam at 8m 01s, Cara at 9m 23s. 

The Brockley Babes came closest to cracking the network fully, taking the other six points all the way to Level 3 for eleven drones in the air and 70kg, the best drone haul of the day by a distance.

Drone 6, meanwhile, remains undefeated in spirit — it accounted for 29 of the day's wrong answers on its own, so if it got you, it got most of us. Faultless puzzle attempts across the rest of their puzzle attempts went to Gold Kittens and The Cool Cowboys.

Twenty-two of you made it home for the bonus and some of it was nail bitingly close! Emily Hogg banking 11kg with four seconds on the clock, Alice Hogg tapping Finish with one second left. Jennifer Walsh missed it by a single second, which is the most painful thing in the log and deserves a round of applause on its own.

Taking the top spot for the Pairs are Beth and Alfie, and as a solo, Daniel Wade - congratulations! 

We're excited to be partnering with DateWildly for our very first singles event!

If you're tired of the usual dating app routine or awkward first-date interviews, this is your chance to meet people in a completely different way. MindGames combines strategy, teamwork and movement to create an experience where conversations happen naturally and personalities shine through.

You'll start at The Queen's Pub in Regent's Park with a short briefing before heading out into the park for a 45-minute outdoor strategy adventure. Using a map and our custom app, you'll navigate between checkpoints, make tactical decisions and work together to maximise your score. No special fitness level or gaming experience is needed—just bring comfortable clothes, a phone and a sense of adventure.

Once the game is over, everyone returns to the pub to celebrate the winners, compare strategies and continue chatting in a relaxed, social atmosphere. Whether you discovered a brilliant tactic, got completely outsmarted, or simply enjoyed exploring the park, there's always plenty to talk about afterwards.

We're thrilled to be collaborating with DateWildly, whose philosophy of "meet first, match later" perfectly complements what we love about MindGames. Instead of trying to judge someone from a profile or a few messages, you'll get to meet people while sharing an experience that encourages teamwork, communication and a little friendly competition.

Whether you're naturally competitive, love solving problems, enjoy being outdoors, or simply want to meet like-minded singles in a refreshing way, we'd love you to join us.

Event Details

• 📍 Location: Regent's Park (meeting at The Queen's Pub)

• 🕑 Time: 6:30pm Weds 30th September 

• 🗺️ Game: 45-minute version of Deep Blue - take on the role of a polar bear gathering fish ready for winter!

• 🍻 Afterwards: Return to the pub to celebrate the winners and get to know the other participants

Tickets are available through DateWildly or here. We can't wait to welcome you to our first singles collaboration! 🚀

It's always exciting writing up the game report of a new game, getting to see which strategies were deployed and understanding whether the game played as I expected it to. But to run a game overlapping with an England world-cup match was either inspired or madness... 

Dry July was set in the African savannah, possibly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the aim of the game was to secure as much water as possible by taking control of the oasis points from the Giraffes. For board game fans, there was a slight inspiration from Risk but without the element of chance. The rules were relatively simple, but the amount of information to store and process was significant. This meant that it was a challenging entry to MindGames for newcomers Ale, Ela, Kush and Barcob, all of whom rose to the task admirably!

A quick scan across the activities shows that across 14 teams the oases were seized a total 199 times, with the battle for control raging particularly strongly on Oasis 3, where four teams each took control of it four times (meaning that they also lost it at least three times). Most oases were captured by most teams, and three teams (Barcob, Endurancelife and Ryno) took control 18 times across the game. In terms of elephants placed, the numbers were remarkably consistent with 9 teams placing more than 40 elephants and no one placing more than 58.

Across the 14 teams, 25 elephants were fed to crocodiles, an entire team's worth.  The crocodile at Oasis 4 was particularly well fed, taking six elephants (from Barcob, Bobs, Ela, Eleanorphant, Kush and the KMs), but kudos goes to Campbell, Wacky and the (naturally) Crocodile DunDouglas, who all managed to avoid all eight crocodiles. 

The monkeys were there to help, and a number of teams breezed through with no wrong answers, (Ale, Barcob, Bobs, Wacky, Wintermute and WSW Wimbledon), in total there were only 34 wrong answers - 17 of which came from a single team... hats off to the KMs for their persistence at Monkey 2!

At the end of the eighty minutes, there was a mad dash to the finish, and thank you everyone who brought their elephants home. Kush, we appreciated you tidying them up back to the elephant base, unfortunately this doesn't earn any bonus points, but it at least prevents them from roaming around unmonitored, and well done for everyone making it back to the correct pub (more than I originally managed!).

Finally, a special shout out to the thematically brilliant names. Crocodile DunDouglas, Ryno and Eleanorphant proving that they can compete in names as well as on the course, all brilliant, and all winners. 

The scoreboards (below) reflect some tight battles. In the solos Bobs just got his nose (trunk?) in front right at the end, scoring 100 more than Campbell to take the victory, While Endurancelife pipped Ryno by a mere 60 points for the final podium spot. In the pairs Wacky took a commanding victory over WSW Wimbledon whose pre-run hydration strategy was somewhat suspect, and newcomers Barcob snuck in front of The KMs by just 30 points for third place. 

🚀What a weekend! 💫

We were delighted to be part of this year's Wellnergy Festival, bringing a bespoke festival version of one of our favourite games, Letterz, to thousands of festival-goers across two action-packed days. 🔠🌄

The festival gave us the opportunity to showcase what MindGames is all about: combining strategy, movement and teamwork to create experiences that get people thinking, moving and smiling at the same time. Throughout the weekend, players of all ages stepped into our world, taking on our specially adapted version of Letterz and discovering just how addictive the combination of quick thinking and active play can be.

One of the highlights of the weekend was activating the game on the Mind Stage on both mornings of the festival. Seeing crowds gather to play, compete and engage with the challenges was an incredible experience. There is something uniquely rewarding about watching people who have never encountered MindGames before throw themselves wholeheartedly into a game within minutes, embracing the challenge and the fun in equal measure. 🤜🤛

Away from the stage, we were thrilled to have a home in the Retail Village. This gave us the chance to meet and speak with hundreds of people throughout the weekend, sharing our philosophy and learning more about what motivates them to stay active, connected and engaged. We had countless conversations with people who share our belief that fitness doesn't have to mean repetitive exercise and that fun can be a powerful motivator for movement.

Wellnergy brought together an inspiring community of organisations, brands and individuals who are passionate about helping people live healthier, happier lives. Being part of that environment felt like a natural fit for MindGames, and we loved connecting with so many people who value both physical activity and play. 🙌

Of course, no MindGames event would be complete without a healthy dose of competition. Throughout the weekend, players kept a close eye on the leaderboards as scores continued to climb. What began as a fun challenge quickly became a fiercely contested battle for the top spots, with players returning to improve their scores, bringing friends over to challenge them, and refusing to give up their place on the podium without a fight! 🏆

Most of all, we want to thank everyone who stopped by to play, chat, compete, ask questions or cheer on friends and family. The enthusiasm, competitiveness and willingness to get involved made the weekend truly special.

We're leaving Wellnergy feeling inspired, energised and excited for what's next!

Wednesday 10th June and Gold Rush made a reappearance, this time with the majority of checkpoints located within Hyde Park. Participants had 80 minutes to collect as much gold as possible, using drones, horses and trains.  The only slight change to the rules from the first outing was the addition of a 'safety zebra' positioned by the zebra crossing to encourage players to cross the one main road at a sensible place. 🦓

It was fascinating watching the divergence of strategies right from the start as teams played to their strengths, some headed straight for the drones to test their brains, while others sought to round-up the horses and stretch their legs. Whichever strategy they chose, it was wise not to neglect the train, which even without upgrades could bring in a handy 40kg of gold. 💰

Stan&Ashleigh were the first to set the train off, after just five minutes, closely followed by Douglas, Isobel&Marieta and Mogadorians. Five teams opted to upgrade their trains, with additional carriages proving more popular than additional speed. This resulted in a total of 406kg of gold being collected off the train. 🚂

For the cowboys there were eight horses, and one bandit, scattered around the park. All horses were caught at least once, and eight teams found the bandit. Only one team, EnduranceLife, opted to go and recollect their lost horse, which either means other teams gave them up for the bandit, or they were fortunate in the timing of the bandit's appearance. The mine was located down near the Serpentine, not a big hill, but enough to be a little bit wearing if. Endurancelife led the way with four trips to the mine, while individuals from Wintermute, Douglas and Stan&Ashleigh made three trips each. All this activity resulted in a total of 255kg of gold being collected from the mine. 🌟

For the brains of the teams a network of puzzles allowed drones to automatically deliver gold to your base. There were three levels, each with seven puzzles on, and although no teams cleared all three levels The TA came closest with 18 of 21 puzzles solved, meaning that by the end they had 15 drones in the air and were collecting 3kg of gold every minute. The Mogadorians also deserve a mention as the other team to break into Level 3. Across all teams the Drones proved the most lucrative, with a massive 578kg collected across the teams. 🫰

However, it was balanced strategies that counted best, and on this course it was no surprise that the pairs that divided and conquered came out on top, with Stan & Ashleigh coming in victorious with 170kg of gold, closely followed by Mogadorians with 155kg and The TA on 138kg. And a host of teams close behind. 🏆

In the individuals Endurancelife's shuttle runs to the mine proved enough with 130kg banked, closely followed by Wintermute on 115kg and then Fools Gold on 75kg. Impressive hauls all round. 🙌

A particular congratulations to the MindGames first timers, there's a lot to think about with Gold Rush, and when I was out on course I was impressed how everyone had a strategy and were executing it. And thanks to Neighaa and Fools Gold, for the puns, much appreciated! 🐎🐎

We've got a game this weekend back in the same area, it will be a slightly smaller course, suitable for smaller legs or walkers, but there's plenty of running to be done if you want it! Otherwise we will soon be sharing details of our brand new game that we're debuting on 1st July. 💧🦒🗺️

It was great to see so many groups at our event this morning on Epsom Common. We hope they had a great time braving the heat and channelling their polar power to boost their bear's supplies. Everyone did bear-illiantly to get out and about on such a warm and sticky day!

Here are the final standings after all fish have been weighed up: 

Season Finale!

Here’s how the game unfolded…

Wednesday 20th May saw the dawn of a brand new game: Stake Out! The objective was simple in theory but brutal in practice — save as many citizens as possible, for as long as possible, against progressive waves of vampires. 🧛‍♀️🧛‍♂️🧛

⏱️Every ten minutes a fresh batch of vampires descended onto the board, and players had to hunt for garlic or earn crosses to repel the undead onslaught.

✝️The crosses — naturally guarded by puzzles — didn’t slow anyone down, with 30 crosses earned across the game. Eleanaarggh claimed the first cross at 5m 53s, beating Ry by just 4 seconds, and securing early R&E bragging rights. Crosses were strongest early on: a cross placed before the first night could repel up to seven vampires, equivalent to seven garlic. Their power dropped by one each night.

🧄Garlic (each clove killing one vampire) introduced a new MindGames concept: Player vs Player dynamics. Of the twenty garlic spots on the board, only twelve were active at any time. Once a garlic was collected by anyone, it vanished for everyone and respawned elsewhere. Feedback so far suggests this added a fresh strategic layer without making garlic‑hunting too frustrating — but all opinions are very welcome!

🌙When it came to saving citizens, every team survived to the sixth night with at least some population intact, and all but two teams finished with survivors. Martin — aka Van Helsing — fought to the bitter end, saving his final two citizens in the closing moments. Had there been an eighth night, it’s unlikely many would have lived to see it.

🗡️Amid the chaos, there were standout performances. Campbell looked in control early, losing only four citizens across the first three nights. But the final night proved his undoing, and Shovelinhead (Doug), who took heavier early losses, pulled off an incredible save of 131 citizens on the final night — nearly half of the original 276 population.

📊If graphs and stats are your thing, the full breakdown is available here. Please do share any insights you spot!

What an incredible collaboration! The TRYBZ community absolutely threw themselves into the challenge — every player got stuck in, racing through Battersea Park with full focus and big smiles. It was the perfect day for movement and adventure, as teams navigated their way through checkpoints, cracked puzzles, and climbed level by level to escape the tower, earning gold as they went. The energy was electric from start to finish, with everyone giving their best and cheering each other on. We wrapped up with matchas, coffees, and aperols at The Pear Tree Café — the ideal way to celebrate a fab afternoon of teamwork, laughter, and pure TRYBZ spirit. 

Get set.. SPELL!

Our much loved Scrabble game WOKE (24pts) from a slumber in Primrose Hill this week, the Princess of Wales aka POW (8pts) BOOKED (51 pts) us a great briefing area and with a new letter set, a new map and new puzzles, old strategies were given a SHAKE (19pts) down.

The game clock was set to 80 minutes, and before players FROZE (58 pts) in the surprisingly cool evening I instructed them, "thou SHALT (15 pts) not LAZE (36pts), tie up your SHOELACE (57pts), TAKE (11 pts) this map and get your SKATE (34 pts) on",   and they BLAZED (66pts) away from the start line.

Checkpoints were distributed across Primrose Hill and into Regents Park, multiple people expected the "Play Word" to be at the CREST (21 pts) of the hill, but instead it was the puzzles that required players to SWEAT (23 pts) to reach. THESE (15 pts) checkpoints gave players the opportunity to multiply their scores, although only one bonus could be used per word.

London ZOO (32 pts) seemed to provide plenty of inspiration with a SHOAL (15 pts) of animals played, there was a KOALA (34 pts) a COW (8 pts), a GUPPY (20 pts) and Spike even managed to find some (wood?)PECKERS (48pts), WOOF! (17pts). We had a pair of POKERS (24 pts) as Eleanor and Jonny both POKED (19/24 pts) their noses in front at various times, while Martin was content to STALK (16 pts) the pack looking to find the WEAK (14 pts) link.

After 80 minutes everyone returned to the pub and as the HAZE (51 pts) of the game lifted, strategies were discussed over some CHOW (15 pts), and KOHL (36 pts) reapplied.

It was great to see so many first timers, and despite there being plenty of SCOPE (22pts) for looking like a BOZO (28 pts) everyone emerged far from HAZED (29 pts), instead they found it a WALTZ (58 pts) in the park, although looking at the distances covered some people might be looking for a BUGGY (31 pts) to get them back to the tube stop.

ZAP (32pts)! Looking forward two weeks, now is the time to STAKE (16 pts) your spot at the series finale, there may even be CAKES (29 pts).

Thank you as always to everyone who came down, our regular crowd and our future regular crowd (aka first timers), please do continue to help us spread the word, bring friends, family, colleagues... every recommendation and review is a COG (6 pts) in the MindGames machine!

The Tale of the Snake

Wednesday saw the return of Snakes & Ladders, first played in the dark around Pimlico, this time from The Bear in Paddington. The real allure was Hyde Park just south of the pub, and no one was surprised to find that’s where all the snakes had escaped to. It was the first time that headtorches weren’t required, and the first time using the open ground of a park; both seemed to be well received. 

With this being a returning game, many teams opted to rely on their memories and the stage notes, skipping the briefing and heading out straight away, leaving more time at the end for a drink and a debrief. A classic risk/reward decision! 

 Before reaching the park, there were a few apples to collect. Most teams headed to Apple 2 first, which involved moving blocks between posts in a 'Towers of Hanoi'-style game. Unlike a fortnight ago at Tower Escape, where teams were asked to move the blocks between rooms, this time teams only had to work out the minimum number of moves, which seemed to present no problems for most, with Dan, Wintermute and Spike all claiming it within the first 4 minutes—and within 18 seconds of each other.

Apple 8 was the logical next step, which all teams glided through, spotting that the distances related to the number of letters in the name. Only Snakey McLadderface required a second attempt, and even then the delay was minimal.

 Once inside the park, the dice points were laid out with further apples surrounding them, offering teams the opportunity to grab apples while moving around the board. But snake value was decreasing, so there was a rush to grab them as quickly as possible, or to head to the top of the board and get the multiplier bonus.

Most teams headed for the snakes on 13 and 17, but Wintermute and Bobs headed up the ladder on square 12 to grab the snake on 36 first. Dan was the only one to capture a snake within the first 10 minutes and therefore score the maximum 60 points, doing so with just 27 seconds left in the level. Wintermute was unfortunate to miss out by just 12 seconds on the same achievement.

 Snakes continued to be collected at a good rate across all teams, with a grand total of fifty snakes collected from the park, and everyone managing to avoid falling into The Serpentine! NorwegianJesus had some excellent late-game play, bagging two snakes in the final 15 minutes, although it was Gammy who cut it finest, grabbing their final snake with just 3m49s left on the clock, leaving a challenging sprint for the finish line.

 The game was as much about brains as brawn. The apples were of varying degrees of difficulty, with all claimed at one point or another. For the avoidance of doubt, London hosted the Olympics in 2012, so the answer required londonlondonlondon... twelve times—an exercise in precision as well as puzzling. The mixed-up fruit was a 'granny smith', and Homer was not a character in Friends, so 'ehmor' was the odd one out.

 The scoring was incredibly close. As revealed on the night, Dan squeezed a victory by just 2.5 points, but there were many more close battles. To take a full look, head over to the game data and review The Tale of the Snake.

 Lastly, a few thank yous: firstly to our newcomers, John and Martin—there’s a lot to take in the first time, but it is impressive how quickly you picked it up, catching snakes, solving puzzles and moving up the board like pros.

And secondly, although he couldn’t take part, a big thanks to Tim, who kindly did a recce of the course earlier in the week, giving me another week for my ankle to recover.

*A Tale of Wit, Blocks, Sausages, and One Very Hungry Dog*  

The Gates Open:

At the stroke of the 90-minute bell, nine teams stormed the castle gates and found themselves in the **Lobby** — the first of four ground-floor rooms concealing the clues they'd need to unpick the tower's first lock. From the Lobby to the **Lounge**, the **Office**, and finally the **Kitchen**, each team scurried through the lower chambers gathering fragments of the riddle.

**Bobs** and **The Grape Escape** snapped up the very first clues before the dust had even settled, with most of the field close behind. The notable exception was **Getfrank**, whose Matt Lacey didn't clear the Kitchen until the 77-minute mark — and when he finally tried the padlock... it didn't budge. Twice. A bold strategy. It did not pay off immediately.

The first teams to crack the padlock and ascend were **Bobs** and **R&E**, both springing free at the 84-minute mark, earning 100 gold apiece. **The Grape Escape** followed swiftly, and the race upwards was on.

The Word Chain Wars:

Level 2 revealed the tower's word-chain puzzle, requiring players to chain together a sequence of passcodes — *note → notebook → laptop → turntable*. Elegant in design. Humbling in execution.

R&E's Eleanor confidently submitted *"lapturn"* — not a word, not a passcode, not found in any dictionary in the kingdom. Ryan of the same team countered with *"turntop"* and then *"topturn"*, as though the puzzle might eventually capitulate through sheer stubbornness. Roderick of PrisonerX also tried *"topturn"*, apparently reading from the same dubious playbook. 

Despite the linguistic adventures, Bobs blazed through fastest, completing the full chain and unlocking the staircase at the 78-minute mark — a full level ahead of most rivals.

The Block Puzzle (or: How to Build a Ladder Badly) :

Level 4 presented the castle's block-stacking challenge: collect blocks from Room 4.1, stage them correctly through Room 4.2, and stack them in the right order at the Up checkpoint to magically fuse them into a ladder. Simple in theory. An extended comedy of errors in practice.

Bobby set the tone — picking up blocks, placing them wrong, being told he couldn't stack a larger block on a smaller one (three times), putting blocks down, picking them back up again. The ladder finally *"magically fused"* at the 65-minute mark. A triumph of persistence over elegance.

Getfrank's Matt Lacey elevated block-stacking to something approaching performance art. His logs around the 31-minute mark show him picking up and placing the same block *eight times in a row* — a hypnotic loop that the castle observed with quiet bewilderment. He completed it with just 18 minutes remaining.

The Grape Escape, R&E, and Wintermute all completed their ladders with considerably more composure. Pairs teams had a natural advantage here, with one player able to manage Room 4.1 while the other handled Room 4.2 — and R&E made light work of it as a result. Special mention however goes to Roderick (PrisonerX), Edmund, and John Pickup (Wintermute), all of whom executed a mathematically perfect solution — the classic Towers of Hanoi puzzle has a minimum of 7 moves for 3 blocks, and all three made exactly 7 pickups and 7 placements without a single error. While others were wrestling with the laws of physics, these three were working from first principles. Flawless performances all round.

Level 5: The Castle's Residents:

With the ladder built, teams emerged onto Level 5 — the castle's social floor, home to six residents each offering gold in exchange for completing their challenges. With 460 gold on offer across all six, and only about an hour left on the clock, teams had to choose wisely.

The Chef  offered 50 gold in exchange for sausages — but the sausages weren't for eating. Sharp-eyed teams will have noticed the hungry dog lurking on Level 3 on their way up, with no obvious explanation and no way past. The Chef's sausages were the missing piece — hurled at the hound to clear the path and claim the reward. For those who'd already met the dog, it was a satisfying moment of joined-up thinking. For those who hadn't, it was a trip back downstairs.

The King  issued a rather less polite request: "Go catch some rats." Worth up to 120 gold for a full extermination, this was the richest physical challenge in the castle. Bobby led all solo hunters with a remarkable 9 rats, closely chased by Wintermute and The Grape Escape on 8 each. As a team however, R&E were the true exterminators — Eleanor and Ryan combined for all 12 rats, a complete royal extermination and the full 120 gold. Not a single rat remained. The King was most pleased.

The Princess  requested the return of her missing cat, Mittens, who had wandered back to the Lounge. Ryan reunited them first at the 17-minute mark, with Gammy's Sam Smith following shortly after — both earning the full 80-gold quest reward. Spike accepted the quest but Mittens, apparently, wanted nothing to do with him. The Princess remained inconsolable.

The Dragon's hoard rewarded the mentally sharp with 60 gold — claimed by Bobby, Ryan, Spike and Gina. The Jester  also offered 60 gold, collected by Spike and Ryan.

The Queen's puzzle was the most demanding of all — a three-layer mental challenge paying out 10, 30, and 50 gold for each layer solved, with a punishing 30-second lockout for wrong answers. Eleanor of R&E was the standout performer, weathering three lockouts without flinching and solving all three layers for the full 90 gold. Edmund and Spike both solved the first two layers. Several teams found the Queen a cruel mistress in the closing minutes, with Bobby and John Pickup taking lockouts late on.

The Final Climb & The Gold Count:

With time running out, teams made their final dash to the Finish checkpoint at the top of the tower, each collecting a **50-gold completion bonus** on the way out. Eight of the nine teams made it —congratulations to all teams for a game well played!

The maximum possible gold is **855 for a pair** and **805 for a solo player** — and the performances are all the more impressive measured against that benchmark 

Game report - Series 2 Round 1 - 🐻‍❄️🎣Deep Blue - 25th March - Surrey Quays

Deep Blue Returns to Surrey Quays ❄️

Wednesday saw us return to Surrey Quays — and back to the Arctic, complete with near zero-degree temperatures. Given that the last time we ran Deep Blue we had frozen ponds in St Katharine’s Dock, it might be time to swap the Arctic for the jungle next time…

For those new to the format, Deep Blue challenges teams to dive beneath the ice, managing a strict 10-minute timer between air holes. Along the way, teams can recruit SEAL units to hunt on their behalf, or upgrade their capabilities with a visit to the Wise Walrus — perched (as ever) on top of a local hill.

Fast Starts and Early Strategy

The SEALs were in high demand from the outset. Seal 2 offered little resistance, recruited four times within the opening two minutes by Wintermute, Bobs, Campbell and SoloSam. Cool Runnings, Last and Furious, and No Pace, All Vibes quickly followed.

Seal 3 became the next key target, with Campbell, R&E and Cool Runnings all securing a second SEAL within the first seven minutes — setting each one up to collect over 35kg of fish.

Seal 1 proved more challenging, with only four teams managing to crack it. The double puzzle required teams to identify anagrams of David, George and Andrew, determine the missing fourth — Patrick — and then rearrange all names back into alphabetical order. SoloSam were first to solve it, closely followed by All Pace, No Vibes.

Big Plays Under Pressure

Beneath the surface, conditions were favourable. An additional air hole meant there was no excuse for running out of air, and despite a demanding loop at the southern end of the map, no fish were lost underwater.

As the clock ticked down, confidence was high and teams began banking significant hauls. Cool Runnings secured 131.5kg with 10 minutes remaining, Last and Furious followed with 165kg with four minutes to go, and Campbell delivered the largest single deposit of the game — 171.5kg — with just three minutes left.

Wintermute left it even later, banking with only two minutes remaining before a final sprint to the finish.

The Walrus Dilemma

The Wise Walrus once again introduced a key strategic decision: invest in further upgrades, or maximise returns at your current level?

Last and Furious and Bobs opted to take the risk, committing to a second lesson with 32 and 26 minutes remaining respectively. Campbell, however, chose to remain at Level 2 — a decision that ultimately proved decisive.

As for the optimal strategy? Still up for debate. One thing is certain: falling down the steps by Seal 3 (as discovered during recce) is not recommended.

Final Results 🏆

A huge congratulations to everyone who took part — and to those who stayed on to celebrate afterwards.

• 1st: Campbell

• 2nd: Cool Runnings (Spike)

• 3rd: Last and Furious (Tom)

In the pairs competition, Ryan & Eleanor continued their winning streak, while No Pace, All Vibes impressed with a second-place finish on debut.

The game opened cautiously, with most teams spending the first stretch gathering letters and scoping the map. Euro Bitches were among the first out of the blocks, snapping up a word bonus early and setting an aggressive tone — though their first attempt (LSH) suggested the letters weren't always cooperating.

The clueless of SW were also moving quickly, banking their first word, LOST, at the 22-minute mark — which, in hindsight, was either a statement of intent or a moment of self-awareness. They went on to play five words in total, keeping busy all game, though their choices (LOST, SEAL, SOUR, PIN...) suggested they may have been prioritising quantity over, shall we say, flamboyance.

Baby on board had a rocky middle stretch — SLTE and a couple of other mystery submissions disappeared into the void — but they rallied spectacularly, finishing with HORSEY, CURL, and the crowd-pleasing QUIP, capped off with a 3x word bonus on a well-timed QUIP. Not bad for a team reportedly travelling with extra cargo.

THEFASTCATS lived up to their name in the final quarter, producing the rousing SAILOR (30 pts) and THREES (25 pts) in quick succession near the end of the game — clearly they'd been saving their best letters for a dramatic finish. Whether that was strategy or just how the checkpoints fell, it worked.

Negronis — ah, the Negronis. Only two words submitted, but what words. LOSERS is either a confident piece of trash talk or a Freudian slip, and STOIC is frankly the most on-brand response to a difficult afternoon that we've ever seen. Respect.

And then there were Brains of Battersea. Methodical, patient, and absolutely ruthless when it counted. STORY and SHEET were solid early earners. SCOUR showed range. PEN was a moment of pragmatism. But QUAIL — played with a 3x word bonus in the dying minutes for 41 points — was the move of the day. The Brains, it turns out, were brainy.

 HIGHLIGHTS

• Word of the day: QUAIL — 41 pts, Brains of Battersea. Majestic.

• Most industrious: The clueless of SW and Brains of Battersea — 5 words each

• Best average per word: Brains of Battersea — 20.7 pts per word

• Longest words: LOSERS, SAILOR, THREES — a three-way tie at 6 letters

• Bravest attempt: HEALT (Negronis) — not a word, but we admire the conviction

• Most poetic sequence: The clueless of SW playing LOST, then THEY, then SOUR — a haiku of mild misfortune

Huge congratulations to Brains of Battersea — thoroughly deserved! And thanks to everyone for a brilliant game. Hope to see you again soon! 💜