Final Advice Column

Early on in our design of the year 2000 Edition of Get-a-Clue, we as Game Control had a number of discussions on what we should do to make Get-a-Clue better. We took informal polls of experienced players and past members of Game Control, and tried to incorporate those thoughts into our own game design philosophy. And then we started planning and scheming and writing, and eventually we came up with a new and improved version of the game, we think...

We succeeded in making Get-a-Clue different. It remains to be seen if Get-a-Clue will actually be better.

Since you, as players, are probably just as concerned about the game as we are, we thought it might be good to tell you the things we wanted to change, and a few of the ways we have tried to do so.

• Get-a-clue has taken too long to finish.

The game has taken increasingly longer times to complete in recent years, and we think that's wrong. The game ceases to be fun at some point, call it 1 a.m. We looked at a number of ways to help counteract this trend, and a few of them are:
• Clusters of clues, instead of random clue sites.
• Better routing between clue sites.
• Overall shorter routes.
• Clue sites that are closer to Tech. Not all sites are within the Perimeter, but they are all contained within a circle of 15 miles radius centered on the Couch Building. (You will also note that with a smaller game area, every clue site can be located on maps given to you by Game Control. All sites are also easy to find in the popular Atlanta Street Map Books, or in other sources you might have with you on the day of the game.)

• Some clues are too easy

We have tried to avoid the all-too-common "word" clue - that is to say, there are no clues in the game where the only way to solve the clue is to just read the sentence and look up the capitalized words in the phone book. We have tried to make each clue require either competency in a given academic subject, or intuitive and deductive reasoning skills. There may still be clues you consider to be "easy", but that must be because you are just so damn smart.

• Some clues are too hard.

Sorry, some clues are hard. We have tried to include enough instructions, though, that you will at least know where to start.

• Help clues aren't much help.

This year, we have tried to re-invent the help clue. There are no more "magic ink" pens, along with the vague (and occasionally indecipherable) handwritten hints. We have gone back to plain and simple help clue envelopes, ones that are large enough to hold a great deal of information should you care to use them.

We want you to use the help clues. This isn't a trick. We really do want you to use the help clues.

One reason the game can take some teams longer to finish is because they refuse to use the help clues, thinking that they gain some sort of advantage over other teams if they do so. While that might have been true in the past, and might be true this year in some cases, I would say that by and large you do yourself no favors if you ignore our help clues.

There are a few other things we'd like you to know about help clues:

• At least one help clue is of the "How do I solve this" variety. This typically has a short time penalty, and has additional explanations and information that will help you solve the clue. It does not have the solution. You must still work through the clue if you use this help clue.
• One help clue labeled "I give up, what's the answer" is included. This clue is exactly what it says it is - it's the answer. It is for teams that have absolutely no idea what to do, or who know how to solve a given clue but can't or won't invest the large amount of time it requires. This help clue will obviously carry a large time penalty. If you have already spent more than a half-hour on a clue and think you are making progress, do not use this envelope, you will only anger yourself. Call the help line and try to get some individual help.
• Also included is a "I'm at the site, where is the clue packet" help clue. It should be self explanatory.
• Other help clues are fairly problem specific, and are designed to give you incrementally increasing degrees of help and/or information. Please read the labels on these help clues carefully, so you do not open one in error. When in doubt, seek a clarification from Game Control before proceeding.

That about does it for information we are willing to part with before the game actually starts. I hope all of you are excited about the game as we are here at Game Control. I will see all of your smiling faces this Saturday.

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