I had this idea about creating a bug hunt on campus. Because, you know, debugging. It would be in an app, and it would have custom designed bugs that were in-and-of-themselves acting like two-dimensional barcodes. Scanning a bug would allow you to “catch it” and get whatever points it awarded (smaller bugs or well-hidden bugs worth more points, obviously!). It could allow for seasonal bugs that would only be hung on campus for certain time intervals etc.
In my mind it would be so much fun and a way to engage students in making themselves aware about campus during their studies (a lot of students don’t leave their hub and that’s not great if they later have to be able to find classrooms in other hubs etc. etc.). Also. Since it was a quirky idea, it would be worth implementing just for the fun of it. Because quirky ideas deserve to LIVE!
Well, long story short. I didn’t have the time to create the whole setup by myself. It would easily run me in the hundreds of hours between design, coding and testing. Also, since it would be the sort of development that didn’t have a deadline and someone needing it done, it would be the kind of thing that would be thrown under the bus once a better idea came along in my popcorn-brain.
But then one morning at 5AM, as it ever so often happens, I got an idea. I could shorten development time drastically by implementing a very low-tech handheld version. I guesstimated I could do it in a reasonable timeframe. And then it simply had to come alive.
So, I made a bug hunt! I intertwined the bug hunt with a custom-written Einstein/Zebra puzzle that would fit the whole software-thematics of my department, hand-coded 21 simple webpages to each hold a clue, then batch-created 21 QR-codes that link to each of the simple webpages. Finally, I superimposed those QR codes on bugs, like this:
Printed all 21 bugs, laminated them and hung them on campus.
Office Christmas Party is going to be SO MUCH FUN this year. The Bug Hunt starts HERE.