A problem I had with the previous game was that because it wasn’t in a secure location any of the puzzles could have shown up in a Google search thereby allowing a player to jump ahead. To prevent this from happening in this game I required players to register. That way I knew how many I had and also allowed me to email them a username and password that could be used to access the puzzle site which resided on a secure server.

So when the start time came I posted the link to the secure site and players used the username and password to access the game and get their first look at it. The first thing they found was this:

That message set the stage for the game. Now the players knew that Fletcher Edwards was missing, that mysterious people were looking for him and his friend Iggy is concerned. This combined with the intro video gave the players the background information they needed to begin the journey.

Included on the intro page was a link. Once clicked the players were greeted with a picture of the interior of an office. My intent was for players to understand that the office was a room of E’s house which was the house seen in the intro video. Since he is a scientist I thought he should have a nice looking office. I searched a long time to find the right picture for this. I first tried to find one that was in disarray but finally decided a nice neat upscale office would work just fine.

I think it’s pretty clear that the picture was doctored. Several items were added. Eventually the players would learn that each item would become a link to a puzzle once they got to that point in the game. At this point though, the only active link was the one attached to the crumpled up wad of paper on the floor. Once players found that and clicked on it they got to see the first puzzle (click on the picture at the top of the post to see a larger version of the letter).

I wanted as many people as possible to play the game and figured the further they got into the story and the puzzles the more interested in it they would become. Therefore I designed the puzzle to be very easy.

The letter makes it clear that Edward Fletcher (aka Mr. E) is gone and plans to be for awhile. He trusts his friend Iggy enough to tell him this and also to place the care of his bird Goldy in his hands.

If this were a real-life letter perhaps the bit about the pet bird would not seem strange but in a puzzle game everything is a potential clue. In this case E’s pet bird is actually a clue for the next puzzle. As is the mention of the island. I think I’ve gotten quite good at inserting clues into puzzles that will be needed for future ones.

Players noticed right away that there were several spelling and grammatical errors in the letter. By taking the extra letters, missing letters and, in the case of misspelled words, the correct letters, players were able to spell out the answer to the puzzle.

Another goal I had with this game is that all the puzzle answers would themselves provide clues to the mystery. In a later puzzle I would provide a clue to the players as to how the puzzle answers should be arranged to help shed some light on what was going on.

One thing I never noticed until now is that there is a mistake in the answer. A letter is missing. Obviously players figured that out but I can’t believe I never noticed it. An “A” is missing. I spent a lot of time on this puzzle making sure I arranged it correctly to reveal the answer and I just don’t see how I missed that. And I don’t recall anyone ever pointing the mistake out to me. Anyway, there should an “A” as the third to last letter.

It took players a mere 39 minutes to solve it. Once the correct answer was typed in the players were taken to a congratulations screen where in addition to a link to follow, they were give a number. For this puzzle the number is 50. It would be a wise choice for the players to write that number down. It becomes very important later on.

By clicking the link, players were taken back to the office where now a new link was activated. This time over the license plate on the wall. This took the players to the next puzzle License Plates which will be reviewed next.

I realize that some of you are probably saying “Wait, if this is game 2 then why is it called Game 1?” Great question. Although it’s true that this is the second contest, it is the first game in a three part game series called the Mr. E Series.

After the success of Puzzle Master I was eager to get going on another contest. I decided it would be fun if the puzzle answers themselves were clues that helped solve a larger puzzle. I thought that it would be more exciting for the players. That way they could feel like detectives solving a crime.

In addition to this I designed the game so that each correct answer gave the players a number. These would be need later in the game in order to solve the mystery.

I’m not sure how the Mr. E story line got into my head but I spent several days just writing down all my ideas. Eventually they all sort of came together into an international mystery involving a scientist, his associates, and an ultra-secret department of the US government.

My intent was to create a conspiracy theory. I wanted it to be plausible and contain some elements of truth. I even named the character Fletcher, giving a nod to the Mel Gibson character in the movie “Conspiracy Theory”. I used Edwards as the last name because I needed something that started with an E, to go along with Mr. E (which most of you realize I’m sure is a homonym for “mystery”).

I decided that I wanted to promote this game somehow and get as many people interested as I could. I posted on puzzle message boards, I wrote a press release, and also took my first steps into videography. I discovered that Windows Movie Maker, a video editing software was free and already installed on my PC. So I learned how to use it. I scoured the internet looking for pictures and sound that I could use to convey the mystery of the game. Considering it was my first video ever, I’m still pleased with it today although I think the ones I’ve made for the games since then are MUCH better.

Overall, I really love the storyline. To me it’s exciting. A scientist, fearing for his life because of a secret he’s stumbled across. He doesn’t know exactly what it means but he knows that others have been killed in an effort to keep it from becoming public. He disappears and goes into hiding but leaves clues hidden in puzzles for someone to solve, gathering bit by bit the knowlege that would be needed to discover what the secret is. I think it would make for a pretty good movie or at least a book.

The game started on April 1st, 2008 at 8AM PST. It would turn out to be the shortest Cluechaser game ever. The last puzzle was solved by two players named towerofbabel and e8 working together a mere 3 days 6 hours and 22 minutes after it began. This was about 1/10th the amount of time as the previous game. I didn’t mind the short play time too much. I had designed it to be easier because I wanted more people to play it, finish it, get drawn into the storyline, and be eagerly awaiting the next game. It worked pretty well because more people did play than before.

Now that you know the history, join me for the next few weeks as I tear apart Game 1: The Missing Mr. E and explain each puzzle, how it works, how it was created, and share any stories behind it. You will also have the opportunity to try and solve it on your own and experience for yourself the excitement of unlocking the first few tantalizing clues to the mystery.

Let’s start by watching the trailer video:

First, some notes about this video. The warning at the beginning was not originally there. I added it later at the request of my wife. You see, during the creation of Game 1 a couple of strange things happened. After I started uploading the puzzles to the web and putting the game together I added a hit counter to each page so I would know when a player started on the next puzzle. This way I could track everyone’s progress. Since the game hadn’t started I had all the counters set to zero. Imagine my surprise when one day I see that there was one hit on several of the pages.

Luckily one feature at my disposal was the ability to see on a map where the visitor came from. I zoomed in and discovered that the visitor was from somewhere within Washington, DC. Since the game was about things like government coverups and conspiracy theories and secrets between USA and China this “visitor” caused some hairs to stand up on the back of my neck. Of even greater concern to me was the fact that all the puzzle pages were in a password protected area. No one should have been able to access the puzzles unless they had the password or knew how to hack their way in. Was this the FBI or CIA checking me out? Needless to say, I was concerned.

Then, the very next day three guys came into the office where I worked and started looking around. They said they were with the fire department and just doing a routine check. It struck me as very odd. I thought about my Washington DC visitor and this got me even more worried. I told my wife about it and she tried to convince me to stop working on Cluechaser. I refused but compromised by adding the warning to the video.

In the end, nothing came of my mysterious visitors. Just coincidences I guess. I decided perhaps my DC visitor was really just myself. I may never know.

The second note regarding the video is that it begins to set the stage for an alternate reality that I needed to create for the players. It hints at things to come. Little of this is revealed in this game but it is in the following game, Puzzle PiEces.

And now, on with the video:

Intro video

I wanted to start with a puzzle that is close to my heart. It’s not a puzzle in the true sense of the word but it’s certainly a problem that is very difficult to solve yet must be attempted on a daily basis. My 10 year old son has been doing so since he was 6. And soon my 2 year old son may be joining him.

Type 1 Diabetes – Hitting a moving target

There are two main types of diabetes. The most common (particularly in the US) is type 2. This type generally occurs in adults and is caused in large part to poor diet and being overweight. The body becomes resistant to insulin (produced by the pancreas, insulin acts as a doorway that allows sugar to enter the cells to be converted to energy). When your body doesn’t properly use insulin the cells don’t get the sugar and it stays in the bloodstream and your blood sugar level goes up. This is corrected by taking additional insulin, usually in pill form. Over time continuous high blood sugar levels can cause a variety of health issues such as heart disease, blindness, poor circulation, etc. This type of diabetes can usually be controlled with a proper diet, exercise and weight loss.

Type 1 (previously referred to as juvenile diabetes) occurs more commonly in children. It is an autoimmune disease which means that the body’s own immune system attacks the pancreas and destroys the islets that produce insulin. With little or no insulin being produced the cells can’t get the sugar which causes the blood sugar level to increase. If it goes too high the person will become comatose and without treatment will die. To prevent this insulin must be administered manually.

Thank to advances in medical science this process has become a little easier. Several times a day my son must prick his finger to draw a droplet of blood. He uses a meter to measure the amount of sugar in his blood.

If the level is above the desired range he must give himself insulin to bring it down. If the level is too low he needs to eat or drink something that contains enough carbohydrates to bring his sugar level back up. If the level goes to low he could pass out or go into a coma. Whenever he eats or drinks he has to determine the amount of carbs in the meal or snack and give himself enough insulin to cover it and keep his sugar level within range.

He wears a device called a pump that contains a small reservoir of insulin and is connected to him via a small tube and catheter that is inserted into his skin.

Every 3 days he has to change out this catheter (called an infusion set). This is the part he dislikes the most. The needle is about an inch and a half long and is inserted in fatty parts of his body like his arms, legs, belly, etc.

Attached to the needle is the small catheter. The needle is removed and the catheter remains. The plus side of this process is he only needs one needle every three days instead of several needles each day. The pump has an interface that allows him to enter in his blood sugar level and the amount of carbs he is consuming. The necessary amount of insulin is delivered by the pump, through the tube and catheter into his body based on predetermined algorithms.

Sounds easy enough right? So what makes this an ultimate puzzle? The body is a wonderfully complex system. There are numerous factors that affect how the body uses insulin. The insulin my son would give himself to cover the carbs in a meal may keep him in range one day but the same amount for the same meal on a different day might cause him to “go low” (have a blood sugar level below his desired range) or “go high”. It is not an exact science. The variables fluctuate. Things like exercise, stress, illness, food combinations, mood, hormones, all affect blood sugar levels. Getting the right amount of insulin in his body to keep him in range is like shooting at a target on a jackrabbit racing through tall grass while you’re riding a mechanical bull attached to a rollercoaster. It’s frustrating and maddening.

Blood sugar highs and lows take a toll on the body. Over time they can cause many health related issues. Some of them I’ve already mentioned like heart disease and blindness but some additional ones are high blood pressure, mental health issues, and neuropathy (nerve damage). Fortunately my son is very in tune with his body and feels when he is going low and takes care of it. So far we have not experienced the scariest parts of going low or going high although we have come close. It’s a constant battle and always on our minds. It is something that he can never take a break from.

Occasionally, my wife and I do get a break from it. Thanks to a place called Bearskin Meadow Camp.

The camp, run by the Diabetic Youth Foundation (DYF), is for children with type 1 diabetes. Their kids camps allow parents the opportunity to let their child go away for a week and have an incredible time doing wonderous things with other children with diabetes. The camp is staffed with knowledgeable counselors and staff that are not only well trained but who also have type 1 diabetes. Parents get a well needed break and the kids get to feel “normal” for awhile. Instead of being the only kid in their class who has to check their blood or read a nutrition label they are surrounded by friends who all do it. It is the highlight of my son’s year. They also have family camps that our whole family can attend. The kids get to do activities, crafts, swimming, hiking, archery, games, plays, etc and the parents attend workshops to learn how to better manage diabetes, what the latest technology is, and also talk with other parents who understand the struggle and the pain and the worry and can be a sympathetic ear when you need it most. Strong friendships are forged among kids and parents. It is truly a magical place.

DYF is a non-profit organization and it takes a lot of money to run these camps. My wife in I co-chair a yearly walk called the Families in the Forest Fun-raiser Walk in the Sacramento, CA area. It is one of their main fundraisers of the year. Last year my son reached his sponsorship goal of $2500 despite the economic situation. This year his goal is more ambitious. He’s trying to raise $3000 which helps kids like him go to the camp. It is a very worthy cause. If you are interested in helping Tyler reach his goal you can donate online at www.firstgiving.com/tylerchilcote. If you prefer not to do it online you can contact me at cowpattybill@yahoo.com to discuss alternative options. But please do not feel obligated.

If you would like more information about the Diabetic Youth Foundation visit their website at www.dyf.org .

For more information about Diabetes in general please visit www.diabetes.org.

The most important thing to remember is that my son and everyone else with type 1 diabetes is normal in every way. The only difference is their pancreas doesn’t work properly. They can do anything and everything that anyone else can. They can eat whatever they want and they can become whoever they want to be. They are not defined by their condition. They are not diabetics. They are people with diabetes.

Thank you for reading this. I hope you got something out of it. Diabetes management is one difficult puzzle. So for all you puzzle lovers out there, this is one I would love to see solved. Soon.

Cowpatty Bill
aka Tyler’s Dad.

Since then the websites that contained the hidden map pieces have updated their sites and the pieces are no longer there to find. Because of this many of the puzzles had to be reworked. So now, in the instances where the puzzle reveals a URL, you will type the URL as the answer (without the http://) instead of navigating to the website indicated (unless instructed otherwise).

If you wish to see the individual map pieces and solve the puzzle therein I will put them all together at the bottom of the list but they shouldn’t be done until all the other puzzles have been done.

Also keep in mind that within this game, you may need clues from previous puzzles in order to solve others.