Mirror Stage and Lone Shark Games Announce THE HUNT FOR ODIN'S HORSE, 10/13 & 14

To celebrate the West Coast premiere of Odin's Horse (Oct 24-Nov 11) by Robert Koon and Mirror Stage's significant return to fully staged productions-its first since 2003-Mirror Stage has partnered with Lone Shark Games, a Seattle-based game and event design studio, to create the world's first green puzzle-hunt: THE HUNT FOR ODIN'S HORSE, to take place October 13 and 14, in and around Ballard in Seattle.

Designed around the Nordic mythology, storytelling, forestry and environmental themes of Odin's Horse, this innovative FREE event provides a fun way to connect with people who care about these issues, while introducing them to a play that reflects their shared interests.

Lone Shark Games is known for creating massive puzzle games for clients like Microsoft, Sony, Lucasfilm, Wizards of the Coast, and many others. Lone Shark also coordinates community-based puzzle events such as the Renton River Days Duck Hunt, GeoCrush, and the Arthritis Foundation's Scrabble Walk. In addition, Lone Shark makes games and puzzles for online and home play, as well as their 10-foot crossword wall at Seattle's Eltana restaurant.

"We loved the themes in this play, and thought we could make a whiz-bang puzzle hunt about them," said Mike Selinker, president of Lone Shark Games. "While Norse mythology is right in our wheelhouse, making a green puzzle hunt is quite a challenge. We usually rely on tons of paper, but we're giving all that up to support the environmental message of Odin's Horse."

This entirely green puzzle game starts officially at 10 am PST on Saturday, October 13, when the first of five puzzles will be released online. One puzzle will be released every hour until 2 pm. These puzzles are not timed, so participants can take as much time as they like. By bringing their answers on their smartphone on Sunday, players will receive additional points toward their score.

The live event begins at 10am on Sunday, October 14. The Witness Trees in Bergen Place Park will stand in for Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Players will exchange tweets and texts with Odin's raven servants, Huginn and Muninn, who will provide riddles for a scavenger hunt based in Ballard. Armed with nothing more than their brains, their feet, and a smart phone, participants are encouraged to limit themselves to walking, public transport, smart phones, and other nearly carbon-neutral approaches to solving, rather than relying on cars or paper.

Players will have up to six hours to complete the hunt, which concludes at 4 pm. Teams will be timed for each of five puzzle paths, though players can take as much time as they like between paths, and are not required to finish all the paths. Participants who return the complete set of answers gain entry to the Valhalla awards banquet, with food, music, Viking Feast Ice Cream, Odin Brewing ales, awards and teaser scenes from Odin's Horse, which opens October 25 at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre.

THE HUNT FOR ODIN'S HORSE is designed to provide new pathways for audience engagement and development, specifically focusing on young, tech-savvy adults. By integrating Twitter and GPS with an interactive puzzle hunt game, Mirror Stage will provide new opportunities for both social connection and education about the upcoming production.

Participation is FREE, but to participate in Sunday's live event, players must register online at http://bit.ly/RSN0dp no later than October 7. You only need to register if you plan to attend the October 14 live event. Each team member needs to register with an individual email address and mobile phone number, in case we need to contact you during the Hunt, and at least one team member needs a smartphone that is set up for Twitter and web browsing. For more information, please visit www.mirrorstage.org/odinshunt.

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