A Glimpse of the Scavengers Room

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Introduction

Long ago, Joim had the fantastic idea to make use of Pokémon Showdown's room feature and design something fun for the whole of Showdown to take part in, separate from battling. That idea took form and came together as the Scavengers room, a brand new community on Pokémon Showdown dedicated to three-question trivia contests known as scavenger hunts. Today, more than two years since the room's inception, Scavengers is still going strong.

The premise is simple: join a scavenger hunt and "scavenge" for the trivia questions to complete the hunt first! Since November 2013, tidbits of script and methods have evolved in some ways, but the core premise has remained the same through the years. Notable names around Showdown such as Vacate, Darnell, Spy, Queez, and The Immortal have all been a part of this room in the past, and notable ones today who are a part of it include ashiemore, GoodMorningEspeon, kevinrocks, Rory Mercury, xfix, and several others who have helped the room in many ways.

Users can make hunts for fun, creating easy to hard hunts that anyone can solve, through the use of Google, Bulbapedia, and various other search engines (Google is encouraged). Most people start off making easy to moderately difficult hunts so they can gain more experience in creating them. The most important type of hunts are official hunts. Official hunts typically happen once a day (if they are scheduled), and the first five people to finish get points on The Scavengers Ladder. The first place earns 20 points, the second place 15 points, the third place 10, the fourth place 5, and the fifth place 1. In addition, any user that finishes within one minute of the hunt's starting will earn 10 extra BLITZ points, meaning it's important to solve as fast as you can! The points system can also change depending on the "month's twist". For example, January 2016's twist was that all officials had two blitz periods worth different numbers of points. The ladder resets at the end of every month, with the winners' names displayed in the room intro for several days. Overall, the Scavengers room is the place for you, no matter what types of hunts you want to make or do!

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How do I play?

It's very easy to play scavengers, as the commands are not too complicated and it is generally pretty easy to make scavenger hunts, as long as you have knowledge on the topic at hand. You just need to know these simple things:

1. To join an existing scavenger hunt, type /joinhunt.
2. To guess an answer, use /scavenge [answer]. Once you have gotten all three questions correct, then you have won the hunt!

These are the only commands you need to solve hunts; more helpful commands can be found using /scavengerhelp. But solving isn't the only thing you can do in the Scavengers room—you can also create hunts! The steps:

First, create a hunt about any topic with three questions and three answers. Organize it into "hunt format", which goes like this: /starthunt Question 1 | Answer 1 | Question 2 | Answer 2 | Question 3 | Answer 3. Next, message a person in the Scavengers room with the signs %, @, or # before their name, and they will check the quality of the hunt. They will either reject the hunt and ask you to change it or accept it and start your hunt when it is your hunt's turn in the queue. If the hunt doesn't fit in a single PM, use Hastebin or Pastebin (preferably Hastebin) and pm the driver or up the link to the Hastebin/Pastebin (example). If you use Pastebin, remember to make it private, as public pastebins are easily googled. A hunt is normally stopped if a public pastebin with it is found.

That's all! You have now made a hunt that will be available for everyone to try their hand at to win.

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Types of hunts

There are many types of hunts, but these are the most prominently seen ones:

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Regular Trivia Questions

These can range from easy to insanely hard and are the type of questions found most in official scavenger hunts. They can fit in almost any category, from Pokémon to other video games to real-life questions. An example of a trivia question would be: What is the only Pokémon to lose BST when it evolves?

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Anagrams

Anagrams are types of questions where all the letters of an answer have been mixed up (e.g., qatjuea = aqua jet). People should specify what category the anagram is, such as Pokémon moves, a particular area in Pokémon, or even a Pokémon and an ability it can have. These can be really easy but really hard at the same time, as you can immediately get it or be stuck at the question for a long time. An example of an anagram would be: What move's name is an anagram of ldthubronet?

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Psywaves

Psywaves is a type of question named after a former Scavengers mod, Psywaves. This type of question is made based on the pronunciation. Hints may include words in a different language, synonyms to words, antonyms to words, and something that has a certain characteristic. These type of questions require you to use synonyms and abstract thinking to finally arrive at the answer. An example of a psywaves question would be: [Bluff] + [Capable]

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Reworded Dex Entries (RWDs)

The Pokédex entry of a particular Pokémon is reworded, making it significantly harder to google. This requires the person to know the dex entries of Pokémon and also requires people to know how to manipulate words to make it easier to google the dex entries. An example of RWD question would be: This Pokémon charges ahead again and again due to its hair covering its view.

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Parameters

Parameters are all of the answers to the /ds or /ms command. When you use /ds or /ms (insert parameters), it shows a list of Pokémon that match those qualities. Parameters require you to find the correct /ds (or /ms) command that results in only those Pokémon, no more and no fewer. For example, a param of: Arceus, Darkrai, Deoxys, Giratina, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Landorus, Lucario-Mega, Lugia, Mewtwo, Xerneas would be found by:

There are also exclusions, which mean that all the Pokémon listed in the /ds command do not have one quality. An example would be: Arceus, Darkrai, Giratina, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Landorus, Lucario-Mega, Xerneas.

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Riddles

There are many types of riddles in Scavengers, as it refers to many possible things. However, some popular forms of riddles include analogies. An example would be: Mew is to Diglett as Weedle is to ________, with the answers being:

Other forms of riddles are math puzzles and other questions that require strategic thinking.

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Portmanteaus

Portmanteaus, most commonly called ports, are questions where the last two letters of a term connect with the first two letters of another term (can be more, but these are the minimum). An example of a portmanteau would be ampharoseradeino, as the "ros" from Ampharos connects, or ports, with the ros in Roserade, and then the de in Roserade ports with the de in Deino. Ports can be very long or very short, but they generally do not tend to have alternate answers, so if you think you're close to the answer but not getting it, it may just be a dead end! An example of a port question would be [Gen 3 Pokémon] + [Pokémon with Mummy];

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Staff Interview

An exclusive interview with one of Scavenger's room owners, GoodMorningEspeon, interviewed by Painter Espeon!

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Conclusion

Overall, Scavengers is a fun place that anyone can join. You can make new hunts, find new friends, and compete in the ladder. We hope to see you in the room!

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