Event Info

Tuesday 20 October 2026Flex Week, Term 3

The Sydney Challenge Scramble is a free, student-run scavenger hunt, challenge filled race all across Sydney, with free food and a $700 prize pool. Teams of three to five run around Sydney completing quests, with a BBQ and closing ceremony at the end.

09:15Check In Opensvia Keith Burrows Theatre
10:00Briefings
10:30Quests Open
16:30Quests Close
16:45Pizza and Drinksvia UNSW Kensington
17:30Closing Ceremony
18:00Event Conclusion

The quests

The challenges are split into Main Quests and Side Quests, with surprise Bonus Quests dropped throughout the day.

Main Quests are worth the most points, and finishing all of them in time earns you extra points. You will be required to go to a place and complete a bunch of mini challenges before moving on.

Side quests are done along the way, and range from taking a photo somewhere to racing the light rail.

Season 1 Quest Samples

Slow Rail!Get off the light rail at Haymarket, then run to Town Hall on foot and board the same light rail vehicle.
Atop the FairfieldClimb to the top of the Pyramid Net Climber in Fairfield Adventure Park.
The Second Coming of ScomoTake a video of one of your teammates saying (with your best Scott Morrison impression) “I don't hold a hose, mate”.
Go Big or Go HomePhotograph your team visiting as many big things as possible.
Very Chinese Time Of My LifeEnact a set conversation in Chinese (as best as you can) at Burwood Chinatown.
Beach Day???Take a swim at a beach in full clothing.
On TimeHave your whole team show up at the Briefings on time.

Some side quests are scored comparatively, so only one team can win:

RailSoc Challenge for Most Stations VisitedVisit the most train/metro/light rail stations.
Bye Sydney!Get to the furthest point away from UNSW of any team.
We are so CoolTake the coolest group photo.

Bonus quests are posted on Discord during the day. Some are time-sensitive or tied to a place:

Stop, drop, and go say hiMake a pitstop at a named station within the hour and say hi to an OrgCom member.
RiddlerSolve the riddle.

Scoring

Main Quests: Scored upon completion of the mini challenges.
Side Quests: Scored by submitting proof on the submit page, and having it approved by the Tab Team. Each Side Quest will have different scoring instructions.
Briefings: How to use the SCS.2 Website/App will be covered in the Briefings.
Tab: The Tab will show the standings throughout the day, but will freeze after 2:30pm to keep everything a surprise!
Winning: The team with the most points that is back at UNSW for the closing ceremony wins!

Rules

Coming soon.

What to bring

A fully charged phone, and a power bank (if possible) as the whole event will require the use of your phone.
Opal card or a credit card for public transport.
Comfortable shoes and clothing.
Water bottle and snacks, or money to buy some.
Sunscreen, hat and other forms of sun protection.
Pen and paper, for some quests.
Enthusiasm and a competitive spirit.

Collaborating Societies

Season 2 is run by eleven societies:

Asian Studies Association
Chess Club
GeoGuessrSoc
PhotoSoc
PuzzleSoc
Queer Students in STEM
RailSoc
Rhythm Games Society
Tabletop Games Society
WanderSoc
WestSoc

Install the app

You may install this website as an “app”, which will allow the quest list and other parts of the app to work without reception. You can also enable push notifications.

iPhone. Open this site in Safari. Tap Share , then Add to Home Screen , then Add. Then optionally you may enable push notifications from the app’s settings menu at the top of any page.

Android. Use Chrome. Open this site, tap the three-dot menu, then Install app (some phones say Add to Home screen).

Make sure to open the app to allow it to work without reception.

Using the app

Coming soon.

The quest list. The chips above the map narrow the list to one category, and the search box finds a quest by code or name. Allow my location, in the filters or the pin button on the map, shows how far away each quest is, and a slider then narrows the list to a distance you set. Quests with no fixed location have no pin; the count in the corner of the map says how many there are, and a tap on it lists them.

A quest’s sheet. Tap a quest on the list or a pin on the map. The sheet has what to do, where it is, how many teams have scored it, and its codes and points. A tick, on the row or on the sheet, crosses the quest out and adds its base points to the total at the foot of the list. Ticks stay on the phone they were made on.

Live questions. During the day OrgCom can put a question on a quest: a choice, a number, a short answer or a wager of points. The quest is marked LIVE on the list, the question is at the top of its sheet, and you answer it there once you have signed in on the submit page. If answers close at a set time, the sheet says when.

Sending proof. Sign in with your team name and the submit code from OrgCom, pick the quest, attach up to four photos or videos, and send. On a phone, the green button in the bottom corner opens the form from every other page, and Submit proof on a quest’s sheet opens it with that quest already picked. Keep the page open and the screen awake while a large video uploads.

Compress. The Compress view of the submit page shrinks a video on the phone before it is sent. Pick a picture size and a target size; Use as proof then puts the result straight into the form. The first run downloads about 31 MB and keeps it, so try it once before the day.

Already sent. Every submission and what the tab team decided, on the submit page. A rejected one comes back with the reason and can be sent again. Your score, on the same page, is the team’s place and points until the tab freezes.

The live tab. Every team’s place, points and last scored quest. It refreshes itself every 10 seconds until the freeze.

The bell. A dot on the bell at the top of the page means a message from OrgCom you have not read. An urgent message opens over whatever page you are on, and a message about a quest links straight to it.

Communication

All event communication runs through the SCS.2 Discord server:

Challenge announcements
Bonus drops
Score submissions
Leaderboard updates
Contacting OrgCom

Join the Season 2 Discord server.

Announcements are also posted on this site. You can view them by pressing the bell icon, and also by enabling push notifications on the installed app.

At least one person from each team must join the Discord before the day.

Make sure to keep Discord notifications on, or you may miss a time-sensitive bonus quest or an urgent announcement.

Questions

What if no one from our team can make check-in on time?: You may join late. But late teams still need to check in at the Keith Burrows Theatre, which means you will have less time for quests.
Do we need to bring our own food, drinks, hat, etc?: Yes. But some food and drink is provided at the end of the day.
Do we get a participation award?: No, but there is free food.
Will we still be eligible for prizes even if not all of us are members of the Societies running this event?: Yes.
Is there a minimum standard of skills and experience required to participate?: No. OrgCom will be around to help with any puzzle tasks.

SCS glossary of terms

OrgCom: Shorthand for “Organising Committee”, which is the great people ensuring this event runs smoothly.
Tab: Shorthand for tabulation, but used as a noun for the system which tracks the points earned by each team (also “Tab Team”, “Tabbing”).
Quests: The set of challenges that teams can complete to earn points.
Briefings: The SCS.2 introductory session at the start of the day which runs through how everything works.

Credits

Arc, for supporting the event as part of their Event Elevation Grant.
The haptic taps in the app come from web-haptics by Lochie Axon.
Videos are compressed on the phone by ffmpeg.wasm.

Anything else?

Ask the organising team (@OrgCom) on the Discord server.

Ask on Discord

Good luck, have fun, and may the best team win! 🏆🚂🧩 Sydney Challenge Scramble Organising Team