John Puzzle - ARG History

0 // Puzzle Solver

The first ARG I ever participated in was the QLEDecode ARG in 2020. A joint collaboration between Samsung, XBox, and CD Projekt Red to promote the then-upcoming release of Cyberpunk 2077. While I narrowly missed out on qualifying for the finals, it was a lot of fun and I made many new friends over the course of the game. To this day, I remain good friends with the winner.

Over the next few years I would participate in many more ARGs, mostly with friends I made in QLEDecode. The most notable of which would be Break the Code and Break the Code 2, where I finished top 20 in North America. I'd also like to shoutout two ARGs I played in this time that were never finished but which I found to be a lot of fun. Those being ECGO and HISAC (Hookland Institude of Science Automatic Computer).

After a couple year lull, I got heavily involved in ARGs again in early 2025 when I discovered Cicada Detroit — a 42 puzzle challenge taking place online and in-person in metro Detroit. Which I ultimately took first place in later that year. Over the course of 2025, I made many new friends through Cicada Detroit, and together we claimed 5 of the 11 prizes in KFC's The Colonel’s Secret ARG.

In 2026, I was Team Captain of the Cicada Conclave team competing in the qualifiers for the 2026 Escape Room World Championships. Together we finished 100th out of over 700 teams. We will be competing again next year and hope to qualify for the finals.

1 // Puzzle Maker

After winning Cicada Detroit, I was recruited to the team at ARGHouse — the company behind it. Thus beginning my professional career in ARGs as both a puzzle designer and software engineer. The first project I worked on was the 2025 XIXMAS Challenge, which was a Cicada Detroit side mission.

Since then, I have worked on numerous ARGHouse project as detailed in the table below.