HIVE: The Race to Save Time is an online puzzle game (or “Puzzle Hunt,” if you want to be technical). It takes place in the world of HIVE: Madders of Time, Book One by award-winning author DL Orton. This game is an official promotional event for the book. Please support the author by buying a copy!
About the Book:
In the not-too-distant future, Earth’s last survivors huddle inside a biodome as rising seas and relentless swarms of microdrones ravage the planet. Isabel and Diego are the last of their kind, trapped in a decaying world where hope is as scarce as food.
As the walls begin to crack and the hope of salvation fades, Isabel makes a startling discovery: the time-bending technology buried beneath their feet.
🏆 Grand Prize Finalist for Eric Hoffer Book Award 2025 (Winner to be announced in late May)
⭐️ "Engrossing doomsday thriller spliced with heart, humor, and second chances." -Publishers Weekly
Learn more at maddersoftime.com!
How to Play:
- The game begins on Friday, May 16th, 2025 at 6:00:00 PM EDT, and ends on Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day), 2025 at 11:59:59 PM Hawaii Time. You may join the game at any time prior to its conclusion.
- Each player must register individually by clicking the “Sign Up” link in the top right-hand corner of the hivebookgame.com site (or via the hamburger menu if you are on mobile). Anyone may register to play the game, but the sweepstakes (see below) is only open to U.S. residents age 18 and older.
- To register, you’ll need to enter your first and last name, a unique email address, and select a username and password for your account. You may also select a Display Name. When you sign up successfully, you’ll receive a confirmation email.
- To play the game, simply log into your account during the game period.
What It’s Like:
- The game will take place in three rounds. Each round will consist of a number of puzzles and a metapuzzle. Each metapuzzle is solved using the answers from the other puzzles in its round.
- The rounds will be of increasing difficulty:
- Round 1 will be of easy difficulty and will feature additional options to play on a very easy mode.
- Round 2 will be of easy difficulty (New York Times Monday or Tuesday crossword, Wordle) with additional options to play on a very easy mode.
- Round 3 will be of easy to medium difficulty (MIT Mystery Hunt fish rounds, Puzzled Pint), with additional options to play on easy mode.
(At least, that’s the plan! As with all things puzzle-related, your mileage may vary depending on your knowledge base and skill set) - Each puzzle will be displayed on its own puzzle page with an interactive interface. An answer entry box will appear on each puzzle page. Correctly solving a puzzle may unlock additional puzzles on the main screen. While mobile devices will be supported, we recommend playing on a desktop, laptop, or tablet. Phones will be supported, but their small screen size may make some details difficult to view.
- In order to support interactivity and make the game accessible to players of all skill levels, there are a variety of hints and answer checks available for each puzzle, meaning not all players will play on the same level of difficulty. Because of this, we will not be displaying a live leaderboard, as such a leaderboard would encourage everyone to play on the easiest setting. You should play on the setting that feels challenging but not too hard for you.
- Online tools like Google searches are definitely allowed! In fact, many puzzles will likely be unsolvable without the use of such tools.
- Hints will be available to assist you if you get stuck. We are currently working out the best format to provide those hints. Stay tuned!
- Although the game is played individually, up to four registered players may form a collaborative group to assist one another in solving puzzles, provided:
- The number of players who have ever been members of the group during the game period is four or fewer. Players are not allowed to leave a group once they have joined;
- The members of the group do not collaborate with anyone outside of their group, nor with any other group or its members;
- Each player may only ever have been a member of at most one specific group (not one group at a time: one group total);
- The members of the group do not play on behalf of one another, and no player logs into another player’s account or enters answers on behalf of another player.
- No information from the book HIVE: Madders of Time, Book One is required to solve. However, the ebook will be on sale for just 99 cents (!) during the game period. There will also be a free option to get a copy (see Sweepstakes info below), but we hope you’ll consider buying the book - remember, it's less than a dollar! - to support this project.
- Miscellaneous stuff: Collaborating with any non-player is strictly prohibited. You may not stream or post spoilers for the game in a place where other players might see them. You may not ask for help on specific puzzles on a public forum or semi-public Discord server, but you may make an open (non-spoilery) request to form a group with other registered players if you are not already a member of a four-person group. Please don’t look at or interact with the HTML source/Javascript/CSS on any webpages on the site. We reserve the right to disqualify any player for misconduct. We reserve the right to change any of these rules (if it’s a major change, we’ll announce it to all registered players via email or website posting).
The Sweepstakes:
- There is a $500 sweepstakes associated with each round.
- When you have successfully answered the metapuzzle in each round, you will receive instructions on how to enter the sweepstakes for that round. If you wish to enter, and are eligible to do so, follow the instructions to enter the sweepstakes, which will involve visiting a separate webpage and submitting a form and a screenshot/photo of your book purchase receipt or "alternate means of entry" code. No player is required to enter the sweepstakes.
- Each round’s sweepstakes is separate from the others. You may enter one sweepstakes, two, or all three, but in order to enter more than one, you will need to fill out a separate entry form each time (sorry, we know it’s a hassle, but that’s the way sweepstakes law applies here!).
- Each player may only enter each sweepstakes once. Each household may only win a maximum of one prize per sweepstakes. Players can win a prize in each sweepstakes (fair or not, this is a legal requirement!).
- The Sweepstakes prizes are:
- Round 1 Sweepstakes: 20 Visa Gift Cards of $25 each ($500 total)
- Round 2 Sweepstakes: 10 Visa Gift Cards of $50 each ($500 total)
- Round 3 Sweepstakes: 5 Visa Gift Cards of $100 each ($500 total)
- You must either purchase a copy of the book HIVE: Madders of Time, Book One (the ebook version of which costs 99 cents during the game period), fulfill an Alternate Means of Entry to enter without buying a copy. No purchase necessary. Making a purchase will not increase your odds of winning.
- Winners will be randomly drawn from among all correct entries received on or about May 27, 2025.
- We’ll have more specific information available in our Official Sweepstakes Rules, which will be released on this website on or before May 15.
Who’s Behind This, Anyway?
HIVE: The Race to Save Time is sponsored by DL Orton, the author of the award-winning and best-selling Between Two Evils book series and the new Madders of Time books. Her novels have received multiple literary awards, including the BookLife Prize in Fiction, the Indie Book Award, and a Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Ms. Orton is a graduate of Stanford University's Writers Workshop and a past editor of "Top of the Western Staircase," a literary publication of CU, Boulder. She lives in the Tropics with her husband, a golden retriever mix, a Siberian cat, and a bazillion geckos. In her spare time, she's building a time machine so that someone can go back and do the laundry. Visit her online at DLOrton.com.
Game storyline and puzzles are designed by John Bromels of Otherworldly Adventures LLC. His were also the brains behind 2024’s Who Killed Ickey? $50,000 Treasure Hunt. His puzzles have appeared in the 2024 MIT Mystery Hunt and Neil Patrick Harris’ Wondercade newsletter.