Penguin Hide and Seek



Penguin Hide and Seek, also known as Penguin Hunting, is one of the broadest extensions of Distractions and Diversions, as it can be used to earn money or experience in any skill. Penguin Hide and Seek was released with the original three Distractions and Diversions on 2 September 2008.

The devious KGP are plotting to take over Runescape, and very few are willing to accept Larry’s ramblings as true claims and proper caution, rather than paranoia and insanity! He requires help to track down these conniving spies that have infiltrated even the farthest settlement, but, he has a slight problem: Who is going to watch those scheming penguins in the Ardougne Zoo? It is up to you to track down these sneaky spies and relay their movements to Larry!

Getting Started
Our paranoid friend, Larry, is positioned near the south west side of the Ardougne Zoo, at a comfortably close proximity to the Penguin Exhibit. After all, someone has to watch those penguins when the rest of the world believes he is insane!

Just simply ask him about penguin hunting, and he will decide he is able to trust an adventurer with the information required to get on the way of doing the dirty work for him.

He will give you a Spy notebook that keeps track of how many penguins you have found that week, and how many Penguin points you have that are ready to be spent! Please note that the book is completely optional, but handy nonetheless. If you happen to lose your spy book, talk to Larry and he will give you another after a slight scolding.



Requirements

 * There are no skill or combat levels!
 * Cold War is required for the maximum 15 points per week. Without cold war, player may only earn a maximum of 10 points per week.
 * Certain quests may be needed (including but not limited to: Underground Pass, Priest in Peril, and Lunar Diplomacy) to reach areas the penguins may have infiltrated, as they can be found almost anywhere in RuneScape.

Suggested Items

 * Weight-reducing items (e.g. Boots of lightness, Spotted/Spottier cape, Penance gloves)
 * A Bull ant or Spirit terrorbird Summoning familiar to restore run energy
 * Teleportation jewellery; such as Amulet of glory, Games necklace, Ring of duelling, Explorer's ring(3)
 * Quest-related teleports; such as Camulet, Enchanted lyre, Elf teleport crystal, Ectophial
 * Dramen staff or Lunar staff for Fairy ring usage (after starting A Fairy Tale Part II.)
 * Money for boat trips (an activated Ring of charos helps with this).

Spellbook Teleports
Using Magic for teleportation is useful for getting around to find those penguins fast. The normal spell book is useful for teleporting to common locations, including:
 * Varrock
 * East Ardougne
 * Falador
 * Camelot

Several players like to use the Lunar Magic Spell book, as they can teleport to some un-common, but still useful, places while still being able to get clues from Larry anywhere with the NPC Contact spell. Some Lunar teleportation locations include:
 * Port Khazard
 * Lunar Isle
 * Catherby

Not many use the Ancient Magicks spell book, as there are other more convenient ways to get near where you can teleport with Ancients. But, it is still an option. Some Ancients teleportation locations include:
 * Digsite
 * Edgeville

Note:  If you are on Lunar or Ancients, or just have a low mage level, House Portals or Teleportation Tablets are other time-saving options!



Trapping
It is possible to trap a penguin in one spot so it can not move around by positioning players and the scenery around the penguin, boxing it in. When players are standing still, the penguin can't pass through them allowing the penguin to be trapped. This illusion is broken though when another player stands on the same square.

If a penguin is totally boxed so it can't move at all, it will respawn after a certain time. This can be stopped by allowing 2 squares of walking space for the penguin so it doesn't think that it is trapped. This is often hard to do though and if the player chooses so can just totally box it in and release it every few minutes to take a few steps before trapping it again, stopping it from respawning.

Disguises
Penguins can come in a variety of disguises that help them blend into their surroundings and go around unnoticed. The KGP went to great lengths to make sure the disguises are perfect. And indeed, they are near perfect! The only flaw is when the feathery spies are moving or looking around. The Feathery Bolshevik Investigations (FBI for short) has a sense to make their disguises common knowledge, so that there may be little confusion on what is, or is not, a penguin spy!


 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan=7 | Penguins in disguises ! Barrel ! Bush ! Cactus ! Crate ! Rock ! Toadstool ! Pumpkin
 * [[Image:Penguin in barrel.png|A penguin in a barrel.]]
 * [[Image:Penguin in bush.png|A penguin in a bush.]]
 * [[Image:Penguin in cactus.png|A penguin in a cactus.]]
 * [[Image:Penguin crate.gif|A penguin in a crate.]]
 * [[Image:Penguin in rock.png|A penguin in a rock.]]
 * [[Image:Penguin in toadstool.png|A penguin in a toadstool.]]
 * [[Image:Pumpkin penguin.png|A penguin spy wearing a disguise seen only during the Halloween events.]]
 * [[Image:Pumpkin penguin.png|A penguin spy wearing a disguise seen only during the Halloween events.]]
 * }

Examine texts

 * Barrel - "What's black and white and smells like beer?"
 * Bush - "What's black and white and down to earth?"
 * Cactus - "What's black and white and covered in spines?"
 * Crate - "What's black and white and on a sneaking mission."
 * Rock - "What's black and white and looks like a rock hopper?"
 * Toadstool - "What's black and white and covered in mushroom?"
 * Pumpkin - "What's black and white and smells of pumpkin?"

Note
The pumpkin penguin was first released during the 2008 Hallowe'en event. This disguise is only seen during the Hallowe'en festivities.

Hints and Locations

 * For a list of confirmed locations (and to update sightings of penguins), see Distractions and Diversions Locations.

Larry offers hints to help players locate penguins. Some of the hints are general areas, while other are more specific. Some locations may require certain quests to be completed in order to allow access to that area. Sometimes Larry may give 11 hints even though there are only 10 penguins; the extra hint is usually a general area hint which includes a more specific area.

Note:  Larry will give hints for all penguins—whether you have already spied on them or not!

Penguin facts and hints
When a player sees a penguin, to spy on it, all they have to do is simply left click "Spy-On" the penguin, and they will gain Penguin Points!

It is possible that players can “trap” penguins (make it so they can’t roam past them). A penguin cannot walk under a player, as long as the player is standing still, and no other player has occupied the same square as the player blocking. If that has occurred, then the penguin will be able to walk under the trapper and onto freedom. To create a new barrier, in the same spot if you’d like, just simply move one square in any direction, then move onto the spot you’d like to block at.

If penguins are unable to move from the square they are standing on for approximately 7 minutes, then the penguin will "respawn" or reappear at its spawn point. Each penguin has one, and only one, respawn point. So unless you’d like to go hunting all over again for that penguin, just simply give it at least two squares to move around it!

Penguins can be herded into enclosed areas and trapped for long periods of time for others to spy. To herd a penguin, follow it until it is near a suitable location, then open doors in front of the penguin and close them behind it.

Tip: Have some common courtesy. If you see a penguin trapped in a building or pen, and open the door, or see the door open, close it! It's only fair and decent for others, and takes less than 5 seconds of your time.

Tip: Since penguins do not appear as a dot on your Mini-map, turn your sound up! Penguins are very noisy spies, and can be generally heard if they are visible on your screen.

Tip: Try not to stand on people who are trapping a penguin, standing on a person allows the penguin to pass through the trap.

Tip: The hardest penguins to find are often in the desert, wilderness and Mort Myre swamp, so if you know where these are, your best chance is to get these first before they get lost! Some can't be found for hours after it is lost!

Tip: There are a number of penguin-finding clan chats that can be found on the runescape official forums, these can be very helpful in speeding up penguin finding, as the most popular are nearly always filled with 30+ people

Rewards
Players may earn a maximum of either 10 or 15 points per week, depending on whether the player has completed the Cold War quest. See the Penguin points article for details on how to exchange these for coins and experience.

Without the completion of Cold War, each penguin is worth 1 point each. With the completion, five out of the ten penguins will be worth two points. These points can be traded in with Larry for either 6,500 coins per point, or experience in a chosen skill,


 * Level of skill choice times 25 = amount of experience per point

Note:  Larry will only keep track of up to 50 points per player. If 50 penguin points are spent at once, the max a player can earn is either 325,000 coins or 123,750 experience, given that the stat is level 99.

Trivia

 * The examine text for penguins disguised as crates may be a reference to the video game Metal Gear Solid. A character in the game, Solid Snake, uses Cardboard boxes as disguise, and often goes on "sneaking" missions in the game.  "Sneaking" is also a technique used heavily in the game, as Metal Gear Solid is a stealth-action video game.
 * During Thanksgiving 2008, free players could spot 10 Hidden Turkeys. This was the same as Penguin Hide and seek, but also for free players.
 * Players used to be able to spot all the penguins twice in a week. If a player spotted all penguins within the first few hours of the penguins resetting, later that week they could be spotted again. Jagex has fixed this bug.
 * All the penguins that are in the Wilderness will reward 2 points as well as those that require a quest to complete.
 * On 28 January 2009, there was a glitch where players were able to spy on the same penguin over and over again. This led to masses of players abusing the glitch, allowing them to gain points quickly and receiving massive amounts of experience or coins in a short time. On February 3rd, Paul Gower posted a thread in the Recent Updates forum, saying that 159 players have been permanently banned and a number of players involved were given temporary bans for breaking Rule 4. (link active as of 10/02/09)