After gaining widespread participation amongst the Oakland University student body this past fall semester, Student Program Board (SPB)’s GrizzHunt is returning for a second time this winter.

The competition — officially titled GrizzHunt II: The Grizz Wars — will be held from Jan. 16-Jan. 24. Throughout the duration of the event, students will complete daily tasks in order to earn points while working as either an individual or on a team. 

“When SPB decided to put on GrizzHunt last semester, we had no idea what we were getting into,” SPB Treasurer Cameron Roach said. “We had many students participate in the event and received tons of positive feedback.”

Due to the widespread engagement of students during the fall semester’s edition of GrizzHunt, SPB decided to bring the competition back for the winter — with a few minor modifications. The core concepts of the game are still present, but the members of SPB have created new challenges, modified the event procedures and raised the prize values.

“Last GrizzHunt, we had over 100 teams join in less than 36 hours, and SPB received approximately 6,000 challenge submissions,” Roach said. “For GrizzHunt II, we will be able to accommodate more players.”

Similar to the last GrizzHunt, players will be tasked with visiting landmarks, attending events, solving riddles and answering trivia questions. However, rather than releasing all of the challenges at the beginning of the week, SPB will be releasing new challenges each day.

“We decided to send out the challenges daily for GrizzHunt II in order to add more excitement of the event,” Roach said. “Additionally, we have increased the number of on-campus challenges to accommodate individuals who do not have the means to leave campus.”

Another way GrizzHunt II differs from the previous competition is the prize values and designation of winners. For GrizzHunt II, the top three teams and top individual player — based on total points earned — will win monetary prizes, redeemable for physical items within SPB’s prize catalog.

“Since last GrizzHunt, the prize values have gone up,” Roach said. “The first place team will win $500, with second and third place teams winning $375 and $300, respectively. The first place individual will win $200.”

Winning students can use their money to shop from a prize catalog featuring Amazon products and OU bookstore favorites. Some examples of prizes include OU apparel, AirPods, a Bluetooth speaker and a giant beanbag.

“SPB is very excited for GrizzHunt II. Everyone on the team has put in a lot of work to make this event possible,” Roach said. “I am especially appreciative of Operation Staff Member Joey Z. for his hard work in creating challenges over Winter Break.”

Besides GrizzHunt II, SPB has several exciting events planned for the month of January. On Jan. 19, the organization will be hosting Mental Health Speaker, featuring Patrick McIntyre from 7-8 p.m. in the Oakland Center Gold Ballrooms.

SPB will also host a General Member Meeting and Board Game Night on Jan. 23 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in the Oakland Center.