W: Write a perl script to solve a simple 10x10 maze. The maze is generated by a perl module, and the script is only allowed to call functions defined there and the standard perl functions. Access to the data structures from the maze module are strictly forbidden! (The script may only be allowed to 'look' north, south, east or west, to see if there's a wall or not, and 'move' in a direction). The script should travel from an entrance to the center of the maze and out to an exit (different from the entrance)
H: Submitted to homenodes
S: The script that traverses a random selection of mazes in the least number of steps wins
W: The maze module
W: After the contest

And some more ideas along a similar vein:

• Solve a 5x5 sliding block puzzle, only using the four squares around the empty square. (Once again, scored by total moves over a random selection of boards)
• Play the game 'black box' against another perl script. This gives you a number of atoms in a box. The script has to work out where they are by shooting rays into the box. If a ray hits an atom dead on, the ray is absorbed. If a ray passes one square away from an atom, it is deflected 90 degrees away from the atom (and again, if it meets a new atom on its travels). Each script can see the results of the other, and the winner is the one that guesses the correct position of the atoms first, so the competition can have a knockout format ;-)

Hmm, dried up, I have. There are plenty more ideas in this area, though. Knockout competitions in particular would be fun. Prizes could be XP, and maybe an 'awards cabinet' section on the home node (because then you could add runners-up and booby prizes such as 'most obfuscated code', 'shortest correct solution', 'most blatent cheat', 'most compiler warnings' and so forth :-)

Andrew.