Picture this: The Forge faction wins in last-minute upset

Week 5 came down to this: a game-changing Our Towns Mystery Photo and 1,000 last-minute points to a Forge player named “urbangrandma.”

That one-two combination dealt a blow to the Tree in a nail-biting victory for the Forge, the only faction to beat the Tree since Picture the Impossible began Sept. 12.

“It was amazing to see the activity on the site on Friday,” said Traci Bauer, managing editor for content and digital platforms at the Democrat and Chronicle, which created the game with Rochester Institute of Technology. “We hope to see more of that in these final two weeks.”

Within minutes of the announcement that their faction won, the Forge members were celebrating in the forums. For much of the week, the faction led the community game, which has more than 2,300 people playing for charity.

In a strategic move, the Forge took third place in Week 4 by opting to mail its Mystery Photos on deadline. That meant the photos worth 1,000 points per player were postmarked at the end of Week 4 — but counted in Week 5.

“We decided to hold back,” said Maria Oberst, a spokeswoman for Foodlink. “You gotta take a little blow in order to get the win.”

It wasn’t until Saturday morning that all the points were tallied. Urbangrandma was the last player to receive points for the Mystery Photo, putting the Forge over the top by just 645 points for Foodlink.

“It’s hard to be mad about that because of the charities involved,” said Heather Hare, a spokeswoman for Golisano Children’s Hospital, with nearly 1,000 people playing for its faction, the Tree. “We’re very excited about the support in the community.”

The Watch, in second place last week, took third this week for its charity, Wilson Commencement Park. The charities eachwill get donations from sponsors Oct. 31 at a Halloween gala at RIT.

The game entered Week 6 over the weekend and the Tree had an early lead.
The tests will be even more difficult in these final weeks, and the point values increase, so there’s more at stake if you skip a challenge.

Week 6 focuses on famous figures in history. Join in a scavenger hunt at Mt. Hope Cemetery. And visit a local library and create a portrait of the relevant famous figure that incorporates an image of or content from that branch.

— Cynthia Benjamin, D&C social networking editor