Penguin Hide and Seek

"Phas" redirects here. For the town, see Port Phasmatys.

"Penguin hunter" redirects here. For the Hunter location, see Penguin Hunting Area.

Looking for this week's penguins? See this article for their types and locations.

The official worlds for Penguin Hide and Seek are worlds 60, 71 (P2P).

You spot a penguin!

The jingle when finding a penguin.

Penguin Hide and Seek, also known as Penguin Hunting, is one of the broadest extensions of Distractions and Diversions and 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 main objective of this D&D is to hunt down undercover penguin spies.

Getting started

A penguin in disguise.

Larry is positioned near the south west side of the Ardougne Zoo, at a comfortably close proximity to the Penguin Exhibit. While the rest of RuneScape thinks he is insane, he alone realises the true threat the penguins pose and stands in faithful guardianship at the side of the Penguin enclosure.

• After Hunt for Red Raktuber, the polar bear Chuck will assist the player instead of Larry. Chuck is located in the Polar Bear pen, east of where Larry was.

Simply ask Larry about penguin hunting and he decides that he is able to trust the adventurer with the information required to get out and do the dirty work for him.

He gives 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 gives you another after a slight scolding.

There are ten disguised penguins which players can spy each week. A polar bear and an invisible penguin will also be unlocked after completing the Hunt for Red Raktuber and Some Like It Cold quests, respectively. Penguin Hide and Seek resets every Wednesday (between 00:00 and 01:00 UTC).

Chuck or Larry will offer hints to help locate penguins if requested by a player. Some of the hints are general areas, while other are more specific. If you receive more than ten location hints, it may be because a penguin has recently crossed over into another hint's boundary. Chuck or Larry give hints for all disguised penguins — whether you have already spied on them or not. Hints are NOT given related to the invisible penguin or the polar bear agent.

Players can use Quick Chat code e→f→d→p→2 to check how many penguins they have spied, returning I have found <AMOUNT> penguins this week.

• Quick chat includes the invisible penguin in the count, but does not include the polar bear.
• The quick chat count resets each week after the player logs into the game after the weekly reset occurs (every Wednesday between 00:00 and 01:00 UTC), or after spying a new penguin. A reliable way to determine whether penguins have reset is to see if the circus has moved, as penguins and the circus reset together.

Requirements

There are no skill or combat levels required for Penguin Hide and Seek.

Optional quest requirements

There are four quests rewarding extra features for penguin hunting:

Quest	Reward	Max weekly points
Cold War	5 of the 10 penguins begin rewarding 2 penguin points instead of 1 penguin point upon completion of the quest.	15
Hunt for Red Raktuber	A Polar bear worth 1 penguin point may be spied once each week upon completion of the Hunt for Red Raktuber quest.	16
Some Like It Cold and Desert Treasure	An additional penguin worth 3 penguin points may be spied once each week after completing Some Like It Cold. The invisible penguin teleports around the game periodically to a selection of penguin spawn points. To see the invisible penguin, players must be wearing a Ring of visibility, or have spoken to Sliske in the Empyrean Citadel after completing The General's Shadow, Ritual of the Mahjarrat, and Fate of the Gods.	19

Other quests are required to access locations where the penguins roam, however, not all of them need to be completed. Simply beginning some quests are all that is required. Note: Some quests have prerequisites.

Completed quest unlocks

The PBJ polar bear agent.

These quests must be completed to be able to reach the new places.

Quest	Reward
Cabin Fever	Access to Mos Le'Harmless
Death to the Dorgeshuun	Access to Dorgesh-Kaan
Lost City	Access to Zanaris
Ghosts Ahoy	Free entrance to Port Phasmatys

Additional quest unlockable

You only need to reach a certain point in these quests to reach the new places.

Quest	Reward
The Fremennik Isles	Access to Neitiznot and Jatizso
The Fremennik Trials	Access to Miscellania and Etceteria
The Giant Dwarf	Access to the Mine cart to Keldagrim
Icthlarin's Little Helper	Access to Sophanem
Lunar Diplomacy	Access to Lunar Isle
Monkey Madness	Access to Ape Atoll
Regicide	Access to the Elven lands
Mourning's Ends Part I or The Prisoner of Glouphrie	Access to Lletya

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) had the sense to make their disguises common knowledge so that there would be little confusion on what is or is not a penguin spy.

Penguins in disguises Barrel Bush Cactus Crate Rock Toadstool Snowman Pumpkin

Other A polar bear in a well (after Hunt for Red Raktuber). Polar bear Invisible

The invisible ("ghost") penguin can be seen using a ring of visibility, which is obtained during the Shadow Dungeon part of the Desert Treasure quest. It teleports every few minutes to any one of 34 1-point penguin spawn locations around RuneScape. It is worth three points when spying after completing Some Like It Cold; before completion of this quest it can be seen and spied upon, but it gives no reward. Players that have spoken to Sliske in the Empyrean Citadel after completing The General's Shadow and Fate of the Gods no longer need the ring to spy on the ghost penguin.

The Pumpkin Penguins or pumpguins were first released during the 2008 Hallowe'en event and have been used around Hallowe'en since then. This disguise is only seen during October.

The Snowman Penguins or snowguins were first released during the 2009 Christmas Event and have been used around Christmas since then. This disguise is only seen during December.

Helpful hints

Penguin Hint Areas (August 2013)

For a list of confirmed locations for current week, see Distractions and Diversions Locations/Penguin Hide and Seek.

Suggested items

• Weight-reducing items such as Boots of Lightness, Spotted/Spottier Cape, Penance Gloves, Agile legs, Agile Top and Wicked robes.
• A Bull Ant or Spirit Terrorbird Summoning Familiar to restore Run energy.
• Super energy potions or an Explorer's Ring to restore Run energy.
• Teleportation items such as Amulet of Glory, Games Necklace, Ring of Duelling, Explorer's ring 3, Desert amulet 2 (or better), and at least an Ardougne cloak 1 to be able to teleport to the Kandarin monastery an unlimited times per day. The monastery is right below Ardougne Zoo, making it a free and easy teleportation to Larry or Chuck to spend your penguin points.
• Quest-related teleports such as Camulet, Enchanted Lyre, crystal teleport seed, Ectophial
• Dramen Staff or Lunar Staff for Fairy Ring usage. (After starting A Fairy Tale Part II, not needed after A Fairy Tale Part III.)
• Money for boat trips and/or carpet rides in the desert. (An activated Ring of Charos helps with this by allowing you to select a significant discount in the costs.)
• Ecto-tokens to get inside Port Phasmatys.
• A ring of duelling to get to Castle Wars or close to Yanille.
• A Wicked hood, allowing a player to teleport to runecrafting altars to reach locations easier. 
• An Enchanted water tiara (Dealing with Scabaras) is good for desert penguins as it replaces the need for waterskins.
• A Broomstick when enchanted by the Apprentice in Al Kharid gives you unlimited teleports to the Sorceress's Garden. This is allows quick access to the Shantay Pass and bank chest nearby.
• A Ring of visiblity for spying the penguin unlocked by Some Like It Cold.
• Penguin clans can be found in the Distraction and Diversion section of the RuneScape Forums.
• There are many choices when it comes to finding the Penguins, the most popular are:

1. Clan Chat hunting and spying. The best world for this is World 60.
2. Forum Thread based hunting and spying. The best world(s) for this is World 71 and/or World 99

Spellbook teleports

The general Magic teleportation spells are very useful for getting around to find the penguins quickly. Common locations include:

• Varrock
• East Ardougne
• Falador
• Camelot
• Ape Atoll

Several players like to use the Lunar Magic Spell book, as they can teleport to some uncommon but useful places while still being able to get clues from Larry or Chuck anywhere with the NPC Contactspell. Some Lunar teleportation locations include:

• Port Khazard
• Lunar Isle
• Catherby

Not many use the Ancient Magicks spellbook for this purpose, as the Ancient teleport spells are generally less convenient in getting around. But it is still an option. Some Ancients teleportation locations include:

• Digsite
• Edgeville
• Canifis

The Lunar spellbook has a significant advantage for those with 96 magic as they can cast Spellbook Swap and make use of all teleport spells.

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

Trapping penguins

File:5 penguins.png

5 penguins trapped in the Yanille wall.

It is possible to trap a penguin in one spot so that it can not move around by positioning players and the scenery around the penguin and boxing it in. When players are standing still, the penguin can't pass through them thus allowing the penguin to be trapped. The trap is broken when another player moves through that square, allowing the penguin to escape from the trap. It is therefore very important not to step on or run through trappers when spying a trapped penguin.

If a trapper is stepped on, they should wait until the other player moves off them and then move off the square and then back to their original spot quickly.

Tips on trapping

1. If penguins are unable to move from the square they are standing on for approximately 7 minutes, then they "re-spawn" or teleport to their primary spawn point. Each penguin has one re-spawn point. So unless you’d like to go hunting all over again for that penguin, give it at least two squares to move around!
2. If you want to help herd penguins, follow it until it is near a suitable location, then open doors in front of the penguin and close them behind it. This works better with 2 or more people.
3. Try not to stand on people who are trapping a penguin; standing on and then stepping off a person allows the penguin to pass through them. Players should take the following precautions:
   1. Turn off run when approaching the penguin.
   2. Move to a square with a line of sight to the penguin before spying.
   3. Click away after spying. (Otherwise players may automatically walk towards the penguin).
   4. In the case of a door, walk up to the door before opening, open it, take a single step inside and close it behind you.
4. If you can, spy over water, lava, fences, through windows, low walls, etc.
5. There are a few pets such as a platypus or tooth creature which can help you trap penguins as they block them the same way players do.

Clans and clan chats

There are a number of clans and clan chats which help players find their weekly penguins. Some of these clans have threads in Minigames and D&Ds in the RuneScape official forums. Posted on the threads are general locations of each of the 11 penguins and the polar bear well for each weekly update. Updates with more recent locations can be found in friends chat or on forums depending on the clan.

Other hints and tips

• Wilderness penguins can trap themselves just south of the South Western building in the ruins west of the bandit camp around level 20.
• Since penguins do not appear as dots on the mini-map, turn music off and volume up. Penguins are noisy spies and can be generally heard if they are visible on your screen. It is sort of a mechanical chugging sound, interspersed with the penguin's pops and whistles.

• Look for the polar bear. They can't move, are always in wells, and give one extra penguin point. Players must have completed Hunt for Red Raktuber quest to be able to spot them.
• Don't be afraid to ask other players if they have recently seen a penguin.
• If players are in a penguin friends chat, it would be wisest to first find the penguins that are harder to trap, e.g., the desert penguins. If these penguins escape, it could take a very long time to find them.

Spawn locations and roaming areas

Penguin Spawn Locations (August 2013)

• For current spawns, see Distractions and Diversions Locations/Penguin Hide and Seek.
• For a list of all possible locations, see Penguin Hide and Seek/Spawn locations.
• For the Ghost/Invisible penguin, see Penguin Hide and Seek/1-point penguin spawn locations.

Rewards

Players may earn a maximum of 10 points per week if no penguin quests have been completed, 15 points per week if the Cold War quest is completed, 16 points per week if the Hunt for Red Raktuber quest is completed, and 19 points per week if the Some Like It Cold quest is completed.

• The penguins in the easier locations are always worth one point each.
• The penguins in more difficult locations (such as areas that require a quest) are worth one point. A bonus point is awarded for these penguins after the completion of the Cold War quest, for a total of two.
• If the quest Hunt for Red Raktuber has been completed, players may also spy on a Polar Bear once a week for an additional penguin point.
• If the quest Some Like It Cold has been completed, players may also spy an invisible penguin once a week for an additional 3 points. Spying the invisible penguin also requires the Ring of visibility from Desert Treasure.

Note: Penguins worth two points only provide their bonus point after Cold War is complete. Spying a "two-point" penguin without finishing Cold War only earns one point. The PBJ agent from the Hunt for Red Raktuber quest cannot be spied until that quest is complete.

Penguin points can be redeemed by talking with Chuck or Larry. Players may choose either a coin reward or an experience reward. The player is rewarded for as many points as they have at the time of speaking and is not asked how many points to redeem. Keep this in mind if you wish to use penguin points for multiple skills.

• If coins are chosen, the player receives 6,500 coins per point.
• If experience is chosen, the amount of experience gained is dependent on the player's current level in the chosen skill. The formula for determining the amount of experience gained is:
  • Level of skill choice x 25 = amount of experience per point. There is no bonus for spending more points at a time. For instance, spending 1 point a week returns the same experience as spending 10 all at once (also see levelling note below).
    • i.e. if your Summoning is level 16 and you trade in 11 points, you receive 4400 experience in total. 25x16x11 = 4400

Even if the skill level increases in the process of spending points, the "Skill level" in the above formula does not change. For example, if a player needs 1000 experience to get to level 41, spending 2 points would only earn 2000 experience. Because of this, its recommended to spend points one at a time so that additional points spent maximise any levelling up from gained experience. This means that, assuming a skill is only trained using 16 Penguin Hide and Seek reward points per week, a level-up is guaranteed up until level 60.

Note: Chuck or Larry only keep track of up to 50 points per player. Any points earned beyond 50 are lost. For example, if a player has 49 points and spies a 2-point penguin, one point is lost.

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Penguin Points Calculator
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Formula

• Coins: 6,500 × (penguin points)
• Experience: 25 × (level) × (penguin points); 40 × (level) × (penguin points) after Back to the Freezer
• Experience is halved for elite skills.

Level	10 pts	15 pts	16 pts	19 pts		Level	10 pts	15 pts	16 pts	19 pts		Level	10 pts	15 pts	16 pts	19 pts		Level	10 pts	15 pts	16 pts	19 pts
1	250	375	400	475		31	7,750	11,625	12,400	14,725		61	15,250	22,875	24,400	28,975		91	22,750	34,125	36,400	43,225
2	500	750	800	950		32	8,000	12,000	12,800	15,200		62	15,500	23,250	24,800	29,450		92	23,000	34,500	36,800	43,700
3	750	1,125	1,200	1,425		33	8,250	12,375	13,200	15,675		63	15,750	23,625	25,200	29,925		93	23,250	34,875	37,200	44,175
4	1,000	1,500	1,600	1,900		34	8,500	12,750	13,600	16,150		64	16,000	24,000	25,600	30,400		94	23,500	35,250	37,600	44,650
5	1,250	1,875	2,000	2,375		35	8,750	13,125	14,000	16,625		65	16,250	24,375	26,000	30,875		95	23,750	35,625	38,000	45,125
6	1,500	2,250	2,400	2,850		36	9,000	13,500	14,400	17,100		66	16,500	24,750	26,400	31,350		96	24,000	36,000	38,400	45,600
7	1,750	2,625	2,800	3,325		37	9,250	13,875	14,800	17,575		67	16,750	25,125	26,800	31,825		97	24,250	36,375	38,800	46,075
8	2,000	3,000	3,200	3,800		38	9,500	14,250	15,200	18,050		68	17,000	25,500	27,200	32,300		98	24,500	36,750	39,200	46,550
9	2,250	3,375	3,600	4,275		39	9,750	14,625	15,600	18,525		69	17,250	25,875	27,600	32,775		99	24,750	37,125	39,600	47,025
10	2,500	3,750	4,000	4,750		40	10,000	15,000	16,000	19,000		70	17,500	26,250	28,000	33,250		100	25,000	37,500	40,000	47,500
11	2,750	4,125	4,400	5,225		41	10,250	15,375	16,400	19,475		71	17,750	26,625	28,400	33,725		101	25,250	37,875	40,400	47,975
12	3,000	4,500	4,800	5,700		42	10,500	15,750	16,800	19,950		72	18,000	27,000	28,800	34,200		102	25,500	38,250	40,800	48,450
13	3,250	4,875	5,200	6,175		43	10,750	16,125	17,200	20,425		73	18,250	27,375	29,200	34,675		103	25,750	38,625	41,200	48,925
14	3,500	5,250	5,600	6,650		44	11,000	16,500	17,600	20,900		74	18,500	27,750	29,600	35,150		104	26,000	39,000	41,600	49,400
15	3,750	5,625	6,000	7,125		45	11,250	16,875	18,000	21,375		75	18,750	28,125	30,000	35,625		105	26,250	39,375	42,000	49,875
16	4,000	6,000	6,400	7,600		46	11,500	17,250	18,400	21,850		76	19,000	28,500	30,400	36,100		106	26,500	39,750	42,400	50,350
17	4,250	6,375	6,800	8,075		47	11,750	17,625	18,800	22,325		77	19,250	28,875	30,800	36,575		107	26,750	40,125	42,800	50,825
18	4,500	6,750	7,200	8,550		48	12,000	18,000	19,200	22,800		78	19,500	29,250	31,200	37,050		108	27,000	40,500	43,200	51,300
19	4,750	7,125	7,600	9,025		49	12,250	18,375	19,600	23,275		79	19,750	29,625	31,600	37,525		109	27,250	40,875	43,600	51,775
20	5,000	7,500	8,000	9,500		50	12,500	18,750	20,000	23,750		80	20,000	30,000	32,000	38,000		110	27,500	41,250	44,000	52,250
21	5,250	7,875	8,400	9,975		51	12,750	19,125	20,400	24,225		81	20,250	30,375	32,400	38,475		111	27,750	41,625	44,400	52,725
22	5,500	8,250	8,800	10,450		52	13,000	19,500	20,800	24,700		82	20,500	30,750	32,800	38,950		112	28,000	42,000	44,800	53,200
23	5,750	8,625	9,200	10,925		53	13,250	19,875	21,200	25,175		83	20,750	31,125	33,200	39,425		113	28,250	42,375	45,200	53,675
24	6,000	9,000	9,600	11,400		54	13,500	20,250	21,600	25,650		84	21,000	31,500	33,600	39,900		114	28,500	42,750	45,600	54,150
25	6,250	9,375	10,000	11,875		55	13,750	20,625	22,000	26,125		85	21,250	31,875	34,000	40,375		115	28,750	43,125	46,000	54,625
26	6,500	9,750	10,400	12,350		56	14,000	21,000	22,400	26,600		86	21,500	32,250	34,400	40,850		116	29,000	43,500	46,400	55,100
27	6,750	10,125	10,800	12,825		57	14,250	21,375	22,800	27,075		87	21,750	32,625	34,800	41,325		117	29,250	43,875	46,800	55,575
28	7,000	10,500	11,200	13,300		58	14,500	21,750	23,200	27,550		88	22,000	33,000	35,200	41,800		118	29,500	44,250	47,200	56,050
29	7,250	10,875	11,600	13,775		59	14,750	22,125	23,600	28,025		89	22,250	33,375	35,600	42,275		119	29,750	44,625	47,600	56,525
30	7,500	11,250	12,000	14,250		60	15,000	22,500	24,000	28,500		90	22,500	33,750	36,000	42,750		120	30,000	45,000	48,000	57,000

Treasure Hunter

A different distraction and diversion is chosen each week to give the player a Key token for simply participating. Once every 4 weeks, the player may gain a key token for claiming a reward with their penguin points. Key tokens can only be received when the Penguin Hide and Seek D&D is the designated D&D of the week.

Special events

Double points day

On Thursday, 27 October 2011, in celebration of bot nuke day, double points were awarded for spying penguins.

• At 00:00 UTC players' spying status reset, although penguins stayed where they were. Players who had spied penguins on Wednesday for normal points could spy them again, potentially for triple points that week.
• By 00:03 UTC the queue for World 60 was over 1500.
• By 00:28 UTC the queue for World 60 was full. Afterwards, players got a message saying that the world was full, indicating that both the world and its queue were full at 2000 players each.
• At 24:00 UTC, penguins returned to awarding normal points for spying.

Wild Weekend

From Saturday, 26 May to Monday, 28 May 2012 (the final Wild Weekend in 2012), players could hunt for ten monkeys in Chase the Monkey. The monkey disguises were patterned after the penguin disguises, but larger. Instead of earning experience or money, players could obtain a Monkey cape if they found all ten monkeys.

Trivia

• 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.
• 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 3 February, 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 the Rule 4.
• After Hunt for Red Raktuber, players could continue to contact Larry through the NPC Contact spell in the Lunar spellbook and receive hints, even though Larry had been taken to the Motherland. This is now fixed, so you can only contact Chuck.
• When exchanging points for money, the text says "Show me the money", a catchphrase from the movie, Jerry Maguire.
• Penguins do not show up as a yellow dot on your minimap like other NPC's. You can only notice/acknowledge them by seeing them on your screen, or hearing them walk by.
• On 10 February 2012, the mindspike staff glitch allowed players to kill any NPC, resulting in missing penguins and duplicate penguins in Al Kharid.
• The invisible penguin's examine text ("Licensed to Chill.") is a reference to 00 agents in the James Bond stories, since they are "licensed to kill." "Licence to Kill" was also later a title of a film in the Bond franchise.
• The invisible penguin was introduced 8 August 2012. However if a player spied any 10 penguins (including the invisible penguin or not), the message "You've spotted all the penguin spies this week!" appeared. Players could still spy the eleventh penguin and get points for it. Jagex fixed this bug in the subsequent week's regular update.
• On 2 April 2012 the Squeal of Fortune gained an update allowing players to obtain spin tickets. These tickets could only be received when the Penguin Hide and Seek D&D was the designated D&D of the week.
  • The Squeal of Fortune has since been discontinued and replaced with Treasure Hunter.