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"Phas" redirects here. For the town, see Port Phasmatys.
"Penguin hunter" redirects here. For the Hunter location, see Penguin Hunting Area.
Penguin chathead
Looking for this week's penguins?
See this article for their types and locations.
Invasion plans
This activity may have associated player-run services, such as Friends Chat channels. Visit the official Minigames and D&Ds forum for more information.
Worlds Icon The official worlds for Penguin Hide and Seek are worlds 60, 71 (P2P).
Penguin Hide and Seek
Penguin in bush
Release date 2 September 2008 (Update)
Area Gielinor & Zanaris
Members Yes
Frequency Weekly
Reset Unknown edit
Skills Any
Currency Penguin Points
[view][talk]
Audio options icon
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 the D&D is to hunt down undercover penguin spies and report back to the Ardougne Zoo.

There are no skill or combat level requirements for participating in Penguin Hide and Seek.

Getting started[]

Larry chathead
Penguin in Disguise

A penguin in a bush disguise

Each week, ten disguised penguins can be found roaming around RuneScape, resetting every Wednesday at 00:00 UTC. Spying on a disguised penguin awards players various amounts of Penguin Points, redeemable for experience rewards in any skill of choice or tradeable for coins. To get started, speak with Larry, who can be found in the south-western portion of the Ardougne Zoo, near the penguin exhibit.

Larry gives the player a spy notebook which keeps track of how many penguins the player has spied that week and displays how many Penguin Points the player has. Keeping the book is optional. It can be reclaimed if destroyed.

After Hunt for Red Raktuber, the polar bear Chuck assists players instead of Larry. Chuck is located in the Polar Bear pen, east of where Larry was.

Spying[]

PHAS Hint Map

An exhaustive map displaying the hint given if a penguin can be found within; click to expand.

Penguins do not appear as dots on the mini-map, but make large amounts of noise alerting nearby players to their existence. Their volume can be controlled via the ambient sounds Sound effects slider.

Chuck and Larry offer hints to help locate penguins if requested by a player. Some of the hints are general areas, while other are more specific. If players receive more than ten location hints, it may be because a penguin has recently crossed over into another hint's boundary. Chuck and Larry offer hints for all disguised penguins whether players have already spied on them or not that week. Hints are not given related to the polar bear agent or the sixth 2-point penguin.

Quick Chat[]

Players can use the Quick Chat code e→f→d→p→2 to check how many penguins they have spied, returning: Quick chat button I have found [AMOUNT] penguins this week.

  • The Quick Chat command includes the Shadow Realm penguin in its 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 at 00:00 UTC), or after spying a new penguin.

Players can use the Quick Chat code e→f→4 to check how many Penguin Points they have, returning: Quick chat button I have [AMOUNT] Penguin Points.

Optional quest unlocks[]

The following quests unlock additional rewards within the Penguin Hide and Seek D&D, but are not requirements for participation:

Quest Reward
Cold War 5 of the 10 penguins begin rewarding 2 Penguin Points upon completion of the quest, increasing the maximum points awarded to 15 every week.
Hunt for Red Raktuber A Polar bear worth 1 Penguin Point may be found inside a well each week upon completion of the quest, increasing the maximum points awarded to 16.
Some Like It Cold and Desert Treasure[1] An additional penguin may be spied once each week, rewarding 3 Penguin Points, increasing the maximum points awarded to 19. The Shadow Realm penguin teleports around the game periodically to a selection of penguin spawn points.

To see the Shadow Realm 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.

Back to the Freezer Penguin Points trade in for additional experience, increasing the value of each point from 25 × Skill level to 40 × Skill level. An additional penguin worth 2 Penguin Points may be spied each week, increasing the maximum points awarded to 21.
  1. ^ Completion of the Desert Treasure quest is not a requirement for spying the penguin, but the player must have progressed through the quest enough to unlock the ring of visibility.

Completion of some quests grant access the locations penguins roam:

Requires completion
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 admittance to Port Phasmatys[1]
Requires partial completion
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[2]
Icthlarin's Little Helper Access to Sophanem[3]
Lunar Diplomacy Access to Lunar Isle
Monkey Madness Access to Ape Atoll
Regicide Access to the Elven lands
Mourning's End Part I or
The Prisoner of Glouphrie
Access to Lletya
  1. ^ Ghosts Ahoy is not required to enter Port Phasmatys, only to make admittance free.
  2. ^ Entering Keldagrim from the caves automatically starts the quest.
  3. ^ A charged Pharaoh's sceptre may also be used to teleport to the pyramid.

Disguises[]

The penguin spies hide in a variety of disguises that help to blend into the surroundings:

Penguin disguises
Penguin in barrel Penguin in bush Penguin in cactus Penguin crate
Barrel Bush Cactus Crate
Penguin in rock Penguin in toadstool Pumpkin penguin X-mas Peng
Rock Toadstool Pumpkin[1] Snowman[2]
Other
PBJ Agent
Polar bear
Penguin (invisible)
Shadow Realm
Notes
  1. ^ Pumpkin penguins were released during the 2008 Hallowe'en event. All 1 and 2-point penguins don this disguise during October after their first respawn, and revert back to normal after the first respawn after the beginning of 1 November.
  2. ^ Snowman penguin were released during the 2009 Christmas Event. All 1 and 2-point penguins don this disguise during December after their first respawn, and revert back to normal after the first respawn after the beginning of 1 January.

Suggested items[]

Trapping penguins[]

PHAS Yanille wall

5 penguins trapped in the Yanille wall.

It is possible for penguins to become trapped in locations, preventing their escape. Penguins cannot pass through stationary players or objects, such as doors. Traps can however become broken if a player moves through a game square another player is occupying to create a trap, allowing a penguin to pass freely. If moved over by another player, stepping off that game square, then back resets the player's occupation state on the game square.

Tips on trapping penguins
  • If a penguin is unable to move from a game square for approximately 7 minutes, they teleport back to their initial spawn point for that week.
  • Players are generally able to spy over water, lava, fences, low walls, and through some windows, allowing for penguins to be trapped in locations difficult for escape, but easily accessible to spy.
  • The platypus and tooth creature pets can help trap penguins, blocking game squares the same way players do.

Spawn locations[]

Penguins locations

A map of penguin spawn locations (click to expand)

For a list of all possible spawn locations, see Penguin Hide and Seek/Spawn locations.
For a list of spawn locations the Shadow Realm penguin visits, see Penguin Hide and Seek/1-point penguin spawn locations.

Rewards[]

Penguin points

Penguin Points can be redeemed by talking with Chuck or Larry at the Ardougne Zoo. 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 they would like to redeem. Keep this in mind if you wish to use Penguin Points for multiple skills.

Chuck and Larry only allow players to keep track of up to 50 Penguin Points total; any points earned beyond 50 are lost. For example, if a player had 49 points and spies a 2-point penguin, one point is lost. Players with 50 points stored cannot continue spying until they have redeemed a reward from either Chuck or Larry.

  • 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, determined by the following formula where L is the level of the skill on which you use the reward, and P is the amount of points redeemed: 25 × L × P
    • This is increased to 40 × L × P after the completion of Back to the Freezer.
    • If Invention is chosen as the skill to receive experience in, only half of the experience is awarded due to it being an elite skill.

Additional 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, 19 points per week if the Some Like It Cold quest is completed, and 21 points per week if the Back to the Freezer quest is completed.

A D&D token (weekly) awarded from Treasure Hunter may be consumed once a week allowing the player to spy the penguins and polar bear once more for a weekly maximum of 42 Penguin Points.

Calculators[]

template = Template:Penguin points calc
form = ppf
result = ppr
param = 1|Number of Points|0|int|1-50
param = 2|Skill Level|1|int|1-120
param = freezer|Completed Back to the Freezer?|No|check|Yes,No
Penguin Points Calculator
Calculator failed to load
Result
0 Experience Points or 0 Coins
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

D&D of the week[]

D&D of the week
For the week of 13 March–20 March (wrong?)
Evil Tree

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[]

Holiday disguises[]

  • For the month of October, penguins which have been reset don a pumpkin costume in place of their original disguise. This was first introduced during the 2008 Hallowe'en event and has continued each year since.
  • For the month of December, penguins which have been reset don a snowman costume in place of their original disguise. This was first introduced during the 2009 Christmas event and has continued each year since.

Double points day[]

On Thursday, 27 October 2011, to celebrate 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 attempting to join the queue for World 60 were notified the world was full, indicating that both the world and its queue were full, containing 2,000 players each.
  • At 24:00 UTC, penguins returned to awarding normal points for spying.

Wild Weekend[]

Starting Saturday, 26 May 2012, until 28 May 2012, players could hunt a total of ten monkeys in Chase the Monkey. The monkey disguises were patterned after the penguin disguises. Instead of earning experience or money, players could obtain a monkey cape if all ten monkeys were spied.

Trivia[]

  • When exchanging Penguin Points for coins, players must select the dialogue option "Show me the money!", potentially a reference to the movie Jerry Maguire.
  • The Shadow Realm penguin's examine text, "Licensed to Chill", is a reference to 00 Agents in Ian Fleming's James Bond novels; each agent having a Licence to kill. Licence to Kill is also the sixteenth film in the James Bond film series.
  • Shortly after the release of Penguin Hide and Seek, players were once able to spy each penguin twice within a week. If a player spied a penguin within the first few hours after a weekly reset, that penguin could be spied on again for Penguin Points later that same week. This bug has since been fixed.
  • On 28 January 2009, a Penguin Hide and Seek glitch allowed players to spy on the same penguin repeatedly, obtaining Penguin Points each time. Players abusing the glitch were able to amass Penguin Points quickly, potentially exchanging the points for experience or coins. On 3 February 2009 Paul Gower posted a thread in the Recent Updates section of the RuneScape Forums stating 159 players had been permanently banned for abusing the glitch, and a number of players involved were given temporary bans for breaking Rule 4 of the Rules of RuneScape.
  • After the release of the Hunt for Red Raktuber quest, players who had completed it were able continue to contact Larry via the NPC Contact spell. This has since been corrected.
  • On 10 February 2012, a glitch involving the mindspike allowed players to attack and kill any non-player character of their choosing. Hide and Seek penguins which were killed respawned in Al Kharid.
  • On 30 March 2015 Penguin Hide and Seek, along with other weekly resetting Distractions and Diversions, were updated to reset a 00:00 UTC on Wednesdays, correcting a syncing error where D&Ds could have delayed resets of up to an hour.[1]
  • Prior to 27 February 2017, Chuck did not provide hints to the location of the Shadow Realm penguin. This was added via a hidden update with the release of Back to the Freezer.

References[]

  1. ^ Mod Jon. "Patch Notes - Archive." 7 April 2015. General Forums.
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