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At an Odyssey of the Mind competition, teams are judged in three distinct areas: Long-term Problem, Spontaneous Problem and Style.

Every year, the Creative Competitions, Inc. in the United States will present five competitive Long-term Problems. All these Problems are open-ended enough that an unlimited number of interpretations are possible. Long-term Problems are prepared by the team in advance of the tournament, and usually three to five months are spent developing these solutions.

Long-term Problems can be categorized into the following five types:

Vehicular Problem
Teams design, build and operate vehicles of various size and with various power sources. Sometimes they drive the vehicles, and sometimes the vehicles perform tasks, such as overcoming obstacles or visiting other "countries" to retrieve artifacts.

Technical Problem
Teams make innovative contraptions and incorporate artistic elements into their solutions. They might be asked to write an original musical score to play on a "new" type of instrument, or to build a robot with human characteristics, or to perform tasks using a chain reaction of snapping mousetraps.

Classical Problem
The theme of this problem is based on the classical - from literature to architecture to art. Whether it's writing an additional chapter to Moby Dick or bringing paintings to life, it's always a terrific learning experience.

Structural Problem
Teams design and build structures by using only balsa wood and glue. They test them by supporting and holding as much weight as possible - sometimes more than a thousand pounds! Teams usually present a skit as part of the Style presentation.

Theatrical Problem
In this problem, teams present performances that revolve around a specific theme and incorporate required elements. Past themes include "morphing" objects, animals that express human emotions, and originating folktales.

To view the problem synopsis of the Long-term Problems chosen for this year, please click here.

Odyssey of the Mind Programme rewards teams for elaborating their Long-term Problem solutions since elaboration requires additional creativity. Odyssey of the Mind Programme calls this elaboration Style. Style should serve to enhance the problem solution and make it a unique one to the team.

Confused? Think of it like the icing on the cake: If the Long-term Problem is the cake itself, then Style is the way the cake is decorated, so to speak. All teams that solve a given problem have met the requirements of the problem - the cake. But all teams have "decorated their cake" in unique ways - they all have created special aspects of their solutions that were not required - and that is their Style.

A song which is written by the team but not required, a very elaborate costume or an unusually decorated vehicle can be good choice for Style. Each Long-term Problem has five Style categories for teams to demonstrate their creativity.

Each Odyssey of the Mind team entering a competition must also solve a Spontaneous Problem. One of the purposes of Spontaneous competition is to see how well the team members react to new situations.

Spontaneous Problems take one of three forms: Verbal, in which team members generate as many creative verbal answers as they can in a short time period; Hands-on, in which a physical or technical problem must be solved in a short period of time; and a combination of the two, Verbal Hands-on, in which a physical object is manipulated in turns by the team members as they generate creative verbal answers.

All Spontaneous Problems require teamwork and points are often awarded for this, regardless of the success of the team's solution. Team members will not know the content of the Spontaneous Problem until the judge presents the problem to them. Teams competing against each other are required to solve the same Spontaneous Problem. Team members are not allowed to discuss the problem they were given until the end of the tournament.