Recursion Hell: Find the Exit

Team Name: Shattered Gems

Participants:

• Abdur Rafay Ali Khan
• Javeria Sameen
• Areej Mazhar

Department: Computer Science
Category: Technology, Cyber Puzzle Challenge, Computational Thinking, Logic-Based Problem Solving

Forum Where Registered / Performed / Displayed etc:

The project was presented at Developers Day 2026 hosted by FAST University, where students from leading institutions including FAST University, Bahria University, Habib University, SZABIST, Iqra University, and other universities participated in multiple competitive technical modules.

The team competed in the module titled “Recursion Hell: Find the Exit” and secured a winning position, contributing to IoBM’s achievements across three major competition modules at the event.

Status: Completed / Winning Project

Field of Use:
Problem Solving, Computational Logic, Cybersecurity Concepts, Analytical Thinking, Technical Skill Development, Puzzle-Based Learning

Brief Activity Report:

Strange signals from Hawkins hint at disturbances from the Upside Down. In this puzzle-driven challenge, participants must decode hidden clues, uncover patterns, and use logic to progress through a chain of PC-based puzzles. But in Hawkins, progress isn’t always linear—one misstep may send you back through familiar paths. Stay sharp, break the loop, and escape this Recursion Hell. The module was essentially about solving tech related puzzles through riddles. There was a connection of nodes in a network, and every time you solve a node, you progress forward. If you provide the wrong answer, you are taken back to the previous check point (losing your progress) and had points deducted as penalty. When you move forward again, it’s not always that you get the nodes you have already done, there were different ones. The puzzle itself were slightly mathematical, relating to matrices, ciphers (shift, caeser, rot13, base64, etc), logic gates and more. A lot of different concepts to be used in order to be able to solve them.