Key Takeaways

• Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition for students from kindergarten through college, in which teams of up to seven students solve open-ended problems without ideas or help from adults.
• Each season Odyssey of the Mind offers five competitive long-term problems (vehicle, technical, classics, structure, and performance), and every team that competes also solves a secret spontaneous problem on site.
• Teams spend weeks or months developing a long-term solution at their own pace, competition is optional, and teams that compete have 8 minutes to present their solution.
• Odyssey of the Mind divisions are Primary (grades K-2, non-competitive), Division I (grades K-5), Division II (grades 6-8), Division III (grades 9-12), and Division IV (collegiate teams in which a majority of members are high school graduates registered for at least one class at a college, technical school, or the military).
• A standard Odyssey of the Mind membership costs $290, and an additional membership for another team in the same problem and division costs $190.
• Competing teams move from regional tournaments to Association Finals to World Finals, and the 2027 World Finals take place May 26-29 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

What does the Odyssey of the Mind competition entail?

Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition designed to encourage students to develop creative solutions to several different types of problems.

Participants work in teams to solve open-ended problems that will test their creativity, teamwork, and ingenuity.

What types of tasks or questions are assigned?

Odyssey of the Mind asks teams to solve open-ended problems by building something, performing something, or both. In competition, teams are scored on their long-term solution, the Style elements of that solution, and a spontaneous problem solved on the day.

Each season Odyssey of the Mind offers five competitive long-term problems: Problem 1 (Vehicle), Problem 2 (Technical), Problem 3 (Classics), Problem 4 (Structure), and Problem 5 (Performance). Younger students also receive a non-competitive Primary problem. Teams choose one problem, create a solution, and present it in a performance of up to 8 minutes.

Every competing team also solves a spontaneous problem that no one sees until the team enters the competition room. Spontaneous problems are verbal, hands-on, or a combination of both.

Teams may use artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool while developing a solution. Scripts and dialogue must not be created solely by AI, and they must not be mostly created, rewritten, or edited by AI.

Examples of previous tasks

Odyssey of the Mind publishes new problems every season, but each problem belongs to one of the same five categories. Here are the five 2026-27 problems, each with one earlier example from the same category.

How long does the challenge take to complete?

Odyssey of the Mind teams spend weeks or months, at their own pace, creating solutions to their long-term problem, and competition is optional. Teams that choose to compete present their solution in 8 minutes and solve a spontaneous problem on the day. Each local association sets its own tournament dates, so a team’s coach checks the schedule of the association in the team’s area.

Teams that compete usually start at a regional tournament. Success there leads to Association Finals at the state, province, or country level, and then to World Finals.

Three Ways to Reach World Finals

Odyssey of the Mind teams can reach World Finals in three ways, depending on where the team lives.

• Teams that place at a regional tournament advance to Association Finals at the state, province, or country level, and teams that place at Association Finals are eligible to compete at World Finals.
• Teams that earn a Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award at the state, province, or country level are also eligible to advance to World Finals, and if an individual earns the award, the entire team advances.
• Teams in areas without official competitions before World Finals can apply to go directly to World Finals, with approval on a first-come, first-served basis. These teams apply to Creative Competitions, Inc. by April 1 of the program year, and they may also be allowed to take part in a neighboring state’s official competitions.

The 2027 World Finals take place May 26-29 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. A coach can find the local association and its tournament schedule on the Find OM Near Me page.

Who can take part?

Odyssey of the Mind has four competitive divisions and a non-competitive Primary level. Primary covers grades K-2, Division I covers grades K-5, Division II covers grades 6-8, and Division III covers grades 9-12. Division IV is the collegiate level, where a majority of team members are high school graduates registered for at least one class at a college, university, accredited technical school, or the military.

A team has up to seven members, and the team member in the highest grade determines the team’s division. Team members can come from different schools if every school has a current membership, and each team may also include one student from a school without a membership, with permission from the principals of both schools. Homeschooled students can join a team under a homeschool membership, or a school team if the school’s administrators permit it.

A standard membership costs $290 for a school, school district, homeschool, community group, or college. A school membership allows one team per problem and division to compete, while homeschool and community group memberships allow up to five teams as long as no two teams share a problem and division. An additional membership for another team in the same problem and division costs $190.

Is the Odyssey of the Mind recognized by colleges?

Odyssey of the Mind is not a formal qualification, and it does not replace grades or exam scores. At World Finals, first-, second-, and third-place team members each receive a medal, and the team receives a trophy. Odyssey of the Mind also presented the Wayne Kehrli Memorial Scholarship at the 2026 World Finals.

As a suggested starting plan, not an official recommendation, a student can describe the activity on an application by naming the problem the team solved, the highest level the team reached, and the student’s own role on the team.

Awards, winners and ceremonies

World Finals is the annual Odyssey of the Mind championship for teams that qualified at regional and association tournaments. The 2026 World Finals took place May 27-30 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. At World Finals, first-, second-, and third-place team members each receive a medal, and the team receives a trophy.

The Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award goes to teams or individuals who show exceptional creativity, either in their problem solution or in an idea beyond it, and a successful solution is not required to win. Ranatra Fusca winners at World Finals receive a medal, and their team name is engraved on the Ranatra Fusca trophy, a tradition since 1981.

OMER’s Award recognizes individuals or teams for outstanding sportsmanship, exemplary behavior, or exceptional talent, and coaches, team members, parents, and officials can receive it. Each OMER’s Award recipient at World Finals receives a medal. The Odyssey of the Mind Spirit Award honors an individual involved in the program who encourages cooperation, self-respect, and understanding of others, and the 2026 recipient was Paula Mittner.

What are the alternatives to the Odyssey of the Mind?

Demonstrating technical findings or a feat of engineering through the medium of performance art or via an Odyssey of the Mind balsa wood structure isn’t for everyone!

Luckily there are myriad programs and projects for those looking for a different approach to gaining extra credits or bolstering an application.

When selecting the right one, it's important to pursue projects that you feel passionate about  and will also align with your future ambitions and endeavours.

Some initiatives such as Indigo Research will help high school & college students find premier research programs. In such projects, students are paired with top professors and will carry out research according to their particular field of interest.

Getting involved in research under the tuition of a mentor will not only further a student’s knowledge within their chosen field but will also demonstrate a commitment to learning outside of the classroom.

Students looking for a more vocational approach can engage in volunteer work or community service or those with sporting ability can demonstrate leadership and teamwork through commitment to a team and may even earn a scholarship if the standard is high enough.

Conclusion: Is the Odyssey of the Mind Program truly worth the investment?

There’s no doubt that Odyssey of the Mind can be a great deal of fun. It's an ideal program for those who want to break up academia and analytical thinking with a more performative and practical approach.

Much of the competition’s charm lies in the sense of community around it. Teams from the United States and other countries take part in Odyssey of the Mind, and the teams that advance meet at World Finals.

Odyssey of the Mind is also unusual among extracurricular programs because most of its long-term problems combine technical problem solving with a live performance.

So in short, for those wanting to make global connections and take part in a program that is a far cry from the average research project then the answer is definitely yes- the Odyssey of the Mind program is definitely worth your time!