When it comes to scavenger hunts, there are a lot of ways to mess things up. In this blog post, we will discuss the top 5 mistakes people make when building scavenger hunts. This will help you avoid making the same mistakes and create a scavenger hunt that is fun and challenging for your participants!
One of the biggest mistakes people make when building scavenger hunts is making the tasks too difficult. They think that making the tasks harder will make the scavenger hunt more challenging and therefore, more fun. However, this often has the opposite effect. If participants are constantly struggling to complete tasks, they will quickly become frustrated and give up.
The key is to find a balance between making the tasks challenging but not impossible.
"I would still want to give challenging tasks, and maybe help out those teams that require more hints."
PlayTours allow game designers to add hints or clues to the game that can be optionally "purchased" using limited credits. There is no need for a facilitator to manually intervene, it is all automated.
Another mistake people make is placing all of the stations in a straight line. This might seem like an efficient way to set up the scavenger hunt, but it can actually make it quite boring for participants. They will know exactly where they need to go and what they need to do at each station, which takes away from the fun of scavenger hunts. A better way to set up the scavenger hunt is to have stations scattered around in different locations. This will add an element of surprise and make the scavenger hunt more exciting.
"But it's so hard to guide them around if the stations are scattered!"
PlayTours allows players to see an estimate of where stations physically are on a top-down map. This alleviates the need for game designers to guide them via text, which can be difficult for players to follow.
A common mistake people make when building scavenger hunts is making tasks that can only be completed by using Google. While it’s fine to use Google as a resource, you don’t want participants to feel like they need to use it in order to complete the scavenger hunt.
This takes away from the scavenger hunt experience and can be quite frustrating for participants.
"How then can I make tasks more exciting and interesting?"
PlayTours allow game designers to add and embed from external websites. This means that you can add 360-degree views, YouTube snippets, crossword puzzles, and even mobile games onto the platform, without them having to leave the app.
While it’s important to have tasks that can be completed by one person, you also want to make sure that there are tasks that require the whole team to work together. This will make the scavenger hunt more enjoyable and challenging for participants.
"How can I make sure that the tasks have to be done by multiple team members?"
PlayTours allows game designers to make tasks that will require a facilitator to do manual checks. This means that you can make more complex tasks such as forcing team members to do specific poses in a group photo or have them submit a video of them singing out loud.
One final mistake people make when building scavenger hunts is having only one person access to the scavenger hunt clue at a time. This can be quite frustrating for participants, especially if they get stuck on a task. It’s important to have multiple people be able to access the scavenger hunt clue so that someone can help if someone gets stuck.
"But if they are on separate devices, team members will have to copy the actions so that they are on the same page!"
With PlayTours, teams can use multiple devices and everyone can view the tasks separately. All their achievements are synced, so when 1 member completes a task, it is completed for all devices.
These are just a few of the mistakes people make when building scavenger hunts. By avoiding these mistakes, you can create a scavenger hunt that is fun and challenging for your participants! If you have any questions about building scavenger hunts, feel free to contact us and we would be happy to help!
That's it! If you need help, do email us at hello@playtours.app
