Whether it's for colleagues, a bachelor party or a milestone birthday, there are many occasions for a joint scavenger hunt. But how do you turn a city tour into an exciting event for young and old? By combining treasure hunt and puzzles! Tricky puzzles give everyone the chance to get involved. Guessing and puzzling together is also perfect for groups that do not yet know each other very well. If you would like to inspire guests, friends or family with exciting quests, you will find suitable scavenger hunt puzzle ideas here.
There are innumerable ideas for scavenger hunt puzzles. Which one will work for your group? One useful approach is to match the difficulty. For easy scavenger hunts, the focus is on getting out together. Medium difficulty scavenger hunts are appropriate for birthdays or bachelor parties, for example. For those who like to solve tricky challenges, difficult scavenger hunt ideas are just right.
A classic of the scavenger hunt puzzle ideas is the jigsaw puzzle. Only once the players have put all the pieces together, the clue to the next location is revealed. Increase the difficulty by hiding the individual pieces in multiple locations.
“Find 4 musically talented animals hosting a concert not far from the town hall.” The team must now search for this somewhat bizarre ensemble of figures! Whoever sends a photo to the game leader first gets the most points. Alternatively, if there is only one team, they don't get the next task until they have taken the photo.
With the reverse photo search, the players receive a picture, for example of a roof or a facade – but perhaps only of a sign. Now the task is to find the original and take a proof photo.
In order to solve the puzzle, the participants first have to look for clues in their surroundings – for example street names. Using a deciphering board, a solution word is then derived from this, which points to the next location. Tip: Encode each letter of the solution word individually, even if they appear twice – this makes it easier when you create the puzzle.
“From the well, move 400 meters to the west, then 200 meters to the north. There, you will find a special house. Who lived here?” For such tasks, it is useful to use a GPS app to determine the route.
How many types of trees are there in the city park? How many types of beer does the local brewery brew? Participants can count all sorts of things – you decide how many points are awarded. For a very difficult puzzle, only correct answers count; for easier games, partial points are awarded.
Give the participants four pictures. The goal is to find them in the city. The house numbers result in a code that the team can use to unlock the next riddle.
This is where things get really tricky. The crossword puzzle has no questions, just pictures. In order to solve it, the participants look for the objects in the city and enter the names of the objects. Tip: A crossword puzzle generator helps you with the creation.
A classic of scavenger hunt puzzle ideas is a quiz about the city. What is the tallest building? On which street is the local museum? All of these are possible questions. But also funny riddle for the bachelor party are possible: In which bar can we get at least seven drinks for 20 USD?
Are you planning a scavenger hunt with your fellow students or your club? If so, thematic puzzles are a good idea. But not just then: An overarching theme makes it easy to come up with matching riddles. The following ideas for scavenger hunt puzzles provide plenty of inspiration:
The goal of the scavenger hunt is to catch the criminal. So the participants collect various evidence along the way – for example, fingerprints, footprints, or hidden clues.
Tip: You can even make the manhunt interactive with the crime game from myCityHunt. The virtual-reality scavenger hunt is available in many cities and runs via smartphone. It offers exciting riddles for both small and large groups!
The goal of the game is to save the king – at least fictionally. For this, he needs a magic potion made of all sorts of things. The puzzle is to find the ingredients. This scavenger hunt puzzle idea is perfect for children's birthday parties, for example. Guests gather flowers, leaves or fruits. Depending on the level of difficulty, give pictures or just names – only Latin names for experts.
This scavenger hunt puzzle idea requires a little preparation – but it pays off. For the participants, you create a treasure map or a secret message. At the locations, players are given clues to decipher the map or message.
Math and number puzzles for scavenger hunts are very versatile and always suitable. Good thing: They need almost no preparation.
1, 2, 3... Okay, that's too simple. But with number sequences there are plenty of ways to raise the level, for example:
Another popular puzzle idea for a scavenger hunt are guessing questions. In this case, the person who guesses best gets the most points. But it's not just about guessing. Allow the teams to get creative in estimating lengths, heights, and the like. Or give them "tools" to use – for example, a triangle ruler to measure the height of a statue...
A merchant sells four tomatoes and two cucumbers and gets 8 USD. Another merchant sells three cucumbers and two tomatoes and also gets eight USD. What is the price of a tomato? Stories like this exist in all levels of difficulty. It gets more and more complicated the more unknowns there are. Tip: Determine the numerical values beforehand. You need an individual equation for each unknown so that the participants can solve the puzzle.
The knowledge quiz is self-explanatory. This is where it makes sense to make a reference to the city or, ideally, to the person when a birthday or bachelor party is involved. This way, all guests get to know each other at the same time, because everyone can tell something about the birthday boy or girl or the bride and groom.
Mark is older than Ramona, but younger than Melanie... and so forth. Now, the task is to determine the correct order by age. Such logic puzzles can be very well integrated into a game idea.
For a special wow effect, involve third parties. For example, with the clue "an important letter has arrived, the code word is pumpkin soup" when the participants are standing in front of a kiosk with an integrated post office. The solution lies in telling the solution word in the kiosk. The shop owner was instructed beforehand and hands a mysterious letter over to the players.
Equipped with the above information, you have already taken a big step towards creating your scavenger hunt. However, you will have noticed that there are many things to consider and that developing your scavenger hunt takes a lot of time. There is also the question of whether the participants will like their scavenger hunt puzzles in the end. Therefore, it is worth considering whether you want to plan and organize the scavenger hunt yourself or whether you would prefer to use a tried and tested concept. In the following table, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of both options.
| Organize yourself Pros & cons self-organization |
Book tickets Pros & cons ticket booking |
| Very time consuming | Simple booking |
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| Paper only | Intuitive web application |
| Free of charge (except material costs) | Not free of charge |
| Customizable | Not customizable |
The best scavenger hunt puzzle ideas are the ones that fit the group. If it's a birthday or other celebration, the puzzles are welcome to reference the participants. Apart from that, it's most fun when the puzzles are varied so that everyone can get involved. Knowledge questions, number puzzles, and interactive elements make for a good mix.
Simple puzzles include knowledge questions or number sequences. With those, you can vary the difficulty level very easily. Discovery puzzles are also generally not complicated. They involve finding a special building or decyphring an inscription.
Often, it's best to come up with a game idea first. Is it going to be a pirate scavenger hunt or a secret mission for agents? Usually, first ideas for suitable puzzles already come up at that point. For birthdays and other private parties, it helps to get together with several people to develop an individual scavenger hunt.
For a scavenger hunt that lasts about two hours and is 4-5 kilometers long, you will need around 10 puzzles. Here, it also depends on whether the puzzles are complicated or quick to solve. You should play through your own scavenger hunt as a "dry run".
Scavenger Hunt
Treasure Hunt
Escape Game
