Category Archives: Treasure Hunts

WHY TREASURE HUNTS ARE ONE OF THE ULTIMATE TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITIES

There are many ways to engage teams and we know a thing or two about that but there’s a reason why treasure hunts remain a firm favourite for corporate team activities

Whether you call it a treasure hunt, a scavenger hunts, a rally, a clue trail, a quest, it doesn’t really matter – the point is that they are all gamified events in which individuals or teams have to solve clues and puzzles, follow maps or GPS locations, find and retrieve items and all whilst experiencing and discovering a new city, venue or country location.

The great thing is that no matter how well you know any location – there’s always something new and exciting to discover.

The rationale why people love treasure hunts is exactly the same as it is for the good old fashioned pub quiz. People love quizzes because we all like to be a little competitive, we like to learn, we like to have fun and we like to show our friends and colleagues how much we know.

There’s also the fun and frustration of trying to work out the answers to clues and riddles that we think we know, we think we should know but we can’t quite be sure that we do know.

Another reason why Treasure Hunts are so popular is because they are simple and straightforward in concept. Everyone intrinsically knows what to expect– yet each one can easily be tailored to specific themes, times, locations, people and thus each one is different.

For many – the fact they are travelling to a new country or city or venue – which they may get no experience of other than the meeting rooms and hotels where they are staying – this is the perfect way to see and really experience where they are.

Treasure hunts are also a superb and light touch way of helping teams get to know each other and have some fun whilst actually learning a lot about each other and how to work together.

And finally theres the ‘C’ word ……. Cost. Treasure hunts are without doubt superb value

So whether you are looking for ‘old school’ fun with polaroid cameras and maps or ‘digital delight’ with GPS software that plays on own mobiles or tablets – if you want to engage your team – you need a treasure hunt.

Why Treasure Hunts Are So Popular

London – Where variety is the key to treasure hunt heaven

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When people first enquire about a treasure hunt in London their immediate concern is how can you possibly navigate round and take in such a huge city in just one day or even half a day. The answer – quite simply is you can’t! (Well you can navigate round easy enough using the underground, the buses, the boats and a TFL tube pass)

However – the whole point of a treasure hunt is that you and your team-mates have to plan your route – work out which answers you want to go get and which you might leave for another time. It’s an age old conundrum – do you go for the easy points – the ‘low hanging fruit’ as it were. Or do you go for the clues which are much harder to find or get to – which inevitably offer greater reward.

The great thing about London is that it lend s itself to compartmentalisation. London has a long and diverse history but if you analyse London – London is actually a series of villages and communities which have – over time – sprawled and grown until joined together.

Wimbledon, Hampstead, Richmond, Blackheath, Soho, Primrose Hill, Notting HIll,Highgate – all examples of villages with their own history – their own sights of interest – their own character – and each has plenty to offer for a bespoke treasure hunt in its own right. Combined or on their own – the villages of London provide a brilliant and unique treasure hunt landscape.

Then there are the many themes that are associated with London – Finance, Monarchy, The Music Business, The Plague, The Great Fire, The Blitz, Millionaires, Restaurants, The Romans, Fashion, Antiques…. and there are many more. In fact there are so many themes that for setting treasure hunt trails – planners are simply spoilt for choice.

Often – where a client is in a specific industry sector – London lends itself to the setting of a trail based on that industry. A good example is fashion retail. Recently, a leading High Street, ladies fashion chain recently needed / wanted to do a treasure hunt as a team building exercise but also wanted to combine the experience with an opportunity to get their team into the competitors stores to have a good look around what they were up to – what their windows looked like – what the competitors’ customer service was like etc.. The treasure hunt that followed took teams to all the trendy fashion centres of London -Notting HIll, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Soho and Westfield!

Another aspect of London’s flexibility is the variety of transport available. Most commonly – treasure hunts tend to default to either taxis or TFL tube passes both of which work very well. But of course London has an impressive river boat service, private bicycle hire, Boris Bikes, electric bike, rickshaw, even horses and then there’s the more surreal options – such as a dining table at which eight people sit whilst pedalling their entire dining table through the streets of London.

What ever the reason for hosting a treasure hunt – no matter how long you have got – no matter what the budget is- London is very hard to beat!