There are many new types of events and games popping up these days, it can be difficult to know which ones are best for you. We are going to not only answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the exciting world of digital scavenger hunts but also show you some of the many fun games and events that already exist! This is a format that is blowing up in popularity, one that you, your friends, your family, your coworkers should all engage in.
What Is a Digital Scavenger Hunt?
We’ve all done scavenger hunts before. These fun group activities are where teams (or individuals) compete to find objects, discover locations, or solve riddles on a list curated by the event organizer. Scavenger hunts have been widely used as school activities, but have also become a big hit among adults as orientation activities, team building events, or professional work tools.
So, what makes it digital? As cell phones with portable cameras have become more available, it’s easier to use photos or video clips to provide the proof of destination that we used to relegate only to paper and pencil. This format has become increasingly popular with different apps that allow players to track their progress and further “gamify” the experience of the digital scavenger hunt.
What Is the Difference Between a Scavenger Hunt and a Treasure Hunt?
Both treasure hunts and scavenger hunts require their participants to engage in riddles and complete unique missions, but a treasure hunt is typically referring to a game where upon reaching a location or solving previous challenges provides clues for the next mission. The final mission then leads to a larger “treasure” that the players compete for. Treasure hunts are fairly classic in that they require players to complete missions in sequential fashion similar to a race or competition, whereas an internet scavenger hunt is about team building and cooperation.
Who Are Digital Scavenger Hunts For?
Digital scavenger hunts can be modified and customized for anyone and any type of group or venue, depending on what you want! There are as many types of digital scavenger hunts out there as there are ideas to create them, and the best part of these scavenger hunts is that you can tailor them to your specific needs.
Scavenger Hunts for Team Building
Any group of people that works together in an academic or professional environment can benefit greatly from a digital scavenger hunt. This is a fantastic way to facilitate collaboration, and to foster some new relationships! Challenges should include elements that are curated specifically to your organization and mission, providing a fun way to get to know your team and your corporate objectives.
Scavenger Hunts for College Campuses
College campuses are terrific environments for our digital scavenger hunts, as they typically feature varied environments, wide spaces, and lots of activity. College traditions and campus landmarks will help make creating challenges a breeze, and they give students a fun and unique way to learn more about their community, campus, and local features.
Scavenger Hunts for Conferences and Trade Shows
There is no better way to improve a conference or trade show than with the unique fun of a digital scavenger hunt. With all the associated activities, vendors, and people it’s easy to build a list of challenges. Your participants will enjoy this variety as it will just add layers of fun to an already fun experience.
Scavenger Hunts for New Hire Orientations and Employees
Participants often find new hire orientation a daunting and anxiety-inducing task, and digital scavenger hunts are great ways to ensure that everyone has fun while also keeping everyone engaged. If you’re nervous about your new hires retaining the deluge of information they will be presented with, a digital scavenger hunt is a great way to curate everything you want them to learn.
Zoo Scavenger Hunts
Have you ever considered holding an internet scavenger hunt in a zoo? Zoos are fantastic environments filled with animals and great opportunities for all participants to make fun videos and pictures as part of the digital scavenger hunt. This will help foster new relationships and build upon old ones as everyone races to complete challenges.
Classroom Scavenger Hunts
If you are looking for a new way to engage your students, a digital scavenger hunt is a perfect way to introduce them to new things (in their own classroom!) and foster new friendships with classmates. Hosting a digital scavenger hunt in the classroom is a great way for them to feel like they are engaging instead of being cooped up, and the sky’s the limit when it comes to what subject matter you wish to utilize.
City Scavenger Hunts
Our cities are robust and labyrinthine venues filled with restaurants, landmarks, parks, and more, which makes them perfect locations for digital scavenger hunts. In pedestrian-friendly cities and neighborhoods, scavenger hunts are great ways to get your participants engaged in their local area as well as helping them learn things about their beloved city they may not know.
How Digital Scavenger Hunts Benefit Team Building
Virtual scavenger hunts are fun, and they give us “work from home” employees a much-needed adventure that can break up all this dreary repetitiveness. Scavenger hunts are a terrific team-building activity that provide a way for coworkers to bond, and best of all they boost morale for everyone.
Team building activities generate positive and optimistic attitudes, they promote creative thinking, they encourage problem-solving and most of all they’re fun! Virtual scavenger hunts are a way to bring lots of great qualities to your remote staff. These hunts get players moving around (even in their own homes) and promote interaction with the environment. They encourage some healthy competition and engender togetherness that can reach far beyond the screen.
How to Create a Digital Scavenger Hunt
After you’ve picked your venue and location, you’re ready for that big next step: building your digital scavenger hunt! Obviously, the digital aspect gives you many additional options for what you can include on your hunt, with the focus being the interactive methods of videos and photos. There are many vital components to consider when actually creating and deploying your hunt.
Use an App
Our app is the easiest way to streamline the process for the participants, the administrator, and everyone else involved. Utilizing an app delivers the unique benefits of automation and ensures that everyone is “in the loop” at exactly the same time by utilizing real-time updates. Apps leverage the functionality of our smartphones with things like location analysis and photography without requiring additional equipment. If you can build a digital scavenger hunt around an app you will find that the entire experience will be easier for everyone.
Use Photos
It’s easy enough to add photo challenges to your virtual scavenger hunt. When you utilize photos you make the hunt more fun and memorable by having your participants engage with one another to a complex degree. Include challenges that ask your team members to take selfies and photos of one another, which adds another layer of memorability to the entire event!
Use Videos
Akin to photos, videos capture the unique fun being had by all as they complete challenges. You can utilize video challenges or just ask that the participants keep a steady stream going that can showcase the fun everyone is having. Ask your participants to sing, dance, or mimic their favorite movie scenes with one another, which all adds layers to the wackiness. This is super entertaining and videos also add to future engagement, such as promotion or future hunt examples. You can even use the videos to create a virtual scavenger hunt game show!
Use QR Codes
Another benefit of everyone using phones is the availability of QR codes, which allows your participants to scan the codes of specific objects. This is a great way for all your eager hunters to focus on finding a specific thing, with an effortless way to track it successfully.
Use GPS Check-Ins
Your phone’s GPS can be used in all sorts of ways during your digital scavenger hunt, but one of the best methods is GPS check-ins, which is an integrated component that most scavenger hunt apps provide. Have your employees congregate at a specific location and then prove it via GPS data. This adds yet another layer to the complexity and fun of a digital scavenger hunt, and when utilized in a big location like a city will make the hunt even more fun and memorable.
Use Trivia
You probably have a bevy of information that you want your team members or students to know. You can easily incorporate this into your digital scavenger hunt via trivia! Whether or not your trivia relates to your organization or utilizes broader topics like current events, trivia is a great way to furnish some healthy competition. Trivia remains one of the best facets of scavenger hunt creation because it’s so customizable, and you can include facets that pertain to each member of the team so that everyone feels involved.
The Benefits of Going Digital
By now I’m sure we’ve convinced you that the benefits of digital are unique, varied, and awesome, and that a digital scavenger hunt opens up an entire world of possibility for your participants. There are benefits here for both you and your hunters, and the only limit to digital is your own imagination. Even simple features such as photos or videos can be utilized in a variety of creative ways that add to the virtual scavenger hunt experience.
Automatic Scoring Process
We’ve already mentioned that the phone takes out the necessity for pen and paper, and using an app removes all other hassles from the scoring process. You won’t have to do things like manually collect scripts or evaluate hint submissions. All of this will be done via the automated processes of the mobile app. This is a hugely efficient process that benefits from real-time updates and makes things easier for both you and your participants.
Innovative and Interactive
Digital scavenger hunts let you utilize the innovation and ease of use of technology while also supporting all your goals for team building. You will notice that while engaging in the virtual scavenger hunts, your team will interact in new and positive ways, all enabled by technology. When it comes to the creativity of both apps and devices you can imagine new facets of interactivity that might make your team members go above and beyond in getting to know one another and your company.
Real-Time Leaderboards
Most mobile scavenger hunt apps feature real-time leaderboards that give incentive to going for that win! Being able to interact with one another in real-time is a huge feature of the digital space, whether it’s seeing where other teams are at or tracking their progress via photos and videos. Adding yet another layer of healthy competition to the game will ensure that everyone is staying on pace and having a good time to boot.
Photostream Feed
Utilizing a feed you can display all the fun photos your digital scavenger hunt teams have taken during the day! This is an amazing way to get all participants to engage, and photos can also be used in the future to showcase what your teams went through and also advertise future scavenger hunts. Photo feeds display the benefit of going digital in a way that everyone can see.
Social Media
Possibly the greatest tool available at your digital fingertips, social media is a wonderful aspect of scavenger hunts when utilized in a good way. You can integrate your digital scavenger hunt app with social media feeds, showing all the fun the group is having in real-time and building beneficial (and free) advertisement and engagement. Across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and more, the fun that your team has on their virtual scavenger hunt is infectious and should be displayed!
There are numerous benefits from going digital for your next team-building scavenger hunt. Your next social distancing scavenger hunt will be a blast if you utilize every aspect of the digital space, and once again it’s only limited by your creativity!
