How To Write A Treasure Hunt

Get or make a map of the area you will be using.

Decide how many clues there will be by working out the amount of time you would like the whole thing to take, and then splitting it into the amount of time it will take to travel to the location and solve the clue.

For example, if you had 2 hours in a 4 acre area then you could reasonably spend 5 minutes getting to each clue, 10 minutes to solve it making it an 8 clue hunt.

You can either have a papertrial version, which is a linear based system, or a set clue version, giving the intrepid hunters all the clues to solve in whichever order they can.

Ask yourself what the hunt is for - it can be used to get messages to the participants, teaching them the history of the location, about your product, or just for fun.

Next we take the final objective and work backwards. Consider if you want just one winner or many winners. If we stick with the 8 clue example, you could make any of these to give you a final answer:

Crossword

Wordsearch

Wordgrid

Map Names

The final answer can either qualify participants for a reward or inform them of the final location. This is easiest to do using the wordsearch as you can hide a lengthy statement

For even more details go to our dedicated website www.treasurehuntdesign.com.

Use permanent fixtures or anchors that cannot change over the course of writing the treasure hunt to running it, particularly if it is going to exist over a long period of time.

When positioning the clues, make sure that they aren't solved in the wide open so other participants can see other people's methods of solving them.

When writing the clues, make keep the whole treasure hunt interesting by having a different type of challenge each time, stimulating all the senses.

Make sure the answers are definitive and clear. You can't have more than one right answer.

Do a dry run of the hunt, or even better, get someone independent to test it to iron out any unforseen glitches that may occur.

Just before you actually launch the treasure hunt, cast your eye around the clue locations to make sure nothing is obscured or tampered with.

Have a theme to engage people further, but be careful not to go so far that you alienate some people:

Missing Treasure

Ghost Hunt

Pirates

Adventurers

Pyramids

Easter Egg Hunt

Knights Of The Round Table

Maths
Palm Trees - Lamp Posts + Car Spaces

Materials
What is the archway made from?
Stone/Wood/Hedge/Brick
It helps to give examples to narrow down the choice of answers

Colours
What is the most prevalent/unusual colour in this area?

Spot the Difference
Take a photo and photoshop out a key part of the landscape

Lists
Give a list of things that are found at the clue location, and add a further likely one that isn't.

Signs
Overused in treasure hunts, but you can be excused for using them once. Find a word or bit of information out about sign, or even pick out letters from the sign to put together i.e. 3rd word, 4th letter, 6th word 1st letter.

Optical Alignment
One of our favourites in How To Write A Treasure Hunt, line up objects like lamp posts and signposts and see what is directly in line on the horizon.

Article
You can write an article and hide the clue or make it part of the text.

Obscure Photos
Take a really close up photograph of an object that you can only work out when you are in the right location and see it for yourself.

Text/Telephone
Leave them a number to call or text, then give them the answer verbally.

Scene Description
Write a detailed description of what you can see from a certain point, and include a mistake.

Directions
Start with your back to the door. Take 2 paces forward. Turn 90 degrees clockwise, take 7 paces forwards etc.

Audio
Find somewhere which has a constant audio feature which can only be heard from one point, like a clock ticking in another room (if it is going to be quiet) or a motorway hum on the top of a hill.

Textures
Lead the treasure hunter to an answer by feel, going from wallpaper to wood to brick to glass.

YouTube
Let them work out a website address which will lead them to the final treasure.

The more effort that is put into the way the clues are written will result in more enjoyment by the participants.

You can lay the clues out in different layouts:

Crossword

Newspaper

Fact Sheet

Treasure Map

Poems

Archeaological

Secret Agent

Popstars

History Discovery

Town Exploring

Site Features

Orienteering

Tastes
Do a blind taste test to work out which pot contains what food i.e. salt, sugar, flour, chocolate powder.

Code
Come up with a coding system, i.e. A=7, B=2 or use an existing one such as morse code to give instructions on how to solve a clue.

If you would like any help with creating your Treasure Hunt then then contact SG-L today. We hope this has helped with how to write a treasure hunt.