Scavenger hunt app. How to build and run a digital hunt.
A scavenger hunt app is how you put a hunt on phones. You write the tasks, people open them as they walk, and the scores update while the afternoon is still going. Paper clue sheets and a clipboard at the finish line used to do this work. Phones now handle the photos, quizzes, GPS stops, and the live leaderboard.
The product page is the short tour of PlayTours. This page is the longer one: what the category is, how to pick a platform, and how to run a first hunt without asking anyone to install an app.
What is a scavenger hunt app?
An organiser writes the hunt in a browser, and players join on their phones. Some platforms make them install an app first. PlayTours is a page: they open a link or a QR and they are in. These are the pieces you actually use on the day.
Tasks
You can ask for a photo of a statue, a code on a plaque, a quiz after a talk, a GPS stop when people need to walk, or a QR scan at a booth.
A map, or no map
Show the pin when the route itself is the point, and hide it when you want people to follow a clue instead of a marker on the screen.
A live leaderboard
Players can see the score on their phones, and you can watch the same numbers on a laptop while the hunt is still going.
Teams or one phone
You can set named teams, assign people at random, or let someone play alone. If two people share a team, their progress stays in sync.
Someone watching
From the dashboard you can approve a photo, send a hint, or move a team that is stuck, including on a dark staircase with no signal.
Afterwards
Download the gallery and the results, then delete them when you are done. Unused uploads are removed after about 90 days anyway.
QuickBuild can draft a hunt from a sentence, translation is a switch, and your logo can sit on the player screens. For a ranked write-up, read best scavenger hunt apps by features, pricing, and reviews.
Who runs these hunts?
HR and offsites
A mixer before lunch or an onboarding walk around the building. Vertex Ventures ran one on Sentosa. See team building scavenger hunt.
Conferences and fairs
Booth scans, a photo at the sponsor set, and trivia between sessions. FIFAe ran this on a finals floor in Copenhagen. See event gamification.
Tourism
Heritage walks, neighbourhood days, plaques, and partner cafés. See tours.
Campus
Freshers’ week hunts that send new students to the hall, the library, and first aid. See education.
Friends and family
Birthdays, hen or stag afternoons, and holiday walks where the leaderboard is part of the fun.
Towns and nonprofits
Library trails and fundraisers. Malaysia’s Ministry of Health used this shape for a public health day.
If you are buying for work, read how to choose a scavenger hunt app for a corporate event.
How to choose a scavenger hunt app
Skip the feature grid for a minute and ask these questions in this order.
Can they join without installing?
Work phones often cannot install a new app, and guests usually will not. If joining means an App Store visit, a chunk of the room never starts. Why a page beats a download.
Can you write the day you actually have?
You will want photo, video, text, quiz, GPS, and QR at a minimum. If the afternoon needs a judged photo or a combination lock, check that before you buy.
What happens at 80 phones?
Some tools charge per person. PlayTours charges for the phones that are in the game at the same time. Apps for large groups.
Can you try it with real phones?
A sandbox is not a test. PlayTours’ free plan gives you 25 concurrent devices, every feature, a watermark, and commercial use. Free tiers you can actually run.
Can you run it live?
You should be able to send a hint to one team, announce to everyone, approve a photo, and export the CSV when the hunt is over.
Can it look like you?
Look for your own logo and colours, and a URL with your name on it if you need that. White-label on PlayTours.
A page, or an app they have to keep
A browser hunt opens from a QR or a short pyts.link code on any phone that already has a browser, and nothing stays installed after a one-off event. Native apps can send push notifications, and a few cache a little if the signal dies. For a conference, a campus week, or locked work phones, the browser is the better fit. The longer argument is why web-based scavenger hunt apps beat native ones.
Enter a game code
OR
Scan a game QR code
PlayTours, Goosechase, Scavify, Actionbound
Competitor prices move, so confirm them on their sites before you buy.
| Platform | Player access | Price | Free / trial | Branding | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayTours | Browser link or QR. No App Store or Play Store download. | From $0. Paid plans from $35 / month for the peak phones in the game, not the guest list. | 25 concurrent devices, all features, commercial use allowed, watermark. | Custom branding / white-label | No-install corporate, campus, and event hunts |
| Goosechase | Native app (iOS / Android / Chromebook) | Per-experience / per-participant quotes. Confirm on their site. | ~3 participants, 1 live experience, short duration | In-app experience branding | App-friendly audiences, EDU districts, template-first organisers |
| Scavify | App-focused | Quote-led. Confirm on their site. | Trial / quote-led | Packaged event branding | Corporate photo streams and packaged events |
| Actionbound | Native app (iOS / Android only, not PC) | EDU and PRO licenses. Confirm on their site. | Free for personal non-commercial use; EDU and PRO licenses | Media-rich Bound trails | EU education, museums, media-rich trails |
Sources: PlayTours pricing, our Goosechase guide, and the Scavify guide , and the Actionbound FAQ . Competitor free-tier details change. Confirm on their sites before you buy.
For more detail, read the ranked review and PlayTours vs Goosechase for small business.
How PlayTours works as a scavenger hunt app
You build at admin.playtours.app, and players join from a link or QR. You get 25+ task types, a live dashboard, QuickBuild if you want a first draft, translation, and your own branding, and that toolkit sits on the free plan as well. The step-by-step walkthrough is on how it works.
- Fixed firstStart and briefingNo-answer check-offEdit
- Sequence shuffledStreet cluesText, combination lock, GPSEdit
- Judgement onPhoto missionsPhoto, video, audioEdit
- Fixed lastFinishCertificateEdit
How to run your first scavenger hunt
1. Say what the afternoon is for
Decide whether this is about talking, orientation, or a city walk. That choice will write most of the tasks for you.
2. Indoors, outdoors, or both
Pick an office floor, a campus, or the streets, and decide whether people play in teams or on their own.
3. Open an account
Use a work email at admin.playtours.app. There is no card.
4. Draft, then edit
Describe the day in QuickBuild, or write the tasks yourself in the full editor.
5. About 8 to 15 tasks
Mix GPS stops, photos, and trivia, and split them into sections if the route has distinct zones.
6. Points, a skip, and a clue
Give each task a score, allow a skip so one hard stop cannot stall the whole group, and show a clue after a few tries.
7. Walk it yourself
Take a colleague around the route and catch things like a code printed too small before the real crowd arrives.
8. Put the QR on the wall
Players open pyts.link from the code you print. HR can follow the 8-step employee hunt.
If the hunt is for work
Locked work phones still have a browser. Ask for ISO 27001, a way to approve photos, and an export you can take away. PlayTours is ISO 27001 certified, and the same product has run a 10-person lunch and a few hundred phones at an offsite. For a comparison, see scavenger hunt apps for corporate team building, 2026.
Teams and Progress
| Team | Team Members | Total Points | Progress | Points here | Completion time | Updated On |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Jia, Sam, Nisha | 180 | Team photo | 40 | 10:41 am | |
| Blue | Ravi, Elise | 165 | Shoreline clues | 90 | 10:40 am | |
| Hybrid Zoom | Chris, Ana | 140 | Shoreline clues | 70 | 10:39 am |
Free plan
There is no time limit. You get 25 concurrent devices, every feature, a PlayTours watermark, and commercial use, with no card to start. Paid plans take the watermark off, and the larger rows raise how many phones can be in the game at once. The $35 row is watermark removal at 5 phones, not more phones than free. See pricing.
Questions we get
What is a scavenger hunt app?
It is a way to put a hunt on phones. You write the tasks, people walk and take photos or scan codes, and everyone sees a live score. The app replaces the clipboard, the map, and the finish-line table.
Do people need to download anything?
On PlayTours they do not. They open a link or a QR. Goosechase and Actionbound ask them to install an app.
How much does it cost?
PlayTours is free for 25 concurrent devices with every feature and a watermark. $35 a month takes the watermark off for a small event of 5 phones at once. Other tools often charge per player or per event, so confirm on their sites.
Can I run this for 500 people?
Yes. Once more than 25 devices are in the hunt at once, you need a paid row. A 300-device event is $395 for the month. For anything larger, email hello@playtours.app.
How is this different from an escape room?
A scavenger hunt sends people between places. An escape room keeps them in one room, or on one screen.
How long does a hunt take to build?
QuickBuild can draft from a sentence in a few minutes. A 10-task hunt you polish yourself is usually half an hour to an hour.