Scavenger hunts are a great way to get people of all ages engaged in an activity that encourages exploration and creativity. With the rise of technology, there are now a variety of apps available that allow users to create their own scavenger hunts. In this article, we will review some of the most popular scavenger hunt apps and discuss the pros and cons of using them to build your own scavenger hunt.
Scavenger hunt apps can reduce the need for facilitators to manage team scores and present the challenge to the teams. With the app, teams can easily access the challenge and receive timely hints to help them complete the hunt. The app also allows teams to track their progress and compare their scores with other teams.
Scavenger hunt apps helps reduce wastage if there are less than the expected number of players. These apps allow for a digital version of the props to be reused. This is especially beneficial for large-scale scavenger hunts, as the cost of buying new props for each event can be quite expensive. Additionally, the digital props can be easily updated and changed to keep the game fresh and exciting for players.
Scavenger hunt apps widen the game possibilities by allowing additional media such as videos and photos to be part of the puzzles. Additionally, interactive puzzles such as Augmented Reality can be added to the game, allowing players to explore their environment in a new way. Furthermore, more game types can be added such as photos/videos, QR code scanning, location check-in, and machine learning detection of images.
Scavenger hunt apps allow for fair competition because every team receives the challenge briefing in the same manner, the same hints at the same time and circumstance, and the time when the team completes the challenges are accurately taken into account. This ensures that all teams have the same opportunity to complete the challenge and that the results are based on the team's performance rather than any external factors.
There are definitely many ways we can review scavenger hunt apps, and here is how we will do it. There are all of equal importance.
Customisable, brand-able, flexible yet easy-to-build scavenger hunt app for corporate team building, events and corporate activities.
PlayTours is the most customisable and brand-able option in the market. Plus, their player game software is browser-based and does not require any troublesome app downloads. They have a ton of task types, ranging from simple text, QR code scanning, to photo detection using machine learning.
PlayTours uses a chapter-task-points system that enables it to fit any game type, ranging from guided station-to-station games with a specific flow or a free-for-all type where players can decide which tasks to complete.
Their game interface is highly customisable, allowing for multiple text formats, media (image/video/audio) or embed anything from the Internet, such as 360 panoramic views and interactive games. You can even set the background image and audio to enhance the mood of the current challenge at hand.
PlayTours has task types enough to satisfy any game creator: info-only (no answer submission), text, numbers (choose either with or without decimals), image, videos and image recognition using machine learning.
You can set answers to require organiser approval, and you can immediately respond with additional remarks and give less or more points depending on task requirements.
Depending on the game and challenge, you might want to provide hints depending on multiple scenarios. PlayTours allows you to give hints based on:
Furthermore, you can allow players to skip challenges based on the same criteria above. This prevents players from getting frustrated, and reduces the number of times you need to manually intervene.
You can add your organisation's logo and name on the event welcome page, and change the colour of the buttons.
For the game screens, you can set the background to fit your brand colour, or to fit the game atmosphere.
Almost instantly! Players do not have to install any Android or iOS app. They simply need to open a link or scan a QR code to open the app on any modern browser - on a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop.
PlayTours has the most generous pricing, and the more you use it, the cheaper it gets. They typically charge by the maximum number of concurrent devices required. For example, if your event has 300 players divided into 30 teams but only has 2 devices per team, then you will only need their 60-devices subscription.
One of the more flexible and sophisticated game builder in the market, using code blocks that can virtually be designed in any fashion.
Loquiz can be used for a great number of game types. From their website, they can be used for "tours & city guides, games for events, HR & team-games, educational games, museum guides."
Loquiz's "Creator Pro" is a sophisticated tool that can fit many game types. At first glance, there could be a steep learning curve and you might need some help from them to get it going.
Loquiz has these task types: multiple-choice, multiple-answers, text, number, photo, video, no answer, activity station, augmented photo, object finder. You can use their task bank to quickly add tasks, from either your previous games or created by a 3rd party.
The clue mechanism is quite limited and only has 1 default mechanism. You can add text-based hints only. The usage of hints can be seen in online results pages, and game hosts can limit the amount of hints available per game by navigating to the "Configure" page and selecting the "Limit hints when available" option under "Game Settings".
By upgrading to any of their paid plans, you can customize the experience with a personalised logo that will appear on the login screen, menu, upper left corner of the map, and online results pages.
However, do note that the app that shows on the player's device will still show as "Loquiz".
Make sure that players have downloaded the app before the event. In some places with limited Internet connectivity and with a large number of players, it might affect the internet connection and slow down the download time.
Loquiz is one of the more expensive options, costing EUR 9 per device. This might be worth if your game is highly complex and requires the use of their code blocks.
The most polished-looking game builder platform out there, but with limited customisability and game flexibility. Great for simple, straightforward events.
GooseChase uses a straightforward task list system, which they call "Missions". To customise the game flow, you can use their automation script feature to make tasks appear and accessible.
We do feel that is it quite limited, only allowing tasks to appear based on when the experience started or an exact time.
GooseChase has 4 types of tasks. For the photo/video task, you can set to only allow photos or videos.
There are no mechanism to give clues to players in any event.
Customisation possibilities are very limited You can only customise the logo that appears at the start of the experience, but the app will still be clearly called GooseChase when downloaded and opened by players.
Similar to most other options, except for PlayTours and Scavify, players need to download the app first before playing, adding some level of friction before starting to play.
GooseChase is one of the more pricey options out there when compared with the features they have. This is a good option for those that prefer a good UI when building games and are looking to create a straightforward game.
Although the player app design is dated, it is one of the most flexible game designers, allowing for many game types and scenarios.
ClueKeeper has tons of configuration to fit many game types. They are excellent for use especially in more competitive games, with advanced features that helps raise the competition level. For example, you can set the Scoring Policy to Par-based to score based on time taken to solve.
ClueKeeper has only 1 task type, which is to answer by inputting text. Multiple correct answers can be accepted, and the task can be location-based to ensure that players are at the correct location when answering.
Clues can be programmed to become available after a predetermined duration from the start of the task. They can then be unlocked by sacrificing time or points.
You can add your logo at the welcome page of your event. Apart from that, there seems to be no other place to customise in this area.
Players have to download the app and install it on their phone from the app store before being able to play.
Each team will cost the organiser $10.
Simple, professional interface that gets the job done for straightforward and simpler events.
Similar to GooseChase, Scavify follows a simple task list system where players simply complete tasks in the order they like. There is no way to add any other logic to how tasks appear, unlike GooseChase. This makes Scavify one of the least flexible game builder.
They have the following types: question-and-answer, QR code scan, GPS check-in, photo/video submissions and multiple-choice.
However, they do have a "photo stream" feature that encourages player interaction by providing a constant stream of player photos which all other players can view, comment on and like.
There is no mechanism to show a clue or have clues appear depending on the situation. All task information are shown to the player when the task is clicked.
You can customise the event welcome page with your logo, event name and banner photos. However, this is still visibly Scavify as they have to download the Scavify app on their phones. They also do have a browser-based version too but the welcome page will display the Scavify brand first.
Players have to download the app and install it on their phone from the app store before being able to play. Alternatively, they can use the browser-based version.
They do not display their price on their website, however, we asked one of their clients for the pricing they got when they emailed them. For a team-building business with about 150 players per month, it was quoted as follows:
Up to 20 players - USD 430 (USD21.5/player)Up to 50 players - USD 900 (USD18/player)Up to 100 players - USD 1300 (USD13/player)Note: price has been slightly adjusted downwards to prevent client identification
This makes Scavify the most expensive choice among the others.
The only option that allows free, personal use ActionBound - however - it must be placed in public view.
ActionBound follows the similar and simple task list system, and allows the organiser to decide whether players must complete them in order, or in any order. The tasks can be shown either in a list, or be hidden behind a QR code.
These are the task types available: question-and-answer (text, question, multiple-choice, sort list), photo/video/audio/text missions (where there are no right or wrong answers), GPS check-in, QR code scan or surveys.
Clues are shown when a player answers a question incorrectly. The clue is a text-based clue, and multiple clues can be added. Apart from that, there are no other mechanisms.
You can set an event banner that will be shown at the top of the welcome screen. For more styling, you will need to pay more than EUR 500 per year for their Bound Styler that allows you to customise almost the entire look of the app.
Players have to download the app and install it on their phone from the app store before being able to play.
ActionBound does not allow the use of their free tier for commercial purposes. Their price depends on the number of licenses you buy, and is one of the more affordable options.
There are a range of scavenger hunt apps out there for you to choose from. What you do choose to go with will depend on your requirements. What is key here is to make sure the scavenger hunt features of the app are able to meet those requirements.
Once you have decided which digital scavenger hunt tool to use, the next step will be to plan for your scavenger hunt. Whether it is a photo scavenger hunt, an office scavenger hunt or even an outdoor scavenger hunt to capitalize on the change of seasons, the PlayTours app is a simple to use yet flexible app that can match your hunt requirements.
Thank you for reading through the list of the best scavenger hunt apps out there! We hope that this overview of all these apps help you in your search for finding the app that is perfect for you.
That's it! If you need help, do email us at hello@playtours.app
