Guy Fawkes Night 2026 is on Thursday the 5th of November. Councils already have displays, road closures, and a lot of moving parts that evening - a perfect time for a parish treasure hunt with PlayTours that switches itself off before the organised bonfire. A short Bonfire Night hunt on the high street might just be the perfect, cost-effective outing you can organise with a PTA, campus, or BID. In UK local copy, say treasure hunt. On a parish Facebook post it's clearer than scavenger hunt. If Thursday will not work, run it on the weekend either side.
Using QuickBuild, you can draft your idea in just a few minutes. Just by chatting, you can create all your tasks and then further edit them in the full game builder. Try: "UK village treasure hunt, six tasks, dusk finish, no fireworks, QR and photos, dry tone." Up to 25 phones at once is free, with a small watermark, which covers a lot of village hunts; paid plans raise that number and change nothing else.
Here is an example of a community treasure hunt that ends at 17:30, along with the specific feature on PlayTours that you can take advantage of.
Instant Join
Families scan a laminated QR in the library window, a web page opens on whatever phone they have, they type a team name, and they are playing. Nothing gets installed, grandparents included. PTA events look big and play small, so count the phones that will scan, not the families on the list. More info here: a guide to starting a PlayTours event and Instant Join QR codes.
One person watches a dashboard from the village hall. If a road closes, use Broadcast to message every team. If the council brings the display forward, end the game from the dashboard. More on the facilitator dashboard.
Time-restricted tasks
Tasks can be set to have date and time restrictions. If the display is at 18:00, set every task so it can only be completed before 17:30, and turn on Hide task outside of timeframe so it drops off the list. Teams mid-riddle see it disappear. Tell people that in advance, and put this in chapter one if your council needs a risk sentence: hunt ends 30 minutes before the display, no firework photography, steward instructions override the app.
Once the timer starts, it cannot be paused, stopped or adjusted. If you need a time change, stop the event from the facilitator dashboard.
QR codes and access codes
GPS on a UK high street in the rain is average at best. Use codes instead. A QR sticker on a lamp post you have permission for, or a short typed code in the library window and on a trail card. Players scan or type it, and the task unlocks. A café code from a receipt works the same way. Laminate the posters so they survive the evening. More info here: how to use access codes.
AI-checked photos
To make sure players submit the right photo, you can type an image description and let PlayTours check the submission. For the high street plaque, use "the actual plaque, not a pub sign." A photo of a steward in hi-vis works the same way. Do not ask for firework or bonfire photos, and skip "find a bonfire" if the field is ticketed. People should be watching the display, not filming it for points.
A community trail about local history plaques is fine. Jokes about Catholics or terrorism are not. If you do not have a historian to check facts, skip the trivia and do shop-window photos the traders asked for.
Image share uploads a photo that is marked correct and shared with everyone in the session. Do not use it for schools unless parents know pictures of children may appear.
Task type: Mark as completed
Players only have to click Mark as completed. The first task should be "you know where the first-aid point is," before anything else.
Shuffle chapters & prevent crowding
If a few hundred families start at once, turn on Shuffle chapters & prevent crowding so each team walks a different route, and Do not shuffle 1st/last chapters so the first chapter stays as safety and the last stays as go to the viewing area, hunt over. More on crowd prevention.
Task type: Judged text
"Name one closed road" is a text answer the facilitator must validate, so you can see who read the council notice.
PlayTours have lots of features, and building it on your own can be overwhelming. If you would like a read-through, drop us an email at hello@playtours.app with your trail.