Scavenger Hunt Tip: Three Keys to Good Clues

Posted on February 1, 2012 by support@textclues.com

When creating clues for a scavenger hunt there are three questions you should ask yourself. Is the Clue Personalized for the hunter? Will the clue be fun for the hunter? Is the Clue entertaining? You don’t need and answer yes to all three questions for a clue to be great. However, if the answer is no for all three you might want to rethink your clue.

Is the Clue Personalized for the Hunter?

It’s great to add some clues to your hunt that are personalized to the hunter. It might involve an inside joke you both share, a memory you have together or trivia that they would find interesting. You might ask about the place where you first met or what animal you saw when camping together. Personalized trivia is another great clue to add to any hunt. If they are into art you can ask them a question regarding their favourite artist. For example “How many self-portraits did Vincent Van Gough perform between 1886 and 1889?”. Making this type of trivia is easier than it seems. Just take a few minutes to read about the subject on the internet and once you find an interesting fact make it into a question. Personalized clues are certainly one of the most impressive for the person receiving the hunt and they will be taken back by how much thought you put into the hunt.

Is the Clue Fun for the Hunter?

It sounds simple but it’s important to consider whether the clue will be fun for the hunter. This is similar to creating personalized clues but instead we are focused on general things they like. If the hunter really likes math then by all means add some math questions into your scavenger hunt. On the other hand if they hate dealing with numbers avoid that type of clue at all costs! This is also where you want to consider the difficulty of your clue. You want to make it difficult enough so that it’s not extremely easy but you also want to make sure that it’s not impossible for them to get. The right difficulty will get them scratching their head and then jumping in the air when they figure it out. If you’re not sure about the difficulty try it out on someone else and see what happens.

Is the Clue Entertaining?

Whether the clue is entertaining or not comes down to the wording of your clues. There are a ton of ways you can make a scavenger hunt more entertaining. You can make a fictional storyline for the hunt, maybe they need to find the deactivation code for a nuclear missile or find the toupee of their ungrateful boss. You can add some humour to the hunt with joke or sarcasm based clues and riddles. You can even add rhyming to your clues which is always fun.

These are just a few examples of how to make clues that are personal, fun and entertaining. The blog also has other ideas that will help you make hunt worthy clues. You’ll also come up with great ideas that haven’t been featured here. If you’d like to share your scavenger hunt ideas let us know at support@textclues.com and maybe we’ll write an article about them!

Scavenger Hunt Tip: Don’t Leave it too Late!

Posted on January 30, 2012 by support@textclues.com

Scavenger hunts are such great gifts because they are creative and original. Most people love getting scavenger hunts because it’s really a thoughtful gift. It shows you’re willing to put time and effort to make sure someone really has a great time.

This blog is here to help you make a memorable scavenger hunt in as little time as possible. That being said it’s still going to take some time if you really want to make a remarkable hunt. It’s certainly possible to make a great hunt the day before the big day but for a more substantial hunt we recommend you start at least a few days in advance.

The first step is to write out a quick draft of what you want the scavenger hunt to look like. Here you don’t have to go into much detail with the clues. It could be as simple as outlining the path you want them to take. The key is getting a general idea of what you want the scavenger hunt to look like. Once you’re done this step take a step away from the planning table for a few hours or days.

When you come back you’ll find that you came up with some great new ideas and you’ll be ready to put the finishing touches on the hunt. At this stage it’s time to fix up your clues to make sure they’re fun, personal and entertaining. Also you may find that you’ve thought of a totally new idea for the scavenger hunt! Don’t hesitate in changing your plan or creating a totally new one, the hunter will thank you. At this point all you need to do is prepare your physical clues and schedule a time for the hunt!

The free trial here on textclues.com is a great tool for planning a scavenger hunt even if you’re not planning on sending text message based clues. It allows you to save the scavenger hunt, access it from any computer with internet access and base a new scavenger hunt on an old one to easily make different versions.

Scavenger Hunt Clues that Rhyme are Always a Good Time

Posted on January 28, 2012 by support@textclues.com

One easy way to make your scavenger hunt riddles and clues a little more fun is by adding rhyming to the equation. A well timed rhyme will have any hunter smiling in no time. The great thing about adding rhymes is that it’s not difficult at all! In fact you’ll find yourself having a blast while creating new clues.

The easiest way to create a good rhyming clue is to start by writing it out just as you regularly would. Now have a look and see if there are any obvious ways you could add to or rearrange the clue to make a rhyme. Focus on short simple words because these are often the easiest to rhyme. If you’re still stuck I find it really helps to use a tool like Rhyme Zone. There you can type in any word from your clue and find all the words that rhyme. This really helps give you inspiration and almost always outlines a word that you missed. Also don’t be afraid of rewriting your clue once you see some ideas on Rhyme Zone… or better yet once you think of some great phrases.

If you want some simple examples check out our demo where you’ll find an example hunt with some simple rhymes. I hope it convinces you to incorporate rhyming into your next hunt!

Welcome to the Text Clues Blog!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by support@textclues.com

Creating an original scavenger hunt is a really fun process but it’s easy to get stuck along the way. The Text Clues blog is here to give you some tips and hints to get your creative juices flowing. Whether or not you’re using our text based scavenger hunt service we want you to make great scavenger hunts for everyone involved. Enjoy!