Writing The Perfect Treasure Hunt Question

Since its launch Cluego has sought to improve the content of its packages. At the start, questions about specific destinations focused on what could be read on the wall in what we called our “Carved in stone” policy. In other words if the answer couldn’t be seen in that exact location then it wouldn’t get into the package.

However it became apparent that these questions were too easy and frankly uninteresting.

For example we were taking our clients to amazing places and only asking them what year the foundation stone was laid.

So what are we doing differently? Well now we structure questions so that they let you know where you are, why it might be important, add a quirky fact and finally ask a question that will have an answer that will stick in your mind.

This way at the end of the event the teams will have discovered new facts about where they are and hopefully remember the event better. Perfect if they are a first time visitor to a city.

 

The Process

When a Question GPS hotspot is triggered the first thing that pops up on the screen is a hint page. The hint is designed to get the teams looking at the right building or monument.

So let’s say that we are asking a question about the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The hint would say something slightly cryptic, and slightly revealing.

Something like

“More than an Eyefull”

 

The “More than” references that the question might not be so obvious and so deeper research may be necessary; so get your phones out and head to Google.

The Eyefull is a play on Eiffel and that fact that it’s very large.

So hopefully our teams will know that we are talking about the Eifel Tower and that the question isn’t going to be about what year it was built.

Once the teams are ready to continue they press the continue button and the actual question pops up. The countdown timer reflects the complexity of the question, so for something obvious the timer is short and for deeper questions we offer a bit more research time.

So to the question,

First up an opening statement293a8967

This is the famous Eiffel Tower Built built as the entrance arch for the World’s Fair in 1889.

Built of iron it’s 320 metres in height and was the tallest man made structure in the world for 41 year

Now for a quirky fact

There are replicas all over the world including a 1/1 scale in Tokyo.

Now the question

But the tower wasn’t originally intended to be in Paris.

Where did Eiffel plan to build it?

  1. Berlin
  2. Barcelona (correct answer)
  3. London
  4. Moscow

(It’s important that all of the answers are plausible, each one of the cities was in the midst of an industrial and artistic renaissance and so all equally possible.)

 

So that’s nine facts crammed into one question. Hopefully our clients will remember some of them.

Once I’ve identified some key “must see” places in a city I like to plot them out and find connecting spots. This often leads to some hidden gem locations.

The beauty of this system is that a lot of planning for a city treasure hunt can be done without ever leaving the office. However we will always aim to visit a city for filling out more intimate locations.

 

 

 

With the pounds value low at the moment Cluego has a lot to offer international clients. Airfare and hotels mean we can create unique packages in some of the finest cities and locations in the world at a very competitive rate.

 

Jim Maynard is the Operations manager at Cluego. He is the chief writer of new content and creative events.

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