Treasure Hunt Puzzles
Treasure
hunts are a lot of fun to create and set up…until you get to the
puzzle generation part, typically though. We've made an effort to take
the pain out of the process by providing packages of themed treasure hunt
puzzle 'legos' that you can download and instantly use in your own treasure
hunt. They are completely self contained (in that you will not need anything
else other than the downloads to set up the treasure hunts.) HOWEVER they
were also designed with a built in flexibility such that you can INSERT
them into a treasure hunt you are already creating.
To add to the flexibility, we've enabled each treasure hunt puzzle to
be a 'stand alone' activity. In this way, YOU can choose how many of the
puzzles that you'd like to use and in what order. Additionally, built
into the design is a flexibility that allows them to be set up just about
anywhere - in your home, at your school or church, in your office building,
spread over an entire city…you get the idea. You aren't locked in
to any type of location - you choose the location and work it into each
puzzle according to each puzzle's simple set of instructions.
BONUS PUZZLE INCLUDED - This is where it gets REALLY fun!…Contained
within nearly every package is a BONUS puzzle that utilizes the answers
from the other puzzles in the package. What good is that, you say? Well,
if you use this particular puzzle as the final stop/location on your treasure
hunt, you'll have a fun finale that recaps every answer they gathered
along the way. It's also a great way to check if someone took a 'shortcut'
and skipped a location!
(More questions? See below for some commons Q&A's)
Our Current Treasure Hunt Puzzles Packages
Have
a question about our Treasure Hunt Puzzles packages? See below for some
commonly asked questions to determine if our puzzle packages are a good
fit for the type of treasure hunt you'd like to create. For a full list
of all of our themes, click here: Treasure Hunt Puzzles.
Q: How do the puzzles link together to make a treasure hunt?
A: Think of each puzzle as a boxcar to a train. There is a first car and
a last car and no two cars are side by side. Each puzzle has a set of
possible solutions. Only one of them is correct for each puzzle. Next
to the correct answer you'll write in the location of the NEXT stopping
point in the hunt. Next to the other 'wrong' answers you'll write locations
that AREN'T a part of the hunt. If a player visits one of these locations
they'll be wasting their time - they'll need to solve the puzzle. In this
way, the treasure hunt puzzles can literally be set up ANYWHERE (unique
to any other treasure hunt you order online.) The puzzle is built OUTSIDE
of the location. You can even reuse the same puzzles at a different location
for a different hunt!
Q: How long does the hunt take to complete?
A: This depends on three major factors: the time distance between your
treasure hunt puzzle locations, how many puzzle locations you have in
your actual hunt and how difficult you hide the clues. Using four puzzles
in your home will go much quicker than the same puzzles spread across
an entire city. Likewise, two hunts planned in the same space but have
different numbers of locations to go to will have different running times.
Finally, each puzzle relies on the participants FINDING the clues at each
location to solve the puzzle. Hiding the clues in plain sight or in difficult
to find places will speed up or slow down their ability to solve the puzzle
respectively. The puzzles themselves can be solved rather quickly…once
all of the clues are found, that is. The puzzles were designed to keep
the hunt moving, not to create any 'stuck' places. A successful hunt is
one when all of the participants feel like they are constantly on the
move and SUCCEEDING!
Q: I don't like one of the puzzles - it seems too hard for my 10 year
old, will the hunt work if I don't use that puzzle?
A: The puzzles were designed to be used like Legos. Use just one or use
all in the set - and in any order that you like. The only caveat is that
you CANNOT use the BONUS puzzle that is included with most of the sets
if you don't use ALL of the puzzles because the BONUS puzzles REQUIRE
the answers to EVERY puzzle in the set.
Q: I have a small apartment. With the hunt work there, too?
As long as each puzzle is in a different 'location' (i.e. room), you're
fine. Of course, the more space you have, the more options you have for
choosing locations, but the hunt would still 'work.' Just make sure that
each location has identifiable boundaries. For example, you wouldn't want
the participant to accidentally find clues to one puzzle while looking
for clues for another. Keep one puzzle in one room.
Q: I wanted to use the treasure hunt puzzles as part of a car rally
I'm planning. Will they work for that?
A: They will absolutely work as part of a car rally. However, because
you'll probably be using public places for your locations, it would be
good to have volunteers stationed at the stops to keep mishaps from happening
to the hidden clues for the puzzles (i.e. the general public finding them
and throwing them away, other players scattering them to make it harder
for future players, etc.)
Q: Will these work if a team has multiple ages (such as for a family
reunion where one family is a team with parents and young children)?
These treasure hunts were actually designed with a 'family reunion' in
mind. Treasure hunts are VERY difficult to design for multiple ages. Five
year olds can only handle so much cerebral activity and adults would get
bored with anything that a grade school child would enjoy. That's why
we developed our TWO part treasure hunt design. Half of the activity is
to physically find the clues hidden about each location. The other half
is solving the puzzle. When there are mixed ages on a 'team' simply ask
the younger participants to do all the physical searching for the clues.
In this way, every member has a task to do for the team!
Q: I want to plan a treasure hunt with 100 people - will these work?
A: No matter if you download a treasure hunt or create one on your own,
treasure hunts for larger groups are very challenging to plan. Those who
design them get paid big bucks to create treasure hunts that can facilitate
large numbers of people. The challenges you run into for larger groups
exist OUTSIDE of the treasure hunt puzzles themselves - you'll be dealing
with more of crowd control issues. Built into the hunt itself will be
solutions for keeping all of the teams from heading to the first location
at the same time, etc. Although we've designed hunts for clients with
participants in the 100s/1000s, it would be outside the scope of these
products to provide the necessary information to fully cover a hunt of
that magnitude - there aren't a lot of 'generalities' at play. We would
need to know exactly the size of the group, WHERE the hunt will take place,
the age groups, etc. However, all that being said, YES they would work
as long as you had the crowd control to deal with the sheer numbers the
way you would for ANY kind of treasure hunt stop.
Q: I have a hunt I'm already working on. How do I incorporate a couple
of the puzzles into my own hunt?
A: Although the puzzles were designed to work together to complete a 'story',
all but THE ROSE can be used a la carte. Simply take one of the puzzles
and place it (per its individual instructions) at one of the locations
of your hunt.
Q: We want to hold a treasure hunt inside of a school gym. Will these
work there?
A: If we keep to the rule of ONE puzzle for ONE location then the answer
would be yes…you'd be able to use ONE puzzle. Each location has to
have a clearly defined physical boundary - with places to hide the clues.
A gym is a large room - you would need to create your own boundaries within
the room in order to 'make it work' but we HIGHLY wouldn't suggest it
as it would be questionable on how fun any treasure hunt would be in one
big room.
Q: What if I get stuck setting up the hunt?
A: We very much enjoy supporting our treasure hunts and adventures. We
receive all types of emails everyday. Priority is always given to those
emails from customers who need assistance with what they ordered - typically
a same day turnaround. However, please note that although we work very
hard to respond within hours, we cannot guarantee that time frame so PLEASE
do not wait until the last minute to go through the materials. Last minute
panic emails are responded to as fast as we can…but we can't be responsible
for any procrastinating on our customers' parts.
Q: If I don't end up using the treasure hunt because my event was canceled,
I can just email you and receive a refund, right?
A: Because it is impossible to 'return' the product the way you might
a pair of shoes or a book at a bookstore, we must reserve the right to
honor refunds only to those situations that we are or can be responsible
for. We cannot be held responsible for products that weren't used for
certain events, but would likely be used for others.
Q: I don't have time to read the instructions right away. I can just
go through it an hour before my guests arrive, right?
A: We can't emphasize enough the importance of going through the materials
in enough time before your event so that you have time to ask any questions
that you might have. Sometimes, too, when you go through the materials
in advance you can come up with fun ideas to make the treasure hunt more
exciting - or would like to ask us to help with that (which we love to
do, as well.) The stress of arriving guests can impede your ability to
clearly go through the instructions.
Q: I placed my order one hour before my guests arrived at the party
and realized that I didn't have time to read the instructions and put
the hunt together. Surely I can get a refund for that, right?
A: As with our other examples, we must reserve the right to honor refunds
only to situations that are under our control or that we can be responsible
for - as there isn't any way to truly 'return' a download. Once you have
it…you get to keep it forever…and, in the case with our treasure
hunt puzzles, you can use them over and over.
Q: What age group is best suited for the puzzles?
A: The puzzles themselves are relatively easy to solve, once all of the
clues are found, that is. Based on the feedback we've received from our
customers (we've been offering these puzzles for over a decade now!) we've
heard that ages 10 and up have no problem solving the puzzles. Ages 8-9
might need a nudge from an adult to get them 'unstuck' should they run
into some trouble. Younger than 8 will have troubles solving the puzzles
on their own. Of course, these are GENERALITIES only. A nine year old
who works puzzles all the time might have an easier time over a 13 year
old who hates doing puzzles and never tries them. These are only guidelines.
Q: Can the themes be interchanged?
A: Yes and depends. As we like to think of the puzzles as Lego pieces,
they can definitely be linked together in any combination you'd like.
In fact, some of our customers have emailed us saying that they've been
able to create some fun combinations for their kids on rainy days using
puzzles from different collections. The DEPENDS comes in when you are
talking about the BONUS puzzles. As long as you use EVERY puzzle from
a given set, then you can use the bonus puzzle from THAT PARTICULAR set,
as the bonus puzzles require the answers from every puzzle in the set
it accompanies.
Q: Are these just for kids?
A: Although some themes lend themselves more to kids than adults, our
treasure hunt puzzles collections have literally been enjoyed by ALL groups
over the decade+ they've been offered. They are non age specific for a
purpose. Although, we have to admit that there is a 'lighter side' to
our treasure hunt puzzles - nothing too serious in subject matter. If
you are looking for something a little (or a LOT) more sophisticated for
an adult crowd, check out our QUESTING section!
Q: How does the final 'Bonus' puzzle work?
A: Most of our treasure hunt puzzles collections include a bonus puzzle
with the package. The other puzzles in the collection can be linked in
any order that you'd like but the bonus puzzle HAS to be the final puzzle
in the hunt. The bonus puzzles are impossible to solve without having
the answers to the other puzzles in the collection. This also provides
a great 'check' to see if any team/player cut a corner along the way.
If they skipped a location for any reason, they won't be able to solve
the final puzzle without going back and solving the puzzle they skipped.
A great way to catch those 'clever cheaters.'
Q: How do I download the hunt once I've ordered it?
A: There are actually two different ways to download all items through
our download store. The first is via a link on the final page of the ordering
process (a link is provided on the page.) The second is via an email that
is sent immediately upon order completion (a link is provided within.)
This email is SEPARATE from your receipt email. If you do not readily
see this other email, check your SPAM/JUNK folder as it might accidentally
land there. We STRONGLY suggest that you RIGHT click the link(s) and choose
SAVE TARGET AS or SAVE LINK AS (depending on the browser you are using)
so that you'll have the file saved to your computer. If you just click
on the link, you can open the file but that doesn't mean you've saved
it. Remember, once you've purchased the puzzles, you can reuse them for
other parties and events later!
Q: How do I open the file once I've downloaded it?
A: If you've saved the file to your computer, it's just a matter of double
clicking on the file in EXPLORE. Remember that the files are in standard
Adobe Acrobat PDF format (the free reader comes on all computers.) If
you try to open the file in any other application (such as WORD, etc.)
you won't be able to read the file.
Q: Will I need anything else to make the hunt work?
A: EVERYTHING you need to run the treasure hunt is included in each download.
That having been said, there are some things that you might find helpful
such as providing some pens/pencils for your participants or providing
goodies at the end of the hunt (but these typically go without saying.)
Q: I was in a hurry when I placed my order and only skimmed the page.
After I ordered the treasure hunt I realized that it was a download and
not something that was going to be mailed to me - can I ask for a refund
for that?
A: We've worked very hard over the years to carefully detail on every
page that these treasure hunts are indeed digital downloads. NO shipping
charges are added when you place your order (unless you are ordering some
of our other physical items such as our cool antiqued paper, etc.) Because
there isn't any way to 'return' a download, we cannot be responsible for
providing free products for those who didn't take the time to read our
descriptions.