Scavenger hunt

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the 1979 feature film, see Scavenger Hunt.
Scavenger hunt participants cross an item off their list

A scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, which the participants seek to gather or complete all items on the list, usually without purchasing them.[1] Usually participants work in small teams, although the rules may allow individuals to participate. The goal is to be the first to complete the list or to complete the most items on that list. In variations of the game, players take photographs of listed items or be challenged to complete the tasks on the list in the most creative manner. A treasure hunt is another name for the game, but it may involve following a series of clues to find objects or a single prize in a particular order.

According to game scholar Markus Montola, scavenger hunts evolved from ancient folk games.

homeless person.[6]

Examples

Scavenger hunts are regularly held at American universities, a notable modern example being the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, founded in 1987. An event organized by Escape Manor Inc. in Ottawa, Canada currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world's largest scavenger hunt with 2,732 participants.[7]

A common game at Easter is the egg hunt, where players search for concealed eggs. Halloween scavenger hunts have been moderately replacing trick-or-treating.[citation needed]

Letterboxing is an outdoor treasure hunt activity that combines elements of orienteering, art and problem-solving, and dates back to the 1850s. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (such as parks or open moorland) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a logbook and a rubber stamp.

A Geocache in Germany

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a global positioning system (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches").

The treasure hunt as a party game is attributed to socialite Elsa Maxwell. In 1944, she wrote: "In the Treasure Hunt [...] intellectual men were paired off with great beauties, glamor with talent. In the course of the night's escapades anything could happen."[8]

An armchair treasure hunt is an activity that requires solving

MAZE: Solve the World's Most Challenging Puzzle
by Christopher Mason, with the publishers awarding a prize of $10,000 USD to the reader who deciphered and solved a riddle using clues in the book's illustrations. Ultimately the prize was split among the twelve readers who came closest to the solution. The contest is now void, though MAZE remains in publication.

In 1956, comedian

quiz show scandal
.

In 2012, the

City Hall, London. The treasure hunt in the form of a spy mission game formed part of World Record London for 2012.[10]
A separate points competition was held with one team emerging the winner of the 'treasure'.

Internet and media scavenger hunts

Sci-Fi Channel's series The Lost Room.[11][12] Actor Misha Collins currently holds the Guinness World Record for organizing GISHWHES, the world's largest media scavenger hunt which included 14,580 participants in 972 teams from 90 countries as participants. A 2012 hunt organized by eBay had prizes totaling $200,000.[13]
Many online hunts are subject to internet gaming laws that vary between jurisdictions. You can also play scavenger hunts with multiple people.

Simulated treasure hunting might also be considered a minor video game genre; for example Colossal Cave Adventure, Zork and Pimania involve treasure hunts.

With the explosion of mobile apps, there has also been an explosion of how Scavenger Hunts can be used within an app. Beyond the typical find and return method of a scavenger hunt, apps now allow for participants to snap photos, take videos, answer questions, GPS check-ins, scan QR codes and more directly in an app. Vastly expanding the concept of what a scavenger hunt can consist of. Some companies, such as thesecret.city, have started to run scavenger hunts through popular messaging apps, like WhatsApp and Telegram.

On top of this, a new genre of game (Alternate Reality Games or ARGs for short) has popularized a real-life/internet hybrid form of scavenger hunts. In these, users all over the world collaborate to solve puzzles based both on websites and in real world locations. The games unfold in real time and can run for multiple weeks or even months.

References

  1. ISBN 0071422463
    .
  2. ^ "The Hunter Games", The New Yorker. July 2, 2012.
  3. ^ "The Press: Elsa at War", Time Magazine. Nov. 7, 1944.
  4. ISSN 0024-3019
  5. ^ "Elsa Maxwell, The Hostess with the Mostest". Clan Maxwell Society of the USA. Retrieved 11 April 2010.
  6. ISBN 9780813540320
    .
  7. ^ "Largest scavenger hunt". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  8. ^ Time article Elsa at War retrieved April 10, 2007
  9. ^ "Armchair Treasure Hunt Review". Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Team London Ambassadors hunt for a world record title" (Press release). Team London Ambassadors. June 25, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  11. ^ "Win $5 M in Lost Room Hunt", Slice of SciFi. Nov. 22, 2006.
  12. ^ "Can you crack the code?", Google Blog. April 14, 2006.
  13. ^ Gilbert, Alorie (February 15, 2005). "eBay to give away $200,000 in online treasure hunt". cnet. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
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