Urban Treasure Hunt: How to Play and Organise One

It is an outdoor game played in the streets of a city. Each stop on the route hides a clue in something that is really there: a plaque, a statue, a shop sign, the year carved above a door. Solve it, and you get the next location. Instead of a treasure chest, the prize is the score, the story and the argument about who spotted the answer first.

• Treasure hunt: a trail of clues leading from one location to the next, ending in a final answer.
• Scavenger hunt: a list of things to find, photograph or do, often in any order.
• City escape game: a story-driven route with a case to solve, closer to an escape room in the open air.

The formats overlap, and most City Game routes borrow from all three.

1. Choose the city, the concept and the date.
2. Divide into teams. Four players per team keeps everyone involved.
3. Open the game at the starting point and work through the clues at your own speed.
4. Take a hint when a clue resists, so no team gets stuck.
5. Meet at the end point, compare scores and let the losing team buy the coffee.

Playing time, walking distance and available languages differ per city and per concept. You will find the specifics for each destination in the overview of cities where you can play a City Game.

If the aim is to discover the city, take an exploration route such as the Secrets of exploration game, which leads you past the highlights and into the streets behind them.

If your teams would rather crack a case, choose a story route like The Syndicate city escape game and treat the city as an outdoor escape room.

An urban treasure hunt is an easy team activity because everyone contributes something: one person reads, another spots details, a third keeps the group moving. Larger bookings are handled on the page for companies and groups.

• Pick a compact city centre so the walking stays comfortable.
• Keep teams between two and six players.
• Book a table for afterwards; the debrief is half the fun.
• Tell everyone to charge their phone and bring a power bank.
• Agree on a finish time in advance, so slower teams are not left behind.

• Stop walking before you read the phone, and step aside from traffic and pedestrians first.
• Keep an eye on children at crossings, especially in busy centres.
• Historic routes include cobblestones, stairs and slopes, and accessibility differs per city. Check the city page if someone in your group needs a flat route.
• Respect the opening hours and rules of churches, museums and private courtyards along the way.

It is a clue-based walking game in a city, played by small teams on a phone, in which each solved clue points to the next location.

From two players to a large group split into teams. Every team plays with its own phone.

Most routes run for a couple of hours, and you set the pace yourself. Exact playing times are listed per city and concept.

No. The route, the clues and the hints are all in the game on your phone.

Families play these routes often. Mixed teams of adults and children work best, and the city page tells you the walking distance in advance.

An urban treasure hunt gives a group a reason to look at a city properly instead of walking past it. Choose the concept that suits your team and the city you want to explore.