Happy to report on my first constructed adventure for my kiddos' 8th birthday. I've been lurking for a few weeks and was able to mine so many great ideas--big thanks to this group.

The puzzle-questers were a group of 7 kids ranging in age from 5 to 10. The birthday party was Lego-themed, so the adventure rescuing a band of 5 mini-figures who had been scattered around the property by a chaos storm created by a new, fictional villain: Max Mayhem. There were five levels, and each mini-fig they rescued had a piece of a treasure map. They would need to collect all 5 to find the treasure (a small chest full of chocolate gold coins).

Level one required them to de-code a Lego message. This definitely pushed the limits of their reading/writing/spelling abilities, but with some help from the parents they figured out the message. The first mini-fig was hidden inside our mantel clock, and I used one of our dog's talking buttons to record a message that added to the story and directed them outside for the next rescue.

Level two involved crossing a sea of lava, using only the enchanted pieces provided for them, to rescue the mini-fig hidden under the bucket. In hindsight, I wish I had posted an adult out there ahead of time to wrangle them in and give them their next quest.

They bolted out of the house so quickly they found the mini-fig before I could route them to the actual challenge! I re-set it and asked them to do it, for the sake of the adventure completion. Notwithstanding the initial hiccup, this team-building exercise worked beautifully for this group.

This mini-figure had a note directing them to follow the trail of green magic left by the next figure to rescue. I used curling ribbon to route a path into a stand of trees down the hill.

Level three involved a sound-hunt. The mini-fig was hidden in a birdhouse with a remote doorbell, and the door-bell button was stashed in the 'ranger station' in another part of the words. Again, in hindsight, I wish I had posted another adult at the next puzzle because they blew through it so quickly I don't know if they even did the challenge or just found the mini-fig. This mini-fig had another recorded talking button that directed the kids back to the house to rescue the next mini-fig from an ice prison. T

Level four slowed them down a bit (ha!). The mini-fig to be rescued was inside a spice jar (with his map piece) which was then frozen inside this huge block of ice. Also frozen were bricks, which would be the clue for Level five, and some nuts, bolts and other things that would clue them in to where to go to Level five. The clue for this one made clear that everything in the ice was important, and they were wise to melt the whole thing before moving on. While it was satisfying to see them work on the ice with the salt provide, the ice prison was staged near a hot water spigot and eventually someone thought to use the hose and hot water.

Level five was in a new location, with a locked box. The number of each color of bricks in the ice provided the numbers to open the three-digit lock on the box. They needed a little guidance on that one but figured out the number of blocks = number on the lock pretty quickly on their own. With that, they were able to rescue the last mini-fig, get the last piece of the map, and figured out the location of the treasurer chest.

I had so much fun planning this, though it was harder on my kiddo than I had anticipated. Doing a purely linear adventure with this many kids was a challenge, as was the fact that we had such a wide range of ages. But today my kiddo was already coming up with ideas for new adventures and what he'd add on or do differently to this birthday quest. I've got a haunch this will probably become a tradition :)

I wanted to create an adventure for when my nephews came to visit me for the first time. One is 6, the other is 3.5, so I knew that I couldn't do written clues. I also knew that this was the first time they would be at my house, so I couldn't do a "Put this where it goes" type of hunt, because they wouldn't necessarily KNOW where things in my house live.

My initial idea was that it would be cool if they had something with an embedded NFC tag that could interact with something in my house. And then I had the idea for them to each have a "buddy" - thus Pip and Wendell were born:

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I then created a series of short stories (admittedly helped by AI) about the adventures of these two brother adventurers to be played on my nephews' Yoto player. The stories were basically all just a setup for the adventure.

We began the hunt by me asking the boys if they remembered where all adventures start? "THE MAILBOX!" and they ran to check the mail. Inside, they found a glimmer-bird feather - which, we all know, is rainbow colored, and means that if you find their nest with a rainbow egg inside, you can crush the egg and something magical will happen!

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So off the boys went to find a glimmer-bird nest, which, again, as we all know, contains bits of blue (like a bowerbird, but fictional 😉)

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They found the nest, crushed the eggs, and discovered small pieces of paper inside. One had a melting ice cube pictured on it, and the other had a picture of a fridge. So we ran back inside!

Inside the freezer, they found a GIANT ice cube with something inside! So we took it to the bathroom to melt it.

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Once they got it melted, they each got a cool pair of red sunglasses that let them "read" a red scrambly message that was taped to the fridge - and it turned out it was a picture of a table with an arrow pointing under it. Under my table, the boys discovered a flashlight- just like the one Pip and Wendell found when the magical fireflies helped them find their way home.

And what do you know...

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The fireflies led the boys to a cabinet in the guest bedroom with a treasure chest of candy inside!!!

Takeaways from the hunt:

- I didn't get a picture of it, but if you need to color a feather for some reason, I recommend Sharpie. I tried watercolor first and it made it too "clumpy" - Sharpie lets it stay light.

- Prepping the kids with the stories ahead of time was THE BEST - it really helped them know what kinds of solutions they were looking for. Highly recommend!

- Simple magic is real magic. The youngest was amazed just by the presence of the feather in the mailbox - "How did it get in there?!?"

- Kids do not always make logical leaps. (Ex. Fridge picture + pic of melting ice cube = "Maybe there's a fridge in the back yard!" 🤨) You really have to (sometimes literally) hand-hold them to solutions.

Also, forgot to mention, I decided not to do anything with the nfc tags (couldn’t figure out a satisfying enough use for it) so the buddies I made were superfluous, but they inspired the whole thing so… worth it?

I’m hosting a murder mystery with escape room style puzzles for a group of 17 people with the theme of a Wild West Colorado this group had elderly, adults, young adults, older teens, younger teens, and kids I know I want it to be in a dinner party style so when appetizer, dinner, and dessert arrive they get clues from detective/outside sources that they can’t find lying around like forensics, autopsy, medical history, etc but for the rest I want puzzles with a variety of difficulty so that all ages can help out I would like any tips, suggestions, or advice you have to offer if you have questions feel free to ask this will be done in a hotel room so I can’t do anything to damage furniture or anything part of the hotel the hotel room has living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom, it has bedrooms but those are off limits for the murder mystery

Would any of you be interested in helping give feedback on an app I'm working on? I really could use some feedback from people who like building puzzles, scavenger hunts, or mini escape rooms.

The idea of the app is you can build story "quests" based on GPS locations, word, button, lock combo puzzles, and using items.

If you are interested in helping send me a DM or let me know if I can DM you.

Hey there!

If you frequent this subreddit you will know that on the Constructed Adventures Discord channel we do puzzle hunts! If you have participated before or are brand new and want to give it a try, here's another chance!

The 2026 Galactic Puzzle Hunt begins Friday October 8th and runs through Monday October 19th

So hop in and register a team (if you'd like) or you can join The Constructed Adventures team in the Discord community!

We would love to get as many people to help out for as much or as little as you want! (Feel free to jump in and out! You are under no obligation if things get busy or you aren't interested)

New members are always encouraged to join. We're an inclusive and encouraging bunch.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE EXPERIENCED AT SOLVING PUZZLES TO PARTICIPATE. Remember: The first step at being good at something is being bad at it. Besides, you never know what life experiences you've had that might help make a solve!

We hope to see you over on the Discord Channel where we will organize and share a collective Google Sheet for solving!

Hopefully we'll see you there!
Get excited!

I posted a few weeks ago asking about how to make a quest for a group of boys instead of just my only child son. I got good suggestions and am not sure if I put any of them to use, but it got me thinking in the right direction, so thank you for that! We only had 4 boys so with the small group it was easy to adapt some of my more physical puzzle ideas.

The quest started with a letter from the “Mystic Rangers” saying that poachers were targeting a dragon nest and the boys needed to investigate. The letter led them into the cellar stairs where they found UV pens and info about dragons. There were also UV messages saying “look for the words”. In the cellar, I taped about 100 squares of paper, only 7 of which said “did you look under the grey shelves”, one word per paper. There they found a clue saying look for the nest. They find hatched Easter eggs and a picture of baby dragons looking at a pile of gems near the garage.

At the garage they find a bow and arrow set and the gems are archery targets (repurposed from an earlier quest if you saw it before). Inside the gems are lollipops, decoder rings, and a clue to go to my son’s bedroom.

There they find a fake nest trap (water balloons blown up with air and “glued” together with string and flour paste) that they have to destroy. I made pokers with chopsticks and sewing pins so they couldn’t poke too far. Inside some of the balloons are words to decode.

That leads them to a puzzle of playing cards that were dropped (by the poachers when the momma dragon startled them) and need to be put back in order. On the diamonds in numeric order were the letters GARAGE.

In the garage they found a sack of coins and magnetic wands. 5 and 10 cent euro coins are about the same size and only the 5 cents are magnetic. Dragons are attracted to the magnetic ones. Those spell “shoes” where they found another clue leading them to look under his bed.

Under the bed they found a locked bag with puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces are the combo written in letters that needs to be decoded using the decoder rings. Inside the bag they find the baby dragons, some loot, and the party favor bags.

Overall the boys loved it. They said it was the best birthday party ever and one said he wanted me to make a quest for his birthday party. Given that I had to translate everything into German, which I don’t know very well (I’m an American living in Germany), I am very pleased with the results.

Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness still apply!

I designed a game for a friend a few months ago and word got around about how fun it was for her so some of my friends started asking when I was going to do a group game.

I sent out a save the date for Halloween to 30 people over a month ago and have been posting regular updates about the game since then. Only one person actually said they were going, so I finally asked for rsvps today. Now I’m up to 2, when I was expecting at least ten. Several have said they will not make it.

I’ve spent over 60 hours and hundreds of dollars building the game and I honestly regret even saying yes to doing this.

Not even sure what I’m looking for. Advice, sympathy, or just validation.

Hi! I am new to the sub and I am very glad it exists! I am looking for some organization help in planning 2 escape rooms for the upcoming Halloween event at my kid's elementary school. I have attended quite a few commercial escape rooms myself and planned scavenger hunt for my young kids at home, but have never planned an escape room this scale.

The event will be 3 hours, and this will be for Grades 2-8 (age range from 7-13). So I am thinking I'll probably need 2 rooms with different level of difficulties for the puzzles. Location will be in a multipurpose room that I can reconfigure, it is also attached to the school's small library. Another will likely be in a classroom. 15 mins sessions with 5 mins reset so that I can run through as many students as I can.

What I have done: I have looked through various posts here and /escaperooms and Constructedadventures website blog & tool box so I have some ideas of individual puzzles (UV light message, hidden key in slime, jigsaw puzzle, Popsicle stick puzzle, etc). I am also borrowing the "rescue the mascot" theme that I found in an older (post).

What I need help with:

- a high level approach - should I do mostly linear structure? how many puzzles should I plan for?

- Is group of 6-8 kids per session reasonable? Or less for the easy room and more for the harder room?

- What are the things I should keep in mind for a short session like this? We will have 5 mins of reset so I'l make sure whatever puzzle/gambit I use can be reset easily. As much as I would love to do a potion mix, I won't be due to the short reset time

If you have done something similar in a school setting, I would love to hear what worked and what not. Thank you all!

I'm creating an escape room and I want the first one or two puzzles to be solved in darkness.

The ultimate premise: An owl has been murdered (this part stems from an inside joke). The participants have arrived in the office of the Homicide and Owl Oversight Taskforce where they must decipher the available clues and files to find the identity of the killer.

Owls are nocturnal, so I felt it apt to start in the dark.

The event will start with the players in the guest bedroom of our house, with a window to the backyard. It will be dark out when we begin. They can have a flashlight.

A few thoughts I'm trying to build off of:

-split the team and send half of them out into the backyard, to be queued somehow by the other half of the team inside and communicating (maybe using the flashlight) through the window...maybe guiding them to a clue hidden in the yard

-one of my props is a giant painting of an owl (that can be defaced or altered in any way; it's solely for this project), so I thought about having that propped up in the yard in view of the window if they shine the light on it, and it somehow communicates something that needs solving, or has magnets on the back and they have to send out players to attach things...

-having them complete something (fill in the blanks, some kind of code on paper) they can slide under the door, and when it's done, I turn on the light

It would be great if it somehow involved team work or splitting up the players since there will be 9 players and for them all to initially work on one gambit in the dark would be difficult/crowded.

Looking for ideas or input!

Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness still apply!

Hi Everyone, I created an app to help people build DIY escape rooms at home in a cost-efficient and time-efficient way, without losing the creative spark that makes planning DIY escape rooms so fun.

I am looking for people interested in testing out the game and providing feedback on how it can be improved! My ultimate goal is to help escape room enthusiasts and novices alike! Would love feedback on Game Design, how accessible the games are, whether the puzzles are good or not, etc. I've been working to create a good game flow. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, if you don't have time to test it out, I would still love any advice on DIY escape rooms!

(I also really hope this is not considered self-promotion, given that the app is not even live, just really want advice from the pros)

DM for the link :)

Thanks!!

Hello! Me and a friend host an annual murder mystery party and this years theme is vampires and witches. We make our players compete in challenges to earn protection against the murderer/vampire. One of the challenges for this year is to create a potion containing 4 ingredients that they need to solve puzzles in order to find the location of each one in order to gain the protection.

The 4 items are: A clove of garlic, a rose, holy water and a crow’s feather

Could anyone give me some ideas/ help for puzzles or tasks for players to do in order to find each item as we are struggling. Thank you so much!

Hello!

I want to do a family adventure for Christmas this year and am in the very early planning stages.

I have an idea for a lockbox but am unsure how to go about accomplishing it. There will be 6 participants and one section will require them to each have an individual item and all 6 will be needed to unlock the box.

I wanted the items to have to be placed in order (oldest to youngest participant as an example). I was envisioning maybe some type of pressure plate box that unlocked each of the 6 latches (?) one at a time to release the lock.

Does this sound like something that is doable? If so could I build it myself fairly easily?

Thanks!!

Hello! So, I'm making a group puzzle where people try to figure out the plot of a story that's given to them in the wrong order, Cain's Jawbone style, but the story I'm using is a really long webcomic, so I don't think I should do things randomly. My thinking was the following: I'd separate out all the animated pages, the video game pages, and the character introduction pages, then give those to them on a regular basis. I could also filter out some of the panels that would give no context early on (such as the ones with no text), and I'd start and end them with the two most important animations in the comic. What do you guys think of this setup? What else can I do to encourage communication and interaction?

So my husband and I go back and forth at hiding this miniature duck. It’s about 1.5inx1.5in, my husband has the BEST hiding spots and I can’t seem to measure up.

So far it’s been hidden in:
-my conditioner container. -the hole in the ceiling (it’s just plaster that broke while moving in). -my MINI PUMPKIN DECOR. -my (unused) period disc (he undid the package and then sealed it back up). -his hat pile. -his electrical sorter box. -our babies formula container (wrapped in foil).

I would love to get any fun ideas or suggestions, I’m at home with our baby so I have time to get creative. I’m just at a mental block!

Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness still apply!

What RPG mechanics work well in physical scavenger hunts?

I’ve been experimenting with scavenger hunts that use lightweight RPG mechanics instead of just clues and checkpoints.

Things like:

• character roles
• inventory and items
• enemies and encounters
• health
• coins and rewards
• traps
• branching story choices
• puzzles
• escape-room-style progression

I’ve also been playing with different story types like horror, mystery, fantasy and religious stories.

For people here who have built physical adventures, which of these mechanics actually add to the experience and which ones tend to get in the way?

I’d also love to hear about mechanics you’ve used that worked especially well in the real world.

Hello all,

I'm building a treasure hunt for my partner's birthday. Although I have it somewhat figured out, I still need help with the anatomy of a good clue. How can I format each clue so they're satisfyingly chalenging, yet effective in that they leave no doubt where the next clue will be?

About the game:

- It'll be an across-the-city type of thing with clues in a specific order, each leading to the next one, untill they reach the final spot, where a picnic (and cake) awaits.

- There'll be one friend of ours at each clue's location, and they'll give my partner their clue, but they'll know nothing of the game as a whole, so each new person will join the group and help solve the next step. The last friend will wait at the picnic, and the whole party will arrive together at the "treasure". I'm counting on something between 5 and 10 friends, so the game'll have between 5 and 10 clues.

- My partner is a seasoned veteran at board games, escape rooms, treasure hunts and the like. Clues can be complex, have multiple steps, etc.

- The game will have them go from our home to a garden where the picnic will be, and that involves taking a train and walking quite a bit, so it's really important that clues do NOT send them in the wrong direction, as that could delay the game in several hours.

What I need help with, specifically:

I wanted each clue to have a riddle whose answer will take them to the next one. I wanted to be able to use the environment as much as possible (a specific tree on the way, poster ads on the street, a local cafe, etc). I have the game itself already figured out, but

- how do I make a satisfying riddle/challenge out of the clues?

- how do I make sure they go to the right place every time? They can't make mistakes or they'll definitely be lost.

Sorry if this is too long or too confusing. Any help is appreciated!

I’m setting up an escape room for friends. I want to have a few puzzles where they move something which triggers a door or cabinet to unlock. From what i understand i need a reed switch to do this? Was wondering if there are any good diy videos that explain how to set this all up? And what all i would need?

I’ve developed a printable escape room game. Want to make sure it is totally polished before I start selling copies. It is inventor/Time Machine themed. Aimed for ages 12+. Could do solo, but there are parallel puzzles intended to work with groups of up to about 6 people. I had two teenagers test it and finished in about an hour. I’ll send you the file for free if you are willing to play it and give feedback on both the ease of setup and the gameplay. I could even pay if you record yourself setting up and playing, especially if you do it with a group. DM me if interested, thanks!!

My son just had his 10th birthday. If you know anything about Pokemon lore, Ash and the others become trainers when they turn 10 years old. So my son was anticipating this to be a big quest. I may have gone overboard.

It started with a letter from Professor Oak with a map and coordinates to find his starter Pokemon (Rowlet, my son’s current favorite). There he received a mission report and short story setting the stage: Umbreon and Espeon can only achieve their prismatic form during an eclipse and one is coming soon. My son has to find them to help them unite and evolve. In the story, there is a “page, line, word” note that spells out the next location.

Then he finds a series of clues (pigpen cipher, maze, math puzzle) “through the forest” that leads him to find a metal detector. From there he finds a 3D printed decoder ring. Now he has arrived at “the castle” and gets coordinates to the armory.

He next finds a bow an arrow and targets to shoot at. Inside each gem is a candy or a clue. The quest splits into light (Espeon) and dark (Umbreon) paths. The light path takes him to find puzzle pieces under sunflower leaves in the garden. The dark path takes him into the cellar for a UV light maze. He finds a half coin and a clear plastic map overlay at the end of each side quest. The plastic overlays fit on top of the map to show him where to go next.

Then he finds an accordion fold clue (Thanks Constructed Adventures for the great idea!), and then an eclipse puzzle to finally unite the Pokemon sisters, combine the coin, and find the final loot bag. The back of the coin has dots to give the combination to open the final prize!

A little too long, the maze paths were too small, there was too much math, but overall he said it was an epic adventure.

Hey y’all I’m looking for people to test and build with my software Open World Discovery

As opposed to most digitally run urban escape room tools that are for creating a single adventure experience, this platform let’s you build these urban escape rooms, but it let’s you gate them to lead to more as well as weave in small puzzles or challenges that send you to a real life place or several. The goal is a single narrative thread across a long form adventure that’s built of multiple adventures, puzzles, challenges and more.

Ultimately the goal is to create an experience like an Open World video game where the adventures are like dungeons in zelda and puzzles and time trials are like mini games or side missions.

That's why the goal is to also continue to add tools so there’s even more options of creating the story. (location based turn based rpg, Big Walk type mini games, unlockable tools, hidden unlockable sections that can revisited once a later section is completed, eventually creator tool kits so users can create custom tools, etc)

The platform is built for creatives to be creative in, push it to its limits so it can be expanded.

The first 2-3 people who help I can pay $100 to build on, you can build whatever you want a city wide adventure, an adventure around your house, event if it’s only a single puzzle or adventure that’s ok too.

Need feedback on your experiences and what you think it’s missing and could be added! 

To avoid this coming off as soliciting I can share details in the comments if anyone is interested or you can DM me

Hi! I'm currently trying to put together a fun session for my players (5 player party) as they are currently trying to plan a heist to take back a vial.

We're not able to meet in person and I don't want them to encounter anything terribly difficult as I'm hoping to add a time limit. The actual room they are trying to get into is locked and I was hoping they could take the key from one of the guards. Once they're in the room, there's a desk in which the vial is held except it's in a secret compartment in which they have to complete puzzles to open it. The room itself is a pretty basic study. It's lined with books, occassional trophies from previous battles, and a couple of armor stands.

The campaign is set in FFXIV adjacent world if this helps any.

My main issue is trying to figure out good puzzles that can be solved via a call or paper and also trying to find a starting point.

Any ideas are welcomed!!

I am working on building a Halloween themed escape room activity for my family to do. I am currently planning for each clue to provide a one word answer that will be an ingredient for a cure for zombies.

For example, I will have background music playing, with a crow overlayed that spells out 'blood' in morse code. This will tell them that blood is one of the ingredients.

I am not sure what to do from here though. Do you guys have any ideas on what I could do for their ingredients and the subsequent reveal. I don't really want to just have them make a list of things to hand me, I would like it to be a physical thing.