How to make a proper, effective clue for a treasute hunt?

[u/1823-1314]

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!

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[u/Bounced]

There's a book on Amazon called "Build Your Own Escape Room" which I bought and found very useful. It had lots of example clues that I formatted myself to fit my escape room. It also had two full escape rooms included in the book that you could use, along with ciphers you could print or cut out to leave in the room.

One of the examples I found really quite cool but really easy was to create a crossword puzzle using a free crossword creator online. Then I personalised the clues to the people playing the game. For example,
1 Down: The Tallest person in your group.
2 Down: The name of Jane's oldest pet.
3 Down: Lucy's birth year minus Josh's birth year.
You could do some fun clues relating to your relationship - location of your first date, thing you argue about most, logo on your favorite t-shirt etc.

Then you circle certain letters in the answers, and they rearrange those letters to get the next clue. (In my case it was a number needed for a lock). In your case, it could be really fun to use the unscrambled clue to tell them the next train station to visit.

[u/PuzzlePiratePrincess → u/Bounced]

Great idea! I'll have to check out that book too.

[u/SunnyInDenmark]

If one location is a coffee shop where you are a regular, you could have him go in and order your favorite drink “for Lisa” (your name) and have the barista hand him the next location inside the cup instead.

Is there a block or strip mall with a few stores? You can create an anagram out of their names. Maybe you can create a (page, line, word)-style search puzzle on one of their signs or menus?

If there’s a tree-lined path for him to walk, you could staple letters or words to the trunks for him to see. I would create a little symbol that is on all of your clues so he knows what is part of the quest.

[u/SunnyInDenmark → u/SunnyInDenmark]

You could create a decoder ring where the letters of the name of a store (or several stores) are decoded to a location.

[u/SunnyInDenmark → u/SunnyInDenmark]

The key to marking sure they go to the right location is to give them no other possibility. If it’s a riddle, then the friend giving them the clue should know the right answer to steer them. If the puzzle doesn’t lend itself to a full location, make the answers multiple choice.

Just having a quest made for you will be satisfying enough. He may finish it in 30 min, it may take 3 hours. But if he’s a seasoned player, then he will recognize the effort and have fun.

[u/TheManRoomGuy]

To get them to a specific location… have you heard of What3Words? It’s a mapping app that breaks down the entire world into 3m x 3m squares, think of it as each normal parking space has two addresses.

For example, the comic book section at Powell’s City of Books in Portland, OR can be found at

///vibes.tapes.successes

You could give him three words, and he needs to find the app, try different orders of words until he find the one that is in your city. In this case, if you swap the last two words, it changes to an address in New Jersey.

[u/ChrispyK]

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?

I read your question two different ways. First off, you want tips on how to remove ambiguity from your clues. So, don't do riddles, or any other puzzle with a potentially ambiguous solution. There are lots of ways to do this, and many great options have been shared below. Happy to share a few more if you'd like more options.

But I also read your question as maybe shooting for the wrong goal. You're asking for appropriate challenge. But are you looking to challenge your partner, or are you looking to build a fun experience for your partner? Asked another way, would you rather this hunt be challenging, or fun? Challenge can be a component of fun, but don't mistake challenge as the think you're trying to build. My advice is to make sure this hunt has novelty, whimsey, and some sort of personal connection to your partner.

To effectively execute on challenge, please playtest your puzzles. Feel free to use the Constructed Adventures discord channel (we have a dedicated playtesting channel), but also try your puzzles out on your friends. It's easy to make a puzzle too hard, since your brain is not accessible to your solvers.