For my mood board, I took the emotions of excitement and adventure which are feelings we want to evoke for our scavenger hunt themed game.
- Physical treasure hunt around Stanford campus
One direction is to have an interactive and competitive scavenger hunt set up to find a hidden treasure, left by Jane Stanford. Teams will be provided with a map of the university and given a series of clues that will lead them to the treasure’s location. The clues will range from puzzles to historical facts and all participants must use their wit and intelligence to solve the riddles. The first team to find the treasure will be rewarded with a special prize.
This approach would contain elements of challenge and narrative, depending on how close to the storyline the puzzles and exploration are tied. There may even be an element of discovery, depending on the broad or narrow range of the clues, and as with all team games, fellowship will be an important part of the success of the game.
The physicality of using the entire Stanford campus as a map and using spaces such as Memorial Church or the Rodin sculptures as clues and areas for the players to interact with uses evocative spaces. The connection to using the places that we pass by in everyday life and turning them into the pieces of the puzzle that we create will be an entirely adventure experience with the evocation of new ideas onto old places.
- SAP focused, chemistry Stanford themed
The second direction that I thought of was a chemistry themed scavenger hunt game focused on creating the elusive elixir of life. The players will be tasked with finding clues and items hidden around SAP in order to create the recipe for the elixir. As they progress through the game, they will learn about the elements and compounds needed to make the elixir, and the chemistry behind it. An old Stanord chemistry professor’s handwritten notes on his findings could be the starting clue to get them rolled into this scavenger hunt to discover the secret to immortality.
Similar to the first, the fun elements include fellowship, challenge, and a little bit of discovery. However, this game has more elements of narrative that can be tied to it. Especially since the scope of the scavenger hunt is tied to one building, there can be a lot more that’s put into the storylining and creating an immersive experience with environmental storytelling with the chemistry ties. Furthermore, with the narrative being fantasy-esque with the elixir of life, there can be fun narrative twists with real life props that can be fantastical in nature.
- Library hunt
The third direction is a Stanford library (maybe West stacks in Green library?) themed scavenger hunt game is a great way to explore the library and uncover the secrets of Jane Stanford. The game can start by giving participants clues to find the missing will of Jane Stanford. As they move through the library, participants have to locate key documents, which can all be hidden in call numbers and page numbers of various books in the stacks to obtain the will. Along the way, they will discover more about Jane Stanford, her life and her contributions to Stanford University. Participants will also have to answer questions, solve puzzles, and complete other challenges to find the will.
As another scavenger hunt type of game, this game also draws upon similar fun elements including challenge and narrative. With this game however, there will likely be a stronger focus on challenge with the puzzles being the greater emphasis as opposed to the previous games that rely a little more upon the space. This challenge aesthetic can focus on more numbers-heavy puzzles and historical facts that can be found within books at the library.
