How DFW Scavenger Hunt Planned an Adventure In Flower Mound -- With the Help of QR Codes

We were recently contacted by a local chapter of a youth organization who were interested in planning an event around an upcoming annual celebration. When we received their inquiry, we saw a compelling opportunity to work with a group that’s doing great things in our community. 

The goal of the day was to reunite the membership together after summer break, and they felt like a scavenger hunt would be a great way to celebrate.

Now we love hosting hunts, and we love building hunts, but this was a new challenge. Why? Because the group wanted a hunt that would send families all through the suburbs of Flower Mound, Highland Village, Copper Canyon, Lantana, Bartonville and Double Oak. They were eager to create an event that celebrated their community, an attitude that’s also key to everything we do. But this was a big neighborhood, and as of yet, we’d always only offered hunts on foot. 

To create a hunt like this, we’d need to require teams to drive, and we’d also need to find checkpoints along the route as well, to give them spots to regroup, solve puzzles, and make their way to the next spot.

We saw an opportunity here as well. Central to the group's mission is nurturing future Black leaders, and together we realized that we could use the checkpoints to showcase Black-owned businesses in the neighborhood. Working in conjunction with our client as well as the local businesses, including Room 5280 Escape Room and Adventure Kids, we designed a course that took players through town -- starting at their homes and ending at a surprise local landmark. 

The hunt kicked off with a mass text, a clue they’d need to decipher in order to discover their first stop, the Flower Mound library. Once they arrived there, they had to look out for a QR code which they could scan for a clue to their next stop. 

QR codes have had a huge resurgence in the last year or so, thanks to offering a contact-free, safe solution for delivering information. And we took advantage in a big way. By posting the codes at the checkpoints along the route, we were able to send teams to links on our site where they could solve the puzzles. This structure allowed for a self-guided experience, one that didn’t require a host to hop from place to place, meaning we could cover far more ground than our on-foot hunts. 

Creating the content of the hunt was a collaborative process as well. The teams researched and answered questions about Black history and culture, guaranteeing that the participants would take away new knowledge and, we hoped, a greater appreciation for the purpose of the day.

It was a genuine honor for DFW Scavenger Hunt to participate in planning and pulling off the event. We’re grateful to the community leaders who included us, and we’re committed to continuing to support causes that actively improve the lives of others.