Scavenger hunt ideas for adults, work parties and family events

In short

• A scavenger hunt is a list of things to find, snap or do against the clock. It suits adults because it runs on energy, not knowledge.
• The best scavenger hunt ideas for work are about the room and the people in it: odd socks, an old receipt, someone who joined the same year as you.
• Leave out anything that involves drinking, touching a colleague or taking things from people’s desks and bags.
• Keep it walking pace, keep it out of off-limits areas and give every team a role that doesn’t need running.
• Lists for adults, offices, photos, Christmas and indoor venues follow, with clues, then my own big-screen version.

Most scavenger hunt ideas online are written for a nine-year-old’s birthday party. That’s a shame, because adults love a hunt just as much, as long as nobody has to crawl under a hedge for a pine cone. At a work party or a family day, a good hunt gets people out of their seats and talking to people they don’t know, inside a minute.

What is a scavenger hunt?

A scavenger hunt is a game where the organisers hand out a list of items to find or tasks to complete, and teams race to tick off as many as they can before time runs out. A treasure hunt is a close cousin: it usually means following a trail of clues, in order, to one prize.

The idea as a grown-up party game goes back to the gossip columnist Elsa Maxwell, who popularised scavenger hunts with a run of exclusive New York parties from the early 1930s. So the adult version is the original. The children borrowed it from us.

What are good scavenger hunt ideas for adults?

Good scavenger hunt ideas for adults are items that are already in the room but take a bit of nerve or a conversation to collect. Points go up with the awkwardness.

Easy finds (1 point):

1. A business card
2. A pen with another company’s name on it
3. A receipt
4. Someone wearing odd socks
5. A coin from a year before 2000

Harder finds (3 points):

1. Someone who shares your birthday month
2. The oldest object anyone in the room is carrying
3. A person who has worked at three or more companies in the same city
4. A phone photo from more than ten years ago
5. Someone who can say “good evening” in four languages

Cheeky finds (5 points):

1. A selfie with someone from a table you haven’t spoken to
2. The most senior person in the room, signing your list
3. A table willing to sing the first line of a song you choose

What should go on an office scavenger hunt list?

An office scavenger hunt list should be built around your own company: its history, its in-jokes and the people in the room. Generic items get a smile. Items about your people get a roar.

• Someone who joined in the same year as you
• A receipt older than your newest recruit
• A photo of your table with the chief executive in it
• Someone from every department, standing in a line
• An old company logo, on anything at all

Now the leave-outs. Acas lists touching someone against their will, a hug for example, as sexual harassment, and says employers must take steps to stop it happening in the first place. So “get a kiss from a stranger” and “borrow someone’s tie” stay in the old party books where they belong. Don’t send anyone through colleagues’ desks, drawers or bags either.

No drinking items. In 2017, 20.4% of adults in Great Britain said they did not drink alcohol at all, and Acas notes that discrimination can happen at work social events. “Down a shot with the boss” leaves people out for faith, health or plain preference.

What are good photo scavenger hunt ideas?

Good photo scavenger hunt ideas are poses and scenes rather than objects, so nothing has to change hands and the whole table can join in. Nine that work:

1. Your whole table in one shot, everyone pulling the same face
2. Recreate a famous painting with what is on the table
3. Something the exact colour of your company logo
4. A reflection that includes the photographer
5. Your table pretending to be a boy band on an album cover
6. The tallest and shortest person in the room, side by side
7. A slow-motion “winning the cup” moment
8. Something in the venue older than everyone at your table combined
9. A photo with the host

At a family event, ask first. The NSPCC says children should be consulted and consent before a photo is taken, used or shared, with parental consent for under-16s too, and that a child should never be left out of an activity because there is no consent for their photo. Give those players a non-photo task worth the same points.

What are good Christmas scavenger hunt ideas?

Good Christmas scavenger hunt ideas use what a festive party already has lying around: hats, crackers, jumpers and decorations. Nothing needs buying.

• A paper crown from a cracker, worn by someone who swore they wouldn’t
• The worst cracker joke on your table, read aloud to another table
• Three different Christmas jumpers in one photo
• A bauble, a candle and a napkin folded into something festive
• Someone who has worked through at least five Christmases at the company

A clue to finish on: “First sent in 1843, I now arrive by the sackful. Bring me one with a message inside.” The answer is a Christmas card. Henry Cole, the V&A’s founding director, sent the first Christmas card in 1843 and printed a thousand copies.

For more games built for a big festive room, see my Christmas party games for large groups.

Scavenger hunt ideas and clues: how to write a good one

A clue turns a list into a puzzle. Keep each one short, give it one right answer, and make that answer something guests can actually reach.

Classic riddles work because people half-remember them:

• “I have keys but open no locks.” (A keyboard.)
• “I have hands but cannot clap.” (A clock.)
• “The more I dry, the wetter I get.” (A towel.)
• “I go up and down but never move.” (The stairs. Walk, don’t run.)

Venue clues are better, because they’re about this room on this night: “find the person who booked tonight’s venue” or “find the sponsor’s name on the stage banner”. Write them after you’ve walked the venue.

How do you run an indoor scavenger hunt at a venue?

You run an indoor scavenger hunt by agreeing with the venue which spaces are in play, setting a walking-pace rule and keeping the hunt short. Inside ten to fifteen minutes is plenty.

Ask the venue first. Whoever controls the building is the responsible person for fire safety and must keep fire safety measures in place, so they will tell you which corridors, kitchens and fire doors are off-limits. Put the out-of-bounds areas on the list itself.

Then slow everyone down. Slips, trips or falls on the same level caused 30% of non-fatal injuries to employees reported to HSE in 2024/25. Adults sprinting across a polished floor in party shoes is exactly how that happens. Make “no running” a rule with a points penalty. Rival tables will enforce it with real glee.

How do you make a scavenger hunt fair for everyone?

You make a scavenger hunt fair by giving every team jobs that don’t need speed: a list-keeper, a negotiator, a photographer and a runner, so nobody has to sprint to score. I’d rather a team win on wit than on who owns the best trainers.

In 2023 to 2024, one in four people in the UK were disabled, including 24% of working-age adults. Acas describes reasonable adjustments as changes that remove or reduce a disadvantage related to someone’s disability, and a party game deserves the same thought.

Think about noise too. Acas notes that some people get overwhelmed when it’s very loud and busy, and that dyspraxia affects movement and co-ordination. A quieter base table where a team can work out the clues counts as playing.

Scavenger hunt ideas for family events

At a family day, I’d mix generations in every team so a grandparent and a seven-year-old are hunting together. Children spot the things adults walk straight past, and adults are better at decoding a riddle, so each needs the other.

Keep hunts inside a fenced or marked area, and make the list visual for younger players: something red, something round, a leaf bigger than your hand, a person in a hat. If you’re planning the whole day, my guide to a corporate fun day covers how a host keeps every age involved.

How I run my own Scavenger Hunt game

My Scavenger Hunt is one of the big-screen games in my own software, run from a phone in my hand at the microphone. The list goes up on the screen with points on every item: easy finds low, cheeky ones high. A countdown starts, and up to ten teams race to find, snap or do as much as they can.

Every find is checked and ticked off on the big screen with the team’s name stamped on it, so the scoreboard moves while teams are still out hunting (at walking pace, naturally). When the clock hits zero, the top team takes it. It usually lasts ten to fifteen minutes, and I put it first in the evening because nothing warms up a cold room faster.

It plays three ways. As a show, teams bring their finds to the front. At the tables, every table is a team and the list is written around the venue and the people. On the app, teams send their finds as photos from their phones through the Play Along join code, and the room votes on the best photo for a bonus.

The list is written for your crowd. A graduate intake gets a short clock, loud commentary and a selfie with someone from another team. A room of senior leaders gets a longer clock and higher points for the awkward finds, and senior people compete harder than anyone. That’s the same customisation behind my personalised game shows, and it slots straight into a wider corporate game show night.

More party game ideas

• Minute to win it games for work parties.
• Christmas family games the whole family can play together.

Nobody remembers a normal night, and a room that has spent its first fifteen minutes negotiating with strangers for a receipt rarely has one. Tell me the venue and how many are coming, and I’ll build the hunt around them, then host the rest of the evening too. Call me on 07596 851647.