Adventurers!

Adventurers enjoy participating in something themed, challenging and that gives them a sense of achievement.

Does this sound like you?

Bringing some adventure into our lives is not as hard to achieve as you may imagine. Not all adventures need to be outdoors and a long way from home. Just take a look around your local city and you will notice it is more than a collection of flats and houses, bars and restaurants, shops and offices. It’s also full of opportunities for exploration and discovery.

If you are a City Adventurer you will have discovered that there is a lot of fun to be had without leaving the city.

 

Indiana Jones, Miss Marple and Einstein walk into a room…

What do all these people have in common? The answer is they all represent interests of the City Adventurer. City Adventures often involves puzzle solving. They can take the form of a treasure hunt or escape room, solving a murder mystery or taking part in a quiz.

• Treasure

Indiana Jones is obviously an adventurer, searching for objects of archaeological importance. Today’s treasure-seekers can examine relics in museums during their free time. And treasures are not just confined to museums. Art galleries, stately homes, industrial sites and heritage centres….The list goes on and on.

Feeling overwhelmed by the treasures on display and unsure of where to start looking at them? That’s why I developed Treasure Hunts in London.

Originally aimed at filling the gap between children’s packs and guided tours, my treasure hunts have expanded to be heritage hunts with puzzle clues that follow a theme. By choosing to select items on a specific theme, Treasure Hunts in London adventures hunts are not a random visit around venue. For example, our treasure hunt around The Museum of London follows the theme of alcohol.

The physical stamina for such an adventure is as much or as little as you want to expend. In the city there is always a time and a place to grab a coffee.

But who has time for a pit stop on an adventure, I hear you ask.

While other companies require you to race between objectives Treasure Hunts in London events are conducted at a more leisurely pace, allowing you to take in your surroundings. You get to study the heritage while searching for solutions to clues.

For indoor hunts, the clues guide you to various objects within the venue’s collection. Answers are found by examining the items and reading the accompanying descriptions. As you explore you get to view the collection in greater detail. This also allows you to discover interesting things you may otherwise overlook. Anything that catches your eye and demands further investigation can be noted and returned to later, after the hunt.

Similarly for outdoor hunts, the clues guide you to various plaques, statues and artwork found on the street. Treasure Hunts in London Street Games are a form of outdoor scavenger hunt involving additional challenges and interactions with actors.

 

• Mystery

Miss Marple manages to solve the crime without any formal training as a detective. And you can too, at a murder mystery event.

I started writing murder mysteries over 30 years ago. I am a fan of cosy murder mysteries. Those are the sort where it was in the library with the candlestick, not the gruesome violent type. I prefer the ones where there is little violence, a good plot and a victim who had it coming!

Back in the 1980s, we used to throw murder mystery dinner parties. The games came in a boxed kit with invitations, clue packs and pencils, maps and name badges. Everyone got to take on a new persona and be a shady character in the plot. The object of the game was to prove you were innocent of the murder by proving someone else was guilty.

At the time most of the boxed sets came from USA, so my husband and I decided we’d set up a UK-based company to produce murder mystery games. ITM Games initially sold boxed games in the London area, but once the internet arrived, we switched to downloadable games and sold globally. Since then, I have moved into writing games for teenagers that include crimes but no murder, and mystery parties for children.

This millennium the move has been away from dinner parties towards managed events. ITM Games has produced compèred murder mysteries for public functions and, following the launch of Invitation To Events, I have produced an interactive murder mystery featuring a full cast of actors.

 

• Calculating and Solving 

Albert Einstein created a quiz that he believed only 2% of the world’s population could solve. Whether or not you believe you can solve this particular quiz, the city adventurer loves solving things. Solving things can range from crosswords and Sudoku to other word games and number puzzles. They can include riddles, and quiz questions. Anything, in fact, that gets you thinking and working things out.

Adventures and discovery should not be limited to finding tangible things. Discovery can include finding the intangible. Searching for answers. Puzzle solving. Experiences that make us think are just as valuable to the city adventurer. Working towards a solution can be just as much of an adventure as exploring an area.

Over the years I have written a number of quizzes and organised a number of quiz nights. Both can be used to fundraise. Some quizzes have be printed, downloaded or answered online. In these cases they can be played individually or with the help of others. In the case of quiz nights, quiz players spend time in the company of others. Often there is friendly rivalry between teams. Prizes for quiz nights are usually of nominal value – a box of sweets or a bottle of wine per player. However, my team and I did win one quiz where the “prize” was the honour of writing and hosting the quiz the following year!

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