Oct 20, 2022

Puzzle Hunts vs. Scavengers Hunts in Singapore | Which is better for Team Bonding?

You’ve probably heard of Scavenger Hunts before but what about Puzzle Hunts?

Puzzle Hunts are outdoor adventure activities where players solve mysteries while exploring various precincts of Singapore. What makes Puzzle Hunts stand out are that these games revolve around the use of the area’s natural surrounding as part of the gameplay!

The Ransack’s Puzzle Hunts centres around Pepper the… oh so slightly clumsy Dinosaur and the many shenanigans that he gets himself into. Pepper seeks the help of participants to solve the games and save his day!

With a Puzzle Booklet, Map, Puzzle Tool and Pencil at hand, you’re equipped to join Pepper on his fascinating and magical adventures around Little India. Pepper the dinosaur has recently gotten into treasure hunting after being inspired by Kristopher Cowlumbus the renowned explorer.

He has chanced upon a chest in Little India and needs help to decode it to earn a handsome fee! That’s right – recently nicknamed the coolest neighbour in Singapore, you surely don’t want to miss out!

But wait…

How are Puzzle Hunts different from Scavenger Hunts?

1. Puzzle Hunts require players to solve puzzles at different landmarks.

Compared to Scavenger Hunts, Puzzle Hunts encourages people to explore landmarks, solve puzzles and collect keywords to complete the final puzzle. However, Scavenger Hunts are slightly simpler as players are given a list of specific items to gather or complete.

In Ransack: The Lost Relic Puzzle Hunt, players get to explore 8 different landmarks such as the bustling Campbell Lane and colourful Former House of Tan Teng Niah to solve puzzles using surrounding elements at those locations.

2. Players are encouraged to plan their route with a map.

Exploring new precincts such as Little India with different landmarks can be tricky, hence maps are provided in Puzzle Hunts for players to strategise and optimise their time. The difficulty level of the various puzzles – one badge to three badges is also shown for players to decide the orientation of their gameplay.

3. Puzzle Tools are an essential part of Puzzle Hunts.

Ahh… here’s what makes solving the puzzles interesting! Puzzle Tools are an addition to the booklets for players to closely examine, and make use of to solve the initial clues and get the keyword.

In the Lost Relic Puzzle Hunt, players are given a Puzzle Tool printed with a scroll on one side and a mix of various shapes and alphabets on the other. When viewed with the naked eye, the tool makes no complete sense. It is only useful when the participants are at the various landmarks solving the puzzles.

4. Puzzle Hunt has an element of tech and digitalisation.

After solving every puzzle, players are required to type in a single keyword into the URL – www.thersansack.com/keyword to attain the hidden token. However, that’s not all, the token is the first part of solving the final puzzle, not the answer. That’s what makes Ransack’s Puzzle Hunts so unique!

5. Side Quests are a thing with Puzzle Hunts.

Players who are speedy and finish the puzzles are encouraged to take a selfie with a sighting or animal! For the Lost Relic Puzzle Hunt, players have to spot a painting of Kristopher Cowlumbus the explorer, a pink cow on a bicycle, take a selfie with it, tag @pepperthedinosaur and use #foundcowlumbus in the caption!

Moving onto Scavenger Hunts...

1. Scavenger Hunts are not time restrictive.

Here’s the main difference between both activities. Unlike Puzzle Hunts, Scavenger Hunts have much more flexibility in terms of their duration and can last any time from half a day to as long as a whole day. For hard-core game seekers, multi-day hunts exist.

2. Scavenger Hunts are customisable.

On the flip side, Scavengers Hunts can be customised for the client which makes personalisation for specific themed team bonding events possible. Clue masters often include keywords or even phrases from a company’s mission, vision statement, products or even stakeholder names.

3. Scavenger Hunts require big-time strategising.

Facilitators will guide players through the delegation of roles and responsibilities. Players are encouraged to create and execute a plan, have a timekeeper and delegate clues and puzzles to specific people to succeed in a game.

So, which activity is better for Team Bonding?

Before we jump into deciding which activity is better, let’s define what is Team Bonding first!

Team Bonding aims at letting employees get to know one another better, interact more and most importantly have fun. Team Bonding activities are also beneficial for the most effective teams as it builds motivation to collaborate together. #teamworkmakesthedreamwork

Putting the fun aside, Team Bonding activities are also effective in enhancing their soft skills in addition to connecting on a professional level such as:

Confidence and self-awareness
Leadership and decision making
Problem-solving and creativity

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get down to business – which is better for Team Bonding.

Ransack’s Puzzle Hunts stand out as they make exploration of Singapore fun and engaging. With a set time limit of 1.5 hours to 2 hours, players are pushed to interact with their own colleagues and bond over the success of getting a clue.

Though Scavenger Hunts do not have a set time restriction and are a better option as a leisure bonding activity, players may not communicate as much compared to Puzzle Hunts as it lacks a sense of urgency. As such, it might not be as effective in creating a collaborative environment.

The use of the landmarks’ surroundings within the Little India precinct, for example, makes the puzzles distinctively unique compared to other Singapore outdoor activities as players will have to work together to decipher a historic structure.

Players also have their entire focus on solving one puzzle at a time during a Puzzle Hunt compared to a Scavenger Hunt where players are delegated into various roles to find specific items from a list. With that, Puzzle Hunt enhances teamwork and communication as the ideas and effort of every player help to solve the puzzle.

Lastly, FUN!

Fun can be highly subjective, depending on your interests or even preferred themes when talking about outdoor activities or games in Singapore.

Personally, as the writer (we have officially entered the zone of personal opinions…), I feel that Puzzle Hunts are a “new-age” Scavenger Hunt as they offer the element of solving puzzles in addition to searching and deciphering an item or even statue.

Moreover, with the theme of Ransack’s Puzzle Hunts at various local historical precincts, it promotes the exploration of heritage and learning of history in a fun and easy way.

Hence, to conclude this almost TL;DR paragraph, Puzzle Hunts are more effective for Team Bonding as it encourages players to interact, bond and most importantly, have fun with a twist while working together to solve one puzzle at a time!

That’s all we have for you folks!

Has our explanation of Puzzle Hunts tingled the Sherlock Holmes in you to solve puzzles?

If you’re interested in solving a couple of puzzles while exploring cultural and historical landmarks in Singapore, check out these Puzzle Hunts created by us and our wonderful friends at Ransack!

With 4 different locations to choose from – classics such as Chinatown, and Little India to the exciting and interesting Fort Canning and Fort Siloso, brimming with history and memorabilia from WWII.