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- Jun 09
- 3 mins read
Scavenger hunt company creates online game for families during quarantine
Scavenger hunt company creates online game for families during quarantine
By Renji Kuriakose
12 years ago, Jason and Leigh Gourvitz were looking for a refreshing change from the standard couples dinner weekend outing with their friends Kevin and Ilisa Harrison. The Harrisons created a scavenger hunt for The Gourvitzes, and the idea sparked what would become their livelihood: Midnight Madness Events, a company that creates scavenger hunts for groups, corporate team-building events, and private parties.
When it first started in the New Jersey Livingston/West Orange area, the company took requests via word of mouth to come to the customer’s area and promote a game. Now, they set the location and promote the game through social media (and by some word of mouth through the communities they’ve built). They return to areas where games are well-attended, and when they do, they tend to see even more players the second or third time.
They keep a database of everyone who has played the game to make sure no returning players get the same clues as before. The size of each hunt depends on the number of people who sign up for each event.
“In this difficult time of COVID-19, this virus has hurt our business model as events take place in person with multiple people in a car,” said Kevin Harrison.
“With most people in quarantine and in lockdown, we wanted to come up with something fun for families to do with their kids or even for adults to do. What formed was ‘Quaranteen Madness’ which was an on-line game we created for free and spread to 11 states as well as 3 other countries. People had a blast. We had over 1,600 players across 360 teams.”
Before the quarantine, the game involved a huge gathering of people at a starting location. That gathering would be formed into teams of six. After the teams were registered they would take team pictures and review the rules. The captain of each team would receive three “magic discs” labeled A, B, and C, which contain instructions and up to three clues.
Each team would drive to various locations and have to text their assigned game master their location along with a selfie to show they were in the right location before proceeding to the next clue. The teams usually go through routes consisting of 15 clues, possibly utilizing the magic disc clues. Any unused discs must be turned in to the game master at the finish line. Once a team reaches the finish line and hands in the correct end of game ticket, teams receive their end of game puzzle which determines the winner. The finish line would typically be a restaurant and/or bar where prizes are doled out and the players socialize.
With social distancing and quarantine in effect, Midnight Madness Events had to change their format. As the team browsed social media, they noticed that parents had a clear need for something fun to do with their kids at home.
So they designed scavenger hunts that could be played through Zoom video conferencing software by basing the clues around popular kid and family movies and television shows.
Rather than sending players out to different locations, the game featured picture clues that phonetically represent the name of a movie or television show. One clue showed a person peering through a magnifying glass, then a person’s knee, then the character Mo from The Simpsons. The correct answer: Finding Nemo. The team that solves all 25 puzzles the fastest wins!
“This quarantine and virus has changed our outlook for the future,” said Harrison. “While we do hope we can one day get back to our traditional in-person events, our online events are here to stay as you can reach a wider array of people not only in your geographic area but all over the nation as well as in other countries. Online games can really spread via word of mouth and people feel good about giving back.”
Midnight Madness Events plans to make a donation to a charity. The donated amount will depend on how many people play. The charity will be chosen by the company but it should not be viewed as a replacement to the prize. There will still be a prize for the online game, as they have learned that people are more competitive when they are playing for something.
And the response from online scavenger hunters has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We thought [the online version] would be something fun to do with the family,” Anthony Fiore, a Midnight Madness customer of two years, who joined the April 18 online scavenger hunt along with his two daughters, aged 14 and 10. “It was solving puzzles that were kids’ movies. We had a great time just sitting on the couch, laughing and solving the puzzles.”
Harrison has received much appreciated feedback for the in person games and the online games.
“It made us feel great that so many people across our proud nation had fun playing our game,” said Harrison. “We hope our future games grow and that we can put more smiles on people’s faces while also raising money for a good cause.”
To learn more about Midnight Madness Events, visit https://www.midnightmadnessevents.com.
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