Fast Facts
- Established team building provider: Creating hosted scavenger hunts since 1999, with more than one million participants to date.
- Trusted by Fortune 100 companies and beyond: Selected for team building events by 80 of the top 100 companies in the U.S., from Amazon and Facebook to Pfizer and Goldman Sachs.
- Flexible in-person and virtual options: Scavenger hunts available in 35+ U.S. cities, plus virtual games for remote and hybrid teams.
- Acclaimed by media and customers alike: Featured by national, local, travel, lifestyle, and industry media, with recognition from HRM Outlook Magazine and Tripadvisor.
- Built for a wide range of team building events: Popular for company parties, employee appreciation, networking events, interns and new hires, executive teams, and more.
A scavenger hunt company for team building and beyond
Watson Adventures is a leading team building company specializing in group scavenger hunts and hosted trivia games that bring colleagues together in unexpected ways. Founded in 1999, the company began as a creative experiment and now hosts nearly 1,400 corporate and private events annually, from company outings to field trips and birthday parties. It has been recognized by such publications as the New York Times and Washington Post, selected for team building events by 80 of the top 100 companies in the U.S., and has welcomed more than one million participants since its founding.
Proven team building for companies nationwide
Watson Adventures has designed unique scavenger hunts for locations across more than 35 U.S. cities, as well as virtual games and scavenger hunts that can be customized to nearly any location. It’s organized outdoor scavenger hunts for as many as 500 people, but any scavenger hunt listed on the Watson Adventures site—whether a location-specific scavenger hunt or an “Anywhere” hunt—can be booked by private groups of any size.
From tech giants like Amazon and Facebook to healthcare and finance companies like Pfizer and Goldman Sachs, companies choose Watson Adventures to bring out the diverse talents of their team members and laugh and explore together. The thought-provoking scavenger hunts are particularly popular team building activities for…
- Company parties
- Employee appreciation
- Networking events
- Interns and new hires
- Executive teams
Acclaimed by the media
Watson Adventures team building scavenger hunts have been featured by national, local, and industry media over the years. Below are a few highlights from that coverage. For more, visit the Watson Adventures Press Page.
Featured in major national outlets
- The New York Times: The Times has featured Watson Adventures quite a few times, with one major profile gracing the front page of the Weekend section and another in which Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos raves about the hunts: “I can’t think of a better way to bring people together and have fun.”
- The Washington Post: “Scampering up the marble steps with my team, I felt like a contestant on a reality TV series, The Amazing Race at the Smithsonian.”
- Crain’s: In the article “Here’s Where to Take the Staff for a Day of Team Building” Crain’s Chicago Business includes Watson Adventures among the top recommendations.
See it in action: Watson Adventures on TV
- New York Live: On an episode of NBC New York’s lifestyle show New York Live, host Lauren Scala laced up for one of our clue-filled scavenger hunts through Manhattan’s West Village. Joined by some of the masterminds behind Watson Adventures, she solved riddles and uncovered hidden history, while showing viewers just how fun a citywide scavenger hunt can be. Watch the full segment below!
- NBC News 4: NBC featured one of Watson Adventures’ virtual games and spoke with the Watson Adventures team about the importance of bringing hybrid and remote teams together. Watch it here.
Featured in Travel, Lifestyle & Culture Media
- Travel + Leisure: “Fun, quirky, and educational, Watson Adventures has created scavenger hunts in more than 30 cities across the United States, inviting everyone from curious travelers and even Fortune 500 team builders to join in on any one of its 600 whimsical and fast-paced games.”
- Metro: “You could try to put this sort of thing together on your own….We suggest you just join up with the good people at Watson Adventures and have them take care of the legwork.”
- BootsnAll Travel Network: “Watson Adventures Scavenger Hunts is just the group to help you discover the often unseen parts of your favorite American cities….These hunts are the ultimate way to let our competitive spirit blossom without apology.” Journalist Carly Blatt describes her experience on one of our hunts: “That ‘aha!’ moment when we solve a puzzle and feel goofy grins spread across our faces is the ultimate adrenaline boost. This is good, old-fashioned fun….As soon as the hunt ends, I instantly miss the teamwork and out-of-the-box thinking. I crave the challenge of the hunt—and immediately make plans to join another one.”
- Author A.J. Jacobs: A.J. Jacobs, author of the acclaimed books The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically, says, “Watson Adventures scavenger hunts are the perfect combination: You have a great time doing them, and you learn so many fun facts that you’ll have something to say at cocktail parties for weeks to come.”
A Few Featured Scavenger Hunts
Watson Adventures has also received coverage for specific scavenger hunt experiences, from museum mysteries to seasonal city adventures.
- The Murder at the Met: The Associated Press tagged along on our Murder at the Met scavenger hunt (at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art) for a story about Watson Adventures’ murder mystery hunts across the United States. USA Today was among about 200 media outlets that ran the story, “Museum Scavenger Hunt Asks: ‘Who Killed the Curator?’ ’’
- Naked at the Museum
- The Washingtonian highlighted the D.C. iteration of this scavenger hunt, saying “Take some culture, add a splash of naughtiness and a twist of mystery, and you have the Naked at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Watson Adventures hosts the hunts, which puts you on the track to finding the nakedest things possible in the museum.”
- Chicagoist featured the Chicago iteration of Naked at the Art Museum scavenger hunt in “Do These: Valentine’s Day Events.”
- Flavorpill Los Angeles featured Naked at the Getty, writing “Adding a grown-up twist to a childhood escapade, the Naked at the Getty scavenger hunt sends teams racing around the Getty Center in search of risqué works of art. In the engaging two-hour adventure…quirky clues provide hunters with an engrossing art primer along with the thrill of the chase.”
- Ghosts of Greenwich Village: Newsday selected this spooky scavenger hunt as their #1 pick in the article “The 5 Best City Haunts for Halloween.”
- Whodunnit Family Scavenger Hunt at the Met: The New York Times recommended this scavenger hunt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, saying, “Imagine playing the game of Clue when the board consists of the halls of a great museum. That’s what this scavenger hunt for children 10 and older is like.”
Awards & Recognition
- HRMOutlook Magazine’s 2026 Company of the Year
- TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice: Watson Adventures Scavenger Hunts routinely place in the top 10% of attractions based on customer feedback
- Hundreds of 5-star reviews on Google