Museum Scavenger Hunts in Boston

It’s more like the Museum of Fun Arts…

…when you go on this eye-popping, jaw-dropping tour across the centuries at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. With your team, you’ll discover startling aspects of objects and art from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Japan, China, India, Paris, and all periods of American history. Your challenge: answer tricky questions about what you find. To triumph, you just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and great teamwork.

An unusual art museum scavenger hunt

Don’t know much about art? No worries! Instead, your team will be challenged to find out such things as…

• Why King Kong would take up smoking
• What ghoulish ingredient a lady keeps in a flowerpot
• Why a naked goddess isn’t actually naked
• And much more

You’ll search for answers to such questions as…

• Why does a guy deliberately get heart burn on his wedding night? Answer: In the painting ‘Wedding night of Tobias and Sarah,’ the groom burns a heart and a liver to ward off demons. It was a different time…
• What does a wiry artist turn a spiral into? Answer: Cow dung, near Alexander Calder’s “Cow.”
• Why would a boy’s mummy suggest that he put on gold lipstick? Answer: To ensure speech in the afterlife, as explained near a portrait of a mummy youth.

The museum is open until 10 p.m. on Wednesday through Friday, which allows for a great after-work team-building activity for corporate groups. But you don’t have to work at a company to join the fun: this game is great for birthday parties, social groups, college groups, you name it.

Add more team-building fun

Want your group to interact more? Try the Mixed Alliances Edition, in which each team must meet and collaborate with three other teams as the game unfolds. Each individual will interact with at least 11 other game participants. What will you do when your opponent must become your ally?

Contact us to learn more about the team-building scavenger hunt at the Museum of Fine Arts—and find more fun in Boston!

See the surreal side of a science museum

…on a whirlwind tour of the Museum of Science that reveals eye-popping interactive exhibits, ingenious beasts, delightful dioramas, eccentric inventors, and marvelous machines. On this team-building adventure, you’ll follow clues and answer slightly crazy questions about what you discover. Highlights include a life-size T. rex, a pharaoh with a fan club, a clanging kinetic tower, optical illusions, a mad scientist’s lab, a fascinating/horrifying trophy room, and a nightmare chair.

No MIT degree is required—in fact, it could be a hindrance. You just need inquiring minds, good teamwork, and a sense of humor.

Your team will tackle such questions as…

• What two dinosaurs could pose for an extreme diet plan’s “before” and “after” photos? Answer: Campsognathus and triceratops, seen in models both as they looked alive and as skeletons.
• In the Natural Mysteries gallery, Wilson’s ironic lesson might be that you’re always hurt by the ones you love. Why would he think that? Answer: Wilson A. Bentley, a photographer of snowflakes, died from walking in the snow.
• In the Transportation exhibit, find a red machine that a dolt might think can help de-wrinkle clothes or make a cappuccino. Thanks to this, at what speed did Marriott almost check out? Answer: Astonishingly, Fred Marriott survived a 190 mph crash in a Stanley Steamer.

Please note that we haven’t included here the directions and other clues that lead you to the answers.

ADD MORE TEAM-BUILDING FUN

Want your group to interact more? Try the Mixed Alliances Edition, in which each team must meet and collaborate with three other teams as the game unfolds. Each individual will interact with at least 11 other game participants. What will you do when your opponent must become your ally?

Look at art, solve puzzles—and save yourself!

You’ve been poisoned at the start of this scavenger hunt (er, sorry), and it’s up to you to find the cure. How? By going on a whirlwind tour of the Institute of Contemporary Art and solving a series of art-related puzzles created by a diabolical villain. He wants to see if you can decipher a coded message that will reveal how to get the antidote. Sure, you can escape a room, but can you escape the ICA?

The puzzles will test your teamwork. You might need to tease out hidden words. Or translate the rebus HIJKLMNO into a familiar term. Or solve a riddle. Or find what this means: Arrow shooter —> not fast. The variety of puzzles is designed to call upon the talents of everyone on your team—while delighting you with eye-popping art.

No knowledge of contemporary art or the museum is required: you just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and excellent teamwork.

Contact us to learn more about private games for groups—and find more puzzle-loving fun with Boston team-building activities like these!

Time travel on this whirlwind scavenger hunt

…at the Plimoth Patuxet Museums near Plymouth, Massachusetts. The museums are an outdoor re-creation of a village from the time of the Pilgrims. Teams will be challenged to explore the buildings and gardens and workshops while completing unusual photo challenges. You’ll need to pool your creativity and sharpen your eyes.

This hunt is perfect for group activities and team building, and even features a Kids Edition, that gets kids and adults working together in a laugh-filled adventure that’s great for a school field trip.

Along the way you might need to…

• Get directions from one of the museum’s re-enactors, as if you are lost time-travelers.
• Pose outside a colonial home as if you are a 17th-century family.
• Play an old-time game, such as hitting a hoop with a stick to keep it rolling.
• Engage in a bygone chore in a creative new way.

You’ll also need to complete a Bonus Challenge with the Hunt Host, and crack a musical Mystery Message.

This game provides a great way to see the grounds and exhibits while getting to know your teammates better, through cooperation and laughter.

If you need more of a challenge, try the Murder Mystery Mayhem Scavenger Hunt, where your sleuthing skills will be tested as you track down a killer in the colonial village…if you dare.

Contact us to learn more about our group and team-building activities at Plimoth Patuxet—and find more fun in Massachusetts!

Set off on Boston’s most surreal hunt…

…a whirlwind tour of two museums: the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Peabody Museum. On teams, you’ll follow intriguing clues through the exhibits in these next-door neighbors and answer tricky, humorous questions about what you find. On your quest, you’ll discover exotic stuffed animals, sparkling jewels, odd artifacts, thousands of glass flowers, meteorites, and more.

You might tackle such questions as…

• In Meteorites, find a big rock / That gave one cow a fatal clock / These aren’t little bits of stardust / Indeed, how heavy is Harvard’s largest? Answer: Near a meteorite that struck a cow, the largest is more than 400 pounds.
• Among Asian mammals, you could get crushed by a snake or shredded by a tiger—or even worse, get an embarrassing nickname. Which crazy quadruped is often the butt of jokes? Answer: The Kiang’s nickname is “wild ass.”
• Insurance agents, take note! Which frequently airborne African animal comes equipped with an “anti-skid” device? Answer: The scale-tailed squirrel. The scales help it stop after a leap.

You don’t need to know anything about the museum or science to do well on this hunt—or even to win. You just need to pay attention to the details, use your wits, and work well with your group. The game is great for corporate team building, social-club meetups, and any other kind of gathering where you want people to have fun while getting to know one another better.

Also available: the Kids Edition, suitable for ages 7 and up. Kids and adults work together to answer fun questions that leave everyone engaged and amazed. It’s the perfect activity for school field trips, youth-group outings, and birthday parties.

Contact us to learn more about our Harvard scavenger hunts—and find more fun in Cambridge!

An unblushing look at nudity in art…

…though we can’t guarantee that you won’t blush on this naughty tour of the MFA. On teams, you’ll scrutinize paintings and sculptures featuring randy Romans, a “stag” party drinking game, Gauguin’s island girls, sultry sylphs from Southeast Asia, Father Time’s hot time, and a god with Venus envy. Along the way, you’ll get a whirlwind tour of the best of the MFA, from ancient Egypt and Rome, through the amazing new American galleries, and right up to the latest contemporary art.

No knowledge of art—or nudity—is required.

Visit museums across the country—virtually!

Discover odd and unusual art and artifacts on this unique museum virtual tour. Tricky, fun trivia questions provide clues that lead you on a quest to explore 16 online museums of all kinds, all over America. You’ll pick your way through virtual galleries and historic locations, in search of amazing masterpieces, startling artifacts, dinosaurs, famous people, and more, earning points for uncovering humorous details, all without leaving your comfy chair.

No previous knowledge is required. You just need sharp eyes and great teamwork on this adventure. Thanks to video conferencing technology and our custom game app, people at home can play along with a Watson Adventures host, work with teammates, and have fun together. This game sends you searching for the strangest and funniest details in art hidden on museum websites.

Special editions for private groups

• Want your colleagues to mix more during the game? The Mix & Mingle edition rearranges the teams at “halftime” to increase the number of people players interact with during the game.
• The International Edition is great for groups seeking online ESL games.
• If your group is up for a challenge, try the Brain Squeeze Edition, which adds devilish trivia questions to the clues.
• Or if you’re an educator looking for online classroom games, consider the Kids Edition.

Want to see more of a particular city’s best museums and landmarks? Escape games for New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Texas, and Washington, D.C., are also available. If your group includes people from a variety of countries, whose first language might not be English, check out the Around the World Scavenger Hunt.

Contact us to learn more—and find more fun working at home!