Museum Scavenger Hunts in Chicago

Uncover the secrets of an amazing museum

This whirlwind tour of the Art Institute has something for everyone—from paintings to pottery, armor to amore, Dali to dollhouse-like period rooms, ancient Roman warriors to a room where modern moneymen battled, and more.

On teams, you’ll follow a trail of clues in search of answers to tricky, humorous questions designed to get you thinking, bonding, and laughing. But don’t worry: no knowledge of the museum or its contents is necessary—you just need a sharp mind and comfortable shoes.

Looking for an after-work activity? The AIC is open until 8 p.m. on Thursdays!

Your Art Institute of Chicago scavenger hunt might include…

• A famous Parisian dancer who probably would have been an expert during a 1990s dance craze
• A notorious snoozer who dozed off before a war…and found things significantly different when he woke up
• A flexible gal whose gesture seems to say, “Bring it on!”
• A multi-armed god who’d be great at doing “the wave”

And those are just a few of the highlights on an adventure that takes you through time and around the world, all while revealing the best of the museum. The hunt is played using the Watson Adventures app, which works on any smartphone.

If you’ve been searching for something unique and fun for a corporate outing, alumni reunion, birthday party, or any other occasion where you want participants to mingle and make memories, this is it! A Kids Edition is also available, in which kids and adults combine forces to tackle questions that are fun for everyone.

Team-building booster: the Mixed Alliances Edition

Looking to have your group interact with each other even more? Consider the special Mixed Alliances Edition. During the game, each team must collaborate with three other teams, and each player must work with up to 11 other players. To win, you must not only compete—you must also cooperate.

What people are saying about this art museum scavenger hunt

A 5-star review on Google: “What a fun experience! Everything was great from booking to the actual hunt. My team participated in the Art Attack at the Art Institute of Chicago. Lots of follow-up from Watson before the hunt and afterwards to make sure everything went smoothly.”

A 5-star review on Yelp: “Our residency group did a Watson Adventure Scavenger Hunt at the Art Institute in Chicago for our annual retreat—we had a great time! Fun way to see the museum, and everyone got very into the mystery of it.”

Contact us to learn more about the Art Attack Scavenger Hunt—and find more fun in Chicago!

Go on an eccentric safari…

…while testing your group’s ability to work together. You’ll trek from ancient Egypt to the Pacific Islands, from the tundra to the forest, from Tibet to the time of dinosaurs, all while answering tricky, humorous questions about what you find. No knowledge of the museum or its exhibits is necessary: you just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and great teamwork.

You might search for answers to such questions as…

• In ancient Egypt, find “bowling pins” with the head of a human, a jackal, a falcon, and a baboon. They’re waiting for organ transplants. As a group, which organ would they reject? Answer: People preparing mummies discarded the brain of a dead person but put the other organs in canopic jars.
• Play the Mating Game. You would say this place stinks, but some single males would call it a “hot spot for picking up ‘single’ females.” Who are these bachelors? Answer: Dung beetles, who meet on piles of dung.

And in case you were wondering, yes, we’ve left out some key ingredients to solve these puzzles. To get the right answers, you’ll need directions and other hunt clues.

One of Our Top Museum Team Building Activities

Since this hunt’s debut in 2005 the Field Museum has been one of our most popular locations for team building activities for corporate groups, including such clients as Microsoft, Turner Construction, Orbitz, Kimberly-Clark, Tropicana, and Exelon, to name a few. If you want to emphasize interaction and collaboration between teams, ask about our Mixed Alliances Edition.

What are players saying about the Field Museum scavenger hunt?

A 5-star Yelp review: “We had a team building activity with a scavenger hunt at the Field Museum. It was terrific! I highly recommend this company; we had an amazing time. The booking experience was smooth and easy. They were always responsive to questions and timely with information. For the scavenger hunt itself, it was just terrific. Valerie did a great, quick briefing that was clear. The clues were subtle but solvable. We had SO MUCH fun roaming all over the museum solving. We have some truly epic pics from the additional challenges! If you have a group, do this!”

Contact us to learn more about our Field Museum scavenger hunts—and find more fun in Chicago!

Catch a killer? Get a clue!

There’s a murderer lurking in the halls of the Art Institute, and you’re the only one who can stop him. How? By following the clues and answering the questions in the scavenger hunt that the villain created to taunt the police.

Five of the works of art will reveal his identity, the murder weapon, and the location of the body. But which five? The police are depending on you to find the evidence they need to catch and convict the killer. Are you up to the challenge?

The hunt is great for adults who want to add a murder mystery to their museum visit,  but want something a bit less challenging than our Murder at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt. There’s also a Kids Edition, for ages 10 and up, in which kids and adults work together to crack the case.

Contact us to learn more, before the trail runs cold—and find more murder-mystery fun in Chicago!

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 Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 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 MCA?

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.

The scavenger hunt is great for companies looking for a fun activity after work: the museum is open until 9 p.m. on Tuesdays. Wednesday through Sunday, afternoon games can be played until 5 p.m.

Contact us to learn more about private games for groups—and find more puzzle-loving fun in Chicago!

An awesome art adventure for kids

On this action- and art-packed scavenger hunt inspired by our popular Art Attack Scavenger Hunt, kids and adults work together to search for wacky paintings, scary armor, tiny dollhouse-like rooms for kings and queens, and much more, and answer fun and funny questions about what they find. No knowledge of the museum or art is necessary, but teamwork and a sense of adventure are key if you want to win.

This game is ideal for school field trips, camp outings, birthday parties, family reunions, and any other occasion where you want to get kids interacting and bonding. Kids have a blast with their teammates and adult partners, learn a whole lot without even realizing it, and discover a love of art in the process.

Recommended for ages 7 and up. Each team must be accompanied by at least one adult.

Contact us to learn more about this great activity for school groups—and find more fun for kids in Chicago!

Have a Field day!

On this whirlwind tour of the Field Museum, kids and adults work together as they travel around the world—and back in time. You’ll follow quirky clues and answer fun, funny questions about the historical hilarity that you uncover. Starring: mighty mites, man-eating lions, amazing mummies, awesome antlers, shocking sharks, giant forest hogs, and Dr. Funkenstein. And watch out for the dinosaurs!

Best of all, no previous knowledge about the museum or its contents is necessary to win! You just need sharp eyes, comfy shoes, and good teamwork.

Along the way, your team will also need to search for opportunities to take creative team photos in certain places or with particular objects in the museum.

Along the way your team will tackle such questions as…

• Why are the famous Lions of Tsavo smaller than they used to be?
• What injury can you discover by tickling the ribs of SUE the T. rex?
• What tiny Egyptian dung collectors were considered to be like a sun god?
• What surprising thing did British people do with cat mummies?

This scavenger hunt is adapted for kids from our best-selling version for adults, The Museum of Natural Hysteria Scavenger Hunt. The kids edition is recommended for ages 7 and up. Kids must be accompanied by an adult.

The cooperative team game is a great way to introduce kids to the wonders of natural history, whether they’re participating in a school field trip, or enjoying a children’s birthday party, or looking for some educational fun in any kind of group outing.

Contact us to learn more about our scavenger hunts for kids at the Field Museum—and find more field trip fun in Chicago!

Dead and loving it

Well, the curator who’s been murdered probably isn’t, but you and your team will enjoy this murder-mystery game. The victim left behind a cryptic trail of clues connected with secrets in the works of art here. As you figure out what they mean, you begin to piece together the sordid details that got him killed—all of which revolve around the museum’s upcoming purchase of a priceless painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

The curator knew too much, and you’ll have to find out what he knew and which of the four suspects killed him. Along the way, you’ll get a whirlwind tour of the Art Institute, starring a pickpocket at a rooster fight, a deadly threat from a tiny rifle, a marching band suitable for the Planet of the Apes, Van Gogh’s telltale tipplers, and a warning to remain silent from a saint who literally holds his tongue.

See the museum as Harry Potter might

If you’ve ever thought you could be a great wizard, fighting you-know-who alongside Harry and Hermione, then this is the game for you. On teams, you’ll search for art that echoes the people, places, and objects in the Harry Potter books and movies, and answer tricky, entertaining questions about what you find. Be prepared to track down terrifying dragons like those in the Triwizard Tournament, centaurs and unicorns that seem like they stepped out of the Forbidden Forest, and ghastly figures as scary as any Death Eater or Dementor.

But you don’t have to know Hogwarts from hog warts to win, and a cheat sheet will help out the muggles on your team. The hunt is not an addition to or variation on Harry’s adventures, but instead, it highlights strange and surprising works of art at the AIC that will remind you of J.K. Rowling’s bewitching world.

Not just for kids: what adults say about this game for Harry Potter fans

A 5-star review on Yelp: “We had such an incredible time. I organized a Harry Potter themed scavenger hunt at the Art Institute for my friend’s bachelorette party, and we had a blast. Everything was well organized, and the hunt itself took me to parts of the museum I had never visited, and was also a lot of fun for everyone, even if she wasn’t a huge HP fan. Thanks for a great afternoon!”

Contact us to learn more about this great game for Harry Potter fans—and find more fun at the Art Institute of Chicago!

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!