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Tips & Techniques
The Art of Hosting the Game
Make it Fun. Make it a Memory.
The Secret Sauce
The Tips & Techniques authored here are the result of master minding the first few treasure hunts from years gone by. They are a guide to help you make your first hunt as fun and as memorable as your tenth hunt, and skip past the learning curve. This is the Secret Sauce to GiftTrails.
Start with Your Printouts:
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Intro Letter
Start your game off right with a poetic message to your Hunter. Introduce their challenge.
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Trail Map
A MUST! Print this out before you get started constructing your trail. Record your choices!
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Masterlist: Riddles
Use your Masterlist of Riddles to help make your selections. Spread your choices out!
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Masterlist: Puzzles
Choose from your Masterlist of Puzzles. We suggest a ratio of 3 Riddles for every 1 Puzzle.
Then add the fun:
Box
Learn how to tuck your hidden Clue Card into an unopened box of food. Your kids will be amazed. Good for clues including #77 Butter, #25 Cereal, #137 KCup, #135 Kleenex, # 57 Rice, #51 Macaroni and #103 Tea.
Bulk
Good for toilet paper #124 and paper towels #50. Often these items are purchased in bulk at the box stores. Insert the clue into one roll, but which one? Stack them throughout the house. Make the kids work for their prize! A good laugh.
Can
Hide the clue inside an unopened can of food. Like the Box idea. The kids will be amazed. Good for #143 Corn, #142 Soup, #163 Beans, #162 Pears and #108 Peaches. Note that for these clue locations, you can also just tape the clue to the back of the can.
Cell Phone
Clue Card #5. Pull your Hunter’s phone out of its case and insert your next Clue Card behind it. Snap phone back in. Without knowing it, your Hunter is carrying around the clue with the phone.
Challenge Cards
Cards #181-190. Use to insert Puzzles into your game. Do not set the Puzzle on the trail. Set a Challenge Card. The Hunter will be instructed to return to the kitchen table where you will then present the Puzzle to be solved. There are 10 of these Challenge Cards, all with different rhymes with the same message.
Date Night
Parents night out! Set a trail up for your kids and hand it to the babysitter as you head out the door!
Deck of Cards
Insert your next Clue Card (without the Sleeve) into a deck of regular playing cards. Clue #94.
Envelopes
Not only is it fun to start the game with a Sealed Envelope and a poem, but placing Sealed Envelopes along your trail also adds a level of fun and mystery to the game. Insert cash, gift cards, concert tickets, candy, heartfelt letters, etc. Or play the Jigsaw Game with the envelopes. See Envelopes Video
Ending the game with a stack of Sealed Envelopes filled with Brain Teasers is also fun! See the Vault.
FaceTime
Use Facetime to fold in loved ones into the game. Ahead of the event, feed them the next clue along the trail and have them read it to the kids. Good for FaceTime # 56, Grandparents #27 and Military #16. Ideal for holiday mornings and birthday parties. Engage long distance loved ones into the game.
Flip the Script
Why not? Let the kids secretly construct a GiftTrails hunt for mom on Mother’s Day? Or Dad on Father’s Day? Or a parent birthday? Or make mom and dad work together for their anniversary gift? Or just to get dad off the couch!
Final Clue
When you build your sequence, work backwards. Start with your final clue location, a space large enough to hold your gift. From there, build the rest of your lineup. Be sure to spread the rest of your clues throughout the house, but away from this final location. Avoid discovery out of order. Use your Trail Map to record your choices and remind you when planting clues.
First Letter Trick
For clues 142 Soup, 175 Pizza, 143 Corn and 163 Beans. The first letter of each sentence in the riddle spells out the next clue location. A great trick to help you stump the older Hunters.
Generic vs Specific
Some locations are super specific. Mailbox, Blender, Tool Box, Hockey Stick. But don’t be afraid to use more generic clues also. Lamp Shade 63, Chair 6, Coat 148, Zipper 10. The generic clues will send the kids all over your home trying to find the right one.
Gifts Along Your GiftTrail
As mentioned with the Envelope idea. Get creative and spark enthusiasm with age appropriate mini gifts. They don’t have to be sealed in envelopes. Trinkets along the Trail!
Grandparents
As discussed in the Facetime section, folding long distance grandparents into your child’s adventure is a heartwarming moment. It will stop the game for a bit, as the celebration is at hand. Prep the grandparents in advance with the clue that they will be reading. Note that Clue #27 actually splits the event into sharing both sets of grandparents for the same clue. Otherwise just use the Facetime Clue # 56.
ICE
A bit more of a setup challenge but this will amaze your Hunter. Bury the next clue in ice. Don’t use the playing cards. Instead get a box of letter beads. Select the letters that spell the next clue location, and freeze the letters in ice.
Image Capture
The best images to capture are the facial expressions at the kitchen table when your Hunter realizes what the answer to the clue is. The kitchen table hosts all the emotions of the game. Set your visiting friends/family there with smartphones and enjoy the show! Better than racing through the house along their trail with your camerea. All you would capture are the backs of their heads!
Intro Letter
Start your game off right with a poetic message to your Hunter. Introduce the Challenge you have set before them. We have authored several to choose from based on the theme of your event. Print your favorite. Insert into an envelope. Add your first Clue Card. And let the fun begin!
Jigsaw
Blank jigsaw puzzles are a fun take on Hosting your event. Available on line for low cost. Take markers and draw out your own design for a clue to be set up along your trail. Place 2-3 pieces with each Clue Card. As the kids collect the pieces, they will eventually be able to construct the puzzle and discover the final clue location.
Kitchen Table
The kitchen is where the magic happens. The full range of emotions. The reason for the Sleeves is to preserve the reading of each new riddle until the Hunter returns each time to the kitchen table. The facial expressions will range from excitement to frustration, impatience to discovery, and finally, joy. The kitchen table is the magic in the bottle inside the game of GiftTrails.
Letter Beads
Letter beads are a great way to add more diversity into your GiftTrails hunt. Instead of a riddle card or a puzzle. Select your beads to form an anagram and force the Hunter to unscramble and spell out the clue. Ideal for freezing clues in ice or placing in water. Another idea: plant 1 bead with each clue along the trail and have your Hunter collect them to unscramble the final clue at the end of the Hunt.
Location Overlap: Warning!
When you set your trail up in advance, be sure to spread your choices out throughout the house. Do not put 2 clues too close to one another. Avoid the potential for discovering them out of order. If your clue is Strawberries, for example, make it the only clue placed inside your refrigerator! Use your Trail Map to help keep your choices split apart.
Locks
Playing the Locks game requires a 4 digit combo lock and a box with a latch on it. This is a fun one if you want to set it up. Pick your favorite Locks puzzle from the Challenge Library and set your lock to match the answer. When your Hunter discovers the box, they will first need to unlock it by solving the Puzzle you chose. Then they open the box to reveal the next clue. Which could, by the way, be the Jigsaw Puzzle event.
Master Lists
Both the Riddles and the Puzzles come with a guide to help you construct each new trail you build. Use these Master Lists to help make your choices and split the locations out around the house. NOTE! Do not put 2 clues near each other and run the risk of their discovery out of order. The Riddles are on your playing cards. The Puzzles are in the Challenge LIbrary for download.
Military
Along with the Grandparents clues, folding a military family member into your celebration is heartwarming and memorable. Make arrangements in advance for your loved one serving our country. Start by extending our gratitude for their service. And then feed them the next clue along the trail you are building for your Hunter. Use Clue #16 on the day of the event. Time it just right and have Facetime connect your Hero and your Hunter.
Penultimate Clue
This would be the 2nd-to-last clue in your game. Use card #37. Place it as you wish along your trail. Have your Hunter return to the ktichen table and pull the card from the Sleeve. The clue will reveal that the final clue has been taped under the Hunter’s chair throughout the entire game. Makes for a fun and funny finish! Arrange your seating to ensure the Hunter is seated correctly.
QR Codes
Clue Cards #191-200 are Scan Cards. Have your Hunter use their smartphone and open up the clue. These clues will be changed out over time to keep the clues fresh. Mostly Rebus puzzles, but more surprises in store!
Shreds
Another fun game, and one that siblings can share. Start by printing off your own clue on a piece of paper. Run them through the shredder and force the Hunter to piece them back together. If your Hunter is young, use a scissors and cut wider strips to make it easier to solve. If there are siblings playing together, split the clue into 2 and print on different colors of paper. Have each sibling solve their half of the clue before syncing them together to solve it.
Siblings
When siblings are presented with a surprise GiftTrails hunt, the excitement fills the air. They kids feed off each other. They will have to collaborate,be patient, and learn to share. It is fun to watch them work together as the game unfolds. There are techniques to build separate tasks that they pool together to generate the answer. Something we showcase in our Siblings video. There is also Team Play. Build 2 separate hunts within the same game and see who can finish first.
Sleeves: Use them!
Every Clue Card set along your trail should be tucked into a Sleeve. With each discovery, the Host will instruct the Hunter to return to the kitchen table before pulling the Clue Card out. This helps to bottle the energy of the game up, containing the emotion of the game to those seated around the kitchen table. Without the Sleeves, the Hunter would otherwise stay out on the trail solving the riddles.
Talking Toilet Paper
Every kid in the world thinks toilet jokes are funny. Order this spindle online. You can record your next clue into the spindle. As the toilet paper unwinds, it triggers the message to deliver the next clue in your trail. Hilarious. Clue #124 is Toilet Paper.
Team Play
For birthday parties or Christmas morning, team play allows for friends and siblings to split up into teams. The Host would build two separate trails. Each team would race against the clock working to slay their way through the trail and best the other team. Sprinkle in a few puzzles, and some of the Tips shown here, and let the fun begin!
Trail Map
You will be thankful for this map. As you construct your trail, the map gives you both control and guidance as to where to place your clues as you set your trail up. The map will also then serve to remind you of what went where as your event unfolds! Use this map to help spread your locations out around your home.
Video Capture
As is the case with the image capture, the facial expressions that range from curiosity, frustration, problem solving, revelation and joy are all there at the kitchen table as the Hunter works through the game of GiftTrails. Yes, you can chase them around the house with your camera, but you’d be aiming at the backs of their heads! The kitchen table is the magic in a bottle.
Want Ads
Yes in some sections of America there are still people who buy the newspaper and read it! The personal section in the Want Ads makes for a great place to call one of your clues in to their editor. Then use Clue Card #75 and send them scouring! Requires work in advance, and timed to the right day! But the Hunter will love it!
Watch Your Time
We do not recommend stretching the entire event past 60 minutes. The Hunter will tire, and so will the audience. Instead, target a solid 8-10 step game for your first event. Go with 6-7 playing cards and 2-3 puzzles. The Vault is at the end of the game, and geared for older players. Save it for later rounds of play. The goal is to keep the game fresh & leave them wanting more. This is how the tradition will establish and hold as the kids age.
Your Story!
We want to hear from you! To help our community of GiftTrailers expand the fun of the game, we ask for your submissions back to us on new and inventive ways to set your GiftTrails hunt up. Send your ideas via email and share your story. What did you do and how do it you do it? Images & video clips go a long ways to help showcase the game to others. Please share!